Interview of Edna Emily Miller on her experience as a prisoner of war in Philippines during WWII and teaching at U.S. Army schools in occupied Japan


Evelyn McHiggins: 	Overseas [inaudible 0:03] Washington unit, uh, how did you happen to go oversees, Edna? 

Edna Miller: 	Well in, uh, uh, around 1940 I, I had a series of personal tragedies and I wanted to go to, uh, Paris and get my degree in French at [inaudible 0:25] but Hitler was on the arise and so I couldn't get a passport to Europe. But two of my friends were military, uh, doctors' wives and they were in the Philippines and they said come on out to the Philippine. So I told'm to get me a job and they happen to know the principle of Brent Episcopal private school in Baguio and they got me a job. And so, I set sail in August for Baguio and there I was teaching Jr. high math when on December the 7th, 1941 the Japanese dropped about 120 bombs around our campus on Baguio. And, uh, 20 days later the Japanese in turned all the Americans and British and the allies that people that were in Baguio and first we went to, uh, camp John Hay which had been an R&R military, um, uh, camping place and that was too good for us though, for, uh, we were stuck in a, a barracks that was supposed to hold 125 but they had 500 of us there so you can imagine, uh, how much space we had. 

Then later on the Japanese wanted that camp for their own, uh, officers so they moved us up to another camp farther up in the mountains that had been a constabulary camp that General MacArthur had used to train the Philippine soldiers. And there we stayed, uh, quite some time, I can't recall on hand how long and we lived in very miserable head, uh, headquarters. At first, uh, the Japanese wouldn't let the husbands and wives live together, uh, and so, uh, we had nothing but, uh, uh, tennis court to walk on and, uh, for many, many nights we had to stand up practically and we only had a handful of dirty rice morning and night and that was it. After a while when the Japanese had, uh, conquered Singapore and Hong Kong and all of the rest of the places, uh, they became more solidified so then they let us sort of, uh, more or less try to live our own lives. And we had one good commander to [Tomaybeson 3:23] and he let us have school in an old barn and he let us have our religious exercises. There was about 500, um, gold mining engineers and their families and, uh, a lot of missionaries that had come from China and established their foreign languages school in Baguio rather than go home.

So we were a mixture of hard biting, hard cussing, mining engineers and religious people of all faith, practically everything – Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Mary [gnome 3:58] people and that sort of thing. But, uh, we tried to – at first it was very, very much of a mess because nobody knew what to do and they all expected to be rescued right away but, uh, it's too bad that it happened at that time because if it had been later our children would not have been caught with us, they would have been sent home to their mothers and fathers in the various islands that they came from. But school, see, was in session on December the 7th, so we were caught with about a hundred children and we had to sort of look after them. Well as I said, we had a pretty good man and he let us have, as I said, the church and the school and let us go on carry on our own business more or less and although, we had nothing to eat except what I told you and only what we stood up in and, uh, and, and sometimes it didn't even have, uh, well we didn't have beds for a long time. And we slept on the floor and the first nights or so that we were captured we had to even stand up all night and we just had a spoon full of water for about 2 days. 

But as I said, as they became solidified, uh, things became a little better for us but later on we were moved another time and finally when MacArthur was coming in, I'm cutting this very short, in the 1944 they moved us from Baguio down to the low lands where, uh, 5,000 Americans were in a camp that you probably know about Santo Tomas. But we were put in a political prison called [Bellaben veayo 5:49] it was right outside of Santo Tomas. Till finally when McArthur came in and it was very bad. There was, uh, the Japanese were retreating in ‘44 and the Americans were proceeding against them and, we were between the cross-artillery fire and pin point bombing and MacArthur told us to leave our little political prison and come and walk those of us who could, the sick and the old went in trucks from, uh, Manila's Santo Tomas to his headquarters Balintawak, which was the old brewery. That was very terrible and then later on after things were a little bit, uh, better they brought us all back to Santo Tomas. I'm going over this very fast; and then it was there that the, uh, I decided to wait for my fiancé who had been on Bataan, so I didn't come home with others when they were rehabilitated. I stayed there and I joined the Red Cross and, uh, of course I had to buy my uniforms. They only gave me, uh, uh, half the salary because I'd been hired oversees. I had to buy my uniforms out of that but, uh, even so we had pretty good quarters as a Red Cross person. We lived in, uh, some private houses for a while and then we lived in, uh, – I was in, uh, a blown-out, uh, apartment house. It has this roof blown off but, and it didn't have any water. We had to carry the water from the fire faucet upstairs about 4 or 5 floors but, uh, in the Red Cross, uh, we helped all we could. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	[7:55] Um, Edna what kind of work did you do with the Red Cross? 

