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April 7, 1942

Since six this morning till dark tonight, we were shelled and bombed incessantly. Planes would fly over us and bomb us at leisure. Before we could lose sight of them on their way back to Manila, another flight would be sighted in the horizon. The effect of the bombs and shells was more than I could take.

I confess that I cried, more out of nervous strain than fear of death. Only today did we have our lunch at two in the afternoon. Tonight, I approached the commanding officer and asked him about the advisability of retreating with the others, since, I said, it would be foolish for the 21 of us, (including the commanding officer, another officer and five sick enlisted men) to resist the entire Japanese Army. Nevertheless, I said, that if he thought it better for us to stick to our post until the order for retreat was given from higher headquarters, he could depend on me to stay. I spent two hours fixing our vehicle that wouldn’t start.