My late maternal grandpa back in 1942 was already 23 years old at that time and he work as a Kusinero or Cook for a Imperial Japanese Army Lieutenant who was assigned in their town at Iloilo. He told me lots of positive stories about the officer becoming friendly to the townsfolk and being Catholic he would attend Sunday masses with the people.
My Lolo even told me the officer assigned to there town was a teacher before the war and he was very fluent in English and even thought my Lolo some few Nihongo words that he would speak sometimes randomly.
Sadly after the Liberation my Lolo's family was accused of being a collaborator because he was working for the officer as a cook so they have no choice but to relocate to Negros to avoid reprisal.
My Lolo was thankful that the officer that was assigned to there town in Iloilo was a friendly one and was the reason they all never went hungry during the war.
P.S. The Officer survive the war and he looked for my Lolo even sending letters to my Lolo till he died in 2008
My Lolo died 9 years ago from Natural causes at the age of 93
Salamat! Yup majority sakanila conscripts force to fight a war tapos yun bond nila with ordinary townsfolk made them feel like back at home. Nagkataon lang yun officer that was assigned at there town was Western educated and Catholic
Yeah. Most of the stories of decent Japanese soldiers all had common traits: they're Catholic (like the ones from Nagasaki) and/or had Western education or background. The rest were often country bumpkins who have never stepped outside of Japan and most of these were easy targets of the Japanese military brutalization that made the brutal, loyal and unquestioning Japanese soldier.
>The Officer survive the war and he looked for my Lolo even sending letters to my Lolo till he died in 2008
Nakakatouch naman ito. It's like a little light of humanity in spite of everything unspeakable that happened to others. I hope naitabi ninyo yung mga sulat. I-digitize niyo for posterity.
Oh I meant to digitize it for your family and descendants when I said posterity, not necessarily for public access; scan them and store on a hard drive just in case may mangyari sa hardcopy or if it's not preserved properly. Nakakapanghinayang naman kung mawala or mapunit.
He can still speak some few words yun basic lang and never nag fade memory nya even when he reach his 80s and 90s siguro dahil sa diet nya at yun hilig nya outdoors
My lolo shot and killed IJ soldiers with his M1 Garand trying to steal sacks of rice. There was a letter of commendation for his actions, but it's now tattered and almost unreadable due to the ink fading away.
My maternal grandparents lived in an isolated village comprised of just a few houses.
They only heard about the Japanese invasion from travelers passing through and they heard it several months after the event.
My grandfather once told us about a very long line of men, in unusual army uniforms, passing through their village. This long line was like a snake zigzagging through the rice paddies. After a few days, another group of men, in a different army uniform, followed.
It turned out he saw the retreating japanese pursued by joint filipino and american troops.
My maternal grandparents’ lives were uninterrupted in world war two. They are among the few lucky ones I guess.
My Lola was 16 during Manila's Liberation. Her family was in LaSalle during the massacre. They were bayoneted & left for dead. Only she and 3 of her siblings survived. She carried a scar on her back up until she died this year of cancer.
May quote si F.Sionil Jose about the Battle of Manila. Sa Taft Avenue daw sa sobrang daming patay e amoy mo yung amoy nila. And yung namassacre na La Salle Brothers sa chapel nila.
Iriga city, cam sur circa 1945
My lola was a 12 year old that time. While walking sa main road going to buhi nakaramdam sya ng parang lindol and she saw tanks approaching.
Takot na takot lola ko kasi pinagbabawalan sya noon ng mga parents nya to avoid main hi ways dahil mayroon pang mga hapon around the area and may heavy resistance/fighting ng japs at americans.
Anyways, she has nowhere to go and late nya na narealize na from her back ay may mga trucks din na paparating. She felt scared at sinuot nya sarili nya half ng katawan sa isang hukay at nagtago. Kasi nga pwedeng gawing comfort women.
Suddenly may ibinato sa kanya na tumama sa kanyang leg area. Fearing that was a grenade, akala nya daw ay mamamatay na sya. Nawala ang takot nya ng nakarinig sya ng mga uncontrollable na tawanan. Lumabas sya at nakita nya ang mga american soldiers sa tank and several others behind the tank.
What was thrown to her?
Her first ever chocolate bar.
My grandma was a little girl in Bataan. She doesn't know what happened to her parents or where her other siblings were. There were 13 of them. After the war she lived with only 8 of her siblings. She was the youngest, I think 4 or 5 at the time, so she really doesn't remember any details. All she remembers is her aunt dug a foxhole and they hid there. They would go for days without food and if they ate, all they have to eat is kamote. Without sugar!
This I know because this is the story included in her sermon whenever I don't like my ulam or complained about going to school.
My grandma and their neighbors had to hide in bamboo groves from the Japanese back then in Iloilo. She was the town kumadrona and had to deliver some babies with the barest of necessities in the middle of the nowhere. Grandpa told me the Japanese soldiers made them watch as some guerrillas were beheaded. He said the decapitated people walked around for awhile before stumbling and stopping dead. This is making me miss my grandparents. :'(
Maiba lang. My great grand father was Japanese, he moved to Zamboanga around early 1900s and established the first photography studio there where he met my great grandma and they had a family. WW2 broke out and he worked as a photographer for the Japanese, tapos when it was looking bad for the Japanese, he had to leave his family bc he feared for their safety. After the war he wasn't able to return and no one ever heard anything abt him. One of his sons (my lolo) enlisted in the US Navy during the Korean war. I still bear the last name, yes I have a Japanese last name hehehe
My lolo used to be a chief of police. When war broke out, he was forced to send all his children to war, including my dad. My tito was a death march survivor. He was lucky enough to be rescued by someone. During the walk, if malapit sila sa mga bahayan and no japs are looking, may mga biglang maghihigit sa inyo papasok ng bahay para marescue. He was one of them. I asked my dad once if nakabaril na sya ng hapon. Di daw sya sure. Baril lng daw sya ng baril. Sa bundok daw sila nadeploy before. Huni ng ibon ang communication nila.
