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Brothers and sister: John Edward "Johnnie" Smith (1914 - 1989) Charles Henry Smith (1911 - ) Dorothy Smith Keaton (1916 - 1994) and son Richard Keaton (1939?- ). Dorothy wrote her thoughts of, "Growing Up and Surviving The War, Rarely!" (unpublished) March 3, 2005 My father was an American civilian at Cavite as was his father before him [being the chief clerk in the supply depot for 39 years 1901-1940 at which time he came to Oakland with his wife] while my father and his brother and sister remained in the Islands. I posess two original prison camp post cards from camp #1 dated 5-20-44 and 6-28-44 sent to his parents in Oakland, they noting on the cards 'received 24 Jan.45! They were saved by his mom [my grandmother] and handed down to me. There isn't much room for messages on them -25 word limit-and they are type-written with my fathers signiture at bottom,also a personal letter that he wrote to them [full page] dated 8-8-43 from Los Banos telling them not to worry about him and describing his stay at the hospital for a couple of 'colds' since arriving in May and adding he is only 9 pounds lighter than when he first came. An Oakland Tribune article with his picture and some words to describe being liberated-"the thrill that comes once in a lifetime"- they probably interviewed my Grandfather and quoted from a recent letter from my dad after being liberated- this is in my possession along with his original little folding 'mess kit container'. Thats what I call it, it has a fold down handle and very much looks like a oval frying pan when the handle is down and the lid removed- his initials he carved into the surface. Last, I have a letter from a "Chairman A.D. Calhoun", to my dad during a stay at the Philippine General Hospital dated 12-2-43. This letter is telling my dad how the Thanksgiving Day was celebrated and how the married men will be moving into the barracks in a couple days in anticipation of the arrival of the wives around Dec.10... He futher states that most agree these facilities [baths and kitchens] are superior to S T I C. This Chairman A.D. Calhoun states at the beginning of this letter that Colonel Urabe, the Commandant, will be visiting the hospital and has very 'kindly' offered to take this message to my dad!! My dad died on Feb.27,1989 and is too often the case, I wasn't as interested in hearing the details of prison camp days. He moved to Alameda after the war where he met my mom and worked at Alameda Naval Station untill retirement in 1969-70. Thanks for letting me share with you, Kent Smith E-mail ken_smi@msn.com Kent sent the following items about his father...  Johnnie Smith on the bottom right Late 1930's or very early 1940's Probably taken in Cavite    John Edward Smith's POW "Chow Kit"  Front of first card sent home  Back of first card sent home  Front of second card sent home  Back of second card sent home  February 3, 1945  or would like to be added to my POW/Internee e-mail distribution list, please let the me, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |