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Post by faabala on Sept 20, 2006 20:05:54 GMT -5
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Post by VeeVee on Sept 20, 2006 20:34:41 GMT -5
Thanks for the pics Dave. I meant to email you about the forum but I keep forgetting.
Did your mother-in-law's brother tell you any interesting war stories?
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Post by faabala on Sept 21, 2006 10:14:27 GMT -5
Not too much. He did state they had old French 75s and a lot of the shell were duds. He was only armed with a .45 auto which he threw in a river before surrendering. He promised to take me to Bataan next time I get over there. I am happy to say he is getting his full pension and benefits from the US govt.
My Mother-in-law has some sad stories. Her village in Neuvo Ecija was occupied. They shot the school teacher, killed many people, killed babies by dashing them against walls or catching them on bayonets and forced the whole village to stand for hours in the town square at attention because they were helping the guerillas. The whole village took to the hills after that. She had to live in the bundocs for two years. She remembers having to flee thier hideout with her mother carrying only a basket of rice and she carried her pet cat when the Japanese patrols got too close. She was only 8 years old. They would start gardens in the jungle and grow camotes and such. Certain things will bring up those memories and other stories from time to time. She still doesn't like the japanese too much.
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Post by VeeVee on Sept 21, 2006 12:07:52 GMT -5
My dad's family lived in Negros island during the war. My grandfather was a professor at Siliman University. They fled to the hills when the Japanese came to the island. They raised gardens and livestock and lived a relatively safe but primitive life.
The Japanese pretty much stayed around the coastal towns and didn't venture too far inland for fear of guerrillas. However every once in a while they would send patrols out into the hills and my dad's family would hide out. The Japanese confiscated food and livestock but never harmed them.
Near the end of the war, there was a japanese patrol that did massacre civilians living out in the hills. My dad's family lucked out because this patrol took the other fork in the path and didn't end up in their settlement.
My dad's family would also get stricken by malaria but my grandma who was a nurse had a stash of quinine. This lasted for a while but eventually ran out. However by the time it ran out, there were already frequent visit by US submarines secretly unloading arms and medicine. Word would get around and my grandparents would be able to barter food for medicine.
I'm just happy to be living a life here and now, instead of then!
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Post by yamota on Sept 21, 2006 13:39:55 GMT -5
But sometimes I do wonder what I would have done if I had been alive back then.
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Post by legionnaire on Sept 21, 2006 15:02:23 GMT -5
Great pics! I like the third from the bottom. Classic early war period. Thanks for posting these pics and telling your parents story.
It really is sad to hear those atrocities and war crimes during the Japanese occupation. My parents and relatives went through that in Manila for 3 years. That's why I cannot see my self doing a Japanese reenactment or impression.
Philip
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Post by faabala on Sept 27, 2006 16:07:49 GMT -5
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Post by VeeVee on Sept 27, 2006 20:43:28 GMT -5
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Post by faabala on Sept 28, 2006 7:02:15 GMT -5
That is an excellent site. I've found alot fo good photos there. I wish I could afford quality prints of them.
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