[133]
Nov. 1, 1944
Dearest Hope—
In the days to come I shall keep a diary for you – a diary of our last days in the camp. They will be hard and trying days, for we are very short of food and there is danger from bullets and shrapnel – But they will be interesting –
Our food has fallen off sharply since FeB 1944 and for the last two months we have been practically starving.
| Month | Official allowance Jap | camp stocks | Extra sources of food | |
| Kits-canteen | ||||
| February | 1700 | 400 | Veg. Mrkt | |
| March | 1700 | 400 | “ | |
| April | 1600 | 400 | Kits veg mrkt | |
| May | 1400 | 400 | ” “ | |
| June | 1400 | 400 | ” “ | |
| July | 1300 | 400 | ” “ | |
| August | 1200 | 300 | Limited kit goods | |
| September | 1200 | 200 | ” ” “ | |
| October | 1100 | 200 | ” “ | |
| November | 1100 | 150 | — | |
| in calories per capita per day | ||||
The old men are dying off – one or two per day – They can not stand the food scarcity – –
The military situation is more hopeful – Our forces
[134]
landed in Leyte on Oct. 18th and we have had raids over Manila on – Sept 21, Sept 22, Oct 15, 17, 18 & 29th
I wonder if I can describe for you the bombing on Sept 21st. Imagine 3000 slowly starving, interned for 2 ¾ years, with no sign of our troops since the fall of Bataan in April of ’42 (Corregidor May ’42). At about 1030 in the morning of the 21st – we heard the drone of planes in the distance – we paid little attention as the Japanese had five or six fields in and around Manila – The noise grew louder; and off to the north one could see a large number of planes headed for the City – Still it was only the number that surprised us – we were sure they were Japanese. The planes began to assume a more definite shape – They seemed different – They were ours! The anti aircraft fire started, and, laughing & shouting we rushed for the buildings – Many were in tears. What a wonderful show those boys put on – spectacular dives – right thru the anti-aircraft fire –
[135]
They came – wave after wave – there must have been 250-300 of them altogether – the next day they returned – we thought that this was the beginning of a campaign in Luzon – we would be out by October 10th –there were no more raids until October 15th! Again elation, especially as the raids were resumed on the 17th & 18th – Then the news of the landings in Leyte – 300 miles to the south – they would soon be here! The next raid came on October 29th – since then no raids – We know that our troops are in Leyte, perhaps in Samar as well, by now – There are rumors of landings in Atimonan on the East Coast of Luzon – who knows? So there is the picture – we are starving, the old men dying like flies – our troops are some 300 miles away on Leyte – It is just like one of those silent Westerns you & I would go to see on 102nd St. on Saturday afternoon – Do you remember? The pianist would stop – The picture would stop – The beleaguered garrison would seem hopelessly doomed – Then the pianist would strike up the Star-Spangled Banner, and the picture, moving again, would show the US Cavalry pouring
[136]
over the hill, flags waving, drums beating, bugles blowing (though we could not hear them). So in this little drama, little in the vast drama of a world-wide struggle, 800 children, 800 people over 60 and 2200 men & women between 18 and 60 in poor health – are struggling to keep alive – we hear the bugles blowing, but the Cavalry has not come yet.
Just for the record (to compare as the days pass) I weigh 118 lbs – 73 pounds less than I weighed in Jan-42.