Nothing unusual in the morning. At 12:30 p.m. again the alarm was sounded. After luncheon the President, Mrs. Quezon and their children were seated in the hospital tunnel, between laterals 11 & 9 where we were lodged. Two bombs fell on the hill on top of the tunnel, one of them near the main entrance. The whole mountain shook. Suddenly a terrific explosion was heard. A bomb had fallen 20 yards from the kitchen exit of the hospital tunnel. The lights were extinguished as a bomb had hit a generator. As the noise of the explosion was heard, simultaneously with the extinguishing of the lights, someone ordered aloud “everybody lie on the floor”. I did not do it as I thought it was absurd and ridiculous. I went to lateral 11 to get my flashlight from my bed and when I entered it I found the High Commissioner, Mr. Sayre and his assistants lying on the cement floor. Someone turned on a flashlight. I saw the President, holding Mrs. Quezon moving towards his bed. There they sat. I took my flashlight and rushed back to the main hospital tunnel to see if someone else was been hurt. No one — Thank God! I sat down and waited.
At about 4 p.m. the wounded began arriving. There were still no lights. We had to work with flashlights. It was hard — but c’est la guerre. About half an hour later the lights came on. They were able to use an auxiliary generator.
The first wounded that arrived had a penetrating wound of the abdomen. The attending surgeons ordered a laparatomy. I asked permission to see it. The piece of shell entered the abdomen in the right middle quadrant, directed upwards, lacerated the right part of the liver but could not be found. With difficulty the lacerated liver was properly sutured. The anesthetic was unnecessarily prolonged. The patient developed fluid in the right pleura the following day which indicated that the shell had penetrated there. I was informed he was in serious condition. I asked nothing more. I concluded it was the end of that young American.