Blood Brothers by Eugene C. Jacobs (i can read book club TXT) 📕

few wounded. We did our best to make them comfortable. We learned that President Quezon had departed from Camp Hay soon after the first bombing for the Malacanong Palace in Manila. The Japanese would probably spare the palace for their own use.

During free moments, of which there were very few, I instructed our medics in first aid, litter drill over mountain trails, etc. I did all of the things that I could think of in preparation for war: drew money out of the bank; got some new field boots and field uniforms from the clothing store, packed my bedding roll with soap, toothpaste, razor, towels, etc., and put fresh medicines in my little black doctor’s bag given to me by Dr. Eugene Stafford, who had retired in Baguio after a distinguished career at the Mayo Clinic. I moved my furniture to his house for safekeeping until after the war.

I had to go over to the Japanese barracks to inspect some two-hundred internees (civilian prisoners). They had staked out a big Japanese flag on the ground for planes to see, for their own protection.

One of the Japanese prisoners was brought to me with a severe sore throat. Examination showed a peritonsillar abscess. The treatment would be to lance the abscess and let the pus out. He was the first real live Jap that I had ever met face-to-face. I attempted to explain his condition to him. I proceeded to cut his throat with a surgical knife. He had considerable pain for an instant, then considerable relief. I gave him an analgesic and a sedative. He seemed grateful, shook my hand and said, “Arigato vely much!” as he bowed deeply and departed for his bed.

Some gold-mining engineers, friends of Col. Horan, built an “entrance to a mine” some thirty feet back into a hillside in the center of camp for an air-raid shelter. It proved to be very good, but we nearly broke a leg each time we raced a bomb down the hill to the entrance.

That night our radio told us that the Japs had made landings

at Aparri, on the north coast of Luzon, and had actually landed two thousand soldiers at Vigan on the northwest coast. It sounded like they had landed without any resistance. These two cities were only two or three marching days from Baguio. Was the Rainbow war plan not working?

News was received that Hong Kong and Wake Island had been captured. Also, that the British battleships, HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales, had been easily sunk off the Malayan coast by Japanese planes.

We heard many unusual noises about camp, especially at night, and saw strange lights that we thought might be signals. We became suspicious of everything that moved in camp, especially any moving troops, until we were sure that they were ours.

I couldn’t sleep! As I lay in bed, I recalled how I’d been assigned to Camp Hay from the Medical Regiment at Fort McKinley, near Manila. Col. Wibb Cooper, the Philippine Dept. Surgeon, picked me out of some one hundred medical officers because I had just enough time to do on my tour in the Philippines, not too little, not too much medical training and experience, just enough responsibility, personality, sociability, etc. I was to be the only U.S. medical officer north of Fort Stotsenberg one hundred miles to the southwest. I was to be the nearest U.S. doctor to Japan.

Camp Hay met all my expectations: delightful wooded areas, friendly people, a fine, well-equipped station hospital and a well-trained staff. I was invited to the Rotary Club for dinner with the American operators of the nearby gold mines and lumber companies in the valleys below. They all seemed anxious to know the only U.S. doctor. Retired Major Emil Speth, the mayor of Baguio, took me in tow and saw that I met everyone who was important.

During three months prior to the war, General MacArthur, the Commanding General of USAFFE, conducted a “War School’ for his general officers at Camp Hay. During the school period, I got to meet and visit with most of the generals and their aides-either at the hospital or the Officers’ Mess. I was their “Medic!”

Several weeks prior to the war, some British officers’ wives from Hong Kong arrived in Baguio, a supposedly safe place to sit out the war. Our student generals seemed to think the “lady limeys” had been sent over for their dining and dancing pleasure

at the Pines Hotel. Camp Hay was almost a perfect setting almost too good to be true except for one thing. In May, 1941, President Roosevelt suddenly ended our honeymoon, sending all of the Army wives back to the States.

It was two very unhappy people standing on Pier Seven in Manila, wondering if they would ever see each other again, if the U.S.A.T. Washington could outmaneuver the subs in the Pacific, and if our U.S. Army could survive a frontal attack by the Japanese.

Roosevelt must have known the war was coming. In 1937 he branded the Japanese as “aggressors” in their undeclared war in China and called for quarantine against her. The Japanese answered him by sinking the U.S.S. Panay and machine-gunning her crew.

In the late ’30s, with the world situation becoming increasingly dangerous, Germany and Italy both arming in Europe, and Japan increasing its manpower, Roosevelt wanted to cut the Regular Army by 51 %, the National Guard by 35% and the Reserves by 33% in order to balance his budget. It seems he was rather naive, ‘or possibly just the politician worrying about reelection.

Gen. MacArthur, who was Chief of Staff of the Army at the time, told Roosevelt, “Mr. President, when the next war is lost, it will be Roosevelt’s War, not MacArthur’s.” Fortunately, MacArthur was able to save the Army from the cuts.

In Sept, 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact. In July, 1941, Roosevelt told Gen. Marshall to draw up war plans. With his assistants, Gen. Wedemeyer and Gen. Gerow; they concluded that Hitler was the enemy to be stopped Japan and Italy could come later.

