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Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of against the Odds ad free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
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A listener note against the Odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented, but everything is based on research. This episode contains depictions of violence against animals and may not be suitable for everyone. Army Major Henry Muller strides into a cramped interrogation room, careful not to spill the mug of tea he's carrying. The room is chilly, and goosebumps form on his skin, but he ignores the discomfort. He sizes up the Japanese soldier sitting at a metal table. His Prisoner of War uniform is torn, his face bruised. His eyes dart nervously toward Mueller, then at the other American in the room, a Japanese interpreter. Muller places the mug on the table and sets his bag down. Then he and the interpreter both pull out chairs and sit. Mueller gestures toward the mug. It's awfully cold in here. I brought you some tea. Then I hope we can chat. After the interpreter relays the message, the prisoner looks suspiciously at the tea. Muller takes a sip himself to show it's not drugged. The soldier hesitates, but picks it up and drinks. It's a good sign for Mueller. He's building trust. It's August 1944 at the Allied Forces Southwest Pacific Area headquarters in Brisbane, Australia. Mueller trained as a paratrooper, then became his unit's intelligence officer. After this Japanese soldier was captured in the Philippines and transferred here, Mueller seized on the opportunity to interrogate him. It's been almost three years since the US Evacuated the Philippines, abandoning it to the Japanese, but finally the tide of the war has begun to turn. At some point soon, the American military will launch a huge assault to take back the Philippines. Mueller's paratroopers will play a key role in the battle. So for the past two weeks, Mueller has been gorging on information about the Philippines, studying maps and reconnaissance photos, even old issues of National Geographic. Today's interrogation could be pivotal to the Allies intelligence efforts. Muller starts by asking for the soldier's name and rank. Then he asks about his work for the Japanese army, but the man refuses to talk. Muller reaches into his bag and pulls out a thick book. It was discovered a few months ago in an abandoned Japanese lifeboat. He thumps it down on the table. This book lists every officer in the Japanese army. I know your birthday, where you were born, every job you've ever had. Now, we can do this the hard way, or you can give me the information I'm asking for and you can go back to your nice warm cell. The captive crosses his arms and looks away. But after a moment he mumbles that he worked for a prisoner of war camp. Mueller leans forward. He's heard reports of thousands of US Military personnel and civilians in prison camps and scattered all over the island nation. He pushes the Japanese soldier about conditions at the camp where he worked. Were the prisoners beaten, starved? The man swears that his camp was run humanely, but he admits he heard rumors about abuse at other camps. Mueller presses him for more details. The man insists he doesn't know anything else. Mueller suspects that's not true. Look, I'm the best friend you have in this detention center. I brought you tea, didn't I? Maybe next time I'll have some food. But if you're not going to help me, I have no reason to help you. Mueller grabs the mug of tea and stands abruptly to leave. A flash of panic crosses the soldier's face. Good, Mueller thinks. Let him stew overnight. He'll question him again tomorrow and again the day after, and so on. The more he learns about these prison camps, the sooner his paratroopers can liberate them.
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With the VentureX business card from Capital One, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase. Plus big purchasing power means you can spend more and earn more. The Capital One VentureX business card what's in your wallet? Term supply? See capitalone.com for details. From Audible Originals. I'm Cassie depechel, and this is against the Odds. In 1944, the momentum of World War II finally began to shift toward the Allies as their military losses deepened, the Japanese guards took out their frustrations on captives and in POW camps. And at Los Banos POW camp, the 12 captured Navy nurses had to care for their fellow prisoners even as they themselves endured disease, injuries and malnutrition. But word about the captives brutal treatment trickled out to American intelligence officers. The stories of starvation, abuse and Torture horrified them, and they began piecing together plans to liberate those camps, no matter the risk. This is Episode four, A Taste of Freedom. US Paratrooper Terry Santos nudges aside a dangling vine and steps lightly through the thick jungle. Dry twigs cover the path ahead. Silently, he points them out to the five soldiers behind him so they can avoid stepping on them. Then Santos picks his way forward, ears cocked for any sign of the enemy. It's early September 1944. Santos and his crew of army scouts are in northern New Guinea, a South Pacific island that the United States recently invaded. But the territory they're crossing today is still under Japanese control. Santos is 22. He was born into a mixed white and Filipino family in Hawaii, but lost both parents to a fire in a sugar cane field when he was a baby. A Filipino uncle in San Francisco raised him. Santos is working as a busboy when the Japanese attacked