INTERNATIONAL PROSECUTION SECTION

Doc. No. 3223 31 October 1947

Sworn statement by Frederick DeWitt Turnbull Concerning Maltreatment Received at Ofuna POW Camp

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19th September, 1947
City of Tokyo Honshu Japan

I, Frederick Dewitt Turnbull, being first duly sworn on oath, deposes and says:

I am a Lt. A-1, USNR, File #301472, now attached to Navel Air Station, Los Alamitos, California. My permanent home address is 291 Grove, Highland Park 3, Michigan. I am 24 years of age. At the time I was a prisoner of War I was an Ensign, AVN, USNR, File No. 301472.

I was formerly attached to Air Group 20, VF20, aboard the USS Enterprise and was shot down by enemy air craft on October 12, 1944 at Kato, Formosa. I landed in the water by parachute approximately 25 feet from the shoreline and was immediately taken prisoner by the Army Military Police. Upon being captured all personal articles were removed from my person, my hands tied behind my back with parachute shroud lines, made to lie down and the parachute was thrown over me. Within ten minutes I had been shot twice, once in the left upper arm, once in the right chest. Beside the two wounds mentioned above, I had received two twenty millimeter wounds in my left shoulder. (See Attached Exhibit "A" and " B").

Approximately 30 minutes had elapsed when I was made to walk approximately 50 yds. to the opposite side of the road running down the shoreline. In being made to walk, my physical condition at that time was very weak and as I could not walk fast enough I was jabbed in the back with a bayonet by an unknown person, and this bayonet wound was approximately one and a half inches deep. I was then transferred to this place by truck to the Kato Military Hospital where my wounds were operated on without the aid of anesthetics. I was in this hospital until November 11, 1944 and at which time I was transferred to the Kempetai Headquarters in the City of Tainan, Formosa. I remained in this jail until November 23, 1944 undergoing interrogation daily. On November 23 I was taken by car to an airfield and then flown to Tokyo, Japan and on this trip, the only clothing that I had was a thin cotton kimona and in the tree day trip I was only fed two meals. Upon arrival in Tokyo, I was taken to the Kempetai Headquarters, Kudon District and confined there from November 26, 1944 until the 8th of December.

On the above date I was transferred to Ofuna Interrogation Camp by train and by foot. At this time I had no shoes and was made to walk a distance of approximately three miles walking over cinders, glass and made to step in animal excretion which was on the road, Not having shoes, it was very hard to keep the pace that was required and so my guards would prod me in the back with their sword cases. Also, I would like to state that at this time I had no clothing except for the thin cotton kimona given to me at the hospital in Formosa. I arrived at the Japanese Navel Interrogation Camp at Ofuna at approximately 11:30 A.M. December 8, 1944 and was immediately put in a cell six feet by nine feet. They did not feed me the noon meal that day and the first meal that I received was that night. The Kongoche by the name of Kitamura came to my cell at approximately 1:30 on this date and examined my cut and bleeding feet and also looked at my wounds in my shoulder, arm and chest. To these he gave no medical aid or attention nor would he give me clean bandages for my wounds, which were at that time infected.

Next day, which was 9 December 1944, I was interrogated by two men in civilian clothing, one of whom I came to know later as Hatso Sasano, who was a Lt. In the Navel Intelligence. He informed me in my first interview that I was not a Prisoner of War, but still a combatant and that my treatment by the Japanese Government would depend upon how I answered the questions asked of me. First interrogation consisted of my name, rank, serial number, ship, previous operations, future operations that I might know about, type of aircraft and information pertaining to this type, previous military training and also about my home life. In our conversation I learned he was from Berkeley, California and at that time I told him that one of the other Prisoners that came to Japan with me was born and raised in Berkeley California and his name was Lt. (j.g.) Kenneth Ashton Flinn. He said that he knew of no one by that name while he was in the states. Lt. (j.g.) Kenneth Aston Flinn was beaten the next morning for no apparent reason, and although he had not been questioned by the Navel Intelligence, it appeared to me that this man, Lt. Sasano, Hatsuo may have ordered his beating.

