This preview does not include the actual photos and drawings included in this chapter.
On January 25, 1944 Loren was transferred to the 819th Bombardment Squadron at Wheeler Field. He was now considered an experienced pilot with 2158 hours of flying time, most of which was in over-water flights.
He was concerned about leaving some great friends in the 19th Troop Carrier Squadron that he had flown with over the past two years. He had learned much from Major Cunningham and Steve Rosetta and from the other pilots that he had flown and trained with. He considered Paul Hundsdorf, Jack Bryant, Dusty Woods, Lee Metcalf, Frank Orme, Jim Walters, Steve, and others to be some of the finest friends that one could have. He had also been roommates with most of them and found that their life styles were fairly compatible with his.
There were others, of course, for whom he had little respect as to their life style, their professional practices, their treatment of those they served with, their personal integrity, etc. Fortunately, as one of the senior pilots, his work was fairly independent of them. He also had great respect for the enlisted crew members that he had had the privilege to fly with--Sgts. Encke, Thomas, Dimatteo, Ruf, Graves, Bogardus, Simcox, Curtiss, Ricardi, Christie, and many others.
His brother Bill was now flying as a radio operator with the squadron and they flew together on one flight to Hilo with Doug Johns, Ford, and Clemmons from Bill's old outfit as special guests.
After only a few months in the squadron, Bill did so well that he was nominated to go to Officers Candidate School, approved by the Commander of Seventh Air Force, and was off to Texas.
With the amount of flying that Loren did after the war started, he had fewer opportunities than he would have liked to attend church at that beautiful Waikiki Ward chapel. Although he had not become close friends with the members of the Ward, he enjoyed being with them when he could. The Hawaiian members sang beautifully and seemed to be great members.
He had served with only four servicemen who were members of the Mormon church since he joined the Army. Three were in the flying school at Bakersfield and Phoenix, were returned missionaries, but two of them did little to live the church standards or to set a good example for the church. The third was a good man who had been a missionary with Randy in the Southern States but who didn't last long in the program because of health problems.
Lt. Steve Busath, who had known Helen Joe from the Chico Branch while attending flight school at Chico Air Base, was assigned to the squadron during the summer of 1943, flew one flight with Loren, and then they saw little of each other because of their schedules.
Gene had given Loren a set of scriptures when he was on his way to Hawaii and Loren had received a serviceman's packet from the church with the small scriptures and the book "Principles of The Gospel" which contained many instructions to servicemen from the Presidency of the Church. Loren read the instructions of the Presidency and understood them well, but read the scriptures only occasionally.
However, he had been taught well by his mother, his Primary and School teachers, and his priesthood leaders and teachers. He had a good understanding of the principles and standards of the Gospel and had no problem accepting and living them.
They served as his guide in life.There was no question in his mind of the divinity of the Savior nor of the importance of His mission in the creation of the earth. Nor did he doubt in any way the role of leaders of the Church as modern day prophets nor his own responsibility as a priesthood holder. He knew that it was essential to live the detailed concepts taught by the Savior if one expected satisfaction from this life and the life hereafter. He recognized the advantages of living the moral law and the Word of Wisdom and there was no temptation to do otherwise.
What he missed most and what he enjoyed most when he was with Helen Joe was speaking the language of the Church--talking about life, its goals, its beauties and challenges in the language that they had used in their youth--in Primary, Sunday School, in the home, and in high school and college. The language of the serviceman was usually pretty rough and the subjects were usually not very uplifting. Sometimes after he had been exposed to such conversations, he even felt strange in trying to assemble his thoughts in his prayers. However, he found that when his standards were known that most of his fellow crewmen were considerate of them.
In the 819th Bomb Squadron, Loren was given a crew and began training in the B-24D-- bombing practice, gunnery school, bomb loading and unloading, formation flying, fuel loading and conservation, mission briefings, etc. He was intrigued by the diversity of background of the members of his new crew. 2nd Lt. Pete Hryskanich, of Ukrainian descent, from Elmira Heights, N.Y. had been a pitcher for the Boston Braves before the war--now copilot. 1st Lt. Leo F. Welsh Jr, from Indianapolis, married, was a Harvard graduate, V.P. of Savings and Loan--now navigator. 1st Lt. Ernest F. Peschau Jr, from Lubbock, Texas was married with one child--now bombardier. T/Sgt. Raymond E. Nedeau was from Milford, Conn. now crew chief. S/Sgt. Russell H. Ketner was from Burlington, N.C.--now tail gunner. Tech Sgt. Lincoln S. Manierre was from East Hartford, Conn.--now radio operator and top turret gunner. Staff Sgt. Preston B. Bellamy was from Wilmington, N.C.-- now waist gunner. T/Sgt. Martin K. Burke was from New Britian, Conn. -now gunner and radar operator. S/Sgt. Hulbert Q. Hall Jr, was from Flat Rock, Mich.-- now the belly ball turret gunner.
The crew finished their training in early March and picked up their airplane, B-24J #499, which, with a little persuasion from Loren, they named "Cloudy Joe". They all sent home all unessential personal items, and reported to the 431st Bomb Squadron on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands on March 15.
At Tarawa, all facilities for the squadron were in tents on the shore line of the lagoon. Their quarters consisted of two tents on the beach, one for the officers and one for the enlisted men.
The squadron had been bombing the Marshall and the Caroline islands and many of the crews were getting close to their thirty missions and were getting ready to go home. Loren's crew was one of the replacement crews.
Their first mission was a daylight formation photo and bombing mission over Ponape in the Carolines on March 21 (Loren's first wedding anniversary). Anti-aircraft fire was expected, but fighters were not. The mission went as expected until over the target when the Lt. Peschau could not get the bombs released. After one more unsuccessful try in the presence of anti-aircraft fire, they headed for home behind the rest of the formation. After a lot of work by the bombardier and the crew chief, they released their bombs on a Jap radio station on a small island on the way home.
After thirteen hours in the air, they returned to Tarawa, very low on fuel. The bombardier learned much from that mission and was much more careful with the loading of the bombs on following missions.
By this time, the U.S. forces had captured and built airstrips on Kwajalein, Majuro, and Eniwetok in the Marshalls and had bypassed some of the heavily fortified islands such as Wotje, Maloelap, Mille, and Jaluit, cutting off their supplies and bombing them regularly.
