Photo: Leonard Owczarzak 21st Birthday Cebu, Phillipines, July 1945.
(Photo courtesy of Liz Owczarzak)
It
took almost a week to convince the six to seven thousand Japanese on Cebu
that the war was really over.
Contributed by Leonard M. Owczarzak
In the later part of July, 1945, our unit, the 746th Gun Battalion of the
Americal Division, was engaged in patrolling and manning road blocks in
the north and north central part of Cebu Island in the Philippines.
The seven to eight thousand Japanese who had survived the initial battle
for the island, which began in April, 1945, were engaged in a game of hide
and seek, seeking to elude American forces which were attempting to corner
or capture them. They were still a potent force capable of extracting high
casualties on anyone they came in contact with. Even after the war ended,
Japanese servicemen had held high hopes to the very end that their government
would come to their rescue and evacuate them from the island.
In the later part of July 1945, we were told by our commanders that we would
soon be given amphibious training for the planned invasion of the Japanese
homeland. We already had received new tracked vehicles that were to pull
our new 120mm anti-aircraft guns that had been delivered to the docks of
Cebu City.
Our original unit had been at Pearl Harbor and had experienced the Japanese
attack. The majority of us now had almost 30 months of overseas duty, and
had earned several battlestars in our journey across the South Pacific,
the Solomon Islands, and the Philippines. We were aware of the heavy bombings
of Japan by the B-29's, and that we were approaching the final phases of
the struggle, but were completely unaware of the atom bomb, what it was,
or what it could do.
The day the Japanese announced their surrender, we first heard ships in
Cebu City harbor firing their guns and sending rockets up into the evening
sky. When all the local churches started to ring their bells, we then knew
something important was happening. Our first sergeant went through our area
announcing that the Japanese had accepted the surrender terms.
Our first reaction was overwhelming joy at the thought of not having to
be involved in the invasion of Japan and the knowledge of our being able
to return to our loved ones, after serving our country thousands of miles
form our homes for almost two and a half years.
It took almost a week to convince the six to seven thousand Japanese on
Cebu that the war was really over. They had to be provided with radio communication
to hear their Emperor declare it was so.
There were some very delicate arrangements that had to be made by the commanding
general of the Americal Division to specify where the surrendering Japanese
troops were to appear and bring along their weapons.
When this was arranged, the Americal Division left the island for occupation
duty of Japan. A section of our unit was given the task of collecting the
weapons the surrendering Japanese troops were bringing in, then searching
the troops for any hidden weapons, papers, money, etc., after which they
were loaded on trucks for transportation to the base's P.O.W. camp, several
miles south of Cebu City.
Battery D was given the assignment of running the P.O.W. camp. Newly arriving
Japanese prisoners were given the opportunity of showering, given clean
clothing, assigned a tent, and issued cots and blankets. Medical treatment
was also provided.
Photo: Members of Battery D, 746th AAA Gun Battalion, Americal Division
Base "S" P.O.W. Camp, Tabunoc, Cebu, Philippine Islands, September
1945. Leonard Owczarzak bottom left (Photo courtesy of Liz Owczarzak)
They were then given a hot meal, prepared by their own cooks. They were
given orientation talks as to what the camp rules were and what their duties
would be. They were not required to work, but could volunteer to work loading
ships at the Cebu City docks, for which they would be paid a small salary.
They were advised as to when they might be expected to return to their homes
in Japan.
The camp usually had a population of nearly 2,000 to 2,500 prisoners at
a time. We never experienced any problems with the prisoners. No one tried
to escape; they seemed to be very happy that the war was over and that they
were going home. We had one incident where a Japanese officer was attempting
to force fellow prisoners to perform close order military drill, but our
commanding officer reminded him that the war was over and only physical
exercises, "calisthenics," would be allowed.
Photo: Base "S" P.O.W. Camp, Cebu, Philippines Sept. 1945 Japanese
prisoner, Nabuhiko Kishi. Back of photo at left. (Photo courtesy of
Liz Owczarzak)
While on duty as Corporal of the Guard one day, I had a very interesting
experience with one of the Japanese officers. As I was checking the barbed
wire fencing around the camp, an officer came out of his nearby tent and
motioned to me that he wanted to talk. I cautiously approached the fence
near to where he was standing and asked him what he wanted. To my surprise
he answered in perfect English, "Could I have a cigarette?" I
said yes, but told him I would give him a whole pack for his naval belt
buckle that he was wearing. He agreed and the exchange was made; another
souvenir for my collection. When I questioned him about his excellent English,
he said he had studied at U.C.L.A. in California during the early 1940s.
He returned home in early 1941 to visit his parents in Tokyo. A few days
after returning home, there was a knock at his door. Several Japanese officers
standing there advised him that because of his studies in the United States
and his knowledge of English, the Emperor desired his services. The prisoner
further explained that there was no choice about accepting, especially when
one officer made a gesture of drawing a knife across his throat if he refused!
He then questioned me about where our group had been located while the fighting
was still in progress on Cebu Island. I described our road block position
near a bridge in the very northernmost part of the island. To my surprise
he took a stick and, in the dust at his feet, drew an exact sketch of our
road block position, our patrol activities and even the number of G.I.'s
at the location. When I asked him how he could possibly know all of this,
he coolly remarked, "We were dug in on the next ridge of hills, watching
you!" I then inquired why they hadn't attacked or even fired on us.
He said, "We knew we were outnumbered, and if we had fired on you,
we would have divulged our position. We still had hopes of our government
sending reinforcements or evacuating us."
When most of the Japanese troops had been processed for their return home,
our group was loaded aboard L.S.T. ships and taken to Tacloban, Leyte. We
disposed of all of our equipment there and were processed for our return
to the U.S.
On December 17, 1945, we boarded the U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson for our trip
back to the Golden Gate and San Francisco. A very happy group of G.I.'s
arrived in San Francisco on January 2, 1946, ready and willing to resume
civilian life again, thanking God again and again for allowing us to arrive
home "safe and sound."
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