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Authors: James D. Hornfischer

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Part 3: The Emperor’s Guests
CHAPTER 21 (pp. 149 to 152)

The location of the
Houston
’s wreck
: USS
Houston
(SSN-713), April 1993 track chart; see also navigation chart provided by Don Kehn Jr. “
I saw hundreds of unwounded men
…”: Harold S. Hamlin, “Statement,” 8. “
There is an adage at war colleges
…”: Albert H. Rooks, “Estimate of the Situation,” Section V, Paragraph (b). “
Evertsen
reports sea battle in progress
…”: Rear Adm. William A. Glassford to
Houston
, sent 28/2328. Reaching Fremantle were the gunboats USS
Tulsa, Lanakai
, and
Isabel
, and the minesweepers
Whippoorwill
and
Lark
. See Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations
, Vol. 3, 379.
The best treatment of the loss of USS
Edsall
and the mystery of her crew’s fate
is Don Kehn’s article “History and Mystery…” and his work in progress,
Upon a Blue Sea of Blood
.
USS
Stewart

s fate:
Morison,
History
, Vol. 3, 378. “
A magnificent display of very bad strategy
”: Admiral King as quoted in Morison,
History
, Vol. 3, 380. “
It drank the cup of defeat to the bitter dregs
…”: Ibid.

CHAPTER 22 (pp. 153 to 162)


I took a deep drink of that sea water
…”: James Gee, UNT interview, 40. “
You’re just completely beyond exhaustion
…”: Charley L. Pryor, UNT interview, Nov. 4, 1972, 112.
Ens. John B. Nelson’s boat
: Winslow,
The Ghost That Died at Sunda Strait
, 170–71 and Paul E. Papish, UNT interview, 49. “
This jerk was picking up guys
…”: William M. Ingram, in Winslow, 149; see also Ingram, interviewed by Floyd Cox, 15. “
We weren’t ashore five minutes
…”: Ingram as quoted in Winslow, 149. “
I could feel myself being carried out to sea
…”: Gee, UNT interview, 42.
Chaplain Rentz
: H. S. Hamlin, “The
Houston
’s Last Battles,” 27; Lloyd V. Willey, UNT interview, 40; Web site of the USS
Rentz
(FFG-46),
www.rentz.navy.mil/rentz_rentz.html
. “
You men are young, with your lives ahead of you
”: Hamlin, 27, and Walter L. Beeson, “Casualty Affidavit for Cdr. George S. Rentz.” “
The surface was dotted with all sorts of objects
”: William J. Weissinger to Robert J. Cressman, Sept. 26, 1977, 4. “
Transports lined the beach as far as the eye could see
…”: John H. Wisecup to Randall Sutherland, Feb. 10, 1989, 4. “
Strange guttural-snarling sounds
…”
and Lt. Dalton’s parley with the Japanese
: Weissinger,
Attention, Fool!
10–12. “
Nobody wanted us
”: Weissinger to Cressman, 5–6.
Ordeal of Frank Gillan’s group of
Perth
survivors
: McKie,
Proud Echo
, 73–76, 88–91. “
The deck looked like a used shoe store display
”: Wisecup to Randall Sutherland, Feb. 10, 1989, 1.
Ensign Smith and Red Huffman getting ashore
: Charles D. Smith, “USS
Houston
(CA-30) and Experiences in Jap Prison Camp.”
Damage to Japanese landing force
: Weissinger to Cressman, Sept. 26, 1977, 4, and Winslow, 185.

CHAPTER 23 (pp. 163 to 170)


Those Aussies—if you ever have to get captured
…”: Otto C. Schwarz, interview with the author; see also Pete Evans, UNT interview, 195.
Keith Gosden’s capture
: McKie,
Proud Echo
, 54.
There’s a plan for every man
…: Ibid., 101.
Toppers Island and Sangiang
: Parkin,
Out of the Smoke
, 1, 6, and McKie, 71–83. “
They had both disappeared
”: William J. Weissinger to Robert J. Cressman, Sept. 26, 1977, 6. “
If that’s the sort they are
…”: McKie, 83.
John A. Thode
: McKie, 98–99.
On Princes Island
: Ibid., 102–103.
Capture by the Dutch
: Ibid., 106.

