Buried fifty-two today. Three majors died this month. Camp is gloomy morgue. Dead men lie on streets until noon; Rutherford can’t find enough strong men to carry bodies to cemetery and dig graves. Sanitary conditions deplorable. Everyone has it softens the gums, attacks the lining of the mouth and nose, and dysentery. About 300 PWs work outside camp: 100 gather firewood; others bury the dead. Mori supplemented evening rice ration with cup of hot water flavored with green camote tops. I hope “soup” contains vitamin C.
Stephen Michael Mellnik
(November 22, 1907 -- January 1, 1994) U.S. Army officer; captured on Corregidor, subsequently P.O.W. in various camps until his escape with nine others from Davao Penal Colony on April 4, 1943, the only successful P.O.W. escape in the Philippines. After a period with guerrillas, in July 9, 1943, transported to Australia by submarine.
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