Child of War: A Memoir of World War II Internment in the Philippines

Chapter 5: Camp Holmes II, Dec. 1942-Dec. 1944

CHAPTER 5 Camp Holmes II Dec. 1942–Dec. 1944 Christmas 1942 Toward the end of our first full year of imprisonment, with Christmas approaching, life in Holmes reversed course. In response to the sudden influx of new internees, Hayakawa became stricter. Commingling rules were tightened, evening activities occurred less frequently, and food was sparse. Quite suddenly, in fact, severe food shortages had become commonplace . Hayakawa was apologetic but made no effort to improve the situation. He informed Uncle B that staples like rice and yams were scarce throughout Luzon. Our meager rations, he insisted, were not meant as punishment as the committee had suggested. There likely was some truth in Hayakawa’s explanations. Unquestionably, the rounding up of internees from the central Luzon hills swelled camp numbers and led to shorter rations and stricter rules. Quite naturally, grousing increased. In December, as thoughts of Christmas entered our minds, Hayakawa graciously granted us permission to hold Christmas services. He also allowed use of one of the nipa huts adjacent to the parade grounds for choir practices. I often played with my friends on the hillside behind the hut—a natural incline on which to slide or roll down. The embankment also offered the perfect slope on which to cut out winding paths for my toy cars,which I patterned after the zigzag trail to Baguio.The music from the nipa hut frequently caused me to stop playing and listen to the choir, especially when they sang carols like “We Three Kings of Orient Are” or 142 CHAPTER 5 “Away in a Manger.” My favorite, though not a Christmas song, was also scheduled for the Christmas service: “There Is a Green Hill Far Away Without a Prison Wall.” On Christmas Day the choir performed masterfully, lifting our spirits . Santa Claus surprised young children and parents, especially since he was first spotted stepping out of the guardhouse door. For Hayakawa and his immediate subordinates, the event provided a fascinating glimpse at a special segment of Western culture. Although he had grown up in the Philippines, Hayakawa had never witnessed a Christmas celebration before. The entire guard corps observed the festivities with keen interest. At Uncle B’s request, Hayakawa agreed not to display rifles during the festivities. The soldiers appeared more interested in watching our varied activities than being guardians of our flock. On Christmas afternoon, the guards opened the main gate to Camp Holmes to Filipino visitors with prewar ties to the internees. Maria and Marci of course were present. A few elderly missionaries released earlier from camp, like Ma and Pa Widdoes, joined a group of Filipino amahs, housekeepers, and gardeners in attending. (Sadly, soon after Christmas, the Widdoes were transferred to the Los Baños camp in southern Luzon.) Gifts for the internees had to be inspected. Hayakawa had arranged for special foods to be brought into camp for dinner—yams, sugar, coffee, and pork—and candy for the children. A piece of pork was the first morsel of meat I had eaten in several weeks. The events and foods of the day heartened all of us. “Few have thought about the morrow, and that is healthy,” commented Father Gowen as he and his followers met for prayer that evening. It truly was a time to think positively.I am sure that many assumed the end of internment was near and that a year hence we would be looking back on the Christmas of 1942 from a historical perspective.The best present I received that Christmas Day was the news that Major Mukaibo had gone. (Commandant Hayakawa later told Nellie McKim that Mukaibo and Nagatomi had been ordered to Manila where they were reportedly charged as accessories to theft and inhumane treatment of civilians. Mukaibo was temporarily jailed, then dishonorably discharged and sent back to Japan.) Mukaibo’s threats of death at Brent School had weighed heavily on my mind every time I encountered him. His departure from Holmes and the Baguio scene gave me hope that we might live to know freedom someday. My bad dreams of dying under machine-gun fire faded. CAmP HolmEs ii • dEC. 1942–dEC. 1944 143 Those haunting memories of Mukaibo were reawakened when, as an adult, I discovered more about his life before and after the war. I was stunned to learn that Mukaibo Nagahide had earned a Ph.D. in theology from Boston University Divinity School in 1938. Postwar, he...