CHAPTER 24 (pp. 171 to 177)


You are prisoners of war. Your lives will be spared
”: Charley L. Pryor, UNT interview, Nov. 4, 1972, 114; Otto C. Schwarz, “One Man’s Story,” 4–5. “
All my life I was the kind of person
…”: Schwarz, videotaped interview, collection of Val Roberts-Poss.
Americans at Pandeglang
: William J. Weissinger to Robert J. Cressman, Sept. 26, 1977, 9. “
You and the Japanese are brothers
…”: General Imamura, as quoted in Reid and Akira,
The Japanese Experience in Indonesia
, 35.
Sighting of Sergeant Standish ashore
: Griff L. Douglas, UNT interview, 40 (most survivors doubt he got off the ship).
Prisoners at Serang
: Bee,
All Men Back
, 130; Charles D. Smith, 14; Harold S. Hamlin, “Report of Service as Prisoner of War,” 45; William J. Stewart, UNT interview, 36; Paul E. Papish, UNT interview,
60–61; and Rohan Rivett,
Behind Bamboo
, 89. “
They’ve now decided after several more counts
…”: Ibid., 75. “
We thought we were dead pigeons
…”: Edward Miles Barrett, diary entry for March 2, 1942. “
They just didn’t want to believe we were off the
Houston
”: Pryor, UNT interview, Jan. 22, 1973, 10. “
For the first four or five days at Serang
…”: Lanson H. Harris, interview with the author. “
We began to mellow out and to think
”: Ibid. “
We were hungry to the point of it being actual torture
…”: Pryor, UNT interview, Jan. 22, 1973, 16.
“After about two weeks, things began to get very uptight
…”: Lanson H. Harris, speech to the Long Beach Yacht Club.

CHAPTER 25 (pp. 178 to 185)


From fragmentary reports received in the Navy Department
…”: Navy Department, Communique No. 48. “
Nothing, however, has been heard from the HMAS
Perth
or the USS
Houston
…”: Navy Department, Communique No. 54. “
12 Allied Warships Lost in Java Battle
…”:
Los Angeles Examiner
, March 15, 1942, 1. “
Kin of Missing Sad but Proud
…”:
New York Herald Tribune
, dateline May 14, 1942.
Commander Maher, reported held in “the southern regions
”:
Waltham News-Tribune
, “Some of Houston’s Crew Saved, Japs Indicate.” “
A new kind of war
…”: Franklin D. Roosevelt, fireside chat, Feb. 23, 1942.
“Everybody well. Love, Harold Rooks.”
Rooks to Edith Rooks, March 4, 1942. “
That means he and the ship are okay
…”: “Misdated Cable Gave Wife of Capt. Rooks False Hope,” unattributed
,
undated
. “Just heard that Houston was sunk…”:
Harold R. Rooks to Edith Rooks, March 14, 1942. “
Characteristic of you in having no hesitation
…”: Hart to Edith Rooks, March 25, 1942, 1. “
I, myself, am by no means without hope
…”: Ibid. “
It is with deep regret that I confirm the Navy Department’s dispatch
…”: Frank Knox to Edith Rooks, April 9, 1942.
Stivers “had word from a most responsible source
”: J. W. Woodruff to Edith Rooks, April 22, 1942.
Rooks “a tower of strength in getting our scattered forces together
…”: William A. Glassford to Edith Rooks, May 21, 1942, 1. “
There was a bell in the naval office
…”: correspondence of William A. Bernrieder, CHC. “
There’s never been anything like it, before or since
”: “A Case of Unparalleled Patriotism,”
The Houston Chronicle, Texas Magazine
, Dec. 9, 1979, 44. “
I’m ready to fight
…”: Bob Tutt, “Reunion Set for Cruiser ‘Volunteers,’”
Houston Chronicle
, May 11, 1992, 9A, 16A. “
On this Memorial Day, all America joins with you
…”:
New York Times
, May 31, 1942, quoted in John Grider Miller,
The Battle to Save the Houston
, 6–7. “
An unparalleled gift of manpower
”: Richard M. Morehead, “Texas Fills
Houston
Crew,” undated United Press dispatch, dateline Houston, May 30, 1942.

