-2-   began to drop off and by the spring of 1943 was down to practically normal proportions. Also in December 1942 the Japanese began paying the officers and medical personnel effective from August 1942 but credited most of the pay to Postal Saving Accounts. This pay, however, did much to improve the food situation as a commissary had been started which was able to get various food items and tobacco for sale to the prisoners. The arrival of this Red Cross food and the granting of pay saved many lives as many were dying daily of malnutrition alone due to the discouraging outlook of a slow death by starvation.  I was discharged from the hospital section in April of 1943 although my general condition was still very poor. The Japanese made every effort to keep the number hospitalized to a fixed maximum and physical condition was not necessarily the determining factor to whether a prisoner was marked duty or carried in the hospital.  The prisoners were operating a farm as part of the camp and upon my return to duty status I found myself assigned to work detail on the farm. My health soon broke down again as I had not fully recovered from my prior illness. The Japanese guards on the farm detail took unusual delight in beating prisoners whenever an opportunity offered. Many were seriously injured; although the crops of this farm were theoretically for the POW camp very little found its way to our messes. Most of the vegetables were shipped out of camp by truck. When we did get vegetables from the farm it was after they had become tough or rotten in most cases.  During the Christmas of 1943 and early spring of 1944 we received our second lot of Red Cross boxes amounting to two and a fraction boxes but no bulk food this time. A few clothes and enough shoes for the majority of the camp were issued at this time also. The additional food was most welcome as the amount issued by the Japanese was steadily decreasing. From this time on I steadily lost weight and never again approached my normal weight while a prisoner of war.  About February 1944 I was detailed as part of a large detail from the Cabanatuan camp to work on the Cabanatuan airport nearby. We had about 500 men daily working at leveling and constructing a 1500 meter runway using primitive homemade shovels, picks and wheel barrows. The treatment of the workers at this project by the Japanese was good for a change as the Japanese supervisor was very anxious to get as much work done as possible. This work went on until summer when I was shifted again to work on the farm.  In August of 1944 while working in his private garden within the prisoner compound 2nd Lt. Robert Huffcutt, Signal Corps was killed by rifle fire by one of the boundary guards on the pretext that had gone beyond the boundary line. It was a case of deliberate murder. First Lt. Toshino, JIA was the officer of the day when this incident took place as I believe the Japanese major in command of the camp was away at the time.  While I was working on the farm weeding rice paddies on Sept. 21, 1944, we saw our first American planes since the surrender. Scores of carrier based planes appeared over the mountains to the east and proceeded to the vicinity of Clark Field and the Manila area. Needless to say the Japanese did not send us back to the farm that afternoon. Our morale jumped up a thousand percent.  By this time outgoing drafts for Japan began to leave at frequent intervals. The Japanese were cleaning our Cabanatuan except for cripples and seriously sick. On October 12th I was part of the draft which was sent to Bilibid Prison in Manila by truck. We arrived during an air alert period and found that the place was empty except for the permanent overhead and sick. A large detail of approximately 1800 officers and men had left the night before to be transferred to Japan. We were immediately put on a starvation ration of two meals per day consisting of two light mess kits of rice and occasionally a half canteen cup of this soup made chiefly of green vegetable tops. We remained at Bilibid being joined by the remaining personnel from Cabanatuan and other details forming a draft of approximately 1600 men. By December we had all lost an average of twenty pounds and found ourselves in an extremely debilitated condition. During this time we saw frequent carrier based raids on the Manila area and felt confident when we learned of General MacArthur's landing in Leyte that the Japanese would not attempt to get us out of the Philippines. How sadly we were mistaken.  At this point I wish to continue the narrative in diary form in order to make full use of my notes covering the period which to me constitutes one of the greatest crimes in history;    WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 13, 1944. Shortly after 8:00 a.m. we were formed and started for Pier 7 but due to an air raid alert we were returned to Bilibid. We finally left about 10:30 a.m. and sat on the dock at Pier 7 most of the afternoon while the ship was being loaded with supplies, troops and civilians including many women and children. The ship was the 'Oryoku Maru' built in 1937, and had no identification marks other than its name. It was a first class passenger ship and must have been capable of about 20 knots. We boarded about 6 p.m., 1626 officers and men including a few British and Dutch. At about dusk the ship cast off and moved away from the pier. We had been crowded into several hold, my hold being the rear one. We were beaten into holds with rifle butts and swords to