Edna Miller:	Oh, that's a good question. I was an administrative assistant. I was at [Zurbaran 8:03] which was the headquarters and I acted as information there to the soldiers that came through and wanted information. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	That was right in Manila? 

Edna Miller:	Right in Manila, uh, uh, I was administrative assistance right in the headquarters and Edith Miller, I think who might still be alive was my boss but then later on when the Red Cross went on to Japan they didn't take me for some reason. Maybe because I was hired locally. So, then I got a job with the, uh, government, the government, uh, the army needed teachers. They had so many boys that were illiterate and, uh, so I got a job with information and education. I didn't, uh, wear a uniform with that but in the morning, I taught these illiterates and I had to in 6 weeks get those soldiers up to a 5th grade education or they were going to be kicked out and that was too bad because some of them were married and had children. Then at night time I taught, uh, uh, blacks and whites and Kernels and everybody that wanted a high school and college English and college Shakespeare. I taught in a Quonset hut with rats and those geckos dropping their tails all around but I had a wonderful time. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	I wonder if everybody's gonna know about the gecko's what they are. 

Edna Miller:	They're little, uh, like, uh, a tiny, tiny miniscule, uh, alligators who drop their toes, their tails. [chuckle]

Evelyn McHiggins:	Are they something like a lizard? 

Edna Miller:		Yeah tiny lizard, that's what they are yes, that's what…

Evelyn McHiggins:	[9:48] And did you stay in, uh, Manila then the whole time or were you transferred in?

Edna Miller:	I was stayed in Manila from 1947 to 19 – oh I mean from 1945 the time I was released to 1947. I came home, I thought it was about time if I, I had been a teacher before the war, uh, 25 years or so at Fort Washington in army [inaudible 10:14] in Prince George. Now I thought I better get back to United States because my fiancé didn't come through ‘till later. But anyway, uh, I came back to United States and I taught 3 months in Washington, D.C., then I had a hankering to go overseas and see what made the Japanese tick and do that job honest. And so, I went down the Pentagon again and got a job in information and education.

Evelyn McHiggins:	Is that a civilian job?

Edna Miller:	No, that's, that was a, I was a deck, a department of the army civilian. And they sent me to Japan, uh, to the 1st Cavalry, the outfit that released me from the prison camp. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	That must have been interesting. 

Edna Miller:		Oh, it was very. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Did you see anybody you knew? Did you meet any? 

Edna Miller:	Oh, uh, yes, uh, well I was with, uh, uh, General Chase that outfit and I lived on the base there in a Quonset hut and I taught in a Quonset hut there. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	That was in Japan?

Edna Miller:		Yeah. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Near Tokyo? 

Edna Miller:	Uh, yes, right out, it's called Asakusa right side – outside of Tokyo and, uh, then I also became a testing specialist. I gave the test for those boys that wanted a high school education. It's called a, a, uh, high school equivalency and then I gave tests for those that had more than 2 years – that had 2 years college. So that was very interesting. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	[11:46] And how long did you do that Edna? 

Edna Miller:	Well I taught in Japan from 1940 – 2 years. My contract was 18 months I stayed and I went all over Japan and I taught the, uh, the 11th airborne up at Sendai and the, and the 7th [Infantry 12:06] just was moved into Korea just before the war broke out and I had taught those boys.

Evelyn McHiggins:	Uh-huh. [12:12] Did you ever go back and do the Red Cross? 

Edna Miller:	No. Only as a volunteer, uh, a couple of years ago I did about a thousand hours on the blood mobile down here at the Washington headquarters. And also, in the, uh, section giving the boys, uh, coffee, you know, and donuts while they gave blood. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Well that, that was very interesting. 

Edna Miller:		I love that. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Yes. You're not doing volunteer work right now? 

Edna Miller:		Oh, I'm doing loads of it but not with the Red Cross. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Okay. 

