In the early days of June, 1945, we could hear the death roar of artillery shells, mortar shells, bombs, and unending staccato of gunfire west of Barrio Apad where the holed-in Japs were mercilessly pounded by liberating American forces following the landing of Gen. MacArthur in Leyte on October 20, 1944.
The Japanese were pushed northward to the mountains of Northern Luzon up to Balete Pass (now Dolton Pass) between Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya province, where they made their last organized stand. That place became deforested, exposing lots of caves and dugouts where the Japs hid themselves.
One day I ventured back to town, when I noticed that the planes did not come around.
To my big surprise I saw unarmed Jap soldiers walking like zombies, without spirit and as though in a trance. They looked exhausted, hungry, fatigued, sick, and on the verge of death, emaciated!
One by one they fell by the wayside unconscious or dead, or unable to go further.
Several push carts manned by stronger soldiers followed them loaded with dead or dying soldiers picked up from the road. They were piled one on top of the other. The push carts came all the way from Manila, as could be seen by their marks.
There was a continuous flow of these hundreds of walking zombies as though walking in their sleep or walking dead persons.
I was reminded of the Bataan Death March, of which I am a survivor, and said to myself: “This is the ‘vengeance’ that God imposed upon them.”
They died by the hundreds and thousands that way without any “Guards” bayoneting or gunning them or clubbing them or firing at them.
The Bible says: “Vengeance is mine.” Praise the Lord!
Those that were not picked up by the push cart along the sidewalk had holes through their head when I saw them later on. The holes could have been inflicted by their fellow Japs or the guerillas that entered Bayombong ahead of the U.S. armed soldiers and tanks.
Reading his memories of his experiences during the war is something that makes me appreciate that I did not experience war in my lifetime. I also realize that he is a good writer. Thanks for doing this anak.