Truk was a strong Japanese Naval Base in the Carolines which was to be pounded and then bypassed. Twelve crews of the 431st flew their planes to Eniwetok on March 30 as a staging base for a mission on Truk on the 31st and again on April 2. Thousand pound bombs were dropped on the naval facilities, air base, and fuel and ammunition storage areas causing lots of fireworks.
Twenty six hours and thirty minutes were flown by Loren and his crew in accomplishing those two missions. While these missions were being flown, the squadron ground crews moved the 431st Bomb Squadron facilities to Kwajalein--the same tents on a new beach on a new lagoon with common bathing facilities--the lagoon. The bombers returned to Kwajalein as their permanent home.
Four more missions were flown over Truk, pounding docks, fuel storage, and other military installations, with about the same results on the 8th, 13th, 19th, and 23rd. All were night missions with very little ack-ack (anti-aircraft fire), no fighters, and only now and then the search lights. Each mission resulted in about thirteen or more hours flying time, with staging out of Eniwetok.
New crews arrived each week to replace those "old timers" who were finishing up their thirty missions. Most arrived with four 2nd Lts. on the crew -- the aircraft commander having about three hundred hours total flying time. Captain Stoddard became the Squadron Operations officer on April 10 and had the task of training the new crews in the box type formation that was to be used on daylight missions against fighters. The crews were eager and learned fast.
Missions were flown over Wotje on the 25th, and over Truk on the 29th and on May 2. Fighters were encountered on the last three Truk missions, but were not very aggressive. After completing a mission over Ponape on May 4, Loren and his crew prepared to take leave in Hawaii. They flew their airplane to Hickam on May 6 and 7 and put it into the depot for the installation of radar equipment. New equipment had been developed for radar bombing, for radar approaches to the islands, and for air-to-air protection. Sgt. Burke had been trained in the use of the equipment but, to this date, it had not been available for their plane.
During their stay in Hawaii, the members of the crew took lots of showers, ate steak, bought at the BX, read the newspapers, and even went sight-seeing. Special quarters were set up for the combat crews who returned to Hickam for R&R (rest and recuperation). Loren, Pete, Leo, and Ernie were given one of the family houses on the base, completely furnished, with a refrigerator full of steak, ice cream, vegetables, fruit, etc. Anything else that was wanted could be ordered.
On one occasion at the Officers Club they played Bingo--Loren won the $75.00 pot, bought a gold chain Hawaiian surfers bracelet, and sent it off to Helen Joe. Loren also visited the 19th and flew on some of their local missions with them.
While on leave, Loren recognized that he had grown to respect the men on his crew more than he had realized. They had learned to work well together as a team but most were also strong individuals in themselves. Leo Welch was a highly intellectual character with the greatest smile on his face constantly, and was an excellent navigator.
Pete Hryskanich was a specimen of good health, good physique, and good humor. He earnestly sought to learn all that he could about the airplane and its systems, emergency equipment and its use, and about the mission of the squadron and his crew's responsibility towards that mission. He was great to fly with.
Stan Manierre didn't know what the word saunter meant. He was the most eager and aggressive man on the crew, in a very likeable and intelligent manner. As a radio operator, he knew his job well, and as a crew member, he was always ready and available to help others in any way possible.
Sgts. Belamy, Burke, and Ketner were quiet, but strong and effective crew members. Sgt. Hall was a happy, outgoing young lad and a sharp crew member.
Ernie Peshau, was somewhat cynical and arrogant at first but was worn down and polished by the circumstances and his associates and became a good crew member.
Sgt. Nadeau had a tendency to over-indulge and was not always in condition to do his job. However, he was a hard worker and received good back-up from the rest of the crew.
Loren was the only officer on the crew who was not a bridge player. During the first month or so, there was little to do between missions so Leo persuaded Loren to be his partner against the other two. About the only thing that resulted from the games was the doubling of the thickness of the card deck because of the moisture and Ernie getting angry because he couldn't out-fox Leo. Ernie was the only officer who smoked or drank so he had trouble with the rest in the tent on that subject also.
The conversations were generally pleasant and kept on a reasonably high standard--far better than with most crews. However, Loren learned that, after his marriage and after he had spent time with Helen Joe and had really learned to know his wife, he no longer enjoyed being in the company of men as "spare time" associates. He enjoyed working with other men--planning and carrying out missions and later in business--but he found that being with men and listening to their chatter made him far more homesick than being alone, where he could think and contemplate his and Helen Joe's future together. Even watching the movies out on the beach with the men of his crew and listening to conversations around him made him want to be only with his wife. Keeping busy in his work--feeling the responsibility and obligation to serve his family, his friends, and his country helped the most.
On May 19 and 20, with "Cloudy Joe" completely radar equipped, and having rested and stuffed themselves well, Loren and his crew returned "home" to Kwajalein. They learned that while they were in Hawaii on leave, Lt. Houchins and crew, on their last mission before returning to the U.S., were shot down over Wake Island. They were hit by an anti-aircraft round through their #2 engine, lost their left wing, and crashed on a reef.
On May 22, the squadron had a "milk run" over Wotje, dropping one thousand pounders on the concrete bunkers and pillboxes that the Japs still held there one hundred fifty miles from Kwajalein. After that mission, Major Berry, the Squadron Commander, went on leave to the U.S. and Captain Stoddard was designated as acting Squadron Commander.
By this time, all of the old timers had gone home except for one 1st Lt. and his crew. Of the aircraft commanders in the squadron, there were only two 1st Lts. -- the rest were 2nd Lts. Except for Loren and the one old timer, one aircraft commander had 350 hours and the rest had 300 or less total flying time. But they had been trained well - concentrated training in the B-24 - and they were good with that airplane.
Because of the nature of the next mission scheduled for May 28, 29, and 30, the next few days were spent perfecting their formation flying. All of the missions previously flown over Truk had been at night with little formation work involved and it was felt that some brushing up was in order.
Mission No. H-258 was to be a photographic mission over Saipan in the Marianas, with Navy VD4s (B -24s) equipped with special photographic equipment leading the mission and with crews from the 431st and 98th Bomb Squadrons flying as their wing planes. Eniwetok was to be the staging base, reducing the round trip mileage to 2300 miles. In their final briefing, the crews were told that an invasion of Saipan was scheduled for June 15 and that up-to-date photos were needed of the Japanese defenses for that invasion. Automatic cameras were installed on each Army B-24, extra fuel tanks were installed in each bomb bay, and three 100 lb. bombs were loaded.