The day following the interrogation by Lt. Sasano, Hatsuo, I was questioned by Captain Sanematsu with the aid of an interrogator named James K. Sasaki. In this interrogation, I was again informed of my status while in this camp and that my safety depended upon my answers to their questions. I gave them false information as to the name of my ship and drew a diagram of the gun emplacements that were on the ship that I was supposedly from. About a month from the date of this interrogation, I was again questioned by the same two men and at that time they showed me a photograph of the ship I had told them I was from. They could see easily that I had lied to them as the number of guns and positions thereon were entirely wrong, and so they suspected that I was from another ship. I did not admit I was from another ship, but instead maintained that the information I gave them was true. At this time Captain Sanematsu slammed the desk with his fist and called me a liar and then slapped me five or six times in the face. While I was being slapped at this interrogation, James k. Sasaki was present. Captain Sanematsu then summoned the guard to beat me as I had not told them the truth. This guardís name was Nishi, Masanori and upon arrival at my cell, Nishi beat me approximately fifteen times with a club three and a half inches in diameter and 3 feet long, with as much strength he could gather, across the buttocks and legs.

The beatings began about fifteen minutes after I was questioned by Sanematsu. At this moment it was time to change the guards and the guard by the name of Hirose, Kisaburo relieved Nishi and he was given instructions by Nishi to continue the beating. Hirose being a kind guard took the bat and would hit the floor and told me that every time he hit the floor for me to yell with pain. This guard, Hirose, saved me from being severely beaten and perhaps being beaten to death.

I hold Sanematsu and Sasaki responsible for the many beatings and general mistreatments that were a daily occurrence in this camp for the following reasons: Almost invariably after questioning, the person questioned would be beaten and his meals withheld for one or more meals, a maximum time would be about four days. The guards would bow and treat both of these men with a great deal of respect and would follow any order or command given him by either. They both seemed anxious to impress us with their authority and that our lives rested in their hands, in order to secure the information that they desired from us. Sasaki often impressed us with the information that he was a Commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy and that his word carried a great deal of weight. He also continually promised to do certain things for us but these promises were never fulfilled. The fact he had authority in this camp is attested by the following occurrences. On Easter Sunday 1945 a thorough search was made of the camp and of all prisoners rooms for articles we were not supposed to have. In this inspection they found some Japanese Yen in my room and I was called from a formation of Prisoners of War by James K. Sasaki and asked why this money was in the room. I explained the situation fully to him in the presence of Kitamura, Iida and another petty officer whose name I do not know. After explaining this I was not beaten but instead returned to the formation. In the same inspection they found a package of American cigarettes in a Navy Enlisted Manís room by the name of Ring, Dell and this man was beaten by Kitamura in the presence of of approximately fifty Prisoners of War. This beating was administered by Kitamura hitting Ring with his fist approximately thirty five to forty times and knocking him senseless, so that for two days he was in a daze and could not talk coherently. This beating was witnessed by Sasaki, Iida and the unknown Petty Officer, and at no time did Sasaki interfere with this beating. It is my belief that Sasaki could have stopped this beating, as he surely stopped Kitamura from beating me. I have been told many times by the guards that the Gunrabu (phonetic) had ordered certain prisoners to be beaten, their meals withheld for not answering their questions satisfactorily, and it was common knowledge within the camp that all beatings ordered or nor ordered were condoned by the following men: Sanematsu, Sasaki, Yokura, Sasano, Katagori, and all other interrogators and intelligence officers that came to the camp.

I will describe a routine day in solitary confinement. I was confined in a cell 6' x 9', which had one window opening on the compound, which was covered with paper and bars made of wood blocks approximately 1" square, and also had one window approximately 6" x 6" leading onto the corridor, which also was covered in paper. I would arise each morning at 6:15 and would be given five minutes in which to fold my blankets and to pile them in the corner of the room. I had five blankets. I then had to wait until 6:45, at which time my food was given to me with no chance to wash or brush my teeth. I would finish with breakfast by 7 o'clock, at which time my food was taken away and then I had to sit cross legged without any blankets around my body until it was time to sweep the room, which was approximately 8:30. At 9 AM in the morning they would start the exercise known as "componsoge" (phonetic), which I will describe later. They would then take the solitary prisoners one at a time and submit them to this exercise. This would continue until approximately 10:30 or 10:45 and at 11:45 the noon meal was brought to me. This had to be finished by 12. I did nothing the rest of the afternoon except sit and think in my cell, and if the guards were not too close we would converse with the man in the cell next to us, as the walls were very thin and it was possible to carry on a conversation without raising your voice too much. At 4:45 I received my evening meal and of course , finished it by 5. I again had nothing to do but sit until 6:45, at which time I was told to make my bed and only allowed 5 minutes to make it. Then I went to sleep. There never was any heat in the barracks at any time I was there, and perhaps every third or fourth day I would be allowed to wash my face and hands and brush my teeth. Every other week I was, provided the guards were not mad or otherwise down on you as an individual, allowed to take a bath with soap. For a period of four months I wore the same clothes, which were lice infected and no opportunity to wash them or receive a change.

