Cabanatuan
"We'll all be back by Christmas Day
We'll see the lights of Old Broadway
Until then a song of cheer will pay
Happy days will come again"
- Prisoners of Cabanatuan, 1943
After their "stop" at Camp O'Donnell, many prisoners were sent to Cabanatuan in the June of 1942. Others went to Clark Field Concentration Camp, the Bilibid Prison, many other camps and prisons in the Philippines and Japan. This was to be their "home" for the rest of the war. The Allied soldiers were split into two parts of the prison, Filipinos on one side, the Americans and various European nationalities on the other. No matter which side of the camp they were on, they were both treated and punished the same way.
The so-called hospital, or the Zero Ward, was so full and the patients so ill with tropical illnesses that it became a holding place for the dead and dying. One part of it became the Zero-Zero Ward, for those that the doctors were certain to die. Tommie Thomas and Armando Trujillo were two of the many Americans in the Zero-Zero Ward. Both men had severe cases of diphtheria and for two days, they spent their time comforting each other all the while making their peace with themselves. After that period of time, it was Thomas' turn to get medicine, but instead, he gave the medicine to Trujillo. Sure that he was going to die, Thomas went back to his bed and waited to die. But the next day, he recovered. Not even the prison's doctor, Ralph Hibbs could explain how it happened. Though miraculous, barely anyone else was able to recover. Many died and the rest were still suffering.
A complex underground smuggling system of food, information, and medicines soon developed within the camp. Guerillas, soldiers, spies, and civilians from the outside supplied their comrades with whatever they could. Claire Phillips was one of many smugglers. Known as Madame Tsubaki outside the prison fences and High Pockets, Claire Phillips was an American spy who smuggled food and medicine to those inside the fences. She retrieved vital pieces of information from Japanese officers who came into her club, Club Tsubaki, by getting them drunk and flirting with them. She was discovered to be a spy and smuggler by the Japanese on May 23, 1944. Though she was tortured and imprisoned, she survived the rest of the war.
The treatment they received varied among the prison guards they were assigned to. Some treated the prisoners with respect or even sneak food in for them, but many of them abused them, beat them, or even killed them for fun.The Japanese split them all into groups of ten. The reason behind this was motivation not to escape. If a prisoner attempted or successfully escaped, the rest of his group would be executed in whatever manner they saw fit for the situation.
The prisoners soon decided that if they were going to be in Cabanatuan for the rest of the war, they were going to make it their home as much as possible. A small cafe was opened, music was played by a small band comprised of prisoners, POWs made up different activities to do during their spare time. Once, when Japanese soldiers needed a certain type of medicine for a disease that they contracted one night, some resident pranksters decided to give them fake pills. These were the good days at Cabanatuan. It was as if they had begun a new life there. But the good days within the walls of Cabanatuan were soon to be a distant memory.
In late 1944, the most able bodied men and the healthiest men were sent to work in Japanese industries on what they would call "hellships". The men still imprisoned inside Cabanatuan bid their farewells to their comrades, some of which would be their last to them. One by one, the strong were taken and the weak were left behind until only 500 men remained.
We'll see the lights of Old Broadway
Until then a song of cheer will pay
Happy days will come again"
- Prisoners of Cabanatuan, 1943
After their "stop" at Camp O'Donnell, many prisoners were sent to Cabanatuan in the June of 1942. Others went to Clark Field Concentration Camp, the Bilibid Prison, many other camps and prisons in the Philippines and Japan. This was to be their "home" for the rest of the war. The Allied soldiers were split into two parts of the prison, Filipinos on one side, the Americans and various European nationalities on the other. No matter which side of the camp they were on, they were both treated and punished the same way.
The so-called hospital, or the Zero Ward, was so full and the patients so ill with tropical illnesses that it became a holding place for the dead and dying. One part of it became the Zero-Zero Ward, for those that the doctors were certain to die. Tommie Thomas and Armando Trujillo were two of the many Americans in the Zero-Zero Ward. Both men had severe cases of diphtheria and for two days, they spent their time comforting each other all the while making their peace with themselves. After that period of time, it was Thomas' turn to get medicine, but instead, he gave the medicine to Trujillo. Sure that he was going to die, Thomas went back to his bed and waited to die. But the next day, he recovered. Not even the prison's doctor, Ralph Hibbs could explain how it happened. Though miraculous, barely anyone else was able to recover. Many died and the rest were still suffering.
A complex underground smuggling system of food, information, and medicines soon developed within the camp. Guerillas, soldiers, spies, and civilians from the outside supplied their comrades with whatever they could. Claire Phillips was one of many smugglers. Known as Madame Tsubaki outside the prison fences and High Pockets, Claire Phillips was an American spy who smuggled food and medicine to those inside the fences. She retrieved vital pieces of information from Japanese officers who came into her club, Club Tsubaki, by getting them drunk and flirting with them. She was discovered to be a spy and smuggler by the Japanese on May 23, 1944. Though she was tortured and imprisoned, she survived the rest of the war.
The treatment they received varied among the prison guards they were assigned to. Some treated the prisoners with respect or even sneak food in for them, but many of them abused them, beat them, or even killed them for fun.The Japanese split them all into groups of ten. The reason behind this was motivation not to escape. If a prisoner attempted or successfully escaped, the rest of his group would be executed in whatever manner they saw fit for the situation.
The prisoners soon decided that if they were going to be in Cabanatuan for the rest of the war, they were going to make it their home as much as possible. A small cafe was opened, music was played by a small band comprised of prisoners, POWs made up different activities to do during their spare time. Once, when Japanese soldiers needed a certain type of medicine for a disease that they contracted one night, some resident pranksters decided to give them fake pills. These were the good days at Cabanatuan. It was as if they had begun a new life there. But the good days within the walls of Cabanatuan were soon to be a distant memory.
In late 1944, the most able bodied men and the healthiest men were sent to work in Japanese industries on what they would call "hellships". The men still imprisoned inside Cabanatuan bid their farewells to their comrades, some of which would be their last to them. One by one, the strong were taken and the weak were left behind until only 500 men remained.
For three long years, the Allied POWs were imprisoned in Cabanatuan. Many of the prisoners were either dead or in Japan. All that was left behind was 500 men. Men who survived three long years of torture, starvation, and misery. Men who thought that they were forgotten. But liberation was soon to come, in the form of Colonel Mucci and his group of guerillas and soldiers.