American Valor Quarterly Issue 6 - Spring/Summer 2009 | Page 22

The Will to Live On
Life in a P.O.W. Camp During WWII
By Herbert W. Schroer
Herbert W. Schroer joined the U.S. Army on May 10, 1941 in
Portland, Oregon, a healthy man standing five-feet eight-inches
tall and 165 pounds. He was stationed on the island fortress of
Corregidor in the Philippines when it was surrendered to the
Japanese on May 6, 1942. His story that follows begins after almost
two years of imprisonment, where he was being sent to work camp
nicknamed a “yasumi camp” (the word “yasumi” meaning “rest”
in Japanese). His experience, however, would involve very little in
the way of rest.
On April 20, 1944, the Japs had a big shakeup. There were too many
sick, according to the Japs, so they sorted off the weaker ones. I
was among them. They sorted off 100 weaklings, although some
of the sickest stayed. I think it was one industrialist trading horses
with another industrialist. Anyhow, the Japs did the sorting, told
us we were going to a “yasumi camp.” Of course, we were used to
their jokes by this time.

American and Filipino prisoners of war just outside of the Malinta
Tunnel on Corregidor. The tunnel served as the headquarters of the
U.S. military and the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines during the battles for Bataan and Corregidor. The island was
dubbed the “Gibraltar of the East,” due to its strategic location at the
mouth of Manila Bay and massive fortifications. Allied forces would
retake the island on February 26, 1945.

We were loaded on a train a few miles from there. We were on this
train about 20 hours. Then we arrived in Aomi, Honshu. I think
this left 225 men at Tanagawa Prison Camp, so we lost about 65
men in this 17-month period. When you leave a camp like this, you
never hear from it again.
However, there were still a few scissors and a few sharp mess kit
knives around. So on “yasumi” days, if we weren’t too sick, we’d
This new camp was a lot farther north. When we got there we cut each other’s hair and quite often shaved our heads at the same
could see a lot of evidence of snow. It had just melted. We were time. Soap was also a very scarce item. We probably got sheared
hiked the usual 3 miles or so to camp. When we got there, we were once every three months or so.
“welcomed” by about 450 Englishmen. They had been captured at
Singapore. They had been there about one year. There were 550 to This Limey camp we had been sent to worked at a rock quarry and
start, but they had lost 100 men. “Limeys” we always called them; smelting furnace to make iron. They told us it was low-grade iron
they even liked that name. There were a few Australians, a couple ore. The Japanese sorted out the largest and strongest men for the
from New Zealand, the rest from Ireland, Scotland and England. furnaces. I was too weak so I wound up in the quarry.
At first we had problems understanding them; but if they talked
slower we could understand them a lot easier than the Japs. They Well, it was spring and things went along quite well for awhile. My
had three officers, one was a minister and two were line officers. beriberi was bad, swelling mostly. Seemed as though my kidneys
They also had one older American Navy doctor. I never did hear didn’t work when I was up walking around, then at night when I
where they got him. He was probably about 65 years old and too lay down I had to get up to urinate every 45 minutes. Either my
feeble to take care of the sick cases. The minister was also in bad bladder was inflamed or it would not stretch. I didn’t think it held
shape, with legs swollen with beriberi, but between them they tried a cup full of urine. In the daytime I just didn’t urinate.
to run the M.I. room, where they checked on the sick and injured.
Well, about July of 1944, we heard we were getting in more men,
Hair cuts and shaves were hard to come by. The Japs made no Americans this time. Among them were four medical men – one
provisions. Hair clippers, scissors, razors, even pocket knives were doctor, Captain Marvin I. Pizer, and three corpsman. These
taboo. Even pencils and paper were out. Every so often they had a Americans were in very good shape, at least they sure looked good
shake-down inspection. That meant you carried all your possessions to us. However, they had never been in a real work camp before.
out in the yard and displayed it. One bunch of guards went through it They even talked of getting an occasional Red Cross box in the
while another bunch went through the barracks looking for anything Philippines, which was unheard of to us at this time.
left. If they saw anything they wanted or was illegal, they just took
it. On top of that, you probably would get hit over the head for it. It wasn’t long after Dr. Pizer arrived, that I got pneumonia again. I
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