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Post by chadhill on Mar 11, 2011 12:59:56 GMT 8
Referencing reply # 5 and # 16: Here is a larger view of the tunnel, a moment later (as if the camera man was walking backwards). Same man in light shirt, white flag in tunnel.
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Post by okla on Mar 11, 2011 23:18:19 GMT 8
Hey Chad.....I have wondered for years how long it took one of those Japanese soldiers to avail himself of the fountain pen/Eversharp pencil in the flag bearer's left shirt pocket. No kidding, as an elementary school kid, this thought crossed my mind when viewing this photo when it first appeared in stateside newspapers. This indicates just how long I have been "hung up" on all aspects of the 1942 Philippine campaign. Wife definitely thinks I have been "over the edge" for quite sometime. This has probably been the case for a hell of a lot longer than she realizes. Cheers.
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Post by chadhill on Mar 12, 2011 12:07:40 GMT 8
What an eagle eye you are, Okla!
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Post by chadhill on Mar 12, 2011 23:36:27 GMT 8
P.S.-- Is the Japanese officer standing between two helmeted soldiers holding a clipboard? It also looks like the right sleeve of his shirt is torn near the shoulder...
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Post by okla on Mar 13, 2011 2:48:41 GMT 8
Hey Chad....Maybe my "Eagle Eye" is finally failing me, but I can't make out a clip board. Looks to me like his right hand is holding something in place supported by his right shoulder. Is his hand on the butt plate of a rifle??? I can't make out the receiver/barrel/etc nor that "8 foot long bayonet", or at least it appears that long when you are on the wrong end of it (one of which I have hanging in my den here in Tulsa), but it do appear to me that there is some object (very dark) either draped over his right shoulder or extended upward and backward toward that black background. I see the clipboard looking object also. Looks like the clamp that would hold papers/maps/etc. If this is an officer, he ain't very impressive looking, but there have been many who didn't look the part who were splendid when it came to crunch time. I have always said, even though they were some of the most resourceful, relentless, fanatic,etc soldiers in history, the Japanese edition was the sloppiest, most slovenly appearing troops to ever grace a battlefield. I have seen photos of them on Class A Parade,etc and American GIs just returning from a 12 hour stint pulling KP looked better than some of the Emperor's finest. I will now study that photo, of which we speak, some more. Maybe my vision will improve. Cheers. Postscript...His sleeve does look as if it might be shreaded, but I am wondering if that is some type insignia or maybe an armband. I am still trying to envision some type weapon lying across his shoulder.
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Post by chadhill on Mar 13, 2011 3:07:22 GMT 8
I believe you're right, Okla. It looks like a weapon slung over his right shoulder. I'll think that dark object to the right of his hand is a cartridge belt worn by the soldier next to him...I guess I'm the one who needs my eyes checked (still officially 20/20 but when it gets dark or I'm tired they "fade").
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Post by okla on Mar 13, 2011 4:46:34 GMT 8
Hey Chad....Same here with the eyes when the sun goes down. I have almost totally given up highway driving at night. Interstates are not so bad as you have a bizillion tail/brake lights to judge distance/etc with, but local highways always present the ever present deer or stalled pickup truck not totally on the shoulder of the road. Ain't aging the pits? Postscript....The Japanese bayonet I previously mentioned is intriguing to me, what with my over loaded imagination. It was given to me several years ago by an elderly neighbor woman. Her husband, according to her, said it was from WW 1, so I just assumed it was German or French since even I could see that it wasn't American, Brit/Canadian,etc. Just for funnies I showed it to the guy in charge of the Davis Gun Collection, the largest privately owned gun collection in the U.S.. It is located in my home town of Claremore, Oklahoma (if you are ever thru there it is well worth stopping for a peek). He took about 2 seconds, tops, to say it was the standard Japanese Army issue. I have forgotten the manufacturer/model name, but I betcha you would know it. This thing is fragile as heck. Must have laid in the mud and muck somewhere for a long time. The blade is so corroded/rusted, it could be snapped by a child. One side of the wooden handle is missing and the other is so rotted I am reluctant to handle the thing anymore, leaving it mounted on the wall of my den. I have always wondered whether it was ever used on American/British troops in New Guinea, Singapore, PI, Chinese civilians, maybe even Russians in the short lived fighting in Manchuria in 1945. It could probably tell some tales. I have no idea where the deceased, elderly gent picked the relic up and now his wife is gone and can't tell me anything, if she ever could. I will just sit here and gaze at it on occasion and wonder? Cheers, always great kibitzing with you. I posted this yarn quite sometime back, but I think it was on Vic's Philippine Scout Board. Maybe you might have seen it there. If so, just put it down to an old goat and his failing memory.
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Post by chadhill on Mar 13, 2011 11:31:25 GMT 8
Okla, I can't recall if you told me that Japanese bayonet story or not. Guess I'm . Anyways, I have two of those also, picked 'em up while I was in the P.I. I found a rusted bayonet for an M1 Garand on the Iwo invasion beach (it was the early war issue type with the long blade) but it fell apart practically in my hands. Always enjoy kibitzing with you and appreciate your opinions and insight. Thanks for setting my eyeballs straight Yours truly in 1985. I had recently read John Toland's "But Not in Shame" and was half-heartedly trying to find Colonel Takechi's passageway on Mount Natib. The expedition turned sour when I fell off a mountain bike somewhere on the lower slopes, landed sideways on large tree roots, and cracked a couple of ribs. The pain on the trek home was greatly reduced by the consumption of a healthy number of San Miguels.
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Post by okla on Mar 13, 2011 23:51:26 GMT 8
Hey Chad...I betcha an old "Seadog", such as your self, vowed upon arrival back at Subic, to spend more of your leisure time aboard ship, rather than floundering in the jungle (unless you could have had somebody such as Fots to serve as a guide and mentor on the ways of the "bush"). I am confident the San Miguels served their intended purpose in great style. Our choice of relief, while in Korea, was Japanese Asahi with Nippon and Kirin as suitable backups. No injury was required. In the present, doesn't viewing old photos of your Military time, make you yearn for those days again??? My den wall is filled with pics of those, long gone, times. With so little future left, for me, those days look pretty damned good to this old fool. Cheers.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 19:26:02 GMT 8
I know it's been awhile since anyone commented on this photograph from Life Magazine. I just joined the forum because I had to make a comment on the picture. I can't answer the question of where the tunnel was located, but I can tell you the name of the soldier who is standing in the background behind McArthur. His name was Cprl. Leroy Wilbur Wyse Jr., He was with the 60th C.A. and he came from West Unity Ohio. He was my great-uncle. Junior - as we called him, was taken prisoner. He survived his imprisonment, but died 2 years after returning home from complications that stemmed from his POW experience. This photograph has been dear to the hearts of the Wyse family. The family had not heard from Junior since America entered into the war in Dec of 1941. In April of 1942, the family was driving home from a funeral, and Junior's father half-jokingly said "let's stop and get a copy of Life Magazine. Maybe we'll see Juniors picture in it". They were sure shocked when they opened to this page. The picture brought a brief sigh of relief to the family. Sadly, Junior was probably already a prisoner by the Japanese by the time they viewed this picture.
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