May 8, 1918 - January 25, 2011
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]
DECISION TO RISK IT IN TOWN With our children crying for food when we woke up, and without any food that we brought with us, I was able to convince Pat that we should return and stay in the house we left in town, where our food supplies of rice … [Continue reading]
EVACUATION Immediately Bayombong became a ghost town, with the Priest and the Governor leading the people across the creek west of the town into the rice fields of Barrio Apad where they evacuated. The Bayabos family fled across the river to … [Continue reading]