Our food three times a day consisted of one bowl per man of rice. This bowl would hold about 8 ounces. This bowl at no time was ever over 5/8ths full. We also received one 8 ounce bowl of soup per meal, and this soup was made of hot water and perhaps sometimes we would receive fish heads, fins, and once in a great while potato pealings, and if we received over 5 or 6 pealings per bowl, we figured ourselves very lucky.

I will add another thing about solitary confinement, and that is that we were not allowed to walk around in the cell. We had to maintain a cross legged position.

After being in the cell a while, I made some cracks in the paper over the window with my finger nail in the window leading to the corridor and the window looking over the compound. In this way a person could look out when the guards were not around. I was released from solitary confinement March 17, 1945, at which time I was allowed to see other prisoners but not to converse with them. On April 7, 1945 we were given permission to talk with one another as we had been doing secretly since our arrival in camp.

In the middle of December a Prisoner by the name Lt. Norman Emil was beaten very severely in my presence. I was returning from the latrine and I witnessed the beating of Emil from a distance of approximately 30 ft. by Nishi, Asoma and Sugata and Kitamura. I stood in the door of the latrine waiting for a guard to return me to my cell for approximately two minutes and at this time I saw the following:

Nishi was beating Lt. Emil with a club three and one half inches in diameter, three feet long, with all the strength he could gather across the buttocks and legs and after five strokes with the bat, Asoma beat him five times, the Sugata beat him five times, and then they repeated the process. Emil then fell unconscious and Kitamura Made Nishi and Sugata lift Emil to his feet and Kitamura beat him approximately15 times with his fist. They then dropped him to the floor and kicked him in the groin and then kicked him bodily and threw him in his cell. For having seen this beating I was hit approximately six or seven times with said bat by Nishi. Before Nishi hit me with a bat he told me ìNo Lookî (Miru Nei, phonetic which we understand to mean No Look). All the time that these guards were striking Emil they were laughing and seemed to be enjoying hearing Emil scream with pain and plead for mercy. This is the only beating of Emil that I saw with my own eyes, but I heard these same guards and Kitamura beating Emil many more times, extending over a period of approximately six weeks, after which time Lt. Emil died as a result of this mistreatment and abuse.

Sometime in the latter part of January or the beginning of February, a severely wounded and burned flyer by the name of Lt. Hunt, USN was brought into camp and put in the cell next to mine. At the time he arrived in camp he was able to walk even though feebly, and had a rational mind. He told me his name, rank, where he was shot down, date and name of ship and type of aircraft he was flying and also his squadron number. Upon arrival at camp he was not examined in any manner by the Kongo Cho (Kitamura), but the next morning he was made to walk from the cell to Kitamuraís room, a distance of approximately 50 yards. What Kitamura did to him in this room, I do not know, but when he returned to his cell he was definitely in a far worse state than when he left. The night after his examination by Kitamura, he became delirious and his body racked with severe pain. In his delirium he went over his crash time and time again and spoke of his family back in the States. The guards could hear him raving, and they would go into his room and pound on the floor with their bats, laughing while they did this. Once during the night I tried to talk with him and could receive no answer, so I am positive that he was out of his mind. About a week later he was again taken to Kitamuraís room for the inhuman treatment which sufficed in the camp as medical treatment. In February 1945 I requested of Lt. Sasano, Hatsuo permission to enter Huntís room and feed him or help in any way I could, as he could not use his arms or legs. Sasano said that he would have to ask his superiors. About an hour later he came to my cell and said that is was impossible and so I asked at least let me go in and read the bible to him and he said that he would see. The next morning he came back and informed me that it would not be allowed, and that there was nothing we could do to help Hunt in any way. So Hunt starved to death.

