Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila

by James M. Scott

The most hated of the Japanese guards, Lt. Nanakazu Abiko, appeared moments later. Abiko had prided himself on humiliating the internees. He had slapped them, forced them to stare for hours at the sun, and to bow even when starvation had left them so weak that many could no longer climb stairs or stand through daily roll call without fainting. Now this despicable guard stood before armed American soldiers. The troops ordered him to raise his hands, but instead he reached into a pouch strung over his shoulder. Maj. James Gerhart grabbed a rifle from a soldier and fired from his hip. A bullet tore into Abiko’s chest, dropping the Japanese officer to the ground. He writhed in pain. Many internees, who only hours earlier had suffered under his command, swarmed the wounded enemy. “When I got over to where Abiko was, there was already a small crowd around him,” recalled Peter Wygle. “He had been shot in the chest, but was still barely alive and breathing with a blood-froth in his mouth. The crowd began kicking him, and I’m ashamed to say, now, that I joined in.”