CHAPTER 26 (pp. 186 to 190)


Officer? Any officer
?”
and Hamlin’s parley with Japanese officer
: Paul E. Papish, UNT interview, 68–69.
Bicycle Camp “looked like the Hilton
”: Lloyd V. Willey, UNT interview, 58–59. “
The whole camp froze
…”: James Gee, UNT interview, 56. “
When a guy got out of line
…”
and

They were hard cases
…”: John H. Wisecup, UNT interview, 39–40. “
They were looking for a soft billet
…”: George Detre, UNT interview, 89. “
Some of them were so
short
…”: James Gee, UNT interview, 57. “
You did your damnedest to hold your feet
…”: Seldon D. Reese, UNT interview, 58. “
After a while, hell, a bashing didn’t
…”: Wisecup, UNT interview, 41. “
The women and the kids had more intestinal fortitude
…”: James Gee, UNT interview, 59. “
The Japanese soldier placed great emphasis on his masculinity
…”: Charles,
Last Man Out
, 42. “
I’ll always thank some good Christian missionary
…”: Pryor, UNT interview, Jan. 22, 1973, 20. “
At nighttime you’d hear some noise
…”: Ibid., 22. “
All these other Jap guards rushed out immediately
…”: Willey, 63–64.

CHAPTER 27 (pp. 191 to 195)

Hill

willed himself to die
…”: Marvin Robinson, UNT interview, 130. Hill died at Serang on April 8, 1942.
Medical conditions in camp
: Raymond Day, “Saga of the
Houston
,” 7–8, and Hamlin, statement, 2–3. “
This stuff is just like a knife in your guts
”: John H. Wisecup, UNT interview, 43–44. “
Finally a British colonel interceded
…”: Hamlin, “Statement,” 2. “
He gave up a long time ago
…”: John H. Wisecup, UNT interview, 31. “
Generally speaking, petty officers behaved splendidly
…”: Hamlin, “Statement,” 2. “
Organization was kept in every way
…”: Ibid., 3. “
We were professional sailors
…”: George Detre, UNT interview, 69. “
If you got your brass, you got a chance
…”: Wisecup, UNT interview, 34. “
They would tell us about great naval battles
…”: Charley L. Pryor, UNT interview, Jan. 22, 1973, 36. “
What’s the matter, sailor
?”: Paul E. Papish, UNT interview, 84.

CHAPTER 28 (pp. 196 to 202)

Arrival of the 131st:
Donald Brain, UNT interview, 80, and Melfred L. Forsman, UNT interview, 78.
Lost Battalion battery associations
: Luther Prunty, UNT interview, 11. “
We felt very good because we felt that in numbers there was strength
…””: James Gee, UNT interview, 54. “
Whatever you needed, they seemed to come up with it
”: Melfred L. Forsman, UNT interview, 79. “
How could there be so much water in the world
?”: Jess Stanbrough, UNT interview, 38–39.
Lost Battalion’s deployment on Java
: Ibid., 53–58, and Eddie Fung, UNT interview, 26. “
We were still in an
Alice in Wonderland
world
…”: Stanbrough, UNT interview, 72. “
We would pass through a village
…”: Thompson,
A Thousand Cups of Rice
, 37–38. “
There’s only a few hundred of them over there
…”: Ibid., 38–39. “
We entered right off the road, dressed in our fatigues
…”: Stanbrough, quoted in Thompson, 40. “
The Australian Brigadier says
…”
and

At last we fully realized that the war had caught up with us
”: Ibid., 40–41. “
We are forced to surrender
…”: Ibid., 42.
Surrender of Lost Battalion
: Prunty, 38–39. “
We still had this eternal hope, prayer for the
Houston
…”: Wade H. Webb, UNT interview, 47–48. “
I guess that was the first time I’d seen a Jap
…”: Roy M. Offerle, UNT interview, 36.

CHAPTER 29 (pp. 203 to 208)

Home life of
Houston
men
: Otto C. Schwarz, interview with the author; H. Robert Charles, interview with the author and
Last Man Out
, 43–44. “
Hey, old Joe’s
really getting a pounding
…!”: Seldon D. Reese, UNT interview, 58. “
He’d see a tin can
—”
and

They’d look at him and kind of shake their heads
…”: Charles, UNT interview, 81. “
I don’t know what there was in that man
…”: Charles, interview with the author.
Scavenging by work parties at Batavia
: Howard Brooks, interview with the author, 33; William M. Ingram, interview with Floyd Cox, 19; Charley L. Pryor, UNT interview, Jan. 22, 1973, 34; George Detre, UNT interview, 87; Raymond Day, “Saga of the
Houston
,” 8a. “
Hey, Jack, you’ve got a real treasure there
…” and “
You dumb bastard! Where’s your truck?
”: Jack Feliz, UNT interview, 60–63. “
This man stole many things
”: Lloyd V. Willey, UNT interview, 72. “
He was the type of guy that could actually get you in trouble
…”: Marvin Robinson, UNT interview, 60.

BOOK: Ship of Ghosts
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