The following guards were to the best of my knowledge and belief the meanest guards in this camp. Nishi, Asoma, Sugata, Mori, Obara, Kitamura, Kohara and two other guards known to me by the following nicknames: The Weazel, and the Dog or Bull.

Nishi had a perverted sense of humor and the following incident will show exactly what I mean. In February I loaned my bible to Lt. (j.g.) Kenneth Ashton Flinn, who was in the cell next to mine, and he read the bible loud enough for Lt. (j.g.) Donald Curry Stanley to hear. Nishi, by sneaking outside and looking in the window of both rooms, could see that Flinn was talking loud enough for Stanley to hear him. He then went into Flinnís room and beat him with a bat 3 ?î in diameter and 3í long about ten times, slugged him with his fist, then hit him with the sole of rubber tennis shoes and made him stand at attention without clothes for approximately 4 hours, and the same treatment was given to Stanley. He then entered my room and for no apparent reason demonstrated on me the same beating that he gave Flinn and Stanley, thinking it was a big joke to show me what he did as he was laughing the time he was working me over. I have seen and heard him beat prisoners on numerous occasions without any apparent reason for the beating. If a prisoner showed that the beating was hurting him, Nishi would delight in beating him longer and harder then if the prisoner showed no sign of pain. An example of this was the aforementioned beating of Emil. The people I know for a fact that he beat are: Emil, Stanley, Flinn, Zeimer, Birdwell, Walker, Parnell, Frelleson, Walasek, Upton, Beuhheit, Cross and myself. The aforementioned beatings were administered during an exercise we knew as ìComponsogeî.

This exercise consisted of taking a handless swab (a heavy brush), bending from the hips and running this swab down a corridor approximately 25 yds. in bare feet, being beaten if you slowed down, fell or in anyway did not keep up the pace set by the guard. This exercise was being conducted in the middle of the winter, using cold water which would make the floor very slippery and at the same time your feet would become numb due to the cold. The average number of times you would go up and down this hall is 20, and every man who would take this exercise would receive approximately from 15 to 20 hard blows with a bat 3 ?î by 3í. Also this exercise was done individually while the prisoner was in a weakened physical condition, and after two trips it was all he could do to move without extreme pain.

Other types of punishment that Nishi administered was putting a tooth brush handle between each one of your fingers, and then taking his hand and squeezing the Prisonerís hands as tight as he possibly could, and the releasing the pressure. This usually happened immediately prior to meals and consequently you could not use your chop sticks, or pick up your bowl and put it to your mouth to eat. He did that to me twice.

At meal times you would have to stand by the door with your cup in your hand, and ask for hot water, then he would open the door and pour this hot water from a kettle, making sure that the hot water spilled over the side, thereby severely scalding or burning the Prisonerís hands. He did this to me once.

Sugata, who was the running mate of Nishi, used to delight in trying to outdo Nishi in his punishment. Example of Sugataís meanness is the fact that he delighted in going with Nishi into the Prisoner's cell at night, while they were sleeping, and having Nishi sit on the prisoners while Sugata would beat them with the bat 3 ?î by 3í. I know this for a fact as I have had this done to me twice. He beat everyone that Nishi did, and that I have listed above, and these beatings occurred during ìComponsogeî, and at any other time he so desired. Sugata liked to take certain supplies from our Red Cross boxes, of which I received only two during my entire stay. If you were to refuse to give him these supplies, he would beat you with the bat 3 ?î by 3í; and I know this happened to both Stanley and Flinn. On one occasion Kenneth Flinn was beaten 26 times by said bat for refusing to give Sugata the prunes from his Red Cross box. My cell at this time was adjoining Lt. (j.g.) Kenneth Flinnís, and Flinn told me that it was Sugata who had beaten him. Even though we were in solitary confinement and not allowed to speak to one another, it was possible to converse as the walls between the rooms were very thin and in some places you could see from cell to cell through the cracks. Flinn told me that Sugata came into his cell and put a tooth brush handle between each one of his fingers, and then took his hand and squeezed Flinns hands as tight as he possibly could and then released the pressure. Flinn also said Sugata poured hot water over his hands.

