A young captain stood up and shouted,
"Everybody stay put! You are as safe in one place as another!"
A direct hit produced a blinding and deafening explosion nearby; a
tremendous orange flash followed by pandemonium.
Hatch covers above came crashing down into the bilge, dropping many
prisoners thirty to forty feet below. There were screams, cries,
groans, and oaths! The air was filled with dust and dirt. Wounded were
soon being dragged into our improvised hospital; many with fractures,
shrapnel wounds, all covered with dirt.
Just as we were getting the wounded cases moved into the hospital and
the dysentery cases out, back came the planes. When it was over we had
lost several of our doctors. Col. Riney Craig, Major Mack Williams and
I were the only doctors still active. We removed the clothing from
thirty dead to give to those still living. No food! No water! Open
hatches aggravated the bitter cold night.
Jan. 10, 1945: We worked on the wounded all morning. In the afternoon
my attention was called to a shrapnel-made gash in the forward
bulkhead of our hold. I looked through into the forward hold and
witnessed the most horrible sight of my life.
Pages:
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157