Conferences at the Shoreham with Major General Basilio Valdes, Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army and Minister of National Defense in the War Cabinet of Quezon. He gave me exact information as to the air fields, muster of the army, and in particular concerning his gallant exploit during the days from December 28th to 31st, 1941, when on orders from General MacArthur, he returned from Corregidor to Manila and successfully evacuated some four hundred wounded personnel from Sternberg Hospital in Manila on board a hastily devised hospital ship bound for Australia.
Modesty as to his own achievements is an outstanding feature of the character of General Valdes. His simple narrative, written at the time, is full of the breathless suspense of a great city just on the point of being occupied by the enemy.