March 31, 1942

There has not been anything of note to write about since my last entry. The rumors go up and down, likewise the moral of the camp, but lately, or rather the past few days have been very good for our side, both locally and in Europe.

One of the men in our room returned to camp yesterday after being out on a pass for two weeks to take care of a sick wife and brings many stories of the atrocities being committed by the Japs to the Filipinos. As I feel quite sure of the authenticity, I make record of them here for future posterity.

A neighbor of this fellow was caught listening in on a short wave radio to KGEI by a Jap sentry and was taken down to headquarters for questioning. After three days he returned home, nearly dead, with the skin having been peeled off his back so that it was raw and his hands, face and feet burned by hot irons. This seems to be Japan's idea of the good neighbor policy.

Another case of which we witnessed was that of a Filipino who had been caught looting and was shot in the arm. The sentry caught him, pulled a sack over his head and hung him from a tree by the feet with his head in a bucket of water until he had drowned. They then left him laying there as a lesson to all who see.

The most common punishment for petty offenses is to strip them and tie them to a tree all day in the hot sun. It is reported that this has been done to women as well as men. Rape, is of course, a common occurrence from the age of ten and up. There are undoubtedly thousands of like cases going on every day; and then they expect the Filipinos to co-operate with them to fight against the U.S.A. While there may be a few weak kneed natives who will swing over to the other side, ninety nine percent of them are death against the Japs to the very end and from all reports that reach us, they are doing a mighty good job of it too. It is reported that one hundred and seventy five thousand Japs have been slaughtered in the Philippine campaign up to March 15th. We have heard no figures on our losses.