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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1944)
Portland Radio Man Dodges Japanese On Island Of Guam Until Return Of Americans By Frank Tremalne United Press Correspondent Pacific Fleet Headauarters. Pearl Harbor, July 15. (ll.R) Alter more than two and a half years of dodging Japanese in the hills of Guam since that island fell to the enemy Dec. 11 1941, Chief Radioman George Kay Tweed, 42, Portland, Ore- escaped early in July of this year, it may be revealed today. (All organized Japanese re sistance ceased on Guam Wed nesday, Admiral Chester M. Nimitz announced Thursday.) Tweed told correspondents to day how he escaped from Agana administrative center of Guam, under Japanese machine gun fire after approximately 8,000 enemy troops poured ashore to overwhelm the tiny American garrison of 200 marines. 31 Months On Run He told how he lived 31 months in caves or without shel ter while the Japanese put a price on his head and carried out a series of determined searches for him. (Guam is only 30 miles long, four miles wide at the northern end, and eight and a half miles long at the southern end. Tweed said he had given up hope of surviving until the Americans began attacking Guam in June. The story of how he finally escaped from Guam aboard t a com Dai snip during the saipan j campaign may not now be fully told. Tweed now Is en route to the United States to see his wife, Mary Frances, and his children, Ronald Eugene, 9, and Robert Edward, 13, for the first time since October, 1939. Starting New Life . "It feels as though I am begin ning life all over again", said Tweed. .He believed his wife is now with his mother, Mrs. W. H. Sudderth, Santa Paula, Cal., although "it's been so long since I've seen them I'm not sure where they are." Tweed did not reveal many details of his life on Guam under the Japanese regime. He is short and slight. He said he lost about 20 pounds during the 31 months he spent on the island between the Japanese oc cupation and the American re- conquest. Tweed said he experienced jr brief illness. The most notice able effect of the ordeal appear ed to be in his voice. He had some difficulty in speaking be cause he had not used his voice for long periods of time when he was alone on the Island. Arrived In 1939 Tweed was assigned to Guam Aug. 10, 1939, for duty at the naval station. His tour of duty had only two months left to run when war started. In October, 1941, the governor of Guam evacuated all American women and children, except one woman because of the apparent immi nence of war. Tweed said the personnel at Guam at that time felt war was coming soon. "About S a. m. Dec. 8, 1941 CELT), I was awakened and told to report to the communications office because the Japanese had V bombed Pearl Harbor and Ma nila. I reported and asked what to do, but there seemed to be no organization, no plan for de fense because there was no de fense at Guam. "At 9 a. m." the first Jap planes came over. They pro ceeded directly to Sumay and bombed the Standard Oil tanks and barracks of civilian work ers. Sent To Hill "Lat?r I was sent to a post on the hill with a portable radio to maintain communication with the naval communications office In town because the telephone lines had been destroyed. "While I was there, Japanese bombers bombed and strafed the area for an hour and 25 minutes without scoring a bomb hit on any target. No buildings were hit and no personnel were injured. AVAILABLE AllivChalmert 60" "All Crop Harvester. Immediate delivery. Can be used with any make of two-plow tractor having a power take off. Must be released by the county U. S. D. A. War Board. Also Hay and Ensilage Cutter. "Controlled Tillage" Springtooth Harrow For sale by McCOY MACHINERY CO. Ill N. Fir St., Medf ord, Ore. Phone 341 5 Tweed said he returned again to Agana at 2:30 p. m. and found only one bomb hit in town and that was on his own house. "The second day was practi cally a repetition of the first, except that the hospital was machine-gunned and one more house was bombed. Bombs land ed in the governor's garden, but they didn't cause damage. "Before dark that night, ships were sighted in the horizon. They were taken to be Japanese landing forces, but that infor mation was not spread widely, I knew nothing about it. "I stayed at the communica tions office until nearly mid night, and then went home to bed. I had pulled my bed into the rear of the house under what was left of the roof." Land At Midnight Tweed said the Japs made their first landing about