Apr. 29, 45: Arrived in Mukden, Manchuria (over a million population). (The Manchu's once conquered and ruled the vast Chinese Empire, having overthrown the Ming Dynasty and set up the Ch'ing Dynasty, from which the name China evolved. During this period, the Great Wall was built).
Chapter XI
Camp Hoten, Mukden, Manchuria
I was carried to the prison hospital. This was the Emperor of Japan's birthday. We each received a cookie. At one end of the ward was a large cylindrical Russian stove; we received one scuttle of coal per day; when it was gone, we froze.
Mukden was extremely cold; had only two seasons: winter and the
Fourth of July. Piled the blankets over my head and shivered.
Another problem; the air was very dry; our noses became irritated and uncomfortable. Old timers threw pails of water on the floors, putting moisture back into the air.
From the second floor, we could see over the high stone wall; we were in a factory area. The healthy prisoners had to work in the neighboring factories, making munitions, tools and rope. When they would return each night, we got the latest rumors from the Chinese workers: "Mussolini had been hung!"
In Mukden we felt isolated from the rest of the world and even the
war; it wasn't all bad!
Capt. Herbst of Canton, Ohio, our medic, and the Japanese doctor, Juro
Oki of Tokyo, got me small amounts of dysentery medicine.
The first weeks in the hospital were spent hibernating, trying to gain strength. I was extremely fortunate to have a good friend, Major (Honest John) Raulston, from Richard City, Tennessee, who helped me in many ways, while I was incapacitated. .