Pat's mother and her older sister, Aning, with her two children Rudy & Ruth spent their weekend with us from their apartment in Rizal Avenue, Manila.
I left them for my work on Monday morning of December 8, 1941 not knowing that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japs.
Upon arrival in the Army Hq., the news about the surprise Jap attack surprised all of us and so I went to the PX, bought a sack of rice, sugar, salt, and lots of canned foods, took them by bus to Kamining and confirmed the war news to Pat and her family.
While with them the air-raid alarm sounded and planes appeared overhead.
I saw and heard Pat's mother telling her daughters in a shaking, trembling voice not to fear.
There being no air-raid shelter, I started digging a dug-out under our house. It was solid rock and so I had to chip bit by bit until we can squeeze inside because our chalet house was built very low with only four steps on the stairway.
It was getting harder to go home from Manila to Q.C. (Quezon City) as all buses and jeeps were scarce and the few were fully loaded.
Capt. Jose B. Reyes, Sec. Gen. Staff and I were the only two military personnel in the office. It was red alert and nobody could go outside of the Headquarters.
Baguio was bombed, Clark Air Base was bombed, Sangley Point was bombed, and I actually saw a bomb dropped on the front of the walled city but it did not explode.
I could see the U.S. Army anti-aircraft guns in the sunken gardens firing but the shells were exploding way below the Jap planes that were between 18,000 to 20,000 feet overhead.
After bombing Sangley Point, the Jap planes strafed Manila. Machine guns were mounted on top of our Hq. but they were ineffective against the strafing fast-flying Zero Jap planes.
Anticipating the next plane target will be the Hq. Phil. Army, we evacuated to the Far Eastern Univ. Bldg in Espana St, Manila. That was closer to Q.C. and I was able to ride a bus now and then to see Pat at night time.
Then came Christmas, the date that was set for our evacuation to Bataan. Before that date Pat and I went shopping in Manila. People were on a Pre-Christmas shopping spree such that the sidewalks were filled with pedestrians.
Suddenly two unidentified planes dove towards the center of the city where most of the shoppers, including us, were concentrated. Pandemonium broke loose as the people panicked and ran like scared chickens seeking cover elsewhere.
Pat and I walked to the fire station for a ride but all vehicles were loaded to the top and some were clinging on the sides. It was very hard for Pat to squeeze in with her bulging 6-month pregnant stomach, but somehow we made it for the last trip. PTL!
The planes ended up being American planes, but the air-raid siren was sounded by mistake.
I left them for my work on Monday morning of December 8, 1941 not knowing that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japs.
Upon arrival in the Army Hq., the news about the surprise Jap attack surprised all of us and so I went to the PX, bought a sack of rice, sugar, salt, and lots of canned foods, took them by bus to Kamining and confirmed the war news to Pat and her family.
While with them the air-raid alarm sounded and planes appeared overhead.
I saw and heard Pat's mother telling her daughters in a shaking, trembling voice not to fear.
There being no air-raid shelter, I started digging a dug-out under our house. It was solid rock and so I had to chip bit by bit until we can squeeze inside because our chalet house was built very low with only four steps on the stairway.
It was getting harder to go home from Manila to Q.C. (Quezon City) as all buses and jeeps were scarce and the few were fully loaded.
Capt. Jose B. Reyes, Sec. Gen. Staff and I were the only two military personnel in the office. It was red alert and nobody could go outside of the Headquarters.
Baguio was bombed, Clark Air Base was bombed, Sangley Point was bombed, and I actually saw a bomb dropped on the front of the walled city but it did not explode.
I could see the U.S. Army anti-aircraft guns in the sunken gardens firing but the shells were exploding way below the Jap planes that were between 18,000 to 20,000 feet overhead.
After bombing Sangley Point, the Jap planes strafed Manila. Machine guns were mounted on top of our Hq. but they were ineffective against the strafing fast-flying Zero Jap planes.
Anticipating the next plane target will be the Hq. Phil. Army, we evacuated to the Far Eastern Univ. Bldg in Espana St, Manila. That was closer to Q.C. and I was able to ride a bus now and then to see Pat at night time.
Then came Christmas, the date that was set for our evacuation to Bataan. Before that date Pat and I went shopping in Manila. People were on a Pre-Christmas shopping spree such that the sidewalks were filled with pedestrians.
Suddenly two unidentified planes dove towards the center of the city where most of the shoppers, including us, were concentrated. Pandemonium broke loose as the people panicked and ran like scared chickens seeking cover elsewhere.
Pat and I walked to the fire station for a ride but all vehicles were loaded to the top and some were clinging on the sides. It was very hard for Pat to squeeze in with her bulging 6-month pregnant stomach, but somehow we made it for the last trip. PTL!
The planes ended up being American planes, but the air-raid siren was sounded by mistake.
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