THURSDAY. MAY 13. 1943
TIMES. WILLAMINA. OREL,ON
THEY WERE
© WHITE
T H E STORY SO FAR: The story ol
their part in the battle lor the Philip­
pine« 1» belt»» told by (our ol the flve
naval officers who are all that 1« left ol
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron S. They
are Lieut. John Bulkeley (now Lieuten­
ant Commander), squadron commander;
Lieut. R. B. Kelly, second-in-command;
and Ensigns Anthony Alters and George
E . Co» Jr. Manila has (alien, and we
have lost our naval base at Cavite. Lieut.
Kelly has told how he spent New Year's
Eve In the hospital on Corregldor, while
Lieut. Bulkeley was discussing with the
Admiral a plan ol escape to China. Lieut.
Bulkeley Is telling about a night raid two
ol the PT boats made against the Japs.
Lieut. Bulkeley rode In the )4 boat.
CHAPTER VI
“ So we separated, expecting to
m eet at dawn. It was the last I
ever saw of the 31 boat. But here's
what happened to our 34 boat in
Subic. First, remember it was dark­
er than hell, and the shore line was
loaded with Jap field guns. None of
us had ventured in there since the
Japs took over. We had got in just
a little way when a Jap searchlight
spotted us and blinked out a dot-
dash challenge, asking who we
were. Since we didn't know the
Jap code reply, naturally we didn’t
answer, but changed course, veer­
ing away. But the Japs were get­
ting suspicious by now, and from
over by Ilinin Point a single field
piece opened up. None of it fell
near us—maybe they were shooting
at DeLong in the 31 boat.
“ When we were about abeam of
Sueste light another light came on
to challenge us—this time from a
ship — maybe that cruiser. We
changed course to go over and have
a look, but she was small fry—not
worth a torpedo—the hell with her
—we were headed for Binanga and
the cruiser.
“By one o'clock, we were off the
north entrance to Port Binanga,
where we were to meet DeLong m
the 31 boat and go in together for the
attack, and when he didn’t show up,
I began to be afraid something
might have happened, yet 1 couldn't
be sure.
“ But there was nothing to do but
go on in alone. To make the sneak,
we cut the speed down to eight
knots, skirted Chiquita Island,
rounded Binanga Point, and entered
the |ittle bay on two engines at
idling speed. Everything was quiet,
no firing down here, and then we
saw her ahead in the dark not five
hundred yards away. Creeping up
on her, we had just readied two
torpedoes when a searchlight came
on and in dot-dash code she asked
who we were.
“ We answered, all right—with two
torpedoes—but they had hardly been
fired when I gave our boat hard
rudder and started away. It isn’t
safe for an MTB to stay near a
cruiser. One torpedo hit home with
a hell of a thud—we heard it over
our shoulders. Locking back, we
saw the red fire rising, and present­
ly two more explosions which might
have been her magazines.
“W’ith three motors roaring, and
us skipping around in that rough
water with everything wide-open, I
guess we made considerable commo­
tion. Anyway the Japanese radio in
Tokyo, reporting the attack' next
day, said the Americans had a new
secret weapon—a monster that
roared, flapped its wings, and fired
torpedoes in all directions. It was
only us, of course, but we felt flat­
tered. We got the hell out of there,
and that was all there was to it.”
"Well,” said Kelly, “ MacArthur
wouldn’t quite agree. He gave you
the D.S.C. for what you’d done.”
“ But DeLong has the real story,”
insisted Bulkeley. “ I pulled up out­
side the mine field off Corregidor
to wait for him. Neither of us coqld
go in until it got light, because oth­
erwise the army on shore, hearing
us in the dark out there, would think
it was Japs and set off the mine
field. But when the sky got light
and I saw my boat was a’one, I
realized DeLong was in trouble.
And since he’s now a prisoner of
the Japanese—if he’s alive—we’d
better tell his story for him.
“ After we parted company at the
entrance to Subic Bay, he started
around its northern rim as we’d
planned. But just before midnight
he developed engine trouble— ne
saboteur’s wax had clogged .¡is
strainers. He cleaned them and had
just got under way when more trou­
ble developed—the cooling system
went -haywire. They stopped, and
were drifting as they repaired it
when there was an ominous grind­
ing sound under the boat—they were
aground on a reef in Subic Bay.
“ They rocked the boat, and final­
ly started the engines to get them­
selves unstuck. But the noise now
attracted the Japs, and a 3-inch
gun on Ilinin Point opened up on
them—splashes coming* nearer and
nearer. They worked frantically,
finally burned out all reverse gears
n
W.N.U.FEATURES
so that the engines were useless.
DeLong gave orders to abandon
ship. They wrapped m attresses in
a tarpaulin to make a raft, anfl all
got aboard but DeLong, who stayed
to chop holes in the gas tanks and
blow a hole in the boat's bottom
with a hand grenade before he
jumped. That was the end of the
31. Then he couldn't find the raft in
the darkness, and being afraid to
call out, swam to the beach.
