[Excerpts] ...

[...]

The Japanese papers from Peking came in to the internees who could afford to subscribe. But more of the paper was missing now because our supervisors even had to censor their own newspapers because they couldn’t afford to let us know that there was so little hope left for them. On the 15th of August we had an early High Mass in the church and we were supposed to go about our duties as usual since the rest of the camp was not celebrating the Assumption of Our Lady.

The feast was on a Wednesday and after the Mass Father DeJaegher came to our room, sat down on somebody’s stool and said he had news.

Japan had fallen.

He had no particulars. He had gotten that from the Chinese through his own methods, one of which was to send letters in tin cans sealed and mixed in with the garbage. Immediately the whole camp was in the highest of spirits.

We could not say anything to the guards, in fact now we felt pity for them instead. The men went to Mr. Izu, our new Commandant but he was powerless since he had no orders, so he left immediately for Tsingtao to find out.

We were still under guard and had to be careful.

The Bamboo Wireless told us that the Americans would be coming on Saturday to free us. We believed that too because it was good to believe it. Now we could start packing perhaps, but in the meantime camp duties still had to be done. Now however, work was a joy.

Friday morning dawned, just another hot morning, but what a difference! We were all walking around on clouds because the “word” was that tomorrow the American Army would arrive.

We all had great faith in the bamboo Wireless, but the Bamboo Wireless had made a slight error this time.

About 10:00 A.M. a plane was flying overhead but at first we made nothing of it since they came often. It came lower and circled and someone shouted, “Its an American plane!”

By that time everyone was outside and shouting and waving up to the plane as it kept circling, coming gradually lower, we were all running back and forth with it. Then it went out westward. A wave of disappointment surged upward until we thought they must have heard us up there. It kept going west about two miles, then the hatch opened and a red, then green, then yellow, five parachutes, the first most of us had ever seen, opened up.

In the sunlight, it was a beautiful sight to behold. The parachutes gradually descended to the ground.

Everybody then pushed to the front gates.

The guards had no orders and they had to hold us back. Two ex-marines pushed them aside saying, “Those are our men out there”, and out the gate westward the crowd hurried, across the fields.

Sr. Eustella and I happened to be together. The guards went along and we followed behind them.

Those who got there first picked up the five men and carried each of them on their shoulders.

The guards looked in wonder at the scene scarcely saying anything. As the men who had gone ahead came back carrying the five rescuers, the Russian ladies pushed forward and threw their arms around them and kissed them over and over.

[excerpt]

Major Stanley A. Staiger was in charge of our liberators.

The seven had volunteered for this special service and at the same time another plane was going up to Korea. The planes were not permitted to land and had to return to base.

Our “rescuers” also included Lieutenant J. Moore, Lieutenant James J. Ray Hanckulak, Stanley Staiger, Tag Nagaki, Jim Moore. Tsingtao, 1945. Hannon of San Francisco, Sergeant Ray Hanchalek, Corporal P. Orlick of New York, Sergeant Nagochi and Edward Wang from Peking.

The last two were brought along principally for interpreting.

The plane had left Kunming on Thursday and stopped at Sian where they spent the night. Then were on their way again at 5:00 A.M. It was a distance of 600 miles from Sian to Weihsien and they made it at 10:00 A.M. The plane was a B-24, equipped with eight, fifty caliber machine guns in case the Japanese would fire back, but the sixteen bomb racks were loaded with twenty-five parcels which were dropped with the men and carried back to camp.

Major Staiger asked someone to free him from the Russian women because he had work to do.

Most likely he was a little worried about the outcome the confrontation with the camp officials.

He was led to the Commandant’s office, where Mr. Izu laid his gun on the desk before him, a sign of surrender.

From then on, we were under American rule, but we did not realize the difficulty outside. The Communist guerillas had blown up all the bridges and there was the tough problem of getting us out of the camp. We didn’t think that day that we would have to stay over a month. But even so that was a very different month from those other twenty nine months.

We were introduced to our rescue crew, however those first few days there was little chance to talk to them. The girls managed to relieve them of all badges or buttons as these were prize souvenirs. The boys were willing to give them away good naturedly.

The latest Japanese newspaper had said ninety American bombers flew over Nagasaki and Hiroshima and destroyed both cities completely.

We had no idea it was one bomb until Major Staiger told us. They put up radios on the grounds with loud speakers. What a thrill it was to hear people speaking from the States and from England again! There were about four amplifiers and at news time people would gather round them because now we had news other than the Bamboo Wireless, this was plain fact.

[further reading]


http://www.weihsien-paintings.org/books/Servatia/Servatia(WEB).pdf

#