Soon thousands of Japanese veterans, on bicycles, were pedaling south on the highway bordering the South China Sea. Our Scouts picked off hundreds of Japs as they rode by, but in a few hours were completely out of ammunition. The Japs and their bicycles kept right on coming.
Sporadic wounded were appearing at the hospital. Major Joe Ganahl, a well known polo player, was one of these. He had been fighting a rear-guard action with his big" 155s"-coming down from Vigan. He said, "I'm going to have to destroy my 155s as they are trapped." When we got his wounds dressed, he took off in his jeep down the road, looking like the "Spirit of'76."
We were beginning to note that the Japanese .25 caliber was not causing near the tissue damage caused by the U.S. .30, .38 and .45 cal.
Frequently, when using the telephone, we could hear Japanese voices using our lines. We could usually get them off by saying, "Moshi, moshi! (hello) and sayonara (good-bye)."
We transferred our few remaining patients to civilian hospitals in
Baguio and made preparations to move out.
As the Japanese Imperial Army advanced up the mountains toward Baguio on both roads, the Naguillian Trail, and the Kennon Road, our two companies of the 43rd Philippine Scouts, outnumbered ten to one, were becoming more and more desperate. We could hear the big explosions as they blew bridges and oil tanks.
Finally, we were aware of rifle fire-it sounded like corn popping. Realizing that Camp Hay would soon be overrun by Japanese troops, we prepared and loaded our equipment on hospital vehicles. We were not anxious to be the first military
unit in the Philippines to surrender. We were well informed as to the Japanese cruelty and treachery in China; we didn't want any part of it.