Sgt. Bill Lorton of Medford Tells
Harrowing Experience As Prisoner
Of Japs; Escape From Transport
A Medford soldier who stood
guard duty at Del Monte field
in the Philippine islands the
night Gen. Douglas MacArthur
was evacuated from the islands,
and who heard the general's now
famous farewell words, "I shall
return," is now back in Medford
trying to forget the two and one
half years he spent as a prisoner
of war of the Japanese,
"It was like coming back to a
foreign country," said Staff Sgt.
Bill J. Lorton. His miraculous
escape from enemy hands occur
red last September 7 when 83
American officers and enlisted
men survived the sinking of
Japanese transport which was
taking 750 prisoners from one is
land to another. Lorton was shot
in the right shoulder by the Japs
as the boat sank. Handicapped
by the shattered shoulder, he
swam about five miles, evading
the patroling Jap whaleboats on
which were mounted machine
guns, finally reaching an island
where friendly' Filipino natives
gave the men food and tobacco.
Three Weeks On Isle
Sgt. Lorton, then a corporal,
and his companions spent about
three weeks on the island before
being taken off by American
submarines. First landing at New
Guinea, the men were flown
from there to Australia where
they were hospitalized and the
wounded men were treated. In
addition to the crushed shoulder,
the sergeant had 11 pieces of
shrapnel removed from his back.
Food was one of the main in
terests of the rescued men for
the next few weeks. All of the
men were in a half-starved con
dition from the effects of the
slender prisoner diet. "We all ate
24 hours a day,". Sgt. Lorton
said. The sergeant, not a large
cn, has gained 63 pounds in
weight since his escape. It was
while the men were in Australia
that the army released officially
the news of their escape and
their names, and the sergeant's
relatives here received the joy
ful news. No direct word from
him had been received since
April 10, 1042.
Receives Decoration
The former prisoner arrived
In a California port November 5
na volunteered to go to Wash
ington where he spent nine days
answering questions for officers
of the military intelligence
branch. While there he was in
troduced to General .Marshall,
chief of staff, and Secretary of
war btimson, and was decorated
by the war department.
Uiven a class one priority on
commercial airlines, Sgt. Lorton
flew to Corpus Christi,, Tex.
where he visited with his broth
er, G. A. Lorton, AMM 1e In
the navy.
Sgt. Lorton army career be
gan in 1938 when he enlisted
January 4. He served at Scho-
field Barracks In Hawaii, with
the Uth field artillery, from
February S of 1938, until Decem
ber 18 of 1940, studying photo
graphy in his spare time. He was
discharged in January of 1941
and reenllsted in the air corps
at Ft Douglas, Utah, where he
was stationed for a time with
headquarters and headquarters
squadron of the 5th air base
group as assistant chief of sec
tion and laboratory superintend
ent of the base photo lab.
With the rumblings of war
coming closer, Sgt. Lorton's or
ganization left San Francisco late
in October of 1941, the last to
do so and to reach the Philip
pines before the fateful Decem
ber attack of the Japs. He was
at Clark Field on Luzon island
on December 8, (Dec. 7 here)
when the enemy attack was
made on Pearl Harbor.
In Bataan Siege
Lorton was on the island of
Bataan for two months during
the siege of the Islands and then
was sent to Corregidor for one
week with an anti-aircraft unit
Transferred then to Del Monte
field on Mindanao, second largest
of the Philippine group, he serv
ed as an anti-aircraft machine
gunner. He was on guard duty
when both Gen. MacArthur and
President Manuel Quezon were
taken off by plane, the former
March 19, 1942, and the latter
March 25. The islands capitulat
ed May 10.
The soldier was first interned
at Camp Casisang, near the city
of Malaybalay, staying there un
til October 17. His group was
taken by truck to Cagayan, from
there by ship to Lasang where
they marched 52 kilometers, 35
miles, to the former Davao penal
colony which had been made
into a prison camp. This was not
the infamous march of death
now familiar to everyone in this
country, this march having taken
place earlier on Luzon. However,
the sergeant relates that he had
had yellow jaundice for six days
upon arrival at the camp and
was In poor physical condition.
Little medicine or medical atten
tion was given the prisoners.
Stricken By Malaria
These men, chosen because of
the comparatively good condi
tion, were put to work in rice
field and vegetable gardens of
the islands. On December 18 of
that year Sgt. Lorton came down
with malaria, his fever rising to
107.3 degrees, and he has sur
vived 37 subsequent attacks of
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0
MAX C. J. SCHNEEMANN. HANS R. C. ZUEHLSDORFF. OSCAR MAX .WILMS.
Director J. Edgar Hoover of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has asked the publlo to be on the lookout foi
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t&ge. Bctuieemana is a feet 11 Indies tall, weighs about 160 pouads, has a Uanucla.,) wtlooea ou hu rigut lure
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Doughboys Advance Through Luzon Rice Paddies
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(Acmt Telephoto)
Pushing forward single file through rice fields, these American infantrymen advance from oeacnheads ueai
Blnmaley, Luzon, us they pursue Mips in face of light opposition. Photo by Wlllard Hatch, NBA-Acme photog
rapher (or War Picture Pool.
this tropical disease.
