Caught Taking Red Cross Rations

There’s one night, there was Mortimer and Smitty that went out underground in the water catchment, they call that and they came out by a big barn, behind a big barn. They went in there and it was all Red Cross rations. Now, they start taking some and they noticed a guard coming, a Jap, so they took off and they went down and back to the barracks. So, this next morning, the Japs came there, was gonna find out who went and stole and one of the corporals squealed on the poor guys. And they took, they tied, we used to go out to work, there was a gate, posts on both sides where we used to go out, took them and tied Mortimer like there and Smitty like there. Smitty was a man taller than me but slim, you know, skinny. There was none of us too fat at that time so they tied them there and what, second day he passed out, Smitty. The third day, Mortimer, it had fell a storm of snow, and he froze his legs. The man was passed out so they took him to the hospital. When I was working, like I told you I got a beating there. Well, the next day, there were these two officers that came and I thought they were taking me out to shoot me. But no, it was go up, give blood to Mortimer at the hospital. The man was bigger than you again, he must have weighted about 260 lbs. He had his two legs cut off here, two legs cut off here. He was just a shadow, but I give him blood but he didn’t live, he passed away. He wanted to give me his pictures to give to his wife and children but I says, “I’m not out of here yet.”