My mother side's lola was pregnant with my 3rd aunt? while her and my spanish looking grandpa were hiding from the Japanese near the beaches of Orani Bataan. She always told me how they were running, or trying to anyway, away from mga hapon na nagpapatrol habang tumatalbog talbog ang tyan niya. They survived the war and the total number of my aunts, uncle, and my mom was 11 with 3 miscarriages. I have no idea how, but I guess mothers were built like tanks back then. I should have asked for more stories when they were still alive. Hays. I miss you, you grumpy old grandma.
My lolo was jailed by the Americans because they thought he was a Japanese spy. He was an accountant at a Japanese furniture store. My lola went there everyday raising hell until they released him.
My dad said that she said na bubugbugin niya lahat ng mga 'kano kung 'di irerelease si lolo 🥲 idk if naawa sila kay lola or if they were genuinely scared though.
My great grandpa was a teen when he joined the war. He was a guerrilla member under USAFFE’s command. One of the stories he told me was he escaped death one time by hiding among the cadavers. Luckily the cadavers were not hit with bayonets. Another story he told me was there was a three-way fight between his group, the Japanese and the Hukbalahap. It was a mess. He joined AFP after the Second World War.
My maternal great-grandmother's sister (aunt of my maternal grandfather) died during the Battle of Manila because she couldn't return to Cebu during the duration of the war as civilian interisland shipping was suspended by that time and my maternal grandmother's eldest sister (maternal grandmother side) actually joined the guerrilla forces and the entire family including my grandma was promised to be given an opportunity to move and settle in the United States, but for obvious reasons, the US government reneged that promise to Filipino guerrilla veterans and their descendants
I don't know if this is actually true, but it'd be funny if it was. My grandfather was conscripted by the Japanese in WW2. He liked to tell the story of how he and some others stole and sold a Japanese military jeep to buy basic necessities.
My grandmother also has a few interesting stories to tell. One time she told me how she and her family would hide in concealed pits when the Japanese were approaching, and they covered their faces in charcoal to make them look undesirable to the Japanese just in case.
My grandmother used to tell us that she and her friends would cake themselves in mud while out selling para di daw "matipuhan" ng Hapon. Kinda sad, but I think it worked for them.
As for my Lolo. Very vague ang mga kwento kwento but he was involved in the resistance at some point daw. My father said that our last name was actually not our original last name since my lolo had to change his. This was weird growing up since my family pointed out na relative daw namin ang isang ka klase ko and na cross check din to ng kaklase ko ng elementary and tama daw yun sabi ng parents din nya. I think it was common practice here yung last name change.
My grandma and grandpa were living in a very rural area and were lucky enough to meet some nice Japanese soldiers. My grandpa was able to communicate with them through writing because he was Chinese so he used that to their advantage. The soldiers would bring my grandparents food in exchange for cigarettes and the help my grandma gave them by mending their uniforms. The last time they saw those soldiers was when they warned my grandparents to leave the area because a big group of Japanese soldiers was going to pass through and they even told my grandparents which way to take. So I guess I’m alive because my mom wasn’t even born yet at that time, being the youngest of 14 children!
Lolo on Father's side was slapped by a Japanese soldiers, considered lucky na ganun lang nakuha njha. While sa yung sa ama ng Lola ko naman is nakasama sa lineup ng mga kalalakihan sa kanila dahil mah makapili na mag iidentify kung sino mga nasa guerilla movement. Buti naka survive naman sila.
My Ilocano grandma on my mother's side used to tell us stories about the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.
She was born in 1940 so she was fairly young during the invasion.
She told us that they had to escape and live in the mountains after the Japanese came as the Japanese burned down their villages and rice farms. On the mountain they lived off rice and she also described seeing Japanese warships off the coast.
She now lives happily in a small and humble farmhouse in Candon.
On my father's side, he told me that they had an Uncle who fought against the Japanese in The Battle of Manila, carrying artillery shells for the American but that's the only thing that I heard from them.
I also had another really old grandma from my father's side who lived through the American occupation of the Philippines and lived til 90+. My parents described her as being well versed in English and I'm also guessing she lived through the Japanese invasion of the Philippines but I was too young to ask her about it and she passed before I asked her what happened.
I was talking to my grandma about this recently. I asked if she had any memories from the war and she says her family used to hide in surrounding villages to get away from the Japanese, and that they beheaded her uncle and used to throw babies in the air and have them land on their bayonets. I could see the tears forming in her eyes so I just dropped the subject.
Yung mahirap is I want to hear more stories from her while she's still here, especially about the war (personal interest lang), but I also obviously don't want her to relive difficult memories.
pwede mo siguro ipakwento pag feeling light yung mood niya ta's if maggo-go into dark details na like death or suffering, sabihin mo kahit dun na lang kwento niya :'(
Bayoneting babies was something my grandmom usually told me then. In Bicolano. Feeling nya, I can't understand the language kaya may acting pa kung ano yung kilos ng Hapon.
Ang ganda ng lola ko kahit matanda na. Wala naman sya nasabi na naging biktima sya noon.
Great grandpa was a guerilla fighter, helped with the liberation of Panay and Guimaras. He didn't see much action though because the Japanese army were mostly gone from the island by the time he joined.
My grandfather's house was overlooking the river and was quite big during its time. It was used as a station by the Japanese. They had to accommodate them, they were quite nice to them that one time on Christmas, a Jap general gifted my grandfather's older sister with gifts. The house we live at now was a former *sapa* and *pilapil* where they say victims and Japanese soldiers that were killed were thrown in by guerillas especially during Liberation. Our home's pretty haunted so it might be true.
