FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1982

By HM2 Mary Drake

.

SUBIC BAY For Chief Warrent Officer

Larry Carlson, assigned to the Navy Regional

Medical Center orthopedic clinic, being stationed
at Subic Bay is more than just another overseas
tour.

Carlson has enjoyed a lifelong association with

the Philippines.
Born to Christian missionaries in Cebu in 1942,

he spent most of his childhood and a good portion

of his adult years in the island nation. For the
first three years of his life he was incarcerated,

along with his parents, in various Japanese

prisoner of war camps.
The saga of the Carlson family and their
involvement in the Philippines began in March
1941 when Ray and Imogene Carlson, along with
their 2-year-old son Robin, arrived In Cebu. Their
goal was to start a Christian mission to serve the
island's population.

Plans altered by war

Originally, the Carlsons had planned to travel
to China and establish a mission along the Tibetan
border. However, the Sino-Japanese War was then
in full sway, and entry to China was difficult. As
an alternative, they decided to work in the

Philippines temporarily, until things settled down

in China.

After arrival in Cebu, the Carlsons settled in

and began their missionary work. Everything

went fine until December 1941, when the Japanese
invaded the Philippines.
Cebu City, the site of the Carlsons' mission,
was heavily attacked by the Japanese, and air
raids soon became part of their daily routine.
Many times the Carlsons were forced to seek
shelter in caves, returning to their home only
after dark.
It was amid

these circumstances that their

second son, Larry, was bom on Feb. 24,1942.

In early April Japanese air attacks against
Cebu City reached a peak. American forces were
evacuating the area, and refugees clogged the
roads, seeking to escape from tlie Japanese. Ray

Carlson had earlier volunteered to help dispose of

telegraphic equipment to prevent its capture by
the Japanese, and v/hile engaged in this activity
became separated from Imogene.

CW03 Larry Carlson

century. There were a total of 120 American and

Filipino prisoners housed in the jail, and living

conditions were primitive. Imogene's diary
recalls: "When two high iron gates clanged shut
behind us, we realized we were prisoners. There
were no electric lights, thanks to the complete job
done by our demolition teams before retreating to
the hills. One tiny kerosene lamp glowed in the
center of the courtyard, the only light for the
whole camp."
Two weeks later 97 of the prisoners, the
Carlsons among them, were moved to the Cebu
Junior College, which the Japanese had converted
into a
POW camp. Food shortages and

. Larry Carlson felt right at home

when he arrived in the Philippines.

The small Pacific Island was his

Fear for ehildrens' safety

Unable to contact her husband, Imogene
abandoned the mission and, with the two children
in tow, sought shelter In the countryside. Afraid of
capture, and concerned for the safety of her
children, she kept constantly on the move. She

received assistance from friendly Filipinos along

'he way, and managed to avoid Japanese patrols.
.Vfler a harrowing journey by foot she finally
succeeded in reaching a camp in Sudlon, where
other Americans were in hiding. It was here tliat
she heard Gen. Jonathan Wainwright's broadcast
calling on all American troops to surrender. Like

the other Americans in the camp, she was

stunned. The country had fallen!

While-in Sudlon, Imogene learned that Ray had

place of birth during World War II

and was home for him and his

missionary parents for many years

before he joined the Navy.
contaminated water were among the problems
encountered.

On Oct. 13, 1942, the Carlsons were moved

again, this time to the Club Filipino. Although this

camp had running wa^er and electricity, the
Japanese staff was poorly organized. As Imogene
noted in her diary, "They had no plan for the care

been taken prisoner by the Japanese. A short, of the prisoners. . . . Arrangements were ail left
while later, as part of a prisoner exchange, Ray to us again." This camp also housed Norwegian

also arrived at Sudlon, and the family was

From Swdlon the Japanese moved the Carlsons

to the Cebu City provincial jail, a massive stone
structure erected by the Spanish in

and British POWs in addition to the Americans.

. On Dec. 13 the Carlsons and 144 otlier internees

reunited.

the

I6th

were sent by ship to Manila. After disembarking

they
bused to Santo Tomas University,
which the Japanese had converted into a hi^e

PACIFIC

STARS AND STRIPES

!pI

J
internment camp. Santo Tomas was better than

the previous camps, however, and. included a

market and a hospital, as well as the large
university library. Along with the other inmates,
the Carlsons weathered the huge typhoon that hit
in November 1943, and leveled much of the camp.
The Carlsons remained in Santo Tomas until

April 1944, when they were moved to Los Bancs,

42 miles south of Manila. It was at this camp that
Larry, now 2, came down with pneumonia while
Imogene was afflicted with beri-oeri. Most of the

other prisoners suffered. from malnutrition and

diarrhea, due to the poor food and water. While
the Carlsons were at Los Banos, the prisoner
population grew to 2,000..'
On Sept. 21, 1944, the prisoners spotted an
American plane overhead, the Hrst they had seen
since the Japanese takeover. Rumors were ripe
over the next few months, and the magic word
"freedom" was on everyone's tongue> On Jan. 7,

1945^ as American forces drew near, the Japanese

abandoned the camp and fled. When American
forces failed to appear .as expected, the Japanese
returned after a week and resumed control over

the camp.
Imogene's diary bears witness to the trials of

this period: "With each new loss for Japan and

more and more victories for the Americans, our

guards became frustrated. News through the

grapevine reached us of tragedies all around us.
So at last, we had to tell the boys of the real
reason we were in Los Banos and that the guns
and bayonets were not for the 'robbers.' Robin
and Larry had started asking, 'If the soldiers are
really our friends, why do they carry guns, even

in the daytime?' We kept the children inside,

beside us

all the time. Their innocence had

protected them for a long time, but it was time

for the moment of truth. To a 5-year-old and
another not quite 3, it must have come as a real
shock to learn that their former 'friends' were

really not friends at all."

Liberty at last
The camp Was finally liberated in the early
morning hours of Feb. 23, 1945, when American

paratroopers arrived and caught the Japanese off

guard.
When the war ended some months later, the
Carlsons decided to remain in the Philippines.
Anxious to resume their spiritual work, they
returned to Cebu and rebuilt their mission.' Both

boys grew up in Cebu City, practiced local

customs, and learned to speak fluent Cebuano.
When Larry was 12 the family moved to Chicago
for several years, then returned to Cebu.
Carlson joined the Navy in 1960. He served as a
hospital corpsman for 17 years, and was initiallytrained as a preventive medicine technician. In
1963 he returned to Cebu to marry his childhood
sweetheart, Yolanda, whom he had grown up
with. He later spent a number of years assigned
to the Fleet Marine Force, and flew medevacs

during the Vietnam conflict. He served a previous

tour at Naval Hospital, Subic Bay, from 1965 to
1966. In 1978 he received his commission as a

warrant

officer,

under the

auspices

of the

Physician's Assistant Program.

Carlson

can

still

remember

events

in

the

prison camps, especially the day of liberation. He

enjoys

discussing

how

he

grew

up

in

the

Philippines, and can talk at length on Philippine

history, his main avocation. He plans to retire in
the Philippines, nnd one of his goals is to write a

detailed booka^ut his family's experiences here.