January 16, 1945

We never ran short of shocks. Last night an American patrol ordered us to abandon the house of Mr. Sipin in the town’s outskirts and take refuge among the ruins of the town. We were being threatened by a group of Japanese who were reconnoitering the vicinity and we could be the victim of a nocturnal attack. There were Japanese stragglers on the forests whom the Americans had to track down and exterminate like dangerous animals and, who, instead of surrendering, attacked isolated posts and defenseless civilians under cover of darkness.