After spending the night at Eniwetok, the 24 planes took off at one minute intervals starting at 06:20 and headed for Saipan. A loose formation was flown, to conserve fuel and the crews, on a course of 283 degrees to a predetermined point prior to reaching the Saipan area. The formation was flown at 8,000 feet altitude to the point, then climbed to 21,000 feet and closed up the formation for the photo run and for defense against fighters.
At a point midway between Tainan and Saipan Islands, after about six and one-half hours of flying time, the formation turned right to 25 degrees, dropped down to 20,000 feet, closed up the formation and proceeded the length of the island, taking photos and dropping their bombs as planned.
Two Army airplanes had aborted the mission prior to reaching the Marianas, each losing two engines. One of the crews had to throw out all of its equipment, bombs, guns and turrets, radar, bomb sight, camera and anything else that was loose in order to stay in the air.
As the pilot brought the airplane back over the field at Eniwetok after about fourteen or more hours of flying time, a third engine quit. The pilot made a safe landing-- an outstanding job by one of those 2nd Lt. aircraft commanders. The other airplane also made it home safely, with partial use of the third engine.
As the formation was completing its photo run over Saipan, Japanese fighters were seen taking off below and climbing off in the distance. Near the completion of the photo run, the plane flown by Lt. Rushing of the 98th Squadron, who was flying the left wing position with Lt. Commander Clark, lost one engine and began to fall behind.
Loren was flying the right wing position with Cmdr. Clark, who commanded the formation. In their final briefing, Clark had stated that if a Navy plane was in trouble, the formation would slow down for protection but that if an Army plane had problems, it was on its own. Of course there were objections to such a policy, but Clark seemed to be intent in carrying it out.
Breaking radio silence, Loren called the Commander, after they had turned right to their homeward heading, and requested that he slow the formation down to allow the crippled plane to keep up. Receiving no response, Loren got a nod of approval from members of his crew and dropped back to the right wing of Lt. Rushing's plane as he was descending down to his return cruising altitude.
At about seventeen thousand feet, the crew of Cloudy Joe heard shots and then sounds like being on the inside of a five gallon can with someone beating on it with a stick. Then there were flames pouring out of the left inboard engine and the entire engine nacelle, the tanks in the bomb bay were burning, and control was lost to the left outboard engine--the propeller "ran away" as the blades went flat, and the engine speed increased into the danger zone.
From the reports received later, a Jap Zeke type fighter had made a pass from out of the sun, which was directly over head, had made direct hits across the left wing and through the midsection of the bomber without being seen by the top gunners of either ship. Pete called Lt. Rushing, told him that they had been hit and were on fire, and that they were dropping out of formation with him.
The left wing and engine nacelle were burning furiously and sections of the aircraft skin were flying off. Sgt. Nedeau had examined the bomb bay and tried to put out the fires with a fire extinguisher with no success. He had also activated the left inboard engine fire extinguisher with little success.
Pete tried to get a report from the crew members in the rear of the airplane but found that all contact had been lost with them. Loren put the airplane in a severe slip and stopped the fire in the left wing for a few seconds after which it flared up again. He repeated the maneuver again with the same results.
The loss of the left wing or an explosion in the bomb bay tanks seemed to be the two most eminent dangers as the crew assessed the situation. Getting the plane on the water as soon as possible seemed to be the only reasonable alternative.
Loren continued the rapid descent to within a few hundred feet of the water on the return heading which, fortunately, lined them up directly into the wind.
There was still no contact with the crew in the rear and no way to get to them through the flaming bomb bay.
Preparations were made for a water landing and the crew members in the front of the airplane took their positions. Loren sounded the "water landing" signal, hoping those in the rear could understand what was happening. Pete also made the "Dumbo" calls which were supposed to alert a PB-Y or a Navy sub which were expected to be waiting on the course home to give assistance to any airplane that had been damaged over the target area.
The sea was fairly calm and conditions were good for the landing. However, Pete and Loren agreed that they could not risk putting the flaps down because of the amount of damage that had been done to the flaps and the wing skin on the left wing. Landing without flaps would result in a higher contact speed. Slowing down from 120, they made contact at something less than 90 mph.
As the airplane neared the point of contact with the water, Loren suddenly had the sensation that a fire hose had been turned into his face and he was conscious of nothing more until he awakened in the water, going down, down, down, and getting darker and darker. He gasped for breath and got water. He tried again with the same results. He became more conscious and the thought occurred to him from his childhood memories that those who were drowning were gone if they took the third gasp for breath under water.
He realized that he had to get back to the surface soon but he didn't know what to do. Then he knew what to do. He offered a simple but fervent appeal. "Lord! Please. I need help". Immediately his mind cleared and he realized why he was going down so fast. He had his seat, his parachute, and a flak vest filled with twenty-five pounds of steel bars, still strapped to him. He released his seat belt and unsnapped and shed the flak vest and began a rapid ascent to the surface. The air felt wonderful as he filled his lungs.
As he looked around, he realized that what he had bumped against when he came to the surface was an inflated life raft. He climbed aboard, rested a moment, and then began to look around. He was near what remained of the airplane -- the trailing edge of the right wing and jagged parts of the fuselage were sticking out of the water and burning. Fuel was burning in many areas around the plane.
As he further examined the remains of the airplane, he saw Stan Manierre hanging on to the wing. He yelled at Stan and told him to hang on--that he would be there in a moment. Breaking out the paddle from its packing, he rowed over to the wing. As he was going around the wing tip he talked to Stan and asked him to move farther out on the wing. Stan's answer made him realize that Stan was really beat.
"Skipper, I don't think I can make it I can't hold on any longer." He could hardly hold his head up.
Loren gave him an order. "Sgt. Manierre, get your butt in this raft, now!"
"Yes Sir." was the reply as he scooted along the wing into the raft. If he had had a free hand, he probably would have saluted on the way over.
Loren thought much of this incident later. Stan was the most eager, aggressive, and determined member of the crew and yet because of shock and the great effort that he had expended to get himself out of the airplane, he felt beat and about ready to give up. But a sharp word had brought him to his senses and got him to do what he needed to do to save himself.
As Loren pushed the raft away from the burning airplane, he noticed that Stan was very tired but had no visible wounds. After a minute or two, he confirmed that he was all right and both began looking for other crew members.
As they rowed to what would have been the front of the airplane, they heard someone cry out and saw Pete floating in his life jacket. As they pulled him into the life raft, he told them that he had heard Ernie Peschau farther out.
