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Phil Brain was part of the 194th Tank Battalion whose home base was Brainerd, Minnesota.
Many of the men in the battalion spent years in Japanese prisoner of war camps, including Brain. He shared his story at a
special Veterans Day event at the Masonic Home in Bloomington.
On the way to the Philippines, the troop ship stopped in Hawaii where the men got a pass. "My buddy and I saw a church and stopped by the bishop's
home. I think we were the only two sober ones to get back on the ship that night."
Near Manila, the unit was assigned to guard Clark Field, but on Dec. 8 (Philippine time is one day ahead of U.S. time) the
Japanese bombed the field a few hours after they bombed Pearl Harbor.
Brain recalls one officer telling the U.S. men not to fire any weapons because war had not yet been declared.
Despite the attack hours
earlier in Hawaii, the U.S. air force was caught on the ground and was destroyed by the Japanese attack. "To this day, when an aircraft flies over, I look for the yellow circles on the wings."
A couple days
later, the Japanese landed in Philippines. The Americans fought a delaying action as the Japanese advanced, giving the main body of U.S. troops a chance to retreat into the Bataan Peninsula. "We went to Plan 6-WF,"
Brain said. "Without Food."
The American forces were in place by January 2, and the troops got two meals a day for a month and then just one meal a day as rations became scarce. In April, the Japanese launched an
all-out attack on the depleted and starving American and Filipino forces on Bataan.
On April 9, the Americans surrendered. Brain recalled there were about 12,000 Americans and 20,000 Filipinos at that point. The
Japanese decided to march the men to their prisoner camps. Thus began the infamous Bataan Death March.
Some soldiers tried to carry all their gear, but Brain said he knew better. "From being a guide on the
Gunflint Trail, I knew enough to travel light and not carry anything extra. I had a mess kit lid to eat off of, and a canteen."
One vivid memory Brain has was that of a Filipino mother holding her child standing
by the road. She gave the 'vee' sign to the passing prisoners. "Without hesitation, a Japanese soldier went up to her and ran his bayonet through the baby. I'll never forget the look on that mother's face."
Brain
estimates that his unit marched 70 miles over the next five days. Men were so thirsty that when they'd pass a well, some of them would make a dash for it. "There were bodies all around the wells. The Japanese would
shoot or bayonet anybody who tried to get at the water."
In those five days, an estimated 2,900 Americans died.
When they got to San Fernando, the prisoners were packed into box cars for a 24-mile trip. "When
they slammed the doors closed, there was no room to move. When the men died, they just stayed on their feet."
Taken off the train, the men were marched another six miles to Camp O'Donnell. "They warned us not to
have any Japanese money on us, but when they searched one man they found some. They made him kneel and they beheaded him. Then they carried his head around on a bayonet to show us what to expect."
Brain said
there were two major work details in the prisoner camps. One was to dig latrines and the other was to bury the dead. About 1,600 Americans died in the first 40 days at Camp O'Donnell. "When a guy on the burial
detail died, they just put him in with the others."
Brain was assigned to work on bridges near Manila and Kolowan. "I weighed about 95 lbs. by that time, and part of our job was to carry 96 lb. sacks of cement
around."
Treatment from the Japanese varied greatly. One Japanese colonel allowed the men to go to mass on Sunday. At one point they could smoke and talk in their camp, and even go for walks outside the compound.
Before long, though, Brain and others were loaded on "hell ships" bound for other places in the Philippines or for Japan itself. "We stood for three days and three nights. When a man died, we passed him up so he
could be thrown overboard. When that happened the rest of us had room to sit. The only sanitation provided was a big bucket in the middle of the room, but it was impossible to get at it. It was a real mess."
Brain worked in the rice fields at Mindanao. He ended up with malaria and spend time in a hospital. Eventually, he was sent on another hell ship, this time to Japan to work in a copper mine. He worked there for 20
months.
"There were 438 steps down into the mine. When I was sick, I had to figure out how to do it, how to get back up those steps. I would do two things. I would plan and prepare an entire Thanksgiving dinner,
step by step. Or I would recite the poem, 'How do I love, thee, let me count the ways.' It would get me up those steps."
One day the guards told him and the others they would not be going down in the mine that
day. The message was the same the next day, except the guards added that America had surrendered. On the third day, the guards told them the war was over. They were instructed to paint "POW" on the roof.
Americans parachuted in food and medical supplies. Brain was eventually evacuated to a hospital ship.
At one point during his captivity, his weight had reached 85 lbs. By the time he was released from active
service, though, his weight was back up to 161 lbs. "I went in at 168 lbs. and got out at 161 lbs. so my service record shows I only lost seven lbs. while I was in."
Brain was joined by several other Bataan
survivors at the Veterans Day event.
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