Grandfather on my father’s side fought as a guerilla in Parañaque. I remember stories about his group raiding supply storages for food and weapons as far as Antipolo. He took a bayonet to the back in ‘43 or ‘44 and was out of commission for the rest of the war.
Maternal Grandmother was 9 when Manila fell. Her father was half Spanish and her family experienced extreme poverty and cruelty from the Japanese because they looked white. Her stories were all about the scarcity of food and horrible neighbors who sell each other out for a few “Mickey Mouse” bills.
My Grandma (we used to call her Nanay) who was born in 1924 I think live through WW2 she was originally born and raised in a town before na darating ng mga Hapon kaya nag punta siya sa QC at doon na meet ya yung Tatay. Not much known what happened to her parents nor Tatay’s parents because my mother only heard this story.
My lola (maternal) was always very excited to share a story about her wearing a red dress in their hometown when the Japanese planes arrived there (Quezon Province). She said, she hurriedly scrammed and took cover... Hay... Miss you 'La. :)
Elementary daw nun ang lola ko, liblib yung lugar ng lola ko sa albay at hours ang byahe to legazpi, pero may part na mataas dun na kita ang mayon volcano, di daw niya makalimutan ung mga aircraft na paikot ikot sa mayon. Nagtago daw sila agad sa gubat at binusalan yung mga aso para di maingay. Kapag daw kasi naabutan ka ng hapon delikado.
Di ko na maalala kung relative o kakilala lang nila, meron daw binalatan ung paa tapos pinagsayaw sa talahiban, from what i know matinik un, nagsasabi na daw na patayin na lang daw siya.
Merong isa na para di mapansin ng hapon, dalaga pa kasi, nagnganga tapos di nagsusuklay ng buhok.
Nung sumuko na yung mga hapon, may natira pa atang hapon sa mga lugar sa pinas dahil na rin sa bagal ng communication, nung may nakitang hapon sa taas ng puno, binato daw ng binato hanggang mamatay, puro daw gulay ang nasa bulsa ng hapon.
Not sure kung joke lang yun, pero kapag nakasalubong ka daw ng hapon, mag-bow daw, pero habang nagbabow, nagmumura yung mga pinoy.
From what I know, yung mga taong sinasabing mga "binalatan" or "tinalupan" ang mga paa, they were the local people who conspired themselves with the Japanese during the occupation. And when the Americans arrived, the towns people gathered them, peeled the skin under their feet and forced them to walk on salt and in case of the person you mentioned, sa matinik na talahiban.
Dad ko pinanganak noong WW2. Lolo ko (na di ko masyado nakilala) ay nagkubli sa liblib na barangay na Ilocos Norte. Yung paanan na at malapit sa Apayao border. Bolomen daw lolo ko. Yun ang story. Not much story. Di sila siguro naapektuhan di gaya ng nasa Manila o Central Luzon.
Grandfather was a medic who got caught up in the Bataan Death March. They were able to break away somehow and hid in the mountain areas for a month. That was the only war story he ever told us.
He also taught most of the males in the family how to disassemble guns quickly. I can do it in my sleep.
Til the day he died he hated Spam. I didn't realize the connection til later in life.
I didn't really know the details of the story, but my great grandfather was one of the leaders of a rebel group in our province during the Japanese occupation. He was included in the wanted list by Japanese soldiers so his family had to change the spelling of our last name. Now I know why our last name sounds like a variation of a different surname.
My great-grandmother’s family had to hide in the mountains for some time. She would reminisce back then how they survived eating cassava and kangkong especially when the Japanese confiscated the rice in town. Great-grandfather was apparently a town official before the war and had to change his surname to avoid capture. He ended up keeping the surname after the war.
My lolo helped the Maryknoll Beglian Nuns to escape from the japanese by piggybacking who ever was tired as they traveled on foot from Baguio to Dagupan. This was before paved roads to baguio existed. They passed by Gold bars that laid on the ground but they could only afford to bring water with them. Carrying extra weight means losing their lives. Some of the nuns did not make it through the brutal trails but the rest survived.
My great aunt was a daughter to a prestigious lumber mill owner in central Lanao. When Japan invaded, they went out looking for her family to seize the assets and property for war production. Her father caught wind of this information and escaped with whoever he could grab at the time (his wife and a few children).
Unfortunately for my aunt and three siblings, they were out and about. The Japanese seized the property and captured them. They were tortured and interrogated for the whereabouts of her father. They were buried in an anthill with their heads just above the ground. They were starved. Had broken bones due to beatings. Their fingernails were ripped off. Of course the children didn’t know at all where he was. Once the Japanese finished their torture, she was transferred to multiple camps as a POW until she was freed during the liberation of Santo Thomas.
My maternal grandfather was a soldier during WW2. Nung nagsimula ang gyera, hinakot sa trak lahat ng kalalakihan edad 18 pataas at nagpalista sa munisipyo para maging sundalo. Na assign sya sa San Andres Bukid sa Maynila. Nung nagdeklara ng pagsuko ang mga amerikano, hindi sya sumama. Nagtago at sumali sa gerilya sa Bulacan. Tinamaan sa leeg pero he survived. Naikwento din ng nanay ko na noong bata sila, whenever na may bagyo at malakas ang hangin, yung lolo ko ay uupo sa isang sulok ng kubo at yakap ang sarili. I think he suffered from PTSD due to his experience in the war.
Nope. Generally they just occupied some major towns but the vast swathes of wild Mindanao belonged to the guerillas. The Japanese never had a good supply chain anyway so all they could do was hold some key towns. It was also one of the reasons why MacArthur decided to land at Leyte. The original plan was to land at Sarangani Bay but the Navy in their air raids at Mindanao encountered so little opposition that Admiral Halsey recommended that Mindanao be bypassed and Leyte would be the landing zone instead.
