KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Share #1 Posted December 8, 2012 I recently acquired these diarys, and the story they tell is amazing. They were compiled by WO D. E. Baker USMC RET who served in the Marine Corps from 1929 until 1953. Throughout much of the 1930's he served with the 4th Marines in China. At the dawn of WWII he was serving with the 4th Marines in Shanghai and was transported to the Philippines in Nov 1941. Once the war started, he and the 4th Marines moved to Corregidor, where he served until the rock fell and became a POW of the Japanese. He was held in camps in the Philippines until 1944, when he was transferred to Japan on a hellship. While in Japan he spent much of that time working in a coal mine until liberation. His diarys center around food. That was the most important thing on his and his fellow POWs minds. There are pages and pages of lists of food items and recipies. In between the pages of food are day by day entries of his life as a POW. I will let his pages speak for him: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #2 Posted December 8, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #3 Posted December 8, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #4 Posted December 8, 2012 This is the main diary . It is filled with much of the day to day entries. It appears to be hand made. At some point a bottle of ink was spilled on it. I am not going to takes pictures of all the pages, but you can get a feel for the diarys based on what is pictured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #5 Posted December 8, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted December 8, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #7 Posted December 8, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #8 Posted December 8, 2012 a QUAN was a group of people who grouped their food together as a " collective ". It is a Filippino word . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #9 Posted December 8, 2012 This next volume is a little Japanese notebook he must have acquired in Japan. I have seen this same notebook used by another POW as a diary before. This diary is filled with nothing but food and recipes . The 880 on the cover is his POW ID # in the POW camp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #10 Posted December 8, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #11 Posted December 8, 2012 This last diary is a School notebook printed in the Philippines. He must have gotten it there and brought it with him to Japan. It is mostly filled with food and names and addresses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #12 Posted December 8, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #13 Posted December 8, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share #14 Posted December 8, 2012 This thread is dedicated to the Devil Dogs of the Fourth Marines and the sacrifices they made very early in the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDK Posted December 9, 2012 Share #15 Posted December 9, 2012 What fatastic, rare items. Diaries have always been a real treasure to me as they tell the real mans story of his war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share #16 Posted December 9, 2012 Thanks JD. I love diarys for the same reasons you do. They are not " eye candy" like a lot of other militaria, and are under appreciated by a lot of people. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fixbayonets! Posted December 9, 2012 Share #17 Posted December 9, 2012 Very nice diaries Kurt! Reminds me of the POW diary I traded to you with the food entries, I guess it was common for these guys to write about the things they no longer had. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share #18 Posted December 9, 2012 Very nice diaries Kurt! Reminds me of the POW diary I traded to you with the food entries, I guess it was common for these guys to write about the things they no longer had. Rob Hi Rob Ive been trying to corner the market on POW diarys! They are very similar to the one I got from you. I have found with the Pacific diarys, food is always a theme in them. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wharfmaster Posted December 9, 2012 Share #19 Posted December 9, 2012 Very rare documents that have survived together(in great condition)for a long time. He must have hidden them well while he was behind the wire. Every WW2 POW that I have talked to said that food was the ONLY thing on their mind. I have a Santo Tomas Internment Camp document much like this, recipies of what food they were going to eat after liberation. Super find! The Wharfmaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Flage Guy Posted December 9, 2012 Share #20 Posted December 9, 2012 KAST., this is one of the best threads I've ever seen on the Forum. In my opinion, the contents should be recorded/published somehow. Thanks very much for sharing this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hessian Posted December 10, 2012 Share #21 Posted December 10, 2012 VERY nice grouping Kurt. Congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share #22 Posted December 10, 2012 VERY nice grouping Kurt. Congrats Thanks! It came from an excellent source! Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingtigerfan Posted December 11, 2012 Share #23 Posted December 11, 2012 Nothing can put you more in the moment than when you ready a veterans diaries, very nice. -Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted December 11, 2012 Share #24 Posted December 11, 2012 Another outstanding post, Kurt. This diary set is a magnificant record of a POWs life behind Japanese wire. Thanks for the great posts. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish Posted July 20, 2014 Share #25 Posted July 20, 2014 Fantastic, the content in these diaries is amazing . Thank for,posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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