Things couldn’t have ‘gone worse if I had. tried this A.M.; clothes dirty, unshaved for 2 days, the hospital littered with debris & in come Gen. MacArthur & Staff. He was very nice- visited all the wards & the internees, shook hands with dozens, talked to a few of his old soldiers etc. – many cried. There was a battery of news cameramen who took pictures of us everywhere as the Gen. & I led the parade.
Hired Filipinos who cleaned up the area, PCAU Units # 1 & 21 were set up to feed us tomorrow. The K rations last thru noon, then B ration which we will cook on our old wood stoves tonight.
I have my office at my qters., have appointed Wallace & Gochenour as exec. & assistant & am swamped all the time.
We had many sick at the shoe factory yesterday & still have them due to dietary indiscretions.
Col. Grimn didn’t come in today & as I have no phone connections on my own. He told me I was C.O. & Col. Howard Smith, U.S.P.H. on MacArthur‘s Staff substantiated this. The Nips shelled the main bldg. at Sto. Tomas yesterday, killed 14 & caused 40 or more casualties. We have been lucky here. Had strafing in the compound Mon. & a man in ward # 2 was hit in the leg. A mortar shell exploded at the same time & causing casualties fortunately.
The PCAU Unit lost one officer, 24 men & 14 casualties when traffic jammed getting into Bilibid & a mortar shell landed in the street. My staff helped care for the casualties.