Edna Miller:	I am, uh, helping to feed 75 senior citizens 3 or 4 times a week down at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Oh, I understand. But tell me um, is there any...

Edna Miller:		That's one thing. That's only one thing I do. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Yeah you do several volunteer things, right? 

Edna Miller:		I'm on several...

Evelyn McHiggins:	But getting back to your overseas.

Edna Miller:		Yes. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Um, [13:12] what would you think was your most memorable experience? 

Edna Miller:	Well I think the most wonderful thing was of course, uh, before, uh, I became a Red Cross it was when General MacArthur came in and saved all of us. That of course...

Evelyn McHiggins:	Ca-, can you tell us what happened? I mean you – did you see him?

Edna Miller:	Oh, it was so wonderful. Yes as a matter of fact at one time after I was released he – I think they wanted me to teach their boy but I didn't want to be a governess and, uh, I was in the Red Cross then and I told a friend of mine, an English women, Phyllis Gibbins that she had been a governess in England and maybe she would do. So, she took over the job. She became MacArthur's, uh, governess. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Well that's interesting. [14:04] Do you know where she is now? 

Edna Miller:	Well I think Phyllis is dead. I, uh, uh, when I went through, uh, in 1950 to Oberammergau I stopped in England and saw some of the English women who had been in prison camp with me. Among them was Betty [Rosewoodboyd 14:23] who was cousins of the queen and [inaudible] [McMillin] whose husband was a cousin to a prime minister [McMillin] and [Daphne Bird] whose husband had been a famous architect and they had to – their husbands had all been in prison in, uh, Hong Kong during the war. So, I stopped to see them. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	 Did you know they had been in prison to?

Edna Miller:		Yes, yes.

Evelyn McHiggins:	You knew, were they prisoners in Manila you mean? 

Edna Miller:		Yes, they were. That's where I...

Evelyn McHiggins:	Before they went to Hong Kong? I suppose. 

Edna Miller:		Uh, no, no. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Oh, well maybe I misunderstood you. 

Edna Miller:	No, their husbands were captured in Hong Kong and, uh, yes, they were from Hong Kong to but...

Evelyn McHiggins:	Oh, and the wives were in prison? 

Edna Miller:	Well the wives came to, uh, Manila because they thought that they would, you know, get out of the way of the Japanese. They didn't know they could be interned again. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Yeah. [chuckle] Well that's interesting. Um, d-, do you think of anything that was particularly, oh I don't know what to say, humorous or, uh, something that you'd like everybody to know? 

Edna Miller:	Uh, well there at one time I would go down to the, uh, Japanese headquarters and try to act as a fool and, uh, so that, uh, um, uh, one of the men that went along a Jimmy [Heltma 15:42] who was intern who finally finished with USIA as a big official but he would go down and listen to the Japanese radio well I tried to divert the attention of the, uh, Japanese officers. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	How did you do that? 

Edna Miller:		Well I prete-, pre – did some crazy actions. [laughter]

Evelyn McHiggins:	You mean you played like a jester? 

Edna Miller:	I played footsies, yes, yes just like a fool. Like a jester. To divert their attention. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	And you played footsies with'm? 

Edna Miller: 		Yes, that's it. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Oh, my goodness. That must have been shocking. [chuckle] Did they fall for that?

Edna Miller:	For a bit. He was able to listen to quite a bit while I was acting as a fool. [chuckle] And in the prison camp on, uh, on Saturday night we put on some, uh, different things to, uh, keep peoples mind occupied. We would tell – I told all about the state of Maryland things and then we put on plays. I was on, in a play or two. And at one time the Japanese said can we take part too? So, they put on a sword dance for us can you imagine that? 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Well how ‘bout that. They were quite cooperative, weren't they? [chuckle] This was when you were a pris-, a POW?

Edna Miller:		That's right, that's right. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Or a intern, uh, is there anything special you would like to say about going overseas? How do you feel about it? Did you regret going or you glad you went? 

Edna Miller:	No, no I never regretted it one minute. As I said, while in this prison camp I became – I had a lot of bad experiences but I looked after a little boy who was half British and half American for a long time and that helped it keep my mind off myself. But, uh, in, in the camp I listened to all the different religions and I fell in love with a, the Episcopal book of common prayer and I become the Episcopalian I will be till the day I die. I said I wouldn't take anything for this experience. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy but I wouldn't take anything for it because that's where I became as much as a Christian as I ever will be and I learned my sense of value. The best things in life are free. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Well that's great, that really is. 

