My stock question to refugees is, "Did you see many Japanese? Americans?" Almost all answer: "No, only several at a time" or "very few." As for American casualties, it's "one or two at a time." The Americans were never seen rushing, storming forward or attacking aggressively. The Japanese had ample time to burn houses and slaughter civilians. I understand the American method of warfare — spare American and civilian lives at the expense of weapons and equipment. That's fine for jungle warfare but the battle for Manila required some urgency.

Never in all history has an army traveled so extensively trained, equipped and supported as the Sixth Army. They may be puffed up by their successes, but everywhere they went they found the Japanese cut off from reinforcements, their equipment ruined by air strikes, and their defenses crushed by naval bombardment. Had they taken Manila intact, there would have been the wildest of celebrations. Instead, Manila is now a city in ashes; in mourning; a city of hungry and bewildered people trying to get on their feet after being dealt a staggering blow by a treacherous foe.

And it's not over yet. The list of casualties is not complete. People are still seeking relatives — like Madame Heredia, who even now sits on our rear porch brooding over her missing son, Ray. There's something to be said for families that perished entirely or were entirely saved. One moment a whole family was together; suddenly they found themselves inexplicably separated.

Miraculous escapes get a big play. My cousin John was in a shelter with two others when a Japanese soldier came up with a machine-gun. After 48 hours of the greatest terror he had ever known, he felt his time had come at last. He closed his eyes ... nothing happened. The soldier retreated, furtively eyeing a suspicious corner from where a single shot had come and reduced him from a desperado on the loose to just another scared hombre.

Many go around seeking old faces. Machado's welcome was the heartiest that he has ever given me. Right now he's dead broke after losing everything except for about $30,000 in stocks bought through me in San Francisco.

...ooOoo...