mid night but he was not awakened until 2 a. m. when he heard machine gun and rifle fire. "I was so sleepy I was in a fog and didn't realize what it was. Somehow I got the impres sion the marines were practic ing. I swore a while and then went back to sleep. "But two hours later the Japs brought in field artillery. That brought me up." Tweed dressed immediately and went to the communications office. There he found only a handful of marines, plus a few hundred members of the native and insular force available to oppose 8,000 Japanese. But he reported that 50 ma rines, stationed on Cabras island at the mouth of Apra harbor, actually repulsed the Japanese until their ammunition was ex hausted and they were forced to surrender. He said the marines refused to give up to the Japs even though one of their few machine guns which during the two-day pre-invasion aerial bombard ment had helped keep the at tacking planes a little higher had been knocked out. Marines Captured "I don't know how many marines were killed but I know that quite a number were taken prisoner. When the Japs reach ed the center of Agana, they set fire to a house to provide illumination. Then they set up field guns and shelled the gov ernment house at point-blank range. 'I had gone to government house. There I learned the island was to be surrendered. "So I decided to go into the bush, because I expected the Americans to come back and take the place away from the Japs." Tweed said he and another radiomen took his car for the getaway. Shortly after they left his house they made a right turn onto a road ascending a hill out side town, but the Japanese had set up a machine gun on the left side of the turn. "As we turned onto the road, the Japs opened fire. Bullets whistled all around the car, but we got away. We went about 11 miles southeast of town to the other side of the island where we ran the car off the road and hid In the bushes. "We looked for a place to hide. Fugitives Separate 'Two months later the other radioman left me and proceeded off by himself. Later he was killed. "Americans who were taken prisoner were held at Guam for 30 days. The Japs announced during that time that any Amer ican in the bushes who voluntar ily surrendered merely would be placed with the other pris oners. "At the end of the 30 days they were taken to Japan. Then the Japs announced that any Americans who left the bush would be killed. Two months after the war started, Tweed said, two Ameri cans were caught and killed. Six weeks later, two more were slain. The Japs were searching for me frantically. After the first year I gave up hope. I prayed all the time, but I felt that sooner or later I would be caught. But I was determined to do my utmost to postpone that day as long as possible. "Several times the Japs learned where I was hiding, but each time I managed to escape once by less than a minute. "They permanently detached a 50-man search party which hunted almost two years for me. Lilted At Dead "The Japs officially pronounc ed me dead April 1944." Sometimes he hid in caves or took other shelter when it was available. But sometimes he was forced to sleep on the ground. "When the Americans made their first bombing raid on Guam, I was highly elated. I knew I hadn't much longer to wait." He said he eagerly watched succeeding raids from good van tage points. He said he "figured" there had been a landing on Sai pan when United States planes started coming in from the north instead of the southeast, indicat ing that the fleet was operating around Saipan, 111 miles to the north. j He also saw Japanese bomb-! ers, heavily loaded, take off ! northward. One day he waved ; at a flier in what he thought was an Aircobra fighter (it re-; sambled the picture of one in an old copy of a magazine) al though it actually was another type of U. S. fighter. Escape Details Veiled The pilot apparently realized that the shirtless figure below was a white man. He blinked his landing lights. 