On October 20, 1944 General Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines. I waited until he had everything under control and then I landed on Leyte. My LST from Pearl Harbor landed a month or so after the General.
I was expecting to see my friends from the 154th Engineering Battalion. I remember that the beach was busy. Ships and soldiers everywhere. I walked all around asking for the 154th. No luck. My friends were in New Caledonia. I really felt blue and lonely. I was placed in my third casual camp. It was a tent in the middle of vacant area. I mean that it was one tent and a few cots. I remember sitting on a cot for several days. At last some one came and took me away to the 50th Engineers. At least I had an outfit! The 50th was attached to the 7th Infantry Division.
We were stationed on the edge of a village. I believe that the name of the village was Abuyog. I remember an old picturesque Catholic Church. I looked inside. There was a big square in front of the church. We loaded and unloaded trucks there.
I witnessed several cock fights in the middle of the main street of the village. The fights did not last long. One chicken was soon dead.
We were busy getting equipment for a combat landing. Where the landing would be, we did not know. In the back of everyone's mind was the landing on Japan.
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