Rowing in that direction for possibly fifty yards, they found Ernie, also floating in his life jacket. He had to be helped aboard--he seemed to have no use of his legs. Also, getting the fourth man on a three man life raft could only be done if they all lay across the raft with their feet hanging over the side.
By this time, the remains of the airplane had sunk, the fires were out, and everything was deathly silent. After they checked the area carefully and could find no evidence of others, they fell silent, trying to comprehend what had just happened to them.
The first to arouse himself was Pete who began a thorough examination of the pockets of the raft to see what provisions were on board. They guessed that the raft had been one of two that had been packed in the top of the airplane and had been released and inflated on impact by an inertia switch. There was a supply of canned water, some canned food, and supplies such as paddles, sail, mast, sea anchor, and fishing gear on board.
Then they began to compare notes as to what had happened to each other and tried to determine just what had happened to the airplane. Pete's experience had been similar to Loren's --he found himself going down with his seat and flak vest--not knowing how he got there. Both had cuts on the shins of their legs and Loren had cuts over and under his left eye. There were no broken bones or other injuries.
Ernie had taken his place for a water landing between the pilot and copilot, sitting on the floor, hanging on to their seats, with his feet against the control pedestal. He could remember nothing after the airplane made contact with the water until he woke up in the water and inflated his life jacket near the surface. His back and buttocks were badly bruised and it appeared likely that he had flipped out of his sitting position and had broken out the aluminum frame and Plexiglas roof of the cockpit with his back. He had no control of his legs and could not move his back but he had no cuts or broken bones otherwise.
Stan had been well buckled up in his seat in his radio cubicle ready for the water landing and was not aware of what had happened until he became conscious, under water, still in his seat. He unbuckled himself and tried to find his way out of the airplane. He had no way of knowing which way was up or down or where to go to get out. By trial and error he finally made his way into the bomb bay and out of the airplane where it had broken apart beating out the flames as he went out. He appeared to have no injuries except for some sore ribs.
Hanging his head over the side of the raft, Loren got rid of some of the salt water that he had taken in with his first two gulps and felt much better. Each of the others took his turn adjusting himself to his new quarters and prepared for an indefinite stay. They hoped that the sub or the PB-Y were on their way to pick them up but realized that, until that happened, they had to take care of themselves.
They knew that they were about fifty miles east of Saipan and that the wind was blowing them back into the island. They also knew that they had about four or five days or more on the raft to determine what they were going to do when they reached the island, which they could see on the horizon.
By Kris O. Stoddard
The following comments are from an interview conducted by Helen Jo Stoddard, Mark Stoddard, Alex Stoddard, and me, Kris Stoddard, in Washington D.C. in April of 2010, with Peter Hryskanich. Our hope was to shed more light, from a second point of view, regarding the crash of the “Cloudy Joe,” a U.S. Army Air Corps B-24 Liberator, and all of the events before and after as the crew was formed under the command of my father Captain Loren A. Stoddard, U.S. Army Air Corps, until their liberation from Japanese prisoner of war camps in August 1945. With the death of Stan Maniere in November 2009, Pete became the sole survivor of the crash of the “Cloudy Joe,” which was shot down near the island of Saipan after completing a bombing and reconnaissance mission with its squadron under the direction of the U. S. Navy. Pete was in his 91st year as of this interview, 2010, and turned 91 the following June.
Having listened to the interview several times, I cannot exactly distinguish what is new information and what was old. I will identify in this writing what I recall seemed to be new information from the interview with Pete, although, as we interviewed him, it became obvious that none of us interviewing expected to have lapses of information as we did, even though we had read “One Flesh” several times before. The information is too vast to comprehend all, and what I do know about “One Flesh” seems to intertwine with other WWII information from such books as “Unbroken,” the biography of Louie Zamperini.
The information from the interview is in two sections; first, a summary of circumstances wherein Pete describes characteristics of Dad’s leadership style and personality during non-combat and combat times.
To add some brief context to this, I work from the quote of Pete, “We were just lucky to have Loren as our aircraft commander. I was just a second lieutenant with a few weeks (October 1943) of B-24 flying experience and had been training in the P-38’s before that but was transferred to bombers when the westward pacific expansion began.” Loren, on the other hand had been flying B-24’s or their variations since November of 1941 and had accumulated over 2400 hours compared to Pete’s 300 or so hours of total time.
This context is very significant in that it takes several months to a year for most pilots to feel very comfortable flying aircraft as complex as a four engine World War II bomber or transport. In comparison, flying a Boeing 767 over the same distances today is far less complex in many ways as aircraft systems are far more simplified in terms of operation and have greater redundancy, reliability and are more robust. Today’s navigation systems are far more accurate and simple to operate with Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) than was their celestial navigation.
Additionally, communications are far superior today with satellite communications that are clear as if you were standing in the room next door talking to me with the door open and yet we are 10,000 mile apart. To top it all off, the support and flow of spare parts are far superior today than what the navigators of the 1940’s had to deal with, all complicate by the fact that you have an enemy trying to sabotage your best intentions.
All of these factors would have affected the younger crew members in two ways. First, with all the complexities and only a theoretical knowledge would have put the younger pilots in complete awe of Loren and his flight time to the point that initially a new pilot would completely question their own ability to fly anything as they sat in awe of the new aircraft and someone like Loren who was likely to feel so comfortable in the aircraft and handle things so effortlessly. This newness and “awe” comes across to a seasoned commander as reticence, timidity, and sometimes incompetence. Pete’s experience flying the B-24 was all done in the left seat with a veteran flight instructor in the right seat. This would have made his first flying experiences with Loren even more awkward as he had no previous experience flying in the right seat as a co-pilot, as his other flight experience would have been in fighters as a single pilot. This would likely prove a little frustrating to Loren as he would have to prepare and teach the crew their positions and responsibilities for normal flight, besides preparing them for the challenges of combat.
Second, this puts a huge burden on the pilot in command as he has to do each crew members job in addition to his own, and Loren would have had very little competent feedback from experienced crew members offer feedback on fuel and navigational planning during extreme conditions ie. flying over huge ocean expanses with the goal of finding an island atoll such as Truk, not much larger than a mile wide, and all with celestial navigation and other primitive navigational methods. It is little wonder that several aircraft during the war simply took off never to be heard from again and perished at sea due to fuel starvation, mechanical failure, or crew error or left to other extremities in weather, or enemy aircraft, etc.