1 This was all that Tweed,could tell about his actual escape: "I made my escape to a Unit ed States vessel off the coast." As soon as he arrived aboard the warship, he was taken to the wardroom for food. "The first thing I reached for was a piece of bread and butter. I had dreamed about it for two years." Santa Paula, Cal., Aug. 11. (U.PJ When George Ray Tweed, : 42, who escaped from Guam i after eluding the Japanese for two and a half years, arrived ; home, she didn't recognize him his mother-in-law Mrs. W. H. Sudderth said today. Mrs. Sudderth said Tweed knocked at the door one evening about two weeks ago. "I looked at him but I hardly knew him he was so .thin and he was almost gray-haired," she said. Democratic Nominee Up For Speech Has "Nothing to Unload" Omaha. Neb., Aug. 11 (U.R) George W. Olsen, Plattsmouth. democratic nominee for gover nor, appeared before the state convention last night and said: "Fellow democrats. "I feel just like I did when I was 16 and took a load of ap ples to Nebraska City and got stuck In the mud. I decided to unload, but the endgate was gone and so were the apples. There I was, stuck and with nothing to unload. "I feel the same way here to night. "Thank you for what you are still going to do for me. Good bye." a us .c - er v w AW" i"iml4jl.;iit Do you have friends you secretly envy because they seem to get more out of Important news of the day than you do-yet appar ently spend no more time on their newspapers? Is their overall view of what's happening clearer than youra? Do they see In the newt important meanings or Implications you're mlAMed? Are they apt to know quicker than you how development will affect personal or bualneaa In terest? If you yourself want to get more out of the newa, here's how: Every day The Wall Street Jour nal carries front-pate feature What$ Nev condensing In one column all important "world-wide" events, and In another the out standing developments In Bualneaa and Finance. Just 6 4 minutes reading time give you a definite background against which to consider and ap praise Individual Industrial, finan cial and Washington developments concisely, accurately reported and analyzed In The Wall Street Jour nal's other columns. That one reason why The Wall Street Journal really la a nno kind of newnpaper. That's why, too, The Wall Street Journal is a dally work ing tool of progreitiv management. PxbtUhti datJr rtfht hereon the Coarl la bfifif f tifot eie" Wath- Iftftoa information immediately. - I Marts '9 " 11 fvmfw mm Oeirur 18" V T PariHc OxM F.tlitim CTicll Ai t sTiu;i;i 111 .loritv.vL I I 411 tali Si, Sea FrencUce I I lHW A ll . I .Im II 1 T IS Stockholm, Aug. 1 1 . (U.R Swedish circles speculated to day that Sweden may sever re lations with and perhaps declare war on Germany before the end of the European war. Authoritative Swedish sources acknowledged that a break with Germany was possible, but said such action depended upon de velopments in the Baltic and Arctic war theaters. At least two potentialities were foreseen that would bring Sweden into diplomatic or mili tary conflict with Germany: 1 If the Germans occupy Fin land's Aland islands, midway between Finland and Sweden at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia. 4m llli;s Sill'TIOXS You can depend upon the high quality of the prescriptions in your medicine box when they have been filled by us. If J Am MJkJUfil VLLIJ, i Iw M WtZ, v m, v C 1 Ipl Pepsodent Giant Tooth Pwdr. 39t Kolynos Giant Past or Pwdr. 39 Dr. Lyons SOc sizie Tooth Pdr. 29? Listerine Giant Paste or Pdr. 33 1. Pebeco Bonus size tooth paste 39? HEED VITAMINS! AND MOST MEDFORD PEOPLE SHOP HERE, THE LEADING VITAMIN PRODUCTS STORE WHY? A.P.C. SUPER- 9 VITAMINS 6 MINERALS To feci your best and be at the peak of fitness your diet needs all of these ele ments. Three SUPER TABAMINS supply at least 100 of average daily need, of all ele ments where need has been established. 100 Tablets, Special! 1000 Tablets, Special! 88c $7.98 Sugar - Coated TABLETS ECONOMICAL! YEAST and IRON 200 Tablets 49c ii it ill lanan Medford's Original Price Cutters Open Week Days 8:30 A. M. to 9:30P. M. O 30 North Central Dial 3874 2 If the Germans should at tempt to withdraw their troops from Finland across Sweden to Norway or Germany. While German occupation of the Alands alone probably would not provoke an immediate Swed ish declaration of war, it would worsen relations and could lead to a diplomatic break. Germany could pull her troops out of Finland by land only through Sweden and Swedish observers were confident the government nevar would permit the Nazi forces to cross the frontier, except for internment. An evacuation by sea also was becoming increasingly difficult as the Russians extend their con trol of the Gulf of Finland and approach the Baltic in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. DEMOCRATS MEET Sacramento. Aug. 11 (U.B California democrats assembled in their annual party conven tion here today with William M. Mulone, San Francisco, the most prominently mentioned candi date for succession to the party chairmanship. Use Mall Tribune Want Ada. BUY NOW FOR WINTER NEEDS Aspirin Tablets May Again Be Scarce! BAYER'S 100 59t BAYER'S 50 33t? SQUIBB 200 69 SQUIBB 100 49t L McKesson 100 37 Norwich 250 4U Norwich 100 29t? A.P.C. 200 39? A.P.C. 100 23? Pure S-Grain Tablets AMERICAN Small Af? Sixs V NEOPRENE RUBBER GLOVES ALL LEADING BRANDS IN STOCK! Trained Clerks - Lalesl Vitamin Dala! MEDFORD'S LOWEST PRICES ALWAYS! 