Edna Miller:	Your country, your friends, your relatives, beautiful nature and books. The Japanese finally did let us go over and ransack the library out of the camp John Hay, so we had some books for a while. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	And the Philippines was beautiful wasn't it?

Edna Miller:	Yeah, we were on the top of the high mountains a mile high among the head hunters in the Baguio. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	And did you find them too? 

Edna Miller:		Oh, we saw...

Evelyn McHiggins:	The head hunters?

Edna Miller:		Oh, there were lots of'm there. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	They weren't as bad as the Japanese I guess. 

Edna Miller:	Uh, no. The Japanese were never to bad to us. We had one of'm was pretty bad because they found 2 of our military men as [gramilias 18:32] out in the mountain and they put'm in with us because they didn't know what to do with'm but theoretically military and civilian not supposed to be together so, and theoretically the military's supposed to try and escape and they did try to escape and that was very bad for us because if we'd been in the hands of the Nazi's they would have decimated every 10th woman and child. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Mm-hm. 

Edna Miller:	But instead of that the Japanese took our good commander away and, uh, gave us a terrible one that was real bad to us. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Mm-hm. 

Edna Miller:		But uh...

Evelyn McHiggins:	And you didn't have much to eat all that time?

Edna Miller:	Nothing but a handful of dirty rice. We got one package of Red Cross food in 1943 and among them was, uh, even some, uh, woolen underwear which we couldn't use in the Philippines. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	That was not where you needed it.

Edna Miller:	But we, uh, used them to make doll babies and stuffed teddy bears for Christmas for the kids. And we had for Christmas we had a brown paper turkey. [chuckle] But the Christmas in '43 was a nice one because that was the only time a Red Cross package got up the mountains to us and we, uh, really had a wonderful time with that, that saved our lives. We ate, uh, one table-, teaspoon of Spam a day for a year till the – almost to the end of the war. And I want to say that the Japanese saw that every civilian and soldier got his package of food wherever they were, highest in the mountains, they saw that they got it. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	That was mailed, you mean, to them?

Edna Miller:		No, they carried them there in their Jeeps. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Uh, how did the packages get there? 

Edna Miller:	Oh, they came by ship to Manila.

Evelyn McHiggins:	Uh-huh.

Edna Miller:	And then they came up the mountain to us. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Well.

Edna Miller:	The people in Manila I had 3 cousins there and by the way I had 3 cousins that came in as military engineers and helped to rescue me and I had a, a nephew that was a little navy gob out on a ship in Manila, but he didn't know I was there. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	[20:34] Could you write any letters while you were in camp?

Edna Miller:	Well I wrote one and it was a one [mint 20:41] you know money talks so the standard oil and, uh, General [Leptic 20:47] 2 representatives in the far east, they were allowed to go home on that uh...

Evelyn McHiggins:	[Kungsong 20:54]?

Edna Miller:	That one ship that came back and they carried little notes or, to our relatives in the states to tell them that we were alive and, uh, that's the only thing that, uh...

Evelyn McHiggins:	Did you get any mail? Did you receive any mail from home?

Edna Miller:		No mail, people never heard from me for almost 4 years. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	And you didn't hear from them?

Edna Miller:		No, of course not. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Mm-hm.

Edna Miller:		No. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	I bet they were glad when you could write them. 

Edna Miller:		Well, I didn't come home, as I say, till '47. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	No, but you could write, I suppose, afterwards. 

Edna Miller:		Yes.

Evelyn McHiggins:	Where were you actually, uh, on V-J day? The end of the war. I know it went on for several days, but where were you? In Manila?

Edna Miller:		Uh, oh yes. Uh-huh. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Mm-hm. Would you do it all again? 

Edna Miller:		Yes, I would. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	You think of anything else special you'd like to add to this? 

Edna Miller:	Oh, there's so many things, uh, but, uh, I don't know where to begin or end. There's just so many things. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	Well thank you very much, Edna.

Edna Miller:		Oh, yeah. 

Evelyn McHiggins:	I think that was most interesting. 


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