One of PIAM's top broadcasters, one Ken Uriyama or something, quit recently. His choice spot had been Sunday night where he dealt eloquently with the war situation in the Japanese manner. In two of his Sunday spots, he developed the theme that the Americans had no more carriers or planes to spare for Luzon. Then the next two Sundays, when he was prepared to really go to town on that topic, Halsey forced him to throw away the script. We heard, instead, an agony of pauses, ad-libbing, repetitions and inconsequentials. Then he quit.

Uriyama's replacement waited all day for the next Sunday raid. When Halsey didn't come, he harangued us with a 15-minute commentary that made our hairs stand on end. For downright insults, misstatements and general vitriolics, he takes the cup over anything previously heard from PIAM. He raved and ranted in a maniacal way against everybody, even putting words into Yamashita's mouth that no self-respecting Japanese would ever say. It was an orgy of fanaticism. But he's had his day because Halsey had the final word today — and tomorrow he'll put the finishing touches on what was apparently the most important life and death convoy to enter into Manila Bay. As Sidney Rogers said recently: "The Japs claim to have the best navy in the world ... too bad so much of it is on the bottom of the sea."

So it's all-quiet tonight, though there's a tenseness here that you can cut with a knife. It reminds me of our utter helplessness in December 1941, only now the odds for the Japanese are reversed.

...ooOoo...