Carlson Ray Imogene 1982 Philippines
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Transcript of Carlson Ray Imogene 1982 Philippines
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8/9/2019 Carlson Ray Imogene 1982 Philippines
1/2
FRIDAY JANUARY 29 98
By
HM2
M ary D rake
. SUBIC BAY F o r Chief Wa r r e n t Officer 3
Larry Carlson, assigned to th e Navy Regional
Medical Center orthopedic clinic, being stationed
at Subic Bay is more than just another overseas
t o u r
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 star t a Christian mission to serve the
island's population.
Plans altered by war
Origina ll y, the Car lsons had planned to travel
to China and establish a miss ion a long the Tibetan
border. However, th e 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 f ine unti l December 1941 when the Japanese
invaded the Philippines.
Cebu City, the site of the Carlsons' mission,
was heavily attacked by th e Japanese, and air
raids soon became part of their daily routine.
M any times the Carlsons were forced to seek
shelter in caves , r et urn ing to their home only
a f t e r d a r k
I t w a s a m id these c irc um s ta nc es th at th eir
second son, Larry, was bom on Feb. 24,1942.
In early April Japanese a ir attacks against
Cebu City reached a peak. American forces were
evacuating the area, and refugees
clogged th e
roads, seeking to escape from tlie Japanese. Ray
Carlson had earlier volunteered to help dispose of
telegraphic equipment to p revent i ts
capture by
the Japanese, and v/hile engaged in this activity
became separated from Imogene.
Fear fo r ehildrens' safety
Unable
to
contact her husband, Imogene
abandoned th e missi on and , w it h the two children
in tow, sought shelter In the countryside. Afraid of
capture, and concerned for th e safety of her
children, she kep t constan tly on the move.
She
received assistance from friendly Filipinos along
'h e 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 t roops to surrender. Like
the other Americans in the camp she was
stunned. The country had
fallen
While in Sudlon Imogene learned that Ray had
been taken prisoner by the Japanese. A short
while later as part of a prisoner exchange, Ray
also arrived at Sudlon and the family was
r e u n i t e d
From Swdlon the Japanese moved the Carlsons
to the Cebu City provincial jail, a massive stone
structure erected by th e Spanish in the I6th
CW03 Larry Carlson
century. The re wer e a to tal of 120 American and
Filipino prisoners housed in the jail and living
conditions were primitive. Imogene's diary
reca ll s: When two high iron gates clanged shut
beh ind us, we realized we were prisoners. There
were
no electric lights, thanks to the complete job
done by our demoli tion teams before retreating to
th e 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, th e
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
place of
birth
during
World War
and was home for him an d his
missionary parents for many years
before he joined the Navy.
contaminated water were among th e problems
e n c o u n t e r e d
On Oct. 13 1942 the Carlsons were moved
again, this time to the Club Filipino. Although this
camp had running wa^er and e lectr ic ity , t he
Japanese s ta ff was
poorly organized.
As
Imogene
noted in her diary, They had no plan for th e care
of the prisoners. . . . Arrangements were ail left
to us again. This camp a lso housed Norwegian
a n d Br i t i sh P O W s in addit ion to t h e m e r i c a n s
. On Dec. 13 the Carlsons and 144 otlier internees
were sen t by ship to Manila. After disembarking
they bused to Santo Tomas University,
which the Japanese had converted into a hi^e
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8/9/2019 Carlson Ray Imogene 1982 Philippines
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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.
T h e C a r l s o n s r e m a i n e d
in S a n t o T o m a s unti l
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. frommalnutrition 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
9 5^ as American forces drew near, the Japanese
abandoned the camp and fled. When American
forces failed to appear .as
expected, the Japanese
r e t u r n e d a f t e r
a
week
a n d r e s u m e d
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
s h o c k to l e a r n t h a t t h e i r f o r m e r f r ie n d s w e r e
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
r e t u r n e d to C e b u a n d r e b u i l t t h e i r m i s s i o n
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 initially-
trained 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 h e received his commiss ion
a s a
warrant officer, under the auspices of the
Physician's Assistant Program.
Carlson
c a n
still
r e m e m b e r e v e n t s
in
t h e
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.