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January 17, 1942

Motor Pool, Intelligence Service

Bataan

 

 

Will sleep here tonight with the drivers, mechanics and motor transport officers. The General asked me to stay here overnight to find out how boys out here feel and to report findings to him.

Motor transport officers have good life. Their food is better than what we have up in headquarters. Drivers that are not being used are sent to coast to fish. Got my first fried fish this evening. It was superb.

One of the chauffeurs is an Igorot. Lt. Maceda ordered him to dance one of the wild Igorot wae-dances. He sharpened a bamboo to make it look like a spear and he danced for five minutes. The Igorot war dance is similar to the boogie-woogie.

Listened to KZRH special broadcast for Filipino boys in Bataan. Poor piece of propaganda. Filled with a lot of mushy stuff designed to make boys homesick. Enjoyed nice swing music especially “In the Mood.”

Some of the operatives arrived this morning. Am very anxious to get back to headquarters to hear their reports.

Lt. Palo, in charge of motor transport pool, was down with malignant malaria. He was thinking of his wife. They were married one week before the war and his best man was his sergeant. He said: “I told her I’d be away for only a week. She must be very worried about me.”

Talked to some of the American M.P.’s directing traffic near intersection at foot of Base Camp. One of them said he was from Texas and he sang a lot of hill-billy songs. Most of the time he was out of tune but he was a very jolly fellow. He said: “Frankly, I don’t think I can distinguish a Jap from a Filipino. How can you fellows tell?” I told him most Japs are bow-legged and slint-eyed. Filipinos are not. He remarked: “That makes a Jap out of me. I’m sort of bow-legged, man.”