As one aviator to all the men and women who flew in WWII and before, my hat is off to you. You were better than you knew.
Loren as Aircraft Commander
Pete’s description of Loren’s personality and command style was consistent throughout the interview process. Pete said, “Loren was very steady. He expected us to be on time, know our jobs and to do them. He was often considerate of the crew. We always felt like we had a jump on a situation because of Loren’s experience; he knew what he was doing. He made most of the decisions in the aircraft and in the life raft, but he often asked for our opinions and input, but he was the aircraft commander.”
As one aviator to all the men and women who flew in WWII and before, my hat is off to you. You were better than you knew.
Loren as Aircraft Commander
Pete’s description of Loren’s personality and command style was consistent throughout the interview process. Pete said, “Loren was very steady. He expected us to be on time, know our jobs and to do them. He was often considerate of the crew. We always felt like we had a jump on a situation because of Loren’s experience; he knew what he was doing. He made most of the decisions in the aircraft and in the life raft, but he often asked for our opinions and input, but he was the aircraft commander.”
Mark said that he had heard that Loren had been counseled to not fraternize with his men or get too close to them. Pete had never heard of such counsel and did not feel that it was valid for Loren. He said, “He was not usually around as he was at briefings or preparing to brief us. We always ate together as a crew. Loren, however, was never one to have a chip on his shoulder about officers verses enlisted men. He treated us all the same.” (There is the possibility that what Mark had heard was prior to Loren’s time in the bombing squadron.)
Mark also asked, “Was there ever second guessing about having gone back to cover Lieutenant Rushing’s aircraft?”
Pete said, “No, not a single word. He was the aircraft commander and he made the decision and we all did what we were supposed to do.”
Mark asked, “Even when you had all the time to reflect on what happened that Loren’s decision put you in harms way and now you are on a life raft or later as you were in prison camp, it never came up?”
Pete responded, “It never came up. You have to remember that if you were in the same position, you would want others to come to your help.”
Another revelation about Loren’s character from Pete was what Pete did not know. One of us asked Pete, “Did anyone give Stan Maniere a hard time for having forgotten his goggles that helped him see into the sun and identify aircraft coming from 12 o’clock high?”
“He didn’t have his goggles?” Pete asked. It appears Loren never revealed to the rest of the crew that Stan had told him part way into the flight nearing the target, he had forgotten his sun goggles (don’t know their proper name) back at camp. It also appears that Loren chose to not tell the other crew members about Stan’s confession, which seems to reflect on Loren’s integrity in keeping confidences.
Of Loren, Pete also said, “Loren never talked of religion or politics. Our conversations were mostly about food and home.”
New Insights and Information From Peter Hryskanich
As was mentioned before, Pete never had any significant time as a co-pilot on the B-24 before flying with Loren in October 1943. Loren did have several weeks to train the crew in and around Hawaii on short practice missions before they had to launch into repositioning and combat bombing missions across the pacific.
New Insights and Information From Peter Hryskanich
As was mentioned before, Pete never had any significant time as a co-pilot on the B-24 before flying with Loren in October 1943. Loren did have several weeks to train the crew in and around Hawaii on short practice missions before they had to launch into repositioning and combat bombing missions across the pacific.
Rushing Slowed Before the Target
At one point in our interview Pete indicated that Lt. Rushing’s aircraft began to lose oil before the bombing run over Saipan. I had not heard that before and had always either assumed that his aircraft became disabled approaching the target and shortly after.
At one point in our interview Pete indicated that Lt. Rushing’s aircraft began to lose oil before the bombing run over Saipan. I had not heard that before and had always either assumed that his aircraft became disabled approaching the target and shortly after.
At some point, probably after passing the target, Loren made the decision to abandon the previous Naval directive given in the briefing to allow stragglers to fend for themselves, and made an aggressive maneuver back to help Lt. Rushing’s aircraft. Pete indicated that “Cloudy Joe” was on the right wing of the Naval Commander and Loren pulled the aircraft up above the formation and executed a right backwards “S” turn that put “Cloudy Joe” at the back of the formation, even aft of Rushing’s aircraft. After the maneuver they pulled even with Rushing’s right wing and stayed there until “Cloudy Joe’s” damage from the Jap Zero strafing didn’t allow them to keep up.
First Fighters and the Ditching of “Cloudy Joe” “When we were in training we were told that the B- 24 was a good aircraft to ditch in and that about 80% of crews were surviving. After the war we learned the reality was 20% of crews were surviving and 80% were fatal. They lied to us!” (Loren and Pete had mentioned the real weakness in the B-24 during a ditching or water landing was the roll-up Bombay doors that would simply rip off during a ditching and the fuselage of the aircraft would immediately submerge.)
Pete said, “Our first encounter with Jap fighters was on our 13th mission. We had not had any fighter resistance before that.” We asked Pete what was it like to be shot at while you were flying: Pete said, “You really don’t think about it. We just did our jobs and we were trying to keep track of things. I went back to help anyone else who needed help and I went back to see what kind of damage we had, and just told Loren that our left engine was on fire and that pieces of the aircraft were falling off and that we ought to get it down fast. He really pushed the nose of the aircraft down to the point that we were flying nearly 400 MPH and the fire went out. As Loren slowed, the fire re-ignited and I told Loren, after going back and inspecting the engine and wing, we were on fire and we better get it down as soon as possible. In the fire, the hydraulic lines had burned so the flaps were not useable. That meant the aircraft would stall (wings stop flying) at about 120 MPH verses 105 MPH, so our impact on the ocean would be that much more traumatic. About the crash of the “Cloudy Joe” Pete said, “It is hard to know exactly what happened, but it appeared we exploded on impact, or just before impact, and we were launched forward almost like a catapult, probably in part due to our ¼ inch of steel plating that was behind our seats to keep us safe from flack and machine gun or cannon fire. As the aircraft hit the water our steel plates, mine and Loren’s, ripped right out of the aluminum frame of the aircraft due to its weight and I found my self far away from the aircraft when I came up from sinking in my seat, which I was still attached to. When I was in the water, I inflated both sides of my “May West” but only one inflated. I heard what I thought were our ammunition rounds exploding around the aircraft when I realized those Jap bastards were strafing us.
Pete continued, “When I came up and realized what was going on, Loren, and Stan were calling for me. I was the last one in the raft."