It was Roosevelt who said, “In politics, nothing happens by accident! You can bet it was planned!”

In July, 1941, Roosevelt again placed sanctions against Japan to keep U. S. oil, scrap iron and raw materials from reaching her shores. He issued several executive directives which made war between the U.S. and Japan inevitable. He froze all assets in the U.S. He closed the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping.

In August, 1941, Roosevelt placed an embargo on all goods except food. During the same month the United States cracked the Japanese code, after which he knew what Tokyo was thinking,

Japan reported that “Roosevelt’s decisions had created a situation so horribly strained that we cannot endure it much longer.”

Tojo immediately called another million reservists to the colors.

John Costello, a British historian, said that Roosevelt received a positive war warning on Nov. 26, and possibly as early as Nov. 6th that war would break out on Dee. 7th. He stated, “Roosevelt was not only expecting war, but knew exactly when it would break out.” Even with the Japanese Fleet approaching Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt issued explicit orders to the military: “Do not initiate hostilities against Japanese under any circumstances!” It now seems that Roosevelt not only expected the “Day of Infamy,” but needed it to get the support of the American people, to get them sufficiently aroused to fight a war. He also wanted to be sure that Japan would be branded “the aggressor.”

That night the radio announced that the “Japanese have marched from Aparri (on the north coast of Luzon) to Tuguegarao and have activated the airfield.” Now we could expect more frequent bombing.

“Tokyo Rose” was urging us to surrender, or, “Experience a certain death!” She continued: “All American aid is going to Europe! America is giving Lend-lease aid to Britain and to Russia, but there is none for the Philippines.” She was right!

December 12, ‘41: Dr. Allen and I had a Filipino soldier’s wife on the operating table at 0800 hours ready for a sterilization operation. She was thirty-four years old and had seventeen children. During her last pregnancy, which she had delivered ten days before, she became greatly swollen with edema (severe kidney disease). Another pregnancy would probably kill her.

Bomb began to fall. I shouted, “Everybody downstairs-under the hospital!” After the” All Clear,” we returned to the operating room to find our patient had retrieved her clothing and departed for safer areas.

Again the wounded were coming in. This time we were ready

for them. The operating room was all set up and ready to go.

Radio from USAFFE: Capt. Eugene C Jacobs, M.C, promoted to Major.

Heard that a strong Japanese force had landed at Legaspi accompanied by a large naval escort.

During the next ten days, while we treated our sick and wounded, and buried our dead, nearly one-hundred various sized Japanese ships were quietly assembling in the Lingayen Gulf, only twenty-five miles from Baguio. We had neither airpower nor naval forces to deter them. The Army Air Corps had been about

75% destroyed, and Admiral Hart would not risk his small Asiatic Fleet in battle; he took off for Australia.

At dawn on the morning of Dec. 22, ‘41, some 60,000 veteran Nipponese troops of Lt. Gen. Masahatu Homma’s crack 14th Army from China swarmed ashore between Vigan and Dagupun, twenty-five to fifty miles from Baguio.

Maj. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright had four divisions (11th, 21st, 31st, and 1 10th) of the Philippine Army on the beaches to prevent a landing. When the cruisers and destroyers opened fire with their big guns, there was great confusion on the beaches; many recent recruits buried their rifles in the sand, and took off for the mountains. “This was not their kind of war!”

Soon thousands of Japanese veterans, on bicycles, were pedaling south on the highway bordering the South China Sea. Our Scouts picked off hundreds of Japs as they rode by, but in a few hours were completely out of ammunition. The Japs and their bicycles kept right on coming.

Sporadic wounded were appearing at the hospital. Major Joe Ganahl, a well known polo player, was one of these. He had been fighting a rear-guard action with his big” 155s”-coming down from Vigan. He said, “I’m going to have to destroy my 155s as they are trapped.” When we got his wounds dressed, he took off in his jeep down the road, looking like the “Spirit of‘76.”

We were beginning to note that the Japanese .25 caliber was not causing near the tissue damage caused by the U.S. .30, .38 and .45 cal.

Frequently, when using the telephone, we could hear Japanese voices using our lines. We could usually get them off by saying, “Moshi, moshi! (hello) and sayonara (good-bye).”

We transferred our few remaining patients to civilian hospitals in Baguio and made preparations to move out.

As the Japanese Imperial Army advanced up the mountains toward Baguio on both roads, the Naguillian Trail, and the Kennon Road, our two companies of the 43rd Philippine Scouts, outnumbered ten to one, were becoming more and more desperate. We could hear the big explosions as they blew bridges and oil tanks.

Finally, we were aware of rifle fire-it sounded like corn popping. Realizing that Camp Hay would soon be overrun by Japanese troops, we prepared and loaded our equipment on hospital vehicles. We were not anxious to be the first military

unit in the Philippines to surrender. We were well informed as to the Japanese cruelty and treachery in China; we didn’t want any part of it.