May 8, 1918 - January 25, 2011
It was getting dark and starting to rain when I left the town riding on the back of the carabao pulling the sled. At last it became pitch-dark and only the lightning lit the trail on the rice paddies. All of a sudden the carabao pitched … [Continue reading]
After we had located our campsite near a family that had a water pump, I started carrying from town on my back pieces of lumber, burned G.I. sheets, and sawali (soft bamboo slats). We had no nails, only copper from burned electric wire for … [Continue reading]
When the Japs occupying our house and the nearby houses left towards Kiañgan (where they made their last stand before surrendering), we were the only family left in the “ghost town” of Bayombong; me, Pat, Tony, Betty, and Rudy. The Jap garrison … [Continue reading]
Around the latter part of December, 1944, even before the appearance of the U.S. planes above the town, we witnessed the almost daily execution of innocent civilians, men, women, and children, back of the Elementary School Building, which was … [Continue reading]
After the appearance of U.S. planes on Rizal Day, there were tense feelings in town, with rumors that the Americans were very near. Then one early morning a group of men led by a Jap soldier and Constabulary soldiers stopped in front of our … [Continue reading]
Major Susuki, the Battalion Commander, was very kind to us. He gave our kids biscuits and shared his food with us. He said that he had a bicycle store in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, before the war. All the time he was a Jap spy in the … [Continue reading]