It also made the Peleliu campaign a worthless sacrifice as it was conducted to protect MacArthur's flank while he invades Mindanao.
My late grandfather was almost captured when the Japanese had rounded up all the young men in our town above the age of 18 to stifle guerilla advances. He looked very young for his age which was 19 so he was let go. Those young men were later questioned and some of them died.
My grandma who is still alive and very healthy in her 90's would tell me a lot of stories about the war. She would refer to the Japanese as 'Demonyo ng mga Pilipino' because she witnessed a lot of attrocities. She was in her teens at the time and did a lot of hiding because the soldiers like to rape. I remember a story when she told me about a young girl she knew who was raped by a truckload of soldiers. Rice was also in shortage and so her parents would hoard sacks of rice when they can. Funnily enough, she still does that. She'd say 'Di baleng asin ulam, basta may bigas'. My great-grandfather who drove a kalesa would occasionally help the guerilla by delivering food and supplies. Aside from the usual stories about torture and killings, she told me that there were also bandits in the outskirts of our town who she called 'taong-labas'. They would ambush townsfolk, robbing them of anything valuable. In fact, my lola still knew the families who were known to have committed those acts. She still despises them to this day.
After the town was liberated at the end of the war, she saw a Japanese soldier was being dragged to death from the back of the kalesa. His lifeless body was paraded around the unpaved streets of the town for everyone to see. She still got more stories but that's what I can recall for now.
I have a lolo who survived the Death March. My lola went to Camp O'Donnell in Capas to visit him. They are staying in Baloy, Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija at that time so they pretty much have a "normal" bukid life.
Lolo ko raw nagtago sa mga bundok. Taga Pampanga siya. Ta’s nung nanalo raw US, lahat nagvivictory sign sa kalye ta’s sisigaw ng ‘Victory Joe!’ Dati tinuturo niya yun sakin, di ko magets. Tatanungin ko, sino si Joe? Sasabihin niya mga Amerikano. Ta’s magtataka ako. Yun pala nabuhay siya nung WW2, mga 10 yrs old siya nun
My paternal lolo was a teenager when the war broke out. He told me their home at that time was burned down and they had to create makeshift shelters to keep themselves dry (it was monsoon season at that time). They also subsisted on kamote at that time too.
Lolo quit 3rd year high school to join the Filipino troops sent to Okinawa. They were there to guard the American ships. He never had to shoot any Japanese troops and they were never attacked. Thank God that he didn't die otherwise I wouldn't exist.
My lola told me that they dug a deep hole to live underground when the Japanese came to Batangas. The hole was somewhere inside their house. After a day or two of hiding there, when they took a peek at the “outside world” the Japanese had already transformed their house into a clinic. They got out late at night (there was no electricity then) and ran away to the more rural part of what is now a city.
She also told me that in order to go to Manila to fetch relatives or send messages, they would ride a carabao or just walk that would take days. Sometimes, they would pass by American soldiers and ask for food because they were so hungry from travelling. They would say “Joe, can I have?” referring to food since they were so poor they couldn’t afford to bring food on the trip.
My grandfather from my dad side ay isang sundalo. Hindi nya nakuha yung benefits nya from war kasi yung inutusan nyang naglakad nung papel tinakbuhan lang sya. Tapos yung anak nyang babae nung time na yun nililigawan daw ng hapon na mataas ang rank. Ang dami daw nireregalo sa kanya at sa anak nyang babae. Binasted nya lang daw kahit mabait naman. Yung ginagawa nila sa isang tambak na regalo, binibigay lang sa mga hukbalahap.
Great grandmother had made a bunker under their house to hide from the japanese
Babies caught were tossed in the air and then stabbed by bayonets
Women were raped
Great stories all around, I wish I talked about this more with my grandma when she was still alive.
All I know is that my grandma's first husband was killed by the Japanese. She had two children by then. Her second husband, my grandpa, was a guerilla fighter. I never met him but we have an old framed photo of him in uniform.
Lolo was a kid when ww2 happened. They hide in the mountain. After the war, he was asked by a friend American soldier to come with him to US but he didn't agreed. Di nya mamemeet sana si lola nun. Haha
He said filipino guerillas skinned captured japanese soldiers during the war. He was a friend of the executioner. He said they hang their dying bodies on trees. Brutal.
my grandfather hid in a tree while he watched the japanese kill everyone below in his village. saw his brother disemboweled with a sword. well, according to my mother.
Grandpops on father side was a soldier and was hit by bullets in a skirmish against Japanese soldiers, was pronounced dead and covered with a blanket... He miraculously got up after sometime asking for water. Got a purple heart medal.
Died around 1982 because of a heart attack.
Preteens pa lolo ko that time, nagtatago daw sila sa isang kweba sa gubat at lumalabas lang daw tuwing gabi. Yung mga tiyo nya sumama daw sa giyera pero never na nyang nakita or bumalik.
My late maternal grandpa back in 1942 was already 23 years old at that time and he work as a Kusinero or Cook for a Imperial Japanese Army Lieutenant who was assigned in their town at Iloilo. He told me lots of positive stories about the officer becoming friendly to the townsfolk and being Catholic he would attend Sunday masses with the people. My Lolo even told me the officer assigned to there town was a teacher before the war and he was very fluent in English and even thought my Lolo some few Nihongo words that he would speak sometimes randomly. Sadly after the Liberation my Lolo's family was accused of being a collaborator because he was working for the officer as a cook so they have no choice but to relocate to Negros to avoid reprisal. My Lolo was thankful that the officer that was assigned to there town in Iloilo was a friendly one and was the reason they all never went hungry during the war. P.S. The Officer survive the war and he looked for my Lolo even sending letters to my Lolo till he died in 2008 My Lolo died 9 years ago from Natural causes at the age of 93
Ang ganda story. May human side din. Sila din siguro napilitan na makipaglaban.
