LINDER AND CLEAR FAMILIES

March 15, 2020 Tom, Would you kindly add me to your Santo Tomas list? My father Cortland Linder, along with future wife Barbara Clear, were internees, along with my mother's parents, Charles and Ruth Clear. Many thanks, Rolf And on March 18, 2020, Rolf sent me the beginning of the Linder/Clear never ending story: Cortland Linder and Barbara Clear Linder at Santo Tomas Internment Camp Cortland Linder and Barbara Clear entered Santo Tomas in early 1942 with the first wave of Allied nationals. A cub reporter and a big-band sideman -- two paths to Manila Arriving in the camp with Barbara Clear were her mother and father, Ruth and Charles Clear, a professional engineer. Having completed her public school education in England, Barbara had recently returned to Manila, her birthplace, where she worked as a stringer for Reuters while enjoying the vibrant, pre-war social life of that beautiful city. Cort Linder had moved to Manila in the late '30's after many years as a San Francisco-based musician. A skilled pianist, he had been a member of the Tommy Tucker and Horace Heidt orchestras. Life as a working musician was unstable, as bandleaders would change personnel at a moment's notice. His lucky break came from a chance meeting with a shipping executive, the uncle of a bandmate. After talking himself into a job -- those who knew him were not surprised -- Cort was soon assigned to the Manila office of Kerr Steamship Corp. "Tommy Tucker's ex-piano player, Cort Linder, is in Jap hands in Manila, we hear...." -- from the Oct. 13, 1942 edition of Radio Daily. In this way, Cort's friends and family learned of his whereabouts." After liberation Together, Cort and Barbara survived the camp and were married in 1946 in California. Later, Cort was assigned to the Calcutta, India office of Kerr Steamship. He and Barbara lived there for three years, spanning the time of India's independence from the British Empire. Their next destination was New York, headquarters for Kerr Steamship, where they settled for many years. During this time, Cort and Barbara raised two sons, Mark and Rolf. While the shipping business took them all over the world, Cort and Barbara's true home was on Quaker Hill in Pawling, NY, where they resided for more than 40 years and enjoyed seeing their five grandchildren playing and growing up. Cort Linder died in 2006 and Barbara Linder in 2011. Memories of the camp While at Santo Tomas, Cort's musical talents were put to use in the evening "radio" programs that were broadcast over the camp loudspeaker system. Also, using the pretext of a back injury, he obtained Japanese permission to see a Filipino chiropractor outside the camp; during these brief sojourns he took the risk of stopping at a Manila piano store where the owner, a friend from before the war, snuck him in to play. Cort also used his time to fill in many gaps in his education, thanks to the Santo Tomas University library. Barbara's time in camp was devoted to caring for her aging parents and their comrades, all the while recording camp scenes in penciled sketches and watercolors. Like all internees, she had to be creative to sustain herself. She memorably traded a pair of pre-war riding boots -- her most cherished possessions -- for a single bottle of shark oil, a nutritious, but smelly, item offered by a guard. Legacies of internment Charles Clear, Barbara's father, died in February 1945 on the day the camp was liberated by the U.S. Army; he is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Manila. Ruth Clear, Barbara's mother, returned to her native Lincolnshire, England, where she died many years later. After liberation, Barbara wrote "Locust Years," a novel based on her Santo Tomas years, which explored the psychology of captives and how they managed to survive bodily, mentally and spiritually. However, New York publishers in the late 40's and early 50's were unwilling to look back to the war, and her book was never published. Ever the student, Barbara then earned a degree in history at Columbia University while her children were in school. Survivors but not captives In later years, Cort and Barbara Linder tried never to harbor resentment toward the Japanese for their internment, even when Cort's business required close contact with Japanese shipping firms after the war. Rather, the war years provided important, though painful, lessons of perseverance and resourcefulness. Their stories of Santo Tomas live on in the memories of their children and grandchildren. Cort and Barbara Clear Linder during their 1946 honeymoon in the California Redwoods. And now for some great photos, from just the other day... "Cort Linder and Barbara Clear, pre-war" Click here for a larger picture. "Barbara Clear enjoying life, pre-war Manila" "Raising a family, New York City, 1950's" "Barbara Linder, 1970's" If you would like to share any information about the Linder or Clear families or would like to be added to my POW/Internee e-mail distribution list, please let me, Tom Moore, know. Thanks!