"The raft had shoved off with all
twelve aboard at three o’clock.
“He waited on the sands until
dawn. Then, in the gray half-light,
he picked up the tracks of nine
men. He followed these until they
led into a clump of bushes, where
he found most of his crew. They
explained they had stayed with the
raft until dawn was about to break.
Fearing sunrise would expose them
to the Japanese, they had decided
to risk a swim to the beach, where
they could hide. But Ensign Plant
and two men, who couldn’t swim
very well, decided to stay. What
became of them the nine didn’t
know, and no one knows for sure to
this day.
“ But the first thing DeLong did
was to post lookouts, and all day
they stayed in that clump, with an
“ We answered, all right—with two
torpedoes.”
eye on the Jap observation planes
which flew over them in relays,
watching a hot little skirmish be­
tween the Americans and the Japa­
nese on the far shore of the bay. At
one point the Japs were falling back,
and there seemed to be a chance
that they could make a run .for it
in daylight, rejoining the American
lines. But never was it quite possi­
ble, and in the meantime they had
spotted a couple of bancas, native
boats, farther down the beach.
“Two men who were sent out to
investigate, crawling on their bel­
lies through the grass, returned to
report the bancas were in fair con­
dition. So when the sun had set
they crawled to them and started
getting them in shape. For rowing
they had two paddles, a couple of
spades, and a board. They had to
work fast and quietly, for the Japs
were all around them—just as they
were launching the bancas they
heard Japanese voices not two hun­
dred yards away.
“But a heavy wind came up, and
at nine o’clock at night, both boats
capsized. They righted them, but
the shovels and the board were lost,
and they now had only one paddle
for each banca. Yet with these
they continued to fight the head wind
until three in the morning, when
they were so exhausted that they de­
cided to try the shore. So DeLong
landed on what he hoped was Napo
Point. They piqked their way
through the barbed-wire entangle­
ment on the beach, and then found
themselves up against a steep cliff.
“They kept very quiet until dawn,
not knowing whether daylight would
find them surrounded by Americans
or Japanese. But when it became
light, the first thing they saw was a
Flilipino sentry.
“ ‘Hey, Joe—got a cigarette and
a m atch?’ they called out. And an
hour later they weie telling their
story to Captain Cockburn, in the
Ninety-second American Infantry’s
field headquarters tent. The nine
were back with us nt Sisiman Cove
the next evening.”
“That afternoon Bulkeley came
over to tell me the story of the en­
gagement. When he was through,
‘Kelly,’ he said, 'we need you.'
“ ‘Let’s get ahold of that doctor,’
I said, ‘and you tell him that.'
“ Two days later I took the 34 boat
out on m y‘first patrol from Corregi­
dor up along Bataan toward Subic
Bay—Bulkeley, who as squadron
commander rode all boats on patrol,
of course was with me. It was a
calm night—and chilly. Sweaters
were comfortable over our khakis,
although in the daytime we wore
only shorts or trunks.
“ Everything was going well, in
fact it was monotonous. But when
we were about twenty-five miles up
the coast, hell suddenly started pop­
ping. Our own batteries were shoot­
ing at us. Bulkeley explained to
me that was the main excitement
these days—to keep from being sunk
by your own side—and calmly al­
tered course to get out of their
range, which we could tell by the
light of their tracer bullets.
“ ‘Half the time those dumb das­
tards don't know friend from foe,’
he explained.
“ Five minutes later we saw a dim
light, low in the water, and headed
toward it. Was it a Jap landing
barge, trying to get ashore behind
General Wainwright's lines? Then it
occurred to us that it might be En- j
sign Plant and the two other men of
DeLong's boat who had disappeared
in Subic Bay. They might have
stolen a boat and now be headed
home—we couldn’t take chances. So
without firing we drew nearer,
watching the light.
“ Presently it began to blink—dots
and dashes, ail right, but no mes­
sage that we could read. Bulkeley
ordered general quarters as a pre­
caution, and the men were crouch­
ing behind their machine guns. It
was about twenty-five yards away
now—a queer-shaped boat, low in
the water—and suddenly its light
went out.
"Bulkeley stood up vith the mega­
phone. ‘Boat ahoy!’ he called. He
got a quick answer. -Br-r-r-r-r-r-r!
They opened on him with machine
guns. It looked like a fire hose of
tracer bullets headed for our cock­
pit, and now they speeded up. try­
ing to head for shore. But we were
pouring the fire back at them.
“ Now we could see it was a Jap
landing barge, packed with men.
It had armor on the bow and the
stern, and kept twisting and turn­
ing, trying to keep those thick steel
plates pointed toward us. Of course
our maneuver was to come in from
the side, and let them have it where
they couldn’t take it.