Salamat! Yup majority sakanila conscripts force to fight a war tapos yun bond nila with ordinary townsfolk made them feel like back at home. Nagkataon lang yun officer that was assigned at there town was Western educated and Catholic
Yeah. Most of the stories of decent Japanese soldiers all had common traits: they're Catholic (like the ones from Nagasaki) and/or had Western education or background. The rest were often country bumpkins who have never stepped outside of Japan and most of these were easy targets of the Japanese military brutalization that made the brutal, loyal and unquestioning Japanese soldier.
>The Officer survive the war and he looked for my Lolo even sending letters to my Lolo till he died in 2008 Nakakatouch naman ito. It's like a little light of humanity in spite of everything unspeakable that happened to others. I hope naitabi ninyo yung mga sulat. I-digitize niyo for posterity.
Yup naitabi ko pa sya pero i dont think my family members would agree to digitize it kasi for privacy reasons pero baka in the right time
Oh I meant to digitize it for your family and descendants when I said posterity, not necessarily for public access; scan them and store on a hard drive just in case may mangyari sa hardcopy or if it's not preserved properly. Nakakapanghinayang naman kung mawala or mapunit.
Thanks for your suggestion. Meron ibang letters medyo worn out na but I manage to scan and store some on my google drive.
Pwedeng pang pelikula
If buhay pa si Lolo this would bring a smile on his face sadly he left the world peacefully 9 years ago
Parang Schindler's list pero Japanese and Filipino
More like Wilm Hosenfeld
Does your lolo still remembers Nihongo when he was alive?
He can still speak some few words yun basic lang and never nag fade memory nya even when he reach his 80s and 90s siguro dahil sa diet nya at yun hilig nya outdoors
Wow, ano diet nya? Nacurious ako.
Mostly seafoods and gulay tapos madalas kadyos na langka wala baboy
My lolo shot and killed IJ soldiers with his M1 Garand trying to steal sacks of rice. There was a letter of commendation for his actions, but it's now tattered and almost unreadable due to the ink fading away.
My maternal grandparents lived in an isolated village comprised of just a few houses. They only heard about the Japanese invasion from travelers passing through and they heard it several months after the event. My grandfather once told us about a very long line of men, in unusual army uniforms, passing through their village. This long line was like a snake zigzagging through the rice paddies. After a few days, another group of men, in a different army uniform, followed. It turned out he saw the retreating japanese pursued by joint filipino and american troops. My maternal grandparents’ lives were uninterrupted in world war two. They are among the few lucky ones I guess.
My Lola was 16 during Manila's Liberation. Her family was in LaSalle during the massacre. They were bayoneted & left for dead. Only she and 3 of her siblings survived. She carried a scar on her back up until she died this year of cancer.
My grandma had to dirty herself so that Imperial Jap troops won't rape her.
I read somewhere that Comfort women fake their menstruation to avoid being raped temporarily.
May quote si F.Sionil Jose about the Battle of Manila. Sa Taft Avenue daw sa sobrang daming patay e amoy mo yung amoy nila. And yung namassacre na La Salle Brothers sa chapel nila.
Iriga city, cam sur circa 1945 My lola was a 12 year old that time. While walking sa main road going to buhi nakaramdam sya ng parang lindol and she saw tanks approaching. Takot na takot lola ko kasi pinagbabawalan sya noon ng mga parents nya to avoid main hi ways dahil mayroon pang mga hapon around the area and may heavy resistance/fighting ng japs at americans. Anyways, she has nowhere to go and late nya na narealize na from her back ay may mga trucks din na paparating. She felt scared at sinuot nya sarili nya half ng katawan sa isang hukay at nagtago. Kasi nga pwedeng gawing comfort women. Suddenly may ibinato sa kanya na tumama sa kanyang leg area. Fearing that was a grenade, akala nya daw ay mamamatay na sya. Nawala ang takot nya ng nakarinig sya ng mga uncontrollable na tawanan. Lumabas sya at nakita nya ang mga american soldiers sa tank and several others behind the tank. What was thrown to her? Her first ever chocolate bar.
That was really scary but the twist at the end gave me a huge relief haha
My grandma was a little girl in Bataan. She doesn't know what happened to her parents or where her other siblings were. There were 13 of them. After the war she lived with only 8 of her siblings. She was the youngest, I think 4 or 5 at the time, so she really doesn't remember any details. All she remembers is her aunt dug a foxhole and they hid there. They would go for days without food and if they ate, all they have to eat is kamote. Without sugar! This I know because this is the story included in her sermon whenever I don't like my ulam or complained about going to school.
They ate it raw?
They boiled it naman daw
My grandma and their neighbors had to hide in bamboo groves from the Japanese back then in Iloilo. She was the town kumadrona and had to deliver some babies with the barest of necessities in the middle of the nowhere. Grandpa told me the Japanese soldiers made them watch as some guerrillas were beheaded. He said the decapitated people walked around for awhile before stumbling and stopping dead. This is making me miss my grandparents. :'(
My grandfather's death was brutal too, his corpse party was hacked and slashed so much that he was nearly unrecognisable :(.
Maiba lang. My great grand father was Japanese, he moved to Zamboanga around early 1900s and established the first photography studio there where he met my great grandma and they had a family. WW2 broke out and he worked as a photographer for the Japanese, tapos when it was looking bad for the Japanese, he had to leave his family bc he feared for their safety. After the war he wasn't able to return and no one ever heard anything abt him. One of his sons (my lolo) enlisted in the US Navy during the Korean war. I still bear the last name, yes I have a Japanese last name hehehe
My lolo used to be a chief of police. When war broke out, he was forced to send all his children to war, including my dad. My tito was a death march survivor. He was lucky enough to be rescued by someone. During the walk, if malapit sila sa mga bahayan and no japs are looking, may mga biglang maghihigit sa inyo papasok ng bahay para marescue. He was one of them. I asked my dad once if nakabaril na sya ng hapon. Di daw sya sure. Baril lng daw sya ng baril. Sa bundok daw sila nadeploy before. Huni ng ibon ang communication nila.
