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Aboard ship on way to States by Carr Hooper

items 9 of 28 items
  • wcu_ww2-478.jpg
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  • Some 600 able bodied men were left in Santo Tomas to carry on its maintanence and this became a most difficult due to increased duties and decreased food allowance. The days passed quickly enough but the months dragged on endlessly. We busied ourselves at camp detail, standing in line for food, talk, rumor, and hobbies. Every camp business and conduct was dicussed to exhaustin and ordinary gossip and camp politics was as active here as in any small town perhaps a great deal more so. School was opened Kindergarten to college. Post graduate coursed were offered. For example, one of the world’s few mining experts gave lectures to mining men. Special interest groups were organized and even a star gazing club became popular. Church services were conducted all over the place by dozens of different sects of interned missionaries and priests of several Catholic orders held Mass on all occasions. Along with these were bridge parties, theatricals, soft ball and basket ball leagues (the first two years only were given to physical exercises) gambling, and boot legging. Truly, the days were filled and short. The months were different. Sbuconsciously most everyone at first believed that a few months more would bring relief by repatriation as we so many times heard and believed. In June, 1942, consular officers were repatriated and it was not until Sept., 1943, that the repatriation ship Gripsholm carried 124 from the camp for the states. This was a heartbreaking event. We had heard that it would take most of the women and children the truly sick and aged. It took those selected by the Commandant previously referred to and the State appointment selected a bunch of able bodied men, and those who really needed to go, stayed to starve and die. Surely, there would be other ships, but when the great Pacific offensive started we knew that our hope of repatriation was gone, and we settled down to wait those heartbreaking months of 1944--and Jan. 1945. Here the months really began to drag, and as the U.S. moved across the Pacific which we knew was wide and beset with every peril. I think that every night every thoughtful Internee prayed God that our ships, all our planes and men would be successful in every step. How slowly they moved. How long the months and that final year?
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).