I accuse Asoma of not only indulging in the mistreatment of the prisoners with Nishi, Sugata and Mori, but also allowing them to have the free hand in the mistreatment of the prisoners as he was their senior guard of the seaman ranks, and while on watch of these men. In the capacity of senior guard, he received orders from the Petty Officer, Camp Commander and Gunredo and did not take any orders from any other guards outside of Kitamura, who was the Kongo Cho. I personally saw and heard him mistreat in numerous ways Emil, Zeimer, Flinn, which led to their physical breakdown and subsequent death.

I heard when I was released from solitary from my fellow prisoner that Asoma had beat them on numerous occasions without provocation, and no apparent reason, in their cells. Asoma, as an individual, was a very prominent member of a detail that ran ìComponsogeî. Asoma beat beat Kenneth Flinn approximately 15 times with a bat 3 ?î in diameter by 3í long as hard as he possibly could, and the reason he gave to this beating of Flinn was that Flinn was sitting on his blankets while in solitary confinement, with one blanket wrapped around his body, and Asoma said that was against the rules of the camp. Flinn was in the next cell to me and told me about this beating. The beating took place at the end of December 1944.

Mori, insofar as I am personally concerned was the meanest of all the guards. After my arrival at camp he beat me on numerous occasions with the bat 3 ?î x 3í without provocation and apparently without orders. He took great delight in taking my left arm, which was shot up, and twisting it behind my back and hearing me yell with pain. Each time that he did this it would cause scar tissue on my wounds to open and bleed, (See attached Exhibit ìAî and ìBî) and due to the fact that I had Lice infected bandages, subjected me to possible infection. Beside the pain involved, this cause me great mental strain and had a decidedly bad effect on my morale. In December 1944 Mori beat Lt. Kenneth Ashton Flinn for approximately one hour with a bat 3 ?î x 3í after which Flinn could neither lie down, or sit down, and this beating so disturbed his digestive system that it was impossible for Flinn to eat. This beating took place outside the barracks known as Iku (phonetic) and I witnessed the beating from my window.

Hata, who sufficed as the camp cook, may have been an able cook but he was much better as a black marketeer. On numerous occasions in May, June, July and August I saw him load the stand on the rear of his bicycle with food. He would normally take rice, sugar, meat, vegetables. One day in the middle of June I saw him load his bicycle with food two different times and ride off, and then come back about three hours later with the food missing from the rear stand of his bicycle. On this occasion that I just mentioned, his first load consisted of approximately 25 lbs. of rice and the second load had a 10 lb bag of sugar and a bag made of some sort of straw filled with rice, which I would estimate as weighing at least 10-15 lbs. It was a known fact in camp that Hata, alias ìCurleyî had bought a home and furnished it from the money he made on the black market. Enough food came into Ofuna for the Prisoners of War to live on, but with Hata stealing and selling the larger portion of this food, it left us with very little. Many times I and other Prisoners of War at Ofuna have seen empty cans in the kitchen and in Hata;s room, which had come from the Red Cross food parcels, which were for Prisoners of War only. I do not say, however, that Hata was the only one who stole Red Cross boxes, but any one who did were condoned by Captain Sanematsu, Komer Yokura, James K. Sasaki, Hatsuo Sasano ñ as these men were stealing them also. It is my firm belief that anything that went on at the Japanese Navel Interrogation Camp at OFUNA was either ordered or condoned by the above mentioned members of the Navel General Staff and by all others in or connected to the Navel General Staff.

Obara never mistreated me personally, but I learned from the other Prisoners when I was released from solitary that he indulged in the ìComponsogeî torture.

Kitamura, in my opinion, is a sadist and enjoyed seeing and causing pain to us as Prisoners of War. In December 1944 my little toe on the left foot became frozen and the medical treatment I received from Kitamura was as follows: I was taken to his room by a guard and upon entering was made to sit down on a plain wooden bench. He then made me put my foot on a small stand and with a pair of tweezers pulled my skin very roughly from my frozen toe, causing extreme pain and leaving the toe itself raw. He then put some yellow ointment and gave me some dirty bandage, with which to wrap my toe. Another Prisoners of War was present when this happened; his name is Boatswain William Leibold, USN. In February 1945, when he made an inspection of solitary cells, he found where I had scratched my name on the wall, and he then came to my room and slugged my with his fist for approximately 20 times. I was sitting on something resembling a bed, with a straw mat on top of it, raised about 3í from the floor. When he hit me, he would knock me completely off my seat. He would bang my head against the wall. He would then make me come back up in my sitting position and hit me some more. This beating made it impossible for me to eat the evening meal. At the time of this beating my left arm was still in a sling, as my wounds were not completely healed. As stated before, Kitamura was very active in the beatings of Emil, Flinn, Zeimer, Ring and numerous other Prisoners of War.

