Pics from Pacific

[Rifleman]

I got me one of them scanners and thought I would share some of the pics my grandfather took during WWII. These were taken after the war had ended, at this time they were running Prision Camp "X". Had war trials taken place the stars of camp X would have taken center stage...never happened. It's a long story, but one day I'll post the story here.

#1. Looking for Jap hold-outs.
#2. Found one, he is in the hold covered with blankets for his protection. More on that later.
#3. The back reads "Slaughter and the Monkey." This Slaughter guy always had a critter take to him. Also have pics of him with a racoon that adopted him in the Tn Mt area.

[Rifleman]

Three more,

the first is Lt. Olson, they were good friends after the war.

#2. Grandpa was 30 when he was drafted, this is one of the kids he kept straight.

#3. Jap POW "armed" with a screw driver.

If you are a baseball fan keep your eyes pealed, his battalion had one heck of a team. The General would come by and say, Joe, we are gonna get up Early tomorrow afternoon...hint, hint.

Back to #3. The pow camp always kept the guns in the towers facing out, the local population was hungry for flesh and blood...revenge.

[taiaha]

Good pics, thanks for sharing. Where exactly in the Pacific is this Camp X?

[Annihilator9112]

Thanks for sharing, those are good pics. i like the 5th pic.

[JQ24]

Haha I love the one with the monkey. Thanks for sharing these pics!

[Rifleman]

Check back tonight and I will go into Camp X in more detail....I'll go into everything in more detail. I know you want to see tanks and guns and destruction...check back. Being older than most he knew he was living history and took hundred of pics.

[Rifleman]

This is Uncles Dawson, Elmer and Lee. Dawson was in D.C., Elmer hunted subs in the North Atlantic, after things got slow he also went to D.C. Lee flew Jugs (P-47) over Europe. At this time my Grandfather was serving under a guy named Patton.

[Rifleman]

He was sent back to the States (Ft. Knox) to teach Infantry how to maneuver with tanks. The U.S. had had a few problems with that early in the war. My grandfather is pictured in the middle, playing the part of German.

[Rifleman]

Here is the racoon mentioned above, Camp Carson, Colo and a good sign (heading west from San Fran) that your are not going to Europe. They were going to a place called Eniwetok, after that they went to Pearl Harbor for a pretty long stay, then fell in with an armada in Ulithi bound for the Philippine islands.

[Rifleman]

The pictures below were all taken in Manila. These are the Government buildings and the area that looks like a fort is the walled city.

Now, about Camp X, it was set up on a dump outside Manila and was to hold 2,000 detainees, both soldiers and civilians. There was a special place for the War crimes Japanese, they had to be protected, the Japanese had been brutal to the Filipinos and the locals wanted payback. I mentioned the guns all faced out, the locals would shoot the tents up often and the men in the towers would encourage them to leave.

The top Japanese officers and civilian leaders were not all that, they wrote a plea, in their own blood on a Japanese flag begging for leniency. Lt. McEwen, who received the flag, advised them someone of higher rank would make the call on that. General Plank arrived and ordered that all prisoners be put to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Hall of Fame Pitcher Early Wynn and Joe Garagiola who made a name for himself in the 1946 World Series (also was host of the Today Show) were also guards there. Told you thay had a dang good baseball team.

As to how the camp was ran, The officers found the biggest, strongest Sgt in the Tank Battalion and he was made Camp Commander...he ran the place. Let me make that clear, the Camp Commander of Prision Camp X, Manila. Camp X were the worst Japanese War Criminal from all areas in the western pacific, AFWESPAC, was a NCO!

When General Plank was informed he, after a few minutes of pacing, simply said "He will have the authority of choosing his own staff." If a POW misbehaved the Camp Commander imposed the appropriate pentenance which was to stand in the center of the camp with a sign around his neck declaring what he had done. Once the prisoner overcame his sinfull pride and issued an apology (sometimes it took a while) all was good.

There was not one escape attempt, they played baseball with the GI's, worked beside the GI's (armed with screw drivers) and insisted on bowing when the young NCO walked by.

Then one day the order came to shut down and put them on a ship that would take the home. They spent a few more months clearing the jungles around Manila. When that was done all the tanks, ducks, jeeps, etc; were loaded on Escort carriers and dropped into the gulf.

[Scrim]

Great post. Thanks for taking the time. Great history in those pictures.

[Quack of Doom]

Great post. Thanks for taking the time. Great history in those pictures.
x2, really nive history you've got here. Thanks for posting this!