1909

I am sorry to report that Walter Whelpleypassed away after a serious operation on July9- He had been connected with the SouthernCotton Oil Cos. in Savannah,. Georgia, formany years, where he held a very responsibleposition.

I am quotipg in full a letter from Bill Patterson as I felt it would be a mistake to omitany part of his experiences while being heldcaptive in Manila:

Many thanks for your kind letter of the 12th inst. Yes, Mrs. Patterson and I made a big mistake when we prevailed upon the State Department late in 1941 to give us our passports so that we could return to Manila, but it was fortunate that our daughter, Virginia, did not return with us She entered Stanford as a freshman and graduated while her parents were still in jail. We arrived in Manila three weeks before Japan declared war, and approximately three weeks later, January 2, 1942, to be exact, the Japs marched into the city. Japanese civilians, and there were many as they had been entering the Islands in large numbers previous to the war, put on their uniforms or other insignia to identify them as part of the Imperial Japanese War Machine and lost no time in rounding up the Americans, British, and other enemy nationals. They knew exactly where we lived; as a matter of fact they knew much more about us than we ever knew about them.

On January sth we were taken in trucks to the University of Santo Tomas, located in the city of Manila, with "food and clothing for three days" according to the order. Three years and one month later we were liberated when the tanks of the U. S. First Cavalry crashed the gates of the camp at 9 P.M., February 3rd, this year. The first month of our internment was hectic, as between three and four thousand were crowded into inadequate quarters, almost everyone slept on the floor, toilet and bathing facilities were practically nil and the Japanese did absolutely nothing for us. We were on our own, as it were, and so a committee was organized and with the aid of our Filipino, Swiss and other neutral friends, beds, bedding, clothing, cooking utensils, plumbing supplies and most important of all, food, were sent into camp with the magnanimous permission of our captors. Gradually the camp settled down to a somewhat routine existence, there being plenty of work to do, but the various departments did their respective jobs well, considering the lack of supplies and non-cooperation of the Japs. A hospital was started; those suffering from contagious diseases were segregated; babies and minor children were housed in a building which was formerly the machine shop of the University; elderly and lame internees were placed in rooms on the ground floor. Thirty square feet of floor space was the average per internee and depending upon the size of the room the number of occupants varied from 8 to 65. Not only were the rooms crowded, but never was there a time when one could do what he had to do without getting into a line.

There was plenty of talent in the camp and so there was seldom a< dull moment. Night club entertainers put on some excellent shows; the religious group was active; mining men had their sessions; the music department gave us some fine programs; there were classes in astronomy and various languages, typing and stenography; lectures on anything one was interested in (I mean organized lectures; "bull sessions" were something else), but the outstanding group were the professors and teachers who organized grammar, high school and college courses. Classes were held regularly and upon completion of the terms diplomas were issued at graduation exercises.

However, as time went on and the war went against the Japs the tighter they put the screws on us. Internees who were blind, or too ill for internment and who were living in their homes by the magnanimous permission of the Nips, were ordered to return to camp; no communication with our friends outside was permitted; no news of any kind was allowed to come in (death penalty for anyone caught); no food or packages could come into camp; a commandant of the military was put in charge and did we bow and salute .... or else! Food supplies by the Sons of Heaven became scarcer and scarcer. "So sorry, please." But the Nips had plenty and each day a truck load of meat and fish came into camp for the commandant, his staff and the sentries, and they stored it in the camp refrigerators! All we could do was to stand around and look at it. "So sorry for you, please." "Sodestka."

In September 1944, the first U. S. planes flew over the camp and bombed the air fields and ships in the bay. Some 250 planes in that first flight and from then on for us it was a matter of hanging on, with very little to eat; the Japs were mean (we had frequent roll calls and inspections and had to be in our rooms at 6:30) and deaths in the camp among the 4,000 internees were about eight per day due in almost every case to malnutrition or starvation. I lost 60 pounds, down to 110. and Mrs. Patterson weighed 85 at the time of our rescue. While we knew the Americans had landed north of Manila, we did not realize they were so close, and so when the tanks were first sighted we were not positive whether they were ours or the Japs, but all doubt vanished when we heard old American lingo:—"Get that Jap S. O. B." and the machine guns opened up. Some of the sentries who were not mowed down fled to the Education Building where my room was located, and 67 moved in on us and were held as hostages for two days, they having refused to surrender. Finally they agreed, were marched out of camp and something happened to all of them.

Army chow was most welcome, but a.cubic inch of stomach will not hold a cubic foot of food, so we learned to our sorrow, and practically the entire camp was laid up for several days. Then the Japs shelled the camp, killing and injuring about 150 internees. Five shells went through the walls of the room Mrs. Patterson occupied, but fortunately all had left for safer places and none of her 35 roommates were hit. On April 10th we sailed in convoy from Manila Bay via Leyte and arrived in San Francisco one month later. En route one of the troops and I came down with bad cases of jaundice and so upon arrival I was taken to the San Francisco Hospital. However, I am glad to report that I am now OK, and have regained about 50 pounds of my lost weight.

Since graduation I have lived on the Pacific Coast and for the past twenty-five years in China and the Philippines and, as I have never been able to arrange it so-as to attend a class Reunion, lam looking forward to the next one and in the meantime I will appreciate your passing on Greetings to the boys, and with assurances of best regards to yourself. Bill.

P.S. I almost forgot to mention that Dartmouth was also represented by two others: Bunny Bunnell and Gerry Updyke, both of whom and their wives, I am pleased to report, came through OK.

Secretary, Wm. Filene's Sons Cos. 426 Washington St., Boston, Mass

Treasurer, 16 Wall St., New York, N. Y.