A Song For Lisa Read Free Page B

a large area for the production of vegetables. At first it was
passionately attended and met with the approval of the guard detachment. As hunger
became commonplace the garden patch became nothing but a bare piece of ground.
Even weeds were eaten as soon as they took root in the black soil.
    A portion of the barn was converted into an infirmary where
the nurses did all they could to care for the sick and those injured by the
sadistic guards. The women persevered in the barbarous atmosphere and were
thankful that the camp commandant held a tight grip on the men under his
command. Physical cruelty, starvation, and denial of adequate medical treatment
was commonplace for the next two years. As bad as it was, it could have been
worse. The inmates were not used as sex objects by the Japanese. A few of the
women made suggestive overtures to some of the guards for special treatment.
The guards were tempted by the offers but they never followed through. The
commandant would have severely punished them. Each guard was mortally afraid of
raising his wrath against themselves.
    The single symptom of prolonged malnutrition and starvation
most feared by the prisoners was blindness. Every woman was suffering to some
degree from the dreaded condition. Loss of vision and the ability to
distinguish images at a distance were symptoms that caused the most anxiety
among the prison population. The nurses tried to reassure them that normal
sight would be restored once they were back on normal diets.
    Malaria, dysentery, acute dehydration, and pellagra were but
a few of the malignancies that proved to be fatal. The inmates were gaunt and
weary, and had given up any hope they once had of freedom or of outliving the
subhuman conditions imposed upon them. Their arms and legs were like straws on
scarecrows that farmers fashioned in their corn fields to keep away crows.
Their drawn, grotesque facial features were stretched tight against their
protruding bone structure. Few would recognize themselves if they looked in a
mirror.
    Lisa Carter slept on a bamboo mat in the corner of the
stable. The delicate facial features she once had were lost in the
horror-filled deeply set eyes. Her auburn hair was unkempt and filthy like the
tattered dress she wore.
    Lisa was a tireless and energetic worker in the fields. She
kept to herself as much as possible, but when help was needed by her fellow
prisoners she was among the first to respond to their needs. She had been a
civil service worker in the consulate general office in Manila when the war
began. The Japanese had captured the city before any of the civilian workers
could escape.
    Lisa was among the first prisoners to be rounded up within
the city and deposited at the abandoned sugar plantation known as Los Tomas.
Over her shoulder she still carried a small pocketbook filled with personal
items and identification cards and some American currency. She was dressed in a
light blouse, skirt and blazer when the Japanese arrested her.
    That first year the Red Cross supplied the inmates with
enough clothing so that they could change from the clothes they were wearing
when captured into something more suitable. Once the Red Cross source of
supplies was eliminated, their tan pants and shirts became tattered and torn.
The Japanese claimed not to have any replacement clothing for them. The main
source of foodstuffs, blankets, and clothing came to the inmates by way of the
local Filipino population who, almost on a daily basis, threw supplies over the
barbed wire enclosure. Soap, shoes, and feminine hygiene products became
precious possessions to those who were first to catch the items. Several ugly
fights developed among the inmates scrambling for the provisions. In time the
inmates were able to administer the distribution of the precious booty in a
fair and equitable system.
    One of the most influential ladies in the prison was a woman
in her early sixties who called herself “Madame June.” It was obvious to all of
the