Life on the Raft
Pete said about time on the life raft, “We knew that we were a long ways from anywhere and Loren setup a rationing schedule for our water supply. At some point when all of us were distracted or asleep, Ernie, who was suffering from significant internal injuries from the crash and was really wanting water, thought he was sneaking a swig of water but swallowed yellow dye marker. The feeling on the raft after that was we were just about ready to throw him overboard.”
First Fighters and the Ditching of “Cloudy Joe” “When we were in training we were told that the B- 24 was a good aircraft to ditch in and that about 80% of crews were surviving. After the war we learned the reality was 20% of crews were surviving and 80% were fatal. They lied to us!” (Loren and Pete had mentioned the real weakness in the B-24 during a ditching or water landing was the roll-up Bombay doors that would simply rip off during a ditching and the fuselage of the aircraft would immediately submerge.)
Pete said, “Our first encounter with Jap fighters was on our 13th mission. We had not had any fighter resistance before that.” We asked Pete what was it like to be shot at while you were flying: Pete said, “You really don’t think about it. We just did our jobs and we were trying to keep track of things. I went back to help anyone else who needed help and I went back to see what kind of damage we had, and just told Loren that our left engine was on fire and that pieces of the aircraft were falling off and that we ought to get it down fast. He really pushed the nose of the aircraft down to the point that we were flying nearly 400 MPH and the fire went out. As Loren slowed, the fire re-ignited and I told Loren, after going back and inspecting the engine and wing, we were on fire and we better get it down as soon as possible. In the fire, the hydraulic lines had burned so the flaps were not useable. That meant the aircraft would stall (wings stop flying) at about 120 MPH verses 105 MPH, so our impact on the ocean would be that much more traumatic. About the crash of the “Cloudy Joe” Pete said, “It is hard to know exactly what happened, but it appeared we exploded on impact, or just before impact, and we were launched forward almost like a catapult, probably in part due to our ¼ inch of steel plating that was behind our seats to keep us safe from flack and machine gun or cannon fire. As the aircraft hit the water our steel plates, mine and Loren’s, ripped right out of the aluminum frame of the aircraft due to its weight and I found my self far away from the aircraft when I came up from sinking in my seat, which I was still attached to. When I was in the water, I inflated both sides of my “May West” but only one inflated. I heard what I thought were our ammunition rounds exploding around the aircraft when I realized those Jap bastards were strafing us.
Pete continued, “When I came up and realized what was going on, Loren, and Stan were calling for me. I was the last one in the raft."
Life on the Raft
Pete said about time on the life raft, “We knew that we were a long ways from anywhere and Loren setup a rationing schedule for our water supply. At some point when all of us were distracted or asleep, Ernie, who was suffering from significant internal injuries from the crash and was really wanting water, thought he was sneaking a swig of water but swallowed yellow dye marker. The feeling on the raft after that was we were just about ready to throw him overboard.”
Pete continued, “As we had very little rations and we were hungry (not all that hungry as you will see) we noticed that albatross kept diving on the raft. Loren said, “Hand me that paddle.” The oars were designed to be put together which made a long single oar (such as a kayak paddle). The next time the albatross dove on us, Loren hit it with a paddle and killed it. We tried to taste it but it smelled awful and it was very greasy. We were going to throw it overboard when Loren said, “hey, its 1500 miles to China, we may need that bird.” So we hung it up on the small mast and it dried out. The meat was still awful and we ended up each having a bite of the liver, which tasted pretty good.”
Land Legs
Probably the main reason “Cloudy Joe” crew did not attempt to hide out and escape their captors as they approached the island of Saipan, was their need for survival. First, it took the crew a while before they could even walk after being on the life raft for five days, they truly had sea legs. When they first stood up on the beach, they had significant problems with their equilibrium and walking a straight line was impossible. Second, Pete said, “We were in pretty bad shape from the crash.” While having survived the crash, their bodies and probably their psyches had endured significant trauma. As Pete reflected on Mark’s question about their lucidness, he guessed that they were probably “in shock,” even though they were making rational decisions to survive, such as covering up the raft with the blue sheet instead of the yellow sheet when the enemy fighters approached.
Land Legs
Probably the main reason “Cloudy Joe” crew did not attempt to hide out and escape their captors as they approached the island of Saipan, was their need for survival. First, it took the crew a while before they could even walk after being on the life raft for five days, they truly had sea legs. When they first stood up on the beach, they had significant problems with their equilibrium and walking a straight line was impossible. Second, Pete said, “We were in pretty bad shape from the crash.” While having survived the crash, their bodies and probably their psyches had endured significant trauma. As Pete reflected on Mark’s question about their lucidness, he guessed that they were probably “in shock,” even though they were making rational decisions to survive, such as covering up the raft with the blue sheet instead of the yellow sheet when the enemy fighters approached.
Thirdly, “We were doing what we could just to survive,” Pete said. They had no elaborate plans to hide as they were not in the condition to run or hide, and of course, they were carrying Ernie Peshau who eventually died in Ofuna camp.
Treatment by Japanese Civilians in Japan and Gerapan, Saipan
We asked Pete about how he had been treated by the Japanese civilians. He responded something like, “As we went to Omori prison camp, we rode on the train amongst the general public regular passengers. The guards were cruel to them as we got on the train they pushed people aside to make room for them and us. We traveled for quite some time when the train slowed and stopped in the middle of a rice field. The guards opened the door of the train and we got out and followed them on the paths through the rice paddies. They would stop to rest every once and a while when there were people around and they would flirt with the local village girls. While they were distracted, we would make the sign for food by putting our fingers to our mouths to the little children. They thought we were a real novelty. Eventually they would go away and come back and slip part of a potato into our pocket or an onion or a sweet potato. They were very friendly and the local civilian teens and adults would smile at us and the guards would treat them poorly for doing so.
Treatment by Japanese Civilians in Japan and Gerapan, Saipan
We asked Pete about how he had been treated by the Japanese civilians. He responded something like, “As we went to Omori prison camp, we rode on the train amongst the general public regular passengers. The guards were cruel to them as we got on the train they pushed people aside to make room for them and us. We traveled for quite some time when the train slowed and stopped in the middle of a rice field. The guards opened the door of the train and we got out and followed them on the paths through the rice paddies. They would stop to rest every once and a while when there were people around and they would flirt with the local village girls. While they were distracted, we would make the sign for food by putting our fingers to our mouths to the little children. They thought we were a real novelty. Eventually they would go away and come back and slip part of a potato into our pocket or an onion or a sweet potato. They were very friendly and the local civilian teens and adults would smile at us and the guards would treat them poorly for doing so.