On or about the 1st of February 1945, Lt. Emilís condition became very serious as a result of the beatings he had been receiving for a period of approximately one month at the hands of Asoma, Nishi, Sugata and Kitamura, and at no time did Emil receive medical help from Kitamura that I know of. I can definitely state that Lt. Emil was not hospitalized. I hold Kitamura responsible for the death of Lt. (j.g.) Kenneth Flinn through his refusal of medical aid. Flinn developed some sort of ulcer on the left side of his body, and said ulcer started as a small hole no larger then a pin hole. This ulcer kept growing larger until it had obtained the diameter of approximately1 inch at the time Flinn died. During approximately six weeks period from 1 June 1945 until the date of Flinnís death, on or about 24 July 1945, Flinn repeatedly asked Kitamura for medical aid and Kitamura refused. Further, approximately three days before Flinn died, Kitamura gave Flinn a piece of gauze on which some fish oil had been poured. I was with Flinn on the day he went into a coma. Kitamura, accompanied by Kakudo Iida, the camp commander, came by the room and looked in the doorway; I advised Iida and Kitamura that Flinn was very sick; Kitamura and Iida just looked and walked away. This statement can be verified by Lt. (j.g.) William T. Ross. Further, Kitamura was responsible for the death of Lt. (j.g.) William C. Zeimer in a somewhat similar manner. In about May Zeimer developed a sore on the outside of of his left foot. The size of this sore, which was open, kept increasing until on or about the 3rd of August it was from 3? to 4 inches in diameter. Zeimer during all the time this sore was developing, kept asking Kitamura to do something about it. Kitamura refused. I was not in solitary confinement at this time, and therefore allowed to go as I pleased in my barracks. At 0700 that morning, the morning Zeimer died, I went across to his cell, as he had not touched his food, and I wanted to find the reason why. Looking in his cell I could see that Zeimer was not conscious. Myself, plus another prisoner by the name of Hughes, went in Zeimerís cell and tried to bring him to. At this time his eyes were very glassy, his body rather cold and stiff. Within an hour he started a gurgling noise within his throat, and having seen Flinn just a few weeks previously do the same thing, we knew that he was in a coma, and that it was impossible to revive him, but we tried for at least an hour to two hours. His face had a yellow color to it, his fingernails were very, very white. About 7:15 in the morning, right after we found Zeimer, I went down to Kitamuraís office with Charles Bucheit to ask Kitamura if he would come down to Zeimerís cell and see what he could do for Zeimer. The only thing that he did say was ìMatteî (phonetic) which meant to us ìWaitî. Then we went back and worked on Zeimer for approximately two hours, and Kitamura did not come to give any aid to Zeimer until about 12:30. At approximately 12:30 of said date Kitamura gave Zeimer an injection of some drug and stated at the time that Zeimer would die very shortly. Ziemer died that same day, within an hour after Kitamura had given him this injection. The following men besides myself heard Kitamura make this statement that Ziemer would die shortly, they were Bucheit, Perobo, Newton, all American Prisoners of War.

I also hold Kitamura responsible for the death of Lt. Hunt which I have already described previously in this statement.

Kitamura defiantly had adequate medical supplies in his room in the OFUNA Camp to have saved Hunt, Zeimer and Flinn. In any event, he could have prevented a great deal of suffering, which was experienced by the many sick and wounded Allied Prisoners interned in this camp. I know positively that he had abundant medical supplies on hand because I personally saw them when the war was over in his room. Charles Bucheit will verify this as he was with me. These medical supplies were in a large wooden box 3í long ñ 2 ?í wide and 2í high. This box was practically full of the following medical supplies: approximately 50 rolls of gauze, each roll was 3î in diameter ñ the width of the gauze was 2 ?î; a small wooden box 6î long ñ 3î wide -3î high, packed tightly with gauze pads; 20-30 tubes of burn ointment ñ these tubes were the same size as a large shaving tube ñ we used this in treating Reaganís burns after the war was over. - about 15 4oz. Bottles of Vitamin B-1 in liquid form; vitamin pills ñ the number I cannot estimate but after the war Kitamura began to issue them at the rate of 20 per day per prisoner. There were approximately 135 Prisoners in the Camp at the time ñ this continued from about 20 August 1945 until September 1945; at least 5 large 10-14 oz. Bottles of Iodine; Kitamura had at least 300 pills of ? grain Morphine; there were many other medical items which I cannot recall at this time. I know definitely that the supplies listed above were not sent to OFUNA after hostilities were over because if they had been, I would have seen them. After the cessation of hostilities, we were allowed free movement about the camp.

