James Patterson, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Luke Perry, August 15, 2001: Saving the legacy tape no. 283 and 284

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JAMES PATTERSON u u t 1 2001 those out at-well, we probably had ten soldiers. We all carried bolo kniv s b cau w had to cut our way through high grass and stuff. You could shave with one of thos things. So we could have killed-with the guards we had there, we could have planned what po.st they were on at a certain time. There would have been no problem there. So they brought us back in and put us in-we waited for these trucks to come in from Davao, and then they took us out and put us on a ship. The ship I was on wasn't in too bad of shape. But they split us up there. And that's where Rosenval and Jensen- they weren't on the ship. And when we come around Zamboanga the American submarines went out and sank that ship, The Shark, an American submarine. They knew who was on it. They knew there was POWs on it. But the word from back here in the states was, "Sink everything that comes out because you don't know what they're taking. They might have stuff that they could use." So, boy, everything was sunk. At Manila about 600 were sunk. Medical doctors, and nurses, and corpsmen who was trained in surgery and stuff, all designated to take these Thai people. I think there was close to 700 of them. They said 600 and something. As they was going out past Corregidor a submarine sunk that ship. No survivors. So you see what happens. I saw what happened to us. But, anyway, this is why-if a guard-and, boy, he'd be out there and he'd watch you when you came in. And you'd hide that rope, and maybe have some straw or something in your hand, and try to get it in his mouth, and then slip that thing in his nose. You then had a carabao that day to work. If he'd try to get away from you, you'd pull that rope on 27