Tales from Bataan

Irrepressible American humor bubbled up out of the Jap-infested bamboo jungles of Bataan Peninsula last week. It had broad sweeps of satire, muted undertones of tragedy.

Plane-hungry U.S. and Filipino troops under General Douglas MacArthur adopted a slogan: "Better buy one bomber than be buried on Bataan." They agreed to contribute as much as a month's pay per man to a "Bomber for Bataan" fund.

When news came through of the Japanese submarine attack near Santa Barbara, the grapevine telegraph slyly tapped out a suggestion: "General MacArthur should send a message to the commanding general of the Ninth Corps Area [which includes "air-raided" Los Angeles-- see p. 14] saying: 'If you can hold out for 30 days, will send help.' "

There were so many false reports of U.S. reinforcements arriving that Bataan's defenders swapped one cup of coffee for one fresh rumor. Fruits and vegetables were so infrequently on the menu that the No. 1 bull-session topic (lovely women back home) was displaced by elaborate descriptions of meals the men would order once the Jap was driven out of the Philippines.

As thick as the rumors, as commonplace to the men as their daily rations, were the heroes among them and the stories of their exploits:

> It seemed certain that Lieut. Roland G. Sauinier would get a medal soon, or that the infuriated Jap would sacrifice scores of men to kill him. Bullets so far have nicked Sauinier "on the bottom of an elbow" and have "clipped holes" in his pants. Undismayed, the Lieutenant breaks the daily monotony by shouting across foxholes and trenches, in his broad French-Canadian accent:

"Hey, you damned Japanese, come on over here." Invariably a frustrated, fuzzy -tongued voice answers: " --you, Fuwren-chee."

> In the hospital is tall, boyish Edward Archie Mclntosh, who cleaned out a Jap machine-gun nest after his own scouting party had been wiped out and he himself had been horribly wounded in the right leg. Although he is cheerful and chipper, his friends reported that his main worry now is whether "my girl will like a fellow with only one leg."

> Most colorful of the Bataan defenders is the all-American 31st Infantry, under leathery Colonel Charles L. Steel. Of all Colonel Steel's "Foreign Legion characters," the men reserved a top place for 2nd Lieutenant John Flynn, recently commissioned after 33 years of Army service. A sad-eyed Mr. Chips, Flynn delights his men by mixing tobacco juice and contempt for Jap marksmanship on scouting trips into the brush.

> Other particularly able scouts are American Indians in the 31st. One is Corporal Peter Flame, a 200-pound Yuma, Ariz, former football player and champion boxer, who bashfully hangs his head when reporting another sniper potted. Another is tall, lean Joe Longknife from a Montana reservation. On a recent raid he rose up out of tall grass, killed ten Japs with 16 shots, dispersed the rest with hand grenades. When he was a youngster Joe listened to tales of raiding parties told him by his father. Old Longknife, and his grandfather, Old Old Longknife.

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