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Show Remember Japanese Brutality When Settling Our Accounts Here is an item for Americans to remember when the time comes to settle accounts with the Japs. A few months ago when Japanese Japa-nese expected American forces in the Philippines, they decided to transfer prisoners of war to Japan. Jap-an. One ship which had brought supplies to the island, started on the voyage home with 750 survivors surviv-ors of Bataan packed beneatht the hatches. On the way, the Japanese" ship was hit by an America torpedo. Only 82 Americans escaped and they have given an account of Japanese Jap-anese brutality. Captain Fred J. Gallagher, who served under General Wainwright in the Philippines, describes how the men rode for 19 days and 18 nights, packed shoulder to shoulder shoul-der in the holds of the "stinking ship" until its sinking. Lieut. Harvey Benson of Grainger, Grain-ger, Texas, who served at Corregi-dor, Corregi-dor, says that 500 men were "put naked into the forward hold, measuring meas-uring about 50 by 40 feet." Every time there was an alert, the hatch covers were closed and one time the men went 13 hours without fresh air. When the ship was finally fin-ally sunk, "it was seen that 140 men had perished." Finallv. on the 19th day, the men heard a shot from a heavy caliber gun and found themselves in the water. They "were greeted by machine-gun fire from every ship in the Jap convoy who had lowered their boats to take up Jap survivors. When the pistols of the Japs in the boats failed, they then used bayonets on the boys. Only the darkness saved those who managed during the night to reach shore." |