Oral History Interview with Ben Blaz, October 8, 1994 Page: 53
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it--and I was gone when they came to my particular
campsite, so I escaped being recruited to carry
ammunition to the front. Well, we found out later,
after the war, that those who went were actually
killed--just beheaded.
We didn't know what was happening. There was a
lot of noise. The Marines and the Army, I think, were
on Guam seven days before we even had any of this
news. There was no way--there was no communication
with the outside world. The only thing we had known
was what the Japanese were reducing the guards on us,
almost on a daily basis.
Then one day--I was in the camp again on this
particular day, and it was kind of a funny
incident--they were all gone! All the guards were
gone, but no one wanted to leave because the Japanese
had told us earlier that anybody caught outside the
camp would just be shot on the spot. My sister was
telling me this--and I thought it was funny--and she
said, "How were you all liberated?" In the meantime, I
had run into Marines, myself, in the same neighborhood,and I was liberated early. I said, "You won't believe
what happened. We were scared. There were hundreds of
people." There were hundreds of people waiting, like,
in a cattle car, but it was in the jungle. I said,
"There were three Marines who came in--three." She53
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Blaz, Ben. Oral History Interview with Ben Blaz, October 8, 1994, text, October 8, 1994; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606451/m1/55/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.