Was there ever anything to read?
Occasionally we would find magazines, books, or something to read.

Did you write letters home?
I don't remember how many I wrote but it was more than once. Shortly before leaving Clark Field in June 1944, everyone received a standard, pre-written card. Each card had English messages that we could check. For example, one was "I am well." Another was "I am sick." After we checked a message, we would sign the card. We were darn sure if we checked anything but "I am well" the card would never get out. We wondered if any of our mail got out of camp! The only reason we filled them out was to try and let people back home know we were still alive. We were not able to send and receive any kind of mail from Japan.

Could you write a sentence or two on the card?
No. You could only sign it.

Did your mother get these cards?
No. The cards were not mailed. For example, the Japanese would get on a radio, say my name, and repeat the checked message that was "I am well." I found out after the war that two or three ham radio operators in San Francisco, California intercepted the Japanese messages. They forwarded them to my mother. They all had the same message coming from different sources. Consequently, my mother and family knew I was alive.

Did you get any letters from home?
During the war we had what was called "V-mail" which was short for "Victory Mail."

Jane, how much did you know about Alf's situation?
I knew about him because I typed the letters his mother wrote on V-Mail forms. They were short letters; she could write twenty-five words or so on a special message form. I'm not sure how she mailed them. I think she took them to the Red Cross and they took care of them. (Jane)

The cards we got were smaller than the ones Jane typed my mother's letters on. The Red Cross or whomever probably edited them before they were mailed or sent. But when I received them, they were signed. I assumed the signature on them was my mother's.

Did you get the V-mail I typed for your mother? (Jane)
I got a couple of them at Clark Field. I don't recall ever getting one in Japan.

After we knew he was alive, we didn't hear from him for so long. I thought he was dead. (Jane)

Did you get any assistance from the Red Cross?
I don't remember exactly when, but we got a Red Cross package in the Philippines. The Japanese guards had opened up a lot of them and taken items out. They were especially after cigarettes. We got a can of powdered milk and one of condensed milk. It was real thick and sugary. There was coffee, tea, and a tin container with meat in it. That was about it. Some people sat down and ate everything right away. Boy, did they get sick.

Considering your diet, their system wasn't used to it.
Right. A number of packages still had cigarettes in them. A lot of prisoners traded what little food they had for cigarettes. They would rather have the cigarettes than food! Most of them didn't survive.

They died?
Yes.

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