Freedom! : Bataan, POW, PVT / Don T. Schloat

Freedom! : Bataan, POW, PVT / Don T. Schloat

Prisoners of war--Philippines--Biography.

Prisoners of war--United States--Biography.

Schloat, Don T., 1921-.

World War, 1939-1945--Medical care--Philippines.

World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.

World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Japanese.

Schloat joined the army medical corps in July 1941, partly to be able to live on his own and also partly to escape the war in Europe; he was immediately sent to the Philippines and was assigned to the station hospital at Fort McKinley. When USAFFE forces withdrew to Bataan, Schloat served in the hospital there. He stayed on in the hospital after the surrender; patients and staff were taken to the Bilibid Prison a month later.

He narrates more than his own personal experiences, but also stories he heard, and excerpts from a friend’s diary. Some names of individuals he changed to maintain their privacy; Schloat gives the Japanese soldiers he met, the only Japanese names which he was familiar with – Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and the like, although others are more believable. From Bilibid, he and the hospital staff were taken to Camp O’Donnell, Puerto Princesa, Bilibid. A close friend of his was killed in the Puerto Princesa massacre later; Schloat excerpts portion of this friend’s diary and dedicates the book to him. With illustrations by the author.

Schloat, Don T., 1921-

Valley Center, CA : D.T. Schloat, c1995

1995

22 x 14 cm.

Softbound

D 805 .P6 S35 1995

14075

vii, 352 p.

ill.

with errata (folded paper)