Of the approximately 2,000
prisoners in the penal colony,
650 were selected for a work de
tail and taken to Lasang March
2, 1944. The men were there un
til early August when ordered to
leave, along with 100 men from
another camp. All were put
aboard a Jap freighter on Sep
tember 7. - ' '
For some time small bombing
attacks had been made on the
islands by American planes and
as the freighter prepared to leave
the port bombs fell, Lorton re
members. About 4:30 p. m. the
freighter was torpedoed twice
by an American submarine. Both
the stern and bow were blown
off.
'I remember thinking, 'this Is
the end,' the sergeant related,
'but I soon found myself in the
pen water." Sometime during
the struggle and confusion he re
ceived the shoulder and back
wounds and started his painful
swim to the neighboring island.
Sgt. Lorton, who is forbidden
by the war department to give
much specific in forma toin about
his life as a prisoner, says tne
work days began with a 5 a. m.
breakfast, with work starting at
6:30 a. m, A two-hour rest was
permitted at noon, work ceased
about 4:30 p. m. and lights were
out at 0 p. m. Some of the camps
had small libraries furnished by
the Red Cross, but the small
number of books were- continu
ally in use and hardly ever available.
No work was done on Sunday
and prisoner chaplains conduct
ed Catholic and Protestant serv
ices and a Jewish layman con
ducted services for men of that
faith.
Rice Mala Food
Rice was the principal Item of
food served at all meals in all
camps. Breakfast was rice, with
perhaps some fresh fish, dinner
and supper menus were usually
rice with about half a cup of
vegetable soup. An occasional
"vegetable dinner" consisted of
boiled camotes, a native vege
table similar -to our sweet po
tato. There was tea of poor qua!
ity but no coffee or milk.
Forbidden to discuss prisoner
treatment the escaped soldier
merely said "Everything you
have heard is probably true.
Sgt. Lorton said that Gen. Jona
than Wainright, taken prisoner
when the Islands fell, was very
popular with his men.
'They did everything in their
power to break our morale,"
Lorton relates, "but something
in the American make-up refus
ed to be broken. Most of us
simply didn't, believe what we
were told. If the Japs said 30
American ships were sunk, we
just reversed it and believed the
Japs had lost that many. If they
boasted of taking an island, or
winning a battle, we just decid
ed that they had probably lost
those islands or battles. Since I
have returned home I have
found out that sometimes we
were right."
Mail arrived twice, nearly 40,-
000 letters being received on one
date in 1044. No personal prison
er of war packages were ever
distributed.
Many Citations
Sgt. Lorton wears the good-
conduct medal, the American de
fense modal with a bronze stnr.
the Southwest Pacific theater '
HEALTH TO YOU!
Correct fteetaf, Colon AllmtnH
Remorrhotdg (PUtB), fto.
lur, flsliuo. Hernia (Sup-.
Iur) ditroy haltli-powr I
to Mra-abUfty 1 or 1U. I
Our Ihod of HoalmoBt 1
without hoioltal oooratloB I
uccctifuUf employed for 1
7 "a: . uocai CTOOll
forms. Call for xamlnolloa 4
M ind tot ntU kooklok
Open fveningi, Mori., Woo"., hi., 7 to I X
Dr. C.J. DEAN CLINIC
Physician siitf imrfm
W. 1. Cot. t. Bui.i!d end Otni At.
Tlt)photi EAit 3tll, Peril trad 14. Ojon
F
AT ANNUAL ME
Mrs. Scott Davis was elected
commissioner of the Medford
Girl Scout council at the annual
meeting held last week. Mrs.
Davis had been serving as com
missioner, filling out the unex
pired term of Mrs. Myron Root
who resigned several weeks ago,
Mrs. w. H. Helchstein was
named vice-commissioner, Mrs.
R. A. Work, secretary, and Mrs.
E. H. Judd, treasurer. Mrs. R. B.
Hamblin was named executive
secretary of the council.
In addition to the officers
other council members who will
serve the coming year are Mrs.
Don Newbury, Mrs. Harry Ol
son, Mrs. C. B. Collins, Mrs.
Everett Faber, Mrs. Lester Har
ris, Mrs. Arnold Bohneit, Mrs.
John Larwood, Mrs. O. A. Eden,
Mrs. Clarence Meeker, Mrs. D.
M. Zies and Mrs. C. W. Anhorn.
Past commissioners and other
women who have been of out
standing service to the council
make up an advisory board. On
the board presently are Mrs. H.
D. Bylngton, Mrs. Leonard Car
penter, Mrs. Paul Janney, Mrs.
C. M.' Kldd, Mrs. C. Rease
Wednesday, Jan. U, 194S MEDFORD MAIL TRIEUTTE FIT!
Braley, Mrs, Raymond Driver,
Mrs. Porter Neff, Mrs. R. E.
Green, Mrs. Gordon Voorhles,
Miss Helen BuUli and Mr. My
ron Root
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ribbon with two stars, the purple
heart with two oak leaf clusters,
the presidential citation with
two oak leaf clusters, the wings
of an air crew member (combat
photographer), two s e r v i c
stripes and six overseas stripes,
While in Medford the sergeant
is visiting his father, E. E. Lor
ton of Stewart avenue, and two
brothers, Jack Lorton of Jack
sonville and R. D. Lorton of Ash
land. Sgt. Lorton has about 40 days
left of a 90-day furlough and la
hopeful that he can find "diver
Using" employment for the re
mainder of his stay here. He re
ports upon expiration of his fur
lough to the air force redistribu
tion station at Miami Beach, Fla.
The sergeant has taken up resi
dence at 143 South Holly street.
Cloalns time for Classified Ada 9
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