Pete reflected on Gerapan, “On Gerapan all of this was different. We were captured and put on display to the public and they would throw rocks at us and poke us with sticks and spit on us. However, while we being treated badly, a woman came up to me and wiped my face and wiped my lips. I will never forget that.”
On Saipan, at Gerapan
About being on Saipan Pete said, approximately, “After being on display in the local village, the Japs separated us and blindfolded us and questioned each one of us. At first we gave them all the Geneva Convention required; name, rank, and serial number. They assured us that this was not adequate and they applied greater pressure over time. The questioning officer spoke excellent English as he had graduated from UCLA before the war. Pete indicated that he had been knocked around a bit but he had not been threatened with beheading as Loren had, and he had not ever heard about that. They asked us if we had done something to confuse the Japanese radar as we approached Saipan. I said no. But we did. As we approached Saipan we threw aluminum strips out of the radar. Our commanders knew that this would confuse their radar which was more basic than ours.”
“The Japs Saved Our Lives”
About being transported off Saipan, Pete said, “After being on Saipan for several days, the Japs blindfolded us and loaded us on an ‘Emily,’ four-engine flying boat, and flew us to Yokohama. They struggled to start one of the engines and finally got it started.
On Saipan, at Gerapan
About being on Saipan Pete said, approximately, “After being on display in the local village, the Japs separated us and blindfolded us and questioned each one of us. At first we gave them all the Geneva Convention required; name, rank, and serial number. They assured us that this was not adequate and they applied greater pressure over time. The questioning officer spoke excellent English as he had graduated from UCLA before the war. Pete indicated that he had been knocked around a bit but he had not been threatened with beheading as Loren had, and he had not ever heard about that. They asked us if we had done something to confuse the Japanese radar as we approached Saipan. I said no. But we did. As we approached Saipan we threw aluminum strips out of the radar. Our commanders knew that this would confuse their radar which was more basic than ours.”
“The Japs Saved Our Lives”
About being transported off Saipan, Pete said, “After being on Saipan for several days, the Japs blindfolded us and loaded us on an ‘Emily,’ four-engine flying boat, and flew us to Yokohama. They struggled to start one of the engines and finally got it started.
However, the engine never sounded right. As we started gaining speed for takeoff in the bay, we bounced and bounced on the choppy water in the bay and finally they aborted the takeoff and came back to inspect the engine. They spent some time working on it but it never seemed to run smoothly. But we went anyway, some eight plus hours to Japan. Come to find out later on, two weeks after we had left Saipan, the Navy bombed Saipan until it was a flat slab. Had we been there we would have died.”
“We were the only four prisoners that we know of on Gerapan.” Pete intimated that he had clues and thoughts that Emilia Earhart had been taken prisoner on Saipan, but could not be sure.
Ofuna
There were about 150 prisoners in Ofuna. “In Ofuna you quickly learned how to count in Japanese as the prisoners were required to sound off 1-100, whatever the number of prisoners was. One day we stood in the rain for eight hours counting off as the new guys learned how to count in Japanese.”
“We were the only four prisoners that we know of on Gerapan.” Pete intimated that he had clues and thoughts that Emilia Earhart had been taken prisoner on Saipan, but could not be sure.
Ofuna
There were about 150 prisoners in Ofuna. “In Ofuna you quickly learned how to count in Japanese as the prisoners were required to sound off 1-100, whatever the number of prisoners was. One day we stood in the rain for eight hours counting off as the new guys learned how to count in Japanese.”
Pete asked us, “Did your Dad ever tell you about the earthquakes?” “No,” we answered. Pete said, “I counted 9-10 earthquakes while we were in Ofuna. Some would be a sharp jolt in the middle of the night and startle you while you were trying to sleep. Others were rolling. One day as we were looking at ducks on a pond near to Ofuna, the water began to slosh back and forth, back and forth and the ducks just rode the sloshing very matter of factly. Eventually the pond sloshing slowed and the earthquake was over.
Pete said, “In about November, 1944, Red Cross boxes appeared and we received some rations. In the boxes were cards meant for us to write home to our families for Christmas. The guards gave us the cards and indicated that we could only write 25 words. We figured out things to say that only we would know so our families would be assured that the cards were from us, such as, “I hope my older brother Johnny is okay, etc.” Then they collected the cards and were to mail them. Several weeks after Christmas we were on a cleaning detail and we did as we usually did went around cleaning but also stealing info from the guard shack such as a newspaper as a couple of Australian officers one named Fitzgerald, had learned to read Japanese, when we found our cards all neatly tied in a bundle stuffed in a shelf. They had never mailed them!
“The burial of Ernie Peschau took place after he had been dead for two weeks in his bed. The prisoners kept asking the guards to do something. Eventually, they brought in a Shinto Priest who accompanied the guards and the body and the prisoners from his crew up to the Shinto shrine up the hill from the prison camp.” Mark asked if Pete “(If he) Remembered the girl, who was there at the funeral, which lasted about 15-20 minutes. But Pete does not remember a girl but a young man, who was the guard accompanying them. Pete was jabbed in the ribs by a guard as he was leaving the funeral because he was not bowing. So, the crew all bowed deeply and backed away.
About their curiosity and confidence in the war effort Pete said, “We often wondered how we were doing in the war and we had optimistic attitudes. But, when we saw the B-29’s flying over we knew we were doing well. That along with stolen newspaper articles that would actually report that “Our valiant Japanese soldiers reluctantly gave up _______ island” helped us know how were doing and boosted our morale.
“After the B-29 raids, the Japs captured some of the crews that had bailed out of their aircraft, poor bastards. The Japs erected a fence in the compound that separated us from the new B-29 crews.
However, we would walk in a circle near the fence and ask them questions in English which the guards would not understand such as, “If we have taken back The Philippines cross your legs. This would help catch us up on the news. The B-29 crews were treated brutally as we would hear them being slammed into walls and punched. The Japs were desperate and they were struggling to eat.”
“The guards at Ofuna were battle hardened troops from various campaigns throughout the Pacific and they were sent to watch us in their battle hardened state so as to not be sympathetic. However, the guards would soon realize that we were not bad guys and would begin to become sympathetic. So, their superiors began changing guards about every three months to weed out sympathizers. Of course while most guards grew sympathetic, there were such characters such as “The Quack” who irritated my wounds which still have scars today.