“ All this had been going on for
about thirty seconds when I heard a
cry of pain from behind. It was En­
sign Chandler. ‘I’ve been hit,’ he
said. A Jap bul'et had gone through
both of his ankles. We pulled him
out of the cockpit and laid him down
on the canopy, meanwhile circling
the Japs and pouring the steel down
into their vulnerable sides. We could
soon see we were getting them. The
barge sank lower and lower in the
water and presently gurgled under,
while we pulled off to lick our own
wounds, give first aid to Chandler,
and locate any other boats in the
vicinity. Surely the Japs wouldn’t
attempt a landing with a single
barge. All we got, though, was
more fire from our own shore guns—
a swarm of tracers and then 3-inch-
ers began whistling over—one of
them landing two hundred yards
away. But we didn’t mind. The
army seemed to enjoy it, and it
wasn’t hurting us. •
“ We fooled around until almost
dawn and were headed for home—
we couldn’t have got Chandler
through the mine fields to the hos­
pital until sunrise anyway, when
Bulkeley happened to glance back.
“ Through the half-light he could
see, bobbing in the swell, another
low-lying flat craft. Should we go
back? You’re damned right we
should, the men said—to get even
for Chandler by sinking some more.
“As we got closer, sure enough,
it was another landing boat, this
time apparently leaving the coast of
Bataan, and we opened up on her
with everything we had from four
hundred yards away.
“ But their return fire was curi­
ously light and spasmodic. So we
closed to about ten yards. Their
fire had stopped, but their boat
wouldn’t. Our bullets would hit its
armor and engines—you could see
the tracers bounce off and ricochet
one hundred feet into the air, but
still it kept going. Suddenly a trac­
er hit its fuel tanks—up they went
in a blaze, the motor stopped, and
now the boat was only drifting.
But even as we pulled alongside,
those Japs, nervy devils, gave her
hard rudder and tried tc ram us.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
So Consistent!
Compensating
“ Does your husband always livij
up to his promise of his courtship
days?”
"Alwuys. In those days he said
he was not good enough for me,
and he has been proving it ever
since.”
, tortor lallrr ogamining /uilirnll:
"I Jon'l lik t ill« /««As «/ your hutbanj,
Mrs. Broun.* 1*
Ilri. Brown: “N rilk n Jo I. Ibirliir,
bul h r t g ooj In our rbiIJrrn.“
Middle-Age — When
a man
ceases to grow vertically and
starts to grow horixontally—at the
middle.
A little girl tried to get the early
morning religious services over
Quite Doubtful
the radio. She dialed for about
“ What is political economy,
ten minutes without success and I dud?”
“To be perfectly cundid, son I
finally exclaimed: “ Mother, all 1
can't tell you. Sometimes I think
can get Is the silent prayer.”
there isn’t any such thing.”
<><) Was Basic Number
Unit in Ancient Babylon
The ancient Bnbyloniun numer­
ical syrtein had 60. not 10, for
its basic unit, reports Dr. George
C. Cameron, University of Chi­
cago archeologist who has been
deciphering thousands of clay tab­
lets.
While 10 can be factored evenly
only by one, two, five and itself,
the Babylonian unit had the ad­
vantage that it could be factored
by one. two, three, four, flve, six,
ten. twelve, fifteen, twenty, thirty
and itself.
tíñele
If the time doesn't suit you. suit
yourself to it.
As a man thinks, so he is, there­
fore some people never are.
Il it onh ih« i rrt rirh who art rm-
l>halk about ihr futility of rirhrt.
A woman is nlways perfectly
sure she is right until it comes to
backing up her opinion with
money.
Grand Wartime
Breakfas
R eady in sta n tly , Ric
Krispies save time, work,
fuel. S av e o th e r foods,
too. Delicious. So crisp
they snap! crackle! pop!
in milk. A dish to give
n e e d e d p ro te in ! R ice
Krispies are restored to
w h o le g ra in n u tritiv e
values in thiam in (Vita­
min B J, niacin, and iron.
WOMAN
IN THE W A R !
V trgm ir Dom uH ), who
makes filaments for ra­
dio tubes io Army com­
m u n ic a tio n sett at •
Westinghouse Electric
a n d M a n u f a c t u r in g
Company plant.
CAMELS
DON’T TIRE
M Y T A S T E ...
they ' re ALWAYS
EASY ON MY
T H R O A T - IN
FACT, THEY
SUIT ME TO A
THE ’ T -Z O N E -
-W HERE CIGARETTES ARE JUDGED
T h e "T-ZONI"— Taste and Throat—is the proving
ground for cigarettes. O nly your taste and throat
can decide which cigarette tastes best to y o u ...
and how it affects your throat.
Based on the experience of m il­
lions of smokers, we believe
C a m e ls w i l l s u it y o u r
"T-ZONI" to a "T ." Prove
it lo r yourself 1