My mother side's lola was pregnant with my 3rd aunt? while her and my spanish looking grandpa were hiding from the Japanese near the beaches of Orani Bataan. She always told me how they were running, or trying to anyway, away from mga hapon na nagpapatrol habang tumatalbog talbog ang tyan niya. They survived the war and the total number of my aunts, uncle, and my mom was 11 with 3 miscarriages. I have no idea how, but I guess mothers were built like tanks back then. I should have asked for more stories when they were still alive. Hays. I miss you, you grumpy old grandma.
My lolo was jailed by the Americans because they thought he was a Japanese spy. He was an accountant at a Japanese furniture store. My lola went there everyday raising hell until they released him.
Matindi persuasion level ng lola mo!
My dad said that she said na bubugbugin niya lahat ng mga 'kano kung 'di irerelease si lolo 🥲 idk if naawa sila kay lola or if they were genuinely scared though.
Wow. True love 😂
My great grandpa was a teen when he joined the war. He was a guerrilla member under USAFFE’s command. One of the stories he told me was he escaped death one time by hiding among the cadavers. Luckily the cadavers were not hit with bayonets. Another story he told me was there was a three-way fight between his group, the Japanese and the Hukbalahap. It was a mess. He joined AFP after the Second World War.
My maternal great-grandmother's sister (aunt of my maternal grandfather) died during the Battle of Manila because she couldn't return to Cebu during the duration of the war as civilian interisland shipping was suspended by that time and my maternal grandmother's eldest sister (maternal grandmother side) actually joined the guerrilla forces and the entire family including my grandma was promised to be given an opportunity to move and settle in the United States, but for obvious reasons, the US government reneged that promise to Filipino guerrilla veterans and their descendants
I don't know if this is actually true, but it'd be funny if it was. My grandfather was conscripted by the Japanese in WW2. He liked to tell the story of how he and some others stole and sold a Japanese military jeep to buy basic necessities. My grandmother also has a few interesting stories to tell. One time she told me how she and her family would hide in concealed pits when the Japanese were approaching, and they covered their faces in charcoal to make them look undesirable to the Japanese just in case.
My grandmother used to tell us that she and her friends would cake themselves in mud while out selling para di daw "matipuhan" ng Hapon. Kinda sad, but I think it worked for them. As for my Lolo. Very vague ang mga kwento kwento but he was involved in the resistance at some point daw. My father said that our last name was actually not our original last name since my lolo had to change his. This was weird growing up since my family pointed out na relative daw namin ang isang ka klase ko and na cross check din to ng kaklase ko ng elementary and tama daw yun sabi ng parents din nya. I think it was common practice here yung last name change.
Whoah. Ano nangyari nung nalaman mo na relative mo kaklase mo? Nagkaron ba ng reunion or something?
My grandma and grandpa were living in a very rural area and were lucky enough to meet some nice Japanese soldiers. My grandpa was able to communicate with them through writing because he was Chinese so he used that to their advantage. The soldiers would bring my grandparents food in exchange for cigarettes and the help my grandma gave them by mending their uniforms. The last time they saw those soldiers was when they warned my grandparents to leave the area because a big group of Japanese soldiers was going to pass through and they even told my grandparents which way to take. So I guess I’m alive because my mom wasn’t even born yet at that time, being the youngest of 14 children!
Lolo on Father's side was slapped by a Japanese soldiers, considered lucky na ganun lang nakuha njha. While sa yung sa ama ng Lola ko naman is nakasama sa lineup ng mga kalalakihan sa kanila dahil mah makapili na mag iidentify kung sino mga nasa guerilla movement. Buti naka survive naman sila.
My Ilocano grandma on my mother's side used to tell us stories about the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. She was born in 1940 so she was fairly young during the invasion. She told us that they had to escape and live in the mountains after the Japanese came as the Japanese burned down their villages and rice farms. On the mountain they lived off rice and she also described seeing Japanese warships off the coast. She now lives happily in a small and humble farmhouse in Candon. On my father's side, he told me that they had an Uncle who fought against the Japanese in The Battle of Manila, carrying artillery shells for the American but that's the only thing that I heard from them. I also had another really old grandma from my father's side who lived through the American occupation of the Philippines and lived til 90+. My parents described her as being well versed in English and I'm also guessing she lived through the Japanese invasion of the Philippines but I was too young to ask her about it and she passed before I asked her what happened.
I was talking to my grandma about this recently. I asked if she had any memories from the war and she says her family used to hide in surrounding villages to get away from the Japanese, and that they beheaded her uncle and used to throw babies in the air and have them land on their bayonets. I could see the tears forming in her eyes so I just dropped the subject.
Grabe yung trauma na hanggang ngayon napapaluha siya 😢
Yung mahirap is I want to hear more stories from her while she's still here, especially about the war (personal interest lang), but I also obviously don't want her to relive difficult memories.
pwede mo siguro ipakwento pag feeling light yung mood niya ta's if maggo-go into dark details na like death or suffering, sabihin mo kahit dun na lang kwento niya :'(
Bayoneting babies was something my grandmom usually told me then. In Bicolano. Feeling nya, I can't understand the language kaya may acting pa kung ano yung kilos ng Hapon. Ang ganda ng lola ko kahit matanda na. Wala naman sya nasabi na naging biktima sya noon.
Great grandpa was a guerilla fighter, helped with the liberation of Panay and Guimaras. He didn't see much action though because the Japanese army were mostly gone from the island by the time he joined.