“We did labor while in camp and we were paid by Mitsubishi each day in the same ceremony. We would line up and they would have us sign our names on a slip that showed we had been paid and then they would stamp our pay slip and give it to us with our money, about 80 cents per day. Then the next morning they would collect all the money from us and pay us again after we worked that day.”
“Sometimes when the guards were drunk at about 10 until midnight, they would have the prisoners come out from their beds and then they would blindfold one of us and give him a stick as kind of pointer. All the while, we were tired and had little energy and we would be saying in our minds, we just want to go back to bed. But, as one person was blindfolded with a stick another would have a pan and would hit it occasionally and it was the job of the blindfolded prisoner to find the one hitting the pan. (Almost like Marco Polo but not in water.)”
“On another occasion, the guards lined up all the officers. Then Japs in lab coats came into the camp and seemed to randomly pick out certain officers and had them step forward. Loren was one of those officers. Then the lab personnel injected each of the selected officers with something then left. For many of the officers the effect was cold or flu like symptoms but for Loren “it knocked him for a loop for two weeks.” He was out of it and had terrible fevers and was delirious and Stan and I cared for him.
(Helen Joe commented that he lost all of his hair on his body during this episode and that it was the reason he lost so much weight compared to others, such as Pete, who went from 195 pounds to 135 pounds, Loren went from 165 to 93 pounds.)
“During Christmas on 1944, the Japs served us something special with our rice bowl; we got a slice of sweet potato at each meal.”
“When President Roosevelt died, the Japs told us of his passing. They treated it solemnly and it was not used to rub in our faces.”
Pete had no knowledge of the rice serving story or the Red Cross boxes being stolen as he was possibly gone to Omori before these took place.
Finally, as the war drew to a close, Pete indicated that the camp commandant told the prisoners that the war was in a “ceasing condition”, and that there would be no further work details and that the prisoners should just stay in their quarters and be quiet.” Later Pete said the prisoners were scared for their safety when the Japs posted a machine gun just outside our camp gate. “We thought they were going to kill a bunch of us."
Pete said, “In about November, 1944, Red Cross boxes appeared and we received some rations. In the boxes were cards meant for us to write home to our families for Christmas. The guards gave us the cards and indicated that we could only write 25 words. We figured out things to say that only we would know so our families would be assured that the cards were from us, such as, “I hope my older brother Johnny is okay, etc.” Then they collected the cards and were to mail them. Several weeks after Christmas we were on a cleaning detail and we did as we usually did went around cleaning but also stealing info from the guard shack such as a newspaper as a couple of Australian officers one named Fitzgerald, had learned to read Japanese, when we found our cards all neatly tied in a bundle stuffed in a shelf. They had never mailed them!
“The burial of Ernie Peschau took place after he had been dead for two weeks in his bed. The prisoners kept asking the guards to do something. Eventually, they brought in a Shinto Priest who accompanied the guards and the body and the prisoners from his crew up to the Shinto shrine up the hill from the prison camp.” Mark asked if Pete “(If he) Remembered the girl, who was there at the funeral, which lasted about 15-20 minutes. But Pete does not remember a girl but a young man, who was the guard accompanying them. Pete was jabbed in the ribs by a guard as he was leaving the funeral because he was not bowing. So, the crew all bowed deeply and backed away.
About their curiosity and confidence in the war effort Pete said, “We often wondered how we were doing in the war and we had optimistic attitudes. But, when we saw the B-29’s flying over we knew we were doing well. That along with stolen newspaper articles that would actually report that “Our valiant Japanese soldiers reluctantly gave up _______ island” helped us know how were doing and boosted our morale.
“After the B-29 raids, the Japs captured some of the crews that had bailed out of their aircraft, poor bastards. The Japs erected a fence in the compound that separated us from the new B-29 crews.
However, we would walk in a circle near the fence and ask them questions in English which the guards would not understand such as, “If we have taken back The Philippines cross your legs. This would help catch us up on the news. The B-29 crews were treated brutally as we would hear them being slammed into walls and punched. The Japs were desperate and they were struggling to eat.”
“The guards at Ofuna were battle hardened troops from various campaigns throughout the Pacific and they were sent to watch us in their battle hardened state so as to not be sympathetic. However, the guards would soon realize that we were not bad guys and would begin to become sympathetic. So, their superiors began changing guards about every three months to weed out sympathizers. Of course while most guards grew sympathetic, there were such characters such as “The Quack” who irritated my wounds which still have scars today.
“We did labor while in camp and we were paid by Mitsubishi each day in the same ceremony. We would line up and they would have us sign our names on a slip that showed we had been paid and then they would stamp our pay slip and give it to us with our money, about 80 cents per day. Then the next morning they would collect all the money from us and pay us again after we worked that day.”
“Sometimes when the guards were drunk at about 10 until midnight, they would have the prisoners come out from their beds and then they would blindfold one of us and give him a stick as kind of pointer. All the while, we were tired and had little energy and we would be saying in our minds, we just want to go back to bed. But, as one person was blindfolded with a stick another would have a pan and would hit it occasionally and it was the job of the blindfolded prisoner to find the one hitting the pan. (Almost like Marco Polo but not in water.)”
“On another occasion, the guards lined up all the officers. Then Japs in lab coats came into the camp and seemed to randomly pick out certain officers and had them step forward. Loren was one of those officers. Then the lab personnel injected each of the selected officers with something then left. For many of the officers the effect was cold or flu like symptoms but for Loren “it knocked him for a loop for two weeks.” He was out of it and had terrible fevers and was delirious and Stan and I cared for him.
(Helen Joe commented that he lost all of his hair on his body during this episode and that it was the reason he lost so much weight compared to others, such as Pete, who went from 195 pounds to 135 pounds, Loren went from 165 to 93 pounds.)
“During Christmas on 1944, the Japs served us something special with our rice bowl; we got a slice of sweet potato at each meal.”
“When President Roosevelt died, the Japs told us of his passing. They treated it solemnly and it was not used to rub in our faces.”
Pete had no knowledge of the rice serving story or the Red Cross boxes being stolen as he was possibly gone to Omori before these took place.
Finally, as the war drew to a close, Pete indicated that the camp commandant told the prisoners that the war was in a “ceasing condition”, and that there would be no further work details and that the prisoners should just stay in their quarters and be quiet.” Later Pete said the prisoners were scared for their safety when the Japs posted a machine gun just outside our camp gate. “We thought they were going to kill a bunch of us."
