DEC 13 to 16, 1944: Mindoro
Campaign
DEC 13, 1944: 1,619 POWs are
loaded onto Oryoku Maru at Pier 7 in Manila.
DEC 14, 1944: Oryoku Maru comes
under attack from aircraft off USS Hornet.
DEC 15, 1944: 2 bombs from
returning USS Hornet airplanes hit Oryoku Maru.
Prisoners are allowed to abandon ship, but are
sporadically fired on in the water by Japanese
guards.
Betw DEC 15, 1944 and JAN 31,
1945: The men from "the December Ship" will face a
series of boardings on two other ships, starvation
and horrors, executions, more bombings by American
aircraft, and another ship sinking before reaching
Moji, Japan. Only an approximate 400 of the original
1,619 will survive.
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