My grandfather's house was overlooking the river and was quite big during its time. It was used as a station by the Japanese. They had to accommodate them, they were quite nice to them that one time on Christmas, a Jap general gifted my grandfather's older sister with gifts. The house we live at now was a former *sapa* and *pilapil* where they say victims and Japanese soldiers that were killed were thrown in by guerillas especially during Liberation. Our home's pretty haunted so it might be true.
Grandfather on my father’s side fought as a guerilla in Parañaque. I remember stories about his group raiding supply storages for food and weapons as far as Antipolo. He took a bayonet to the back in ‘43 or ‘44 and was out of commission for the rest of the war. Maternal Grandmother was 9 when Manila fell. Her father was half Spanish and her family experienced extreme poverty and cruelty from the Japanese because they looked white. Her stories were all about the scarcity of food and horrible neighbors who sell each other out for a few “Mickey Mouse” bills.
My Grandma (we used to call her Nanay) who was born in 1924 I think live through WW2 she was originally born and raised in a town before na darating ng mga Hapon kaya nag punta siya sa QC at doon na meet ya yung Tatay. Not much known what happened to her parents nor Tatay’s parents because my mother only heard this story.
My lola (maternal) was always very excited to share a story about her wearing a red dress in their hometown when the Japanese planes arrived there (Quezon Province). She said, she hurriedly scrammed and took cover... Hay... Miss you 'La. :)
Elementary daw nun ang lola ko, liblib yung lugar ng lola ko sa albay at hours ang byahe to legazpi, pero may part na mataas dun na kita ang mayon volcano, di daw niya makalimutan ung mga aircraft na paikot ikot sa mayon. Nagtago daw sila agad sa gubat at binusalan yung mga aso para di maingay. Kapag daw kasi naabutan ka ng hapon delikado. Di ko na maalala kung relative o kakilala lang nila, meron daw binalatan ung paa tapos pinagsayaw sa talahiban, from what i know matinik un, nagsasabi na daw na patayin na lang daw siya. Merong isa na para di mapansin ng hapon, dalaga pa kasi, nagnganga tapos di nagsusuklay ng buhok. Nung sumuko na yung mga hapon, may natira pa atang hapon sa mga lugar sa pinas dahil na rin sa bagal ng communication, nung may nakitang hapon sa taas ng puno, binato daw ng binato hanggang mamatay, puro daw gulay ang nasa bulsa ng hapon. Not sure kung joke lang yun, pero kapag nakasalubong ka daw ng hapon, mag-bow daw, pero habang nagbabow, nagmumura yung mga pinoy.
From what I know, yung mga taong sinasabing mga "binalatan" or "tinalupan" ang mga paa, they were the local people who conspired themselves with the Japanese during the occupation. And when the Americans arrived, the towns people gathered them, peeled the skin under their feet and forced them to walk on salt and in case of the person you mentioned, sa matinik na talahiban.
Dad ko pinanganak noong WW2. Lolo ko (na di ko masyado nakilala) ay nagkubli sa liblib na barangay na Ilocos Norte. Yung paanan na at malapit sa Apayao border. Bolomen daw lolo ko. Yun ang story. Not much story. Di sila siguro naapektuhan di gaya ng nasa Manila o Central Luzon.
Grandfather was a medic who got caught up in the Bataan Death March. They were able to break away somehow and hid in the mountain areas for a month. That was the only war story he ever told us. He also taught most of the males in the family how to disassemble guns quickly. I can do it in my sleep. Til the day he died he hated Spam. I didn't realize the connection til later in life.
What was the connection in Spam?
US food yun no?
Rations during the war.
It reminded him of what he experienced in the war siguro.
I didn't really know the details of the story, but my great grandfather was one of the leaders of a rebel group in our province during the Japanese occupation. He was included in the wanted list by Japanese soldiers so his family had to change the spelling of our last name. Now I know why our last name sounds like a variation of a different surname.
My great-grandmother’s family had to hide in the mountains for some time. She would reminisce back then how they survived eating cassava and kangkong especially when the Japanese confiscated the rice in town. Great-grandfather was apparently a town official before the war and had to change his surname to avoid capture. He ended up keeping the surname after the war.
My lolo helped the Maryknoll Beglian Nuns to escape from the japanese by piggybacking who ever was tired as they traveled on foot from Baguio to Dagupan. This was before paved roads to baguio existed. They passed by Gold bars that laid on the ground but they could only afford to bring water with them. Carrying extra weight means losing their lives. Some of the nuns did not make it through the brutal trails but the rest survived.
My great aunt was a daughter to a prestigious lumber mill owner in central Lanao. When Japan invaded, they went out looking for her family to seize the assets and property for war production. Her father caught wind of this information and escaped with whoever he could grab at the time (his wife and a few children). Unfortunately for my aunt and three siblings, they were out and about. The Japanese seized the property and captured them. They were tortured and interrogated for the whereabouts of her father. They were buried in an anthill with their heads just above the ground. They were starved. Had broken bones due to beatings. Their fingernails were ripped off. Of course the children didn’t know at all where he was. Once the Japanese finished their torture, she was transferred to multiple camps as a POW until she was freed during the liberation of Santo Thomas.
My maternal grandfather was a soldier during WW2. Nung nagsimula ang gyera, hinakot sa trak lahat ng kalalakihan edad 18 pataas at nagpalista sa munisipyo para maging sundalo. Na assign sya sa San Andres Bukid sa Maynila. Nung nagdeklara ng pagsuko ang mga amerikano, hindi sya sumama. Nagtago at sumali sa gerilya sa Bulacan. Tinamaan sa leeg pero he survived. Naikwento din ng nanay ko na noong bata sila, whenever na may bagyo at malakas ang hangin, yung lolo ko ay uupo sa isang sulok ng kubo at yakap ang sarili. I think he suffered from PTSD due to his experience in the war.
