Sixto told me that his tenant, a Japanese officer and his cook, packed and left late Friday. The officer returned this morning, burned in the face and definitely hors de combat.

"What happened?" asked Sixto.

"Torpedoed," answered the Japanese, adding: "and shelled."

"But where?"

"Just off Corregidor," he replied jerking his thumb towards the Bay.

"Where's your cook?"

"I ... I suppose he drowned ... I was afloat for two hours before I was picked up."

Just then a Captain hovered into view and urged the officer out. It was apparent he had been ordered to keep his mouth shut. Sixto told me that some other Japanese tenants left at midnight last night, leaving behind a case of corn beef, a case of tomato sauce, [Ma almost passed out at this point in the story] a case of chorizo, beer and three cases of Coke.

Tribune: "Scores of U.S. tanks disabled at Leyte.... With perfect coordination, the Japanese Army and Navy units are battering down the enemy ... while heavy guns [shelled] ... Japanese air units pounded the enemy shipping." Homma said the invasion was "doomed."

And now for la piece de resistance [my capitalizations]:

In defiance of inclement weather ... Nippon fighters and bombers swooped down on a group of enemy warships ... in Leyte Gulf, instantly scoring four direct hits on ONE enemy battleship and NEARLY hitting ANOTHER, heavily damaging BOTH of them.

Well, after touting heavily the damaging of an aircraft carrier off Halmahera recently, last night they mentioned that it was damaged by a "near miss" — just like the one in Leyte, eh? I'm beginning to understand their language now: A "crash dive" of a damaged single-engine plane is enough to "sink" an aircraft carrier or battleship. A "near miss" is enough to "heavily damage" the same. When a 250-pound bomb bounces off the 14-inch deck of a battleship and explodes with fire and smoke, the ship is "set afire." It took me a long time but I'm practically certain now to be promoted. I wonder if the teacher in the next grade is pretty?