In about May 1945 Kohara was Gocho San Number 2 for a while, then became Gocho San number 1 before departing from Ofuna. Kohara almost always carried a cane about the camp with which he used to beat prisoners for no apparent reason. About once a week, every week, Kohara would order the Prisoners beaten for what seemed to be his personal amusement. Kohara openly claimed that there was no such thing as a ìsick prisonerî. On at least six or seven occasions I was beaten on the orders of Kohara and then made to assume the ìOfuna Crouchî position for a period of from ? to æ of an hour. The ìOfuna Crouchî was the position of about a ? knee bend, with the knees a distance of about 2í apart, balancing on the balls of the feet, with hands overhead in an upraised position. Any change of balance from the balls of the feet, increased bend of the knees or lowering of the hands and arms was met with a blow of the ìCamp Clubî a piece of wood 3 ?î x 3í, at the hands of the guard. At the conclusion of the ìOfuna Crouchî position, it was customary to make the prisoners assume a horizontal push-up position, with the body parallel to the ground supported by the arms and toes only. Any deviation from the paralell position resulted in a blow from the ìCamp clubî by one of the guards. The duration of this line of stance was from 20 to 30 minutes. At the end of June 1945 Lt. (j.g.) Zeimer was suffering from beri-beri and had an open sore on the outboard side of his left foot, which was approximately 3 ?î in diameter approximately 1î deep. He was called out with all the rest of the Prisoners in #3 barracks to do the ìOfuna Crouchî in the hallway. We held this position for about 2 minutes at which time each man was taken as an individual to the center doorway of the 3rd barracks and beat five times by Kohara with a bat 3 ?î x 3í. About twenty of us received this punishment. We were then made to go outside in the compound and assume a push-up position. If your hips were too high, he would beat you with this bat until you got into the correct position, and likewise, if you were too low, the bat was put underneath your chest and drawn aft, and by drawing it aft, it would hit your testicles. This lasted approximately one-half hour. After this beating, Zeimer could not walk without two men helping him for about four or five days. He had a very hard time sleeping because of that punishment.

Whenever any Prisoner did anything wrong, all Prisoners were punished in the manner shown above. An example of his giving group punishments occurred sometime in July 1945. It developed that there was a piece of bread missing from the rations that were to be issued to the prisoners in my barracks. Kohara put us into the ìOfuna Crouchî and horizontal position as described above along with the usual beatings that accompanied such ìexerciseî. Another favorite amusement of Koharaís was to prod the prisoners with a stick while they were carrying buckets of human feces from the latrine which resulted in the contents spilling on the Prisonerís person. At the time this was a very serious matter to us because of the definite lack of cleaning facilities in the camp.

Due to our unfamiliarity with Japanese names, we gave some of our guards nicknames until we learned their proper name. For example Nishi was known as the ìPestî; Obara was know as ìRosieî; Kohara was known as ìFour Eyesî or ìLuther Burbankî; Asoma was known as ìMetal Mouthî; Tamayama was known as ìThe Sportî; 3 ?î x 3í was known as ìThe Quackî, ìThe Painterî, ìThe Butcherî and ìKongo Choî; some of our interrogators were also given nicknames, Sasaki was called ìHandsome Harryî; Sanematsu was known as ìThe Little Commanderî and ìThe Little Captainî.

It is hard at this time to express the feeling of anxiety and constant fear under which we were living while confined as prisoners in this camp. I am sure that if the war had progressed another 30 days, that the deaths in this camp would have been much greater. When we were released from this camp, 30 to 40 men were carried out on stretchers. One of these men, Major Walker, died on the hospital ship, Benevolence.

Signed: Fredrick DeWitt Turnbull Signed: Subscribed and sworn to before me this 19th day of September 1947 Captain John R. Pritchard ñ Summary Court