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May 10, 1942

A month ago today we surrendered Bataan on your Wedding aniversary Today has been cloudy with a breeze coming from the east, it is hot & sultry though the thunderheads are hanging over the mountains on practically every side as they do everyday & I can hear thunder every now & then, Last night after I finished writting we had several visitors. One brought us three Readers Digests which I have looked through some this morning as well as palyed some Solitare. For eats today we have had bannanas, watermelons, cookies, french pastures, milk, rice, corned beef, summer sausage, spagetti, tomatoes, pickles, egg plant, spinach and I guess that about hits it. I don’t feel too hot today my head is all stopped up. Last night we got the big rumor that Germany surrendered. This business of not being able to believe a thing you hear gets me, but such is war I guess. I really think of both of you a lot, what you are doing at certain times of the day. like now it is around 2:30 here I guess (I haven’t a watch). If it were this time of day at home Dad would be up on a twin bed shirt off with those pink underclothes and reading some story. Mom would be at the desk with a pencil trying to act important drawing dodids on serap paper. J have your last two letters in my pocket and I get them out to read every now and then.

Mack died during the night and they burried him in an unmarked grave across the creek this morning. I guess it is just one of those things that goes to make up this world of ours, At present Tom is playing Solitare and Bill is out chasing the pigs from under the house. Well, I shall continue some with my story where I left off yesterday:

Life in General was not bad at.all before we left there, The last couple of days before we evacuated we had ice in the ice box with coca-cola. We planned on getting cold meat, bread etc. Right now only one other day stands out in my mind before we left. That was my birthday. Jones and I went to town about 11 A.M. picked up the check for my car deposited it in the bank, wired ¢500 home and then went to the Army Navy Club for dinner where I met E. B. Smith and Longmire. We ate with them and then I took in a show left my watch at Heacocks to have a new main spring put in, ate a Chocolate Butterscotch sunday and then went to the Manila Hotel. le had a big dinner and stayed around to listen to the music. They played Happy Birthday for me. We sent for the Recon about 9 it showed up about 10 and we started home. Going down Taft Ave. in the blackout we ran into a direction post and busted the radiator and blew a tire in the recon. If it hadn’t been for me tin hat I would have really got a bump on the head. MIiaj. Vance came by and had another recon sent for us. %o we got home about madnient. Kloster, Ose
Jim Davis, ann, & Jones were at my Birthddy dinner. The 24th I worked in the morning and during the afternoon we were thinking about going into town for some things we called for a car and they said: all transportation was being held ready for an evacuation. It was the first any of us in 15-A new about it so we thought we better be finding out, Kloster & Jones went to find out & started packing, should took a bath and got ready to leave. About five here they came in a truck so I grabbed my suitcase and laundry bags & piled on and to the port area we went. As we left town the kids were giving the V for victory sign.

We stayed on the docks till about midnight loading the boat. there was a new moon and everyone was scared of a raid as it was quite light. It was really a mess, ammunition, food, files, equipment, what a mess. We took off on the boat darn near ran into another one out in the bay. We went and lay off Corregidor until morning when we went through themine field and into Mariveles and waited a couple of hours before we could get off the boat, another time we could have been massacurred by a bombing.

Christmas day, we didn’t know where to go what to do or anything else.

I opened up a can of pork and beans and a can of tomato juice for my Christmas dinner. I decided to stick with air warning and when Col. Campbell came I went up to Little Baguio with him, where the Engineers has a base camp. lie were going to sit up operations near there. So we waited for equipment and men to arrive. About 4 in the afternoon a call came in that they needed transportation to evacuate Ft. Wint at Olonapo the engineers had trucks to send but no offices to send with them so they asked Maj Coyle if I could go and sol did.