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January 21, 1942

Orders came from General Francisco to bring one BGC to the Pilar-Bagac junction from where an American officer would take over the command. The CO chose his car to go. I was in it. We left at noon, full of ammunition, guns freshly oiled. The American officer was a captain. He brought us to Abucay Church, which was occupied by the 57th Regiment. It turned out that they did not need the crew, only the car. Its effectiveness was going to be tried by going through a Japanese line.

A certain American captain (who I believe was Capt. Wermuth) however, offered to take us for a sight of the battlefield of Abucay on the BGC. We gladly accepted the offer. We traveled till we came to a small church further down. From there, we turned left, into the field. There we saw hundreds of dead Japanese and a few Filipino soldiers. Once more, I felt proud of my country as I noticed that our dead were all in prone position, the position in which they were shot.

I shall never forget that sight — the gruesomeness of burned corpses and the peculiar stench of death. If ever there was a true picture of war, this was it.