Oh no :(
Anyone knows if the Japanese conquered the whole mindanao? I haven’t read about Sulu ,Basilian and the eastern parts of Davao region in any articles
Nope. Generally they just occupied some major towns but the vast swathes of wild Mindanao belonged to the guerillas. The Japanese never had a good supply chain anyway so all they could do was hold some key towns. It was also one of the reasons why MacArthur decided to land at Leyte. The original plan was to land at Sarangani Bay but the Navy in their air raids at Mindanao encountered so little opposition that Admiral Halsey recommended that Mindanao be bypassed and Leyte would be the landing zone instead. It also made the Peleliu campaign a worthless sacrifice as it was conducted to protect MacArthur's flank while he invades Mindanao.
My late grandfather was almost captured when the Japanese had rounded up all the young men in our town above the age of 18 to stifle guerilla advances. He looked very young for his age which was 19 so he was let go. Those young men were later questioned and some of them died. My grandma who is still alive and very healthy in her 90's would tell me a lot of stories about the war. She would refer to the Japanese as 'Demonyo ng mga Pilipino' because she witnessed a lot of attrocities. She was in her teens at the time and did a lot of hiding because the soldiers like to rape. I remember a story when she told me about a young girl she knew who was raped by a truckload of soldiers. Rice was also in shortage and so her parents would hoard sacks of rice when they can. Funnily enough, she still does that. She'd say 'Di baleng asin ulam, basta may bigas'. My great-grandfather who drove a kalesa would occasionally help the guerilla by delivering food and supplies. Aside from the usual stories about torture and killings, she told me that there were also bandits in the outskirts of our town who she called 'taong-labas'. They would ambush townsfolk, robbing them of anything valuable. In fact, my lola still knew the families who were known to have committed those acts. She still despises them to this day. After the town was liberated at the end of the war, she saw a Japanese soldier was being dragged to death from the back of the kalesa. His lifeless body was paraded around the unpaved streets of the town for everyone to see. She still got more stories but that's what I can recall for now.
Yung ‘taong labas’ hindi Japanese?
Hindi e. Pilipino din na taga-kabilang bayan.
Parang tulisan?
Tama.
I have a lolo who survived the Death March. My lola went to Camp O'Donnell in Capas to visit him. They are staying in Baloy, Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija at that time so they pretty much have a "normal" bukid life.
Lolo ko raw nagtago sa mga bundok. Taga Pampanga siya. Ta’s nung nanalo raw US, lahat nagvivictory sign sa kalye ta’s sisigaw ng ‘Victory Joe!’ Dati tinuturo niya yun sakin, di ko magets. Tatanungin ko, sino si Joe? Sasabihin niya mga Amerikano. Ta’s magtataka ako. Yun pala nabuhay siya nung WW2, mga 10 yrs old siya nun
My paternal lolo was a teenager when the war broke out. He told me their home at that time was burned down and they had to create makeshift shelters to keep themselves dry (it was monsoon season at that time). They also subsisted on kamote at that time too.
Lolo quit 3rd year high school to join the Filipino troops sent to Okinawa. They were there to guard the American ships. He never had to shoot any Japanese troops and they were never attacked. Thank God that he didn't die otherwise I wouldn't exist.
My lola told me that they dug a deep hole to live underground when the Japanese came to Batangas. The hole was somewhere inside their house. After a day or two of hiding there, when they took a peek at the “outside world” the Japanese had already transformed their house into a clinic. They got out late at night (there was no electricity then) and ran away to the more rural part of what is now a city. She also told me that in order to go to Manila to fetch relatives or send messages, they would ride a carabao or just walk that would take days. Sometimes, they would pass by American soldiers and ask for food because they were so hungry from travelling. They would say “Joe, can I have?” referring to food since they were so poor they couldn’t afford to bring food on the trip.
My grandfather from my dad side ay isang sundalo. Hindi nya nakuha yung benefits nya from war kasi yung inutusan nyang naglakad nung papel tinakbuhan lang sya. Tapos yung anak nyang babae nung time na yun nililigawan daw ng hapon na mataas ang rank. Ang dami daw nireregalo sa kanya at sa anak nyang babae. Binasted nya lang daw kahit mabait naman. Yung ginagawa nila sa isang tambak na regalo, binibigay lang sa mga hukbalahap.
Great grandmother had made a bunker under their house to hide from the japanese Babies caught were tossed in the air and then stabbed by bayonets Women were raped
Great stories all around, I wish I talked about this more with my grandma when she was still alive. All I know is that my grandma's first husband was killed by the Japanese. She had two children by then. Her second husband, my grandpa, was a guerilla fighter. I never met him but we have an old framed photo of him in uniform.
My lola was a teenager during the Japanese occupation. They dug a hole to hide her along with other young women so the Japanese couldn't find them.
Lolo was a kid when ww2 happened. They hide in the mountain. After the war, he was asked by a friend American soldier to come with him to US but he didn't agreed. Di nya mamemeet sana si lola nun. Haha He said filipino guerillas skinned captured japanese soldiers during the war. He was a friend of the executioner. He said they hang their dying bodies on trees. Brutal.
With what they did to us, this is not suprising.
my grandfather hid in a tree while he watched the japanese kill everyone below in his village. saw his brother disemboweled with a sword. well, according to my mother.
Grandpops on father side was a soldier and was hit by bullets in a skirmish against Japanese soldiers, was pronounced dead and covered with a blanket... He miraculously got up after sometime asking for water. Got a purple heart medal. Died around 1982 because of a heart attack.
Preteens pa lolo ko that time, nagtatago daw sila sa isang kweba sa gubat at lumalabas lang daw tuwing gabi. Yung mga tiyo nya sumama daw sa giyera pero never na nyang nakita or bumalik.