Ashio POW Camp John K. Johnson affidavit

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Source: Typed by John Steven Boone, Sep 4, 2004. Son of J.K. Johnson NOTE: If you knew John K. Johnson or have any further information, his son would appreciate being contacted Received from National Archives Record Group 331, SCAP legal Sections, Admin Div, POW Files 1945-47 Perpetuation of Testimony of John K. Johnson, Jr. (Formerly Sergeant, U.S. Army) Reseda, California My name is John K. Johnson, Jr. My permanent home address is 7505 Beckford Avenue, Reseda, California. I am now 25 years old. I was formerly a sergeant, Serial No. 19038174, Headquarters & Headquarters Company, Harbor Defense, manila and Subic Bays. I enlisted September 4, 1940, went overseas October 9, 1940, and returned to the States October 3, 1945. I was captured by the Japanese May 6, 1942, at Corregidor. We were first sent to 92nd Garage and then to Bilibid. From there to Camp #3, Cabanatuan in October of 1942, and then sent to Camp #1, Cabanatuan. Around the latter part of November I was sent to Clark Field. I stayed there until the 23rd of December and then went to Bilibid again. I remained there until the 10th of February and then went back to Cabanatuan #1. I left there in February and was sent back to Bilibid where I remained until March 14, 1944. I then left for Japan and arrived at Nagasaki. We left for Yokahama that night. We got to Hitachi about April 20, and stayed there until August. We then went to Ashio where we remained until our release September 4, 1945. While at 92nd Garage there was one incident where a man went up the side of the hill to try to find some fire wood and while he was up there a Jap saw him and shot him. When we first arrived here we didn't get any water or food for two days. We left in May for Manila and when we got on the boat the Japanese took everything we had away from us. We were made to jump in the ocean and wade ashore where Dewey Boulevard begins. They lined us up and made us march down Dewey Boulevard. The Jap cavalry were our escorts. Every time anyone would slow up they would pull out their sabers and nick a few men with them. They kept us in Bilibid for five days and then crowded us into box cars, 200 [a major exaggeration- 100 was extremely crowded] to each car and took us to Cabanatuan and dumped us out in the rain and we had to sleep in the mud and wet. They marched us to Cabanatuan the next day. When we got to Cabanatuan there were four men, Fred Lee, Red, Jordan and one other whose name I do not remember, that walked out of the gate and were going to leave. The Japs caught them and brought them back and tortured them all day long. Then they took them out, lined them up and shot them. In Cabanatuan we worked on a farm. One day a red-headed Navy man went into a nip storehouse and picked up a little cake of soap. They caught him and the Japs all took turns beating him with rifles, fists, etc., and slapped and kicked him. They could not knock him down doing this so there was one big Nip that ran the tool house who gave him a regular American punch and floored him. Then they all took turns stomping on him with their feet. They finally let us carry him into camp and after we got him there we found he had a broken arm, several broken ribs and he was all cut and bruised. Anyone caught stealing vegetables got similar punishment. At Camp #1,Cabanatuan, the farm supervisor was called "Air Raid" and there was another Jap nicknamed "little Speedo". These two would walk around continuously and beat the men for no reason at all. When we left for Japan we were put on an old tramp steamer. [TAIKOKU MARU] Three hundred men were crowded in a hold which ordinarily would accommodate only twenty-five men. We got water twice a day. It was very hot and we were not permitted up on deck. [308 men loaded, 17 died en route to Japan] At Hitachi, the guard there was known as "Liver Lip". He beat a Navy Warrant Officer by the name of Miller. Miller came out of the mine one day and accidentally hit himself in the mouth with a drill bit. He wanted to be taken in for first aid but "Liver Lip" started screaming and jumping up and down and really worked him over. The next day "Liver Lip" beat up another Navy Warrant Officer by the name of Hall because "Liver Lip" wanted him to sit in a certain place and Hall did not understand him. Hall was beaten with a big club that "Liver Lip" always carried with him. One day the Jap foreman in this camp had just gotten through blasting, but did not go in to check after the blast, but sent me in to work. While I was in there it caved in on me. That was where I got my back hurt. As soon as I finished working they let me go into camp and I was off for three days. The American doctor, Captain Robinson, said I should be off for at least three weeks, but the Japs made me go to work in three days. I was beaten at Clark Field. I was using a grass cutter where I had to stoop very low and I was down on one knee when a Nip grabbed a big hoe and started beating me with it. I was beaten in all the camps I was in. At Ashio, a Corporal, George F. Gallion, of the 803rd Engineer Corps, was sick one day and they made him go to work anyway. He asked the foreman "Honcho" if he could take it easy as he was sick but a Jap by the name of Blue Coat made him go ahead and get his quota out. He finished rather early because we helped him so he asked the foreman if he could go to the rest room where it was warmer. The foreman made him sit in a draft. It was in the dead of winter and very cold. When it came quitting time and we went to get Gallion he was blue with cold. We all carried him to camp, but he died about four hours later without ever regaining consciousness. [Gallion, George F. ,Cpl, 32074544, died 30 Jan 1945] There was a man by the name of Mad Hall who had a whole bunch of Red Cross supplies which he had been trading for. The Japs had an inspection of the barracks one day and found all this stuff so they accused him of stealing it out of the warehouse. He told them he did not steal it but they put him in the guardhouse in the dead of winter and did not give him any blankets. He stayed there about two or three weeks. They put him through all the tortures they could. They beat him and tied him to the roof by his thumbs and let him hang. They gave him only two meals a day. Finally they were convinced that they were wrong and he was right so they released him and the camp commander made a special trip to Tokyo to try to patch things up. There was a Dutchman in this camp who must have thought the Japanese money was good because they found thousands of yen on him. They put him into the guardhouse and tortured him in the same manner as Hall. We could hear him screaming all the time. When hey did turn him out he was a wreck and had to go to bed for quite a while. The guard that tortured Hall and the Dutchman was nicknamed the "Slugger". The Camp Commander was most brutal and worked these men over too. There was a very small Jap called the "Kid" who was a guard. They caught a man stealing a pumpkin and as a result the "Kid" made the whole section stand up at attention all night after a hard day's work. The next day the news of surrender came so we didn't feel so badly that day. A Jap by the name of "Three Fingers" used to come through the barracks in the dead of night and scream at the top of his voice. He would slap everyone and would beat the cooks because they did not get more chow. "Four Eyes", a mess sergeant, always took home the best of the food for his own family and left us with the junk. Sato was the Camp Commander at Ashio. He would go through the camp treating the men brutally, slapping and kicking them. He also had the chow served out of camp after it was brought in and gave it to the mine foremen. Subscribed and sworn to before me at Reseda, Calif this 9th day of Sep 1946. Claire C. Holden Notary Public Certified True Copy Angel G. Miranda 2nd Lt., INF