0 c Lederle Syrup of VITAMIN B COMPLEX Orange Flavored 12 $3.39 Ounces nJfepfcVltw' I9H .1 Pinnacle Packing plant No. 1 will start operations Thursday at 1 p. m., and Pinnacle Pack ing plant No. 3 will start Fri day afternoon at the same hour, it was announced today. Other packing plants will start on and after mid-week, according to re ports. Harvesting of the Red Grav enstein apple crop was started today by Charles A. Wing, who operates one of the few remain ing apple blocks in the valley. The Red Gravcnstein is one of the earlier varieties, is fair eat- Fur Remodeling and Repairing Relining, Cleaning and Glaiing Frances Dallaire Ph. 2528 Woodrow and Crater Lake OUNTAINS Be sure to take e bottle off Formula 4 lanolin en your va cation. The more natural oil in Formula 4 lanolin will relieve dryneu of the kin from tun and wind, will prevent or relieve sunburn ond will help keep hair ond tkin In a healthy condition. Juif a few drops rubbed Into the thin or holf each day will do the trick. , Plus Tax PACKER'S GLOVES MADE, SERVICE WEIGHT Medium and AA Pr. Large Sixe 96 r. INDUSTRIAL il efC PAIR YES, MOST PEOPLE DO PAftKE DAVIS KAPSEALS COMBEX WORLD'S FINEST VITAMIN B COMPLEX Are Again Available In Any Quantity 100 Kapseals '4" 500 Kapsea!sl860 ,000 Kapseals '34 20 Kapseals Complex with Vitamin C 100 Kapseals '4 " 1000 Kapseals 39 80 SQUIBB Coated Tablet VITAMIN B COMPLEX High Potency! Z $2.98 250 Q QQ for yO.09 Fr!dy, August II, 1944 Ing and preferred for pies and sauce, according to Assistant County Agent C. B. Cordy. Yel low Transparent apples, the earliest local variety, have al ready been picked. Cloelns time for Clartslfttd ads 0 a. m. Too Lata to Classify, 12:30 d. m. STEEL TOOL BOX REDUCED 3.2 lox7x7 Inches i . . spot weld.d (or extra strengthl Removable oortltlon travi haio. and catches. Steal Imobi and ploloi with a Mw line finish thai looki lik. smooth, dull chromluml Friction Tape Reduced! 14c Made of strong cotton fabric si lacky, flrnvholdingl For shop of household use. 4 -ounce roIL Vf? 1.79 Tempered and polished Chrome Vonadlum steel bladel Heavy,! sharp ... made to last for years. I Seeping Soil Soaker' 1.89 Water teepi ilowly and steadily through 2-Inch canvas tubing. No attention needed while In use. 2.79 Gleaming Nuchroni. holder ond e iporkfing rlbbedryital shade. A light-iaving light priced low. Handy Appliance Plug 25c for electric Irons and other opplt once i up to 1000 watte Reploce that old, worn-out plug now. .... !?L. P-I if iJW "i Inside SjVV "J "oor NNfeJ lock-Set 7m mm-"" IVIontgomery Ward Visit our Catalog Deoartment for items not carried In the store. Shop by phone from the catalog pagesl MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE FIVB $11,475 IN FATS Camp Ellis, III. (U.PJ Ren dering of fats at Camp Ellis messhalls for cooking purposes has effected a saving of 72,099 pounds valued at $11,475 for the first six months of the year, ac cording to Maj. Leonard Hinck ley, food service supervisor. RUBBER GARDEN HOSE REDUCED! 290 25 feet Synthetic rubber and cotton cord welded together Into a tough, flexible hosol H-inch diameter. Comes complete with non-rusting; plastic couplings. Get yours nowl 50-foot length 5.69 FLUORESCENT GE MAZDA BULBS 70. Replace that flickering, womout bulb with a genuine CE Mazda fluorescent. Rated at 2500 hours of service. 15-watt,Mnch diame ter, 17-lnch length, white light. 1 'i-inch diameter 70a PLASTIC HOSE NOZZEL ONLY .... 79 Adjustable to a fine spray, a full stream, or complete shut-off. Won't corrode or rusrl 1-Inch Carriage Bolt C Square neck, rounded head, and rolled threads. Other sixes also low-priced at Ward. Bakellte Switch Reducedl 12c talcelite cases are smaller, but stronger than porcelain. Strong toggle works with a "snop Duplex Electric Outlet 12 Dark brown bakellte case It strong, but small and light. At Shis orice you can't go wrong I 6-Inch 39c Tough steel milled aws i s s slip joint. A handy pair of pliers at a lowpricel Get them at Wardsl Head, shank, and teeth are forged from one piece of steell J 1-foot sh handle. 1 4 teeth. Round Point Shovel 159 47-Inch oth handle 1 1 1 1 2-Inch rarbon steel bladel Strong, but kht. share and well-balanced. I f$A PllTrt "" 3 A Victory jTjr Garden "-StT Rake