Pearl harbor, and he enlisted a week later. Liberating the Philippines feels personal to him. After qualifying as a paratrooper, he spent a year in intelligence before being assigned to a special program called the Alamo Scouts. It trains troops to infiltrate enemy territory and disrupt operations there. That's why Santos is currently in the jungle. He and his five crewmates aren't on any particular mission. They're actually taking their final exam. For the Alamo Scouts. They have to spend a full day trekking through enemy territory. If they get captured, they fail. They'll also probably die. Santos team has pushed about 10 miles inland so far with no sign of the enemy. But the deeper they press, the more nervous Santos gets. They finally stop for water at a stream. As he's sipping from his canteen, Santos Scott scans the other side of the brook. What he sees on the muddy riverbank makes his eyes go wide. Boot prints. He and another scout wade across the water and drop to their knees to examine the prints. Santos points. The noise of the stream masks their voices enough for them to speak. Look at those souls. Those aren't American boots. American. A moment later, a sound rings out. Santos is so startled, he jumps. He realizes it's the sound of someone chopping wood, and they can't be more than 100 yards away. All six soldiers and his crew raise their submachine guns. Santos signals for them to creep forward. They need to assess the threat. A minute later, they approach a clearing. Santos peers through the foliage and sees 20 Japanese soldiers. Some are chopping wood with machetes while others build a fire. It looks like they're preparing lunch. Santos withdraws a few steps and huddles his team. What do we think? Should we attack? Another scout shakes his head. No. We're outnumbered and there might be a whole garrison nearby for all we know. May if there was a garrison, they'd have a proper mess tent. They're on patrol, roughing it, and we have the element of surprise. A few other scouts nod. That settles it. Santos directs them to spread out along the near edge of the clearing. They're to fire only after he shoots first. When everyone is in place, Santos takes a deep breath. He knows this is risky, but he remembers the mantra of the Alamo Scouts whoever strikes first, strikes hardest. He raises his gun and fires. Santos shoots with the gun held sideways. That way the recoil won't kick the barrel up and send the bullets over his targets. Panicked Japanese soldiers scream and run. Santos rakes his guns side to side as his fellow scouts open fire. They take down all the Japanese soldiers. Once all the enemy soldiers are on the ground, Santos creeps out and nudges each body with his boot to make sure they're dead. Within a minute, he and his men have dissolved back into the jungle. Adrenaline pumps through Santos's veins. He supposes they pass their final examination and now they can get on to their real work of liberating the Philippines. Navy nurse Dorothy still chews a fingernail as she crosses the grounds of the Los Banos prisoner of war camp. It's a nervous tic of hers, and she has reason to be nervous. Today she has a health checkup, and she's been experiencing a scary symptom. It's 7am on October 1, 1944, 40 miles southeast of Manila in the Philippines. Dorothy and her fellow Navy nurses have been prisoners of war for close to three years. Now. Half that time has been spent here at Los Banos. Dorothy's route takes her past the camp's guards, who are halfway through their daily calisthenics. Rain or shine. Every morning they strip down to their underwear and go through routines that involve shadowboxing and a comical amount of grunting. The exercises are meant to intimidate the prisoners, but Dorothy just rolls her eyes. They look silly. She could do the drills herself if the camp fed them anything close to square meals. But camp commandant Sadaki Konishi has cut their daily ration to under 1,000 calories. In just two months, Dorothy has lost 30 pounds. Her uniform hangs on her like a sack. It's especially torturous because the area around Los Banos is farmland. The prisoners can see coconut and banana trees beyond the camp fences and they can smell meat being cooked in the guards mess hall, but none of that food ever reaches the prisoners. Dorothy continues past the guards. She sees Hugh Williams, Laura Cobb's boyfriend. He doffs an imaginary hat, which makes Dorothy smile. He's always great about lifting people's spirits. A minute later, Dorothy reaches the infirmary for her checkup. Inside the infirmary, fellow nurse Bertha Evans waves to Dorothy and walks over. Are you ready? Let's get this over with. They disappear behind a curtain and Dorothy strips off her denim uniform. Evans palpates her torso and listens to her heart. Beyond the weight loss, she says, Dorothy seems fine. Dorothy then braces herself and admits what's been bothering her. I've lost my period. It's been three months now. I know it's crazy, but I keep worrying that I might have the same condition you did. While at Santo Tomas, Evans was diagnosed with tumors in her uterus and had to have the organ removed. At a nearby hospital, Dorothy recalls that one of Evan's symptoms was not menstruating. The thought of having tumors has been gnawing at Dorothy. She's not so sure she's strong enough to withstand a surgery. She bites her lip and studies Evans face. But to her surprise, Evans raises a skeptical eyebrow. Do you really not know why your period stopped? What do you mean? It's because of malnourishment. None of the nurses are getting their periods. You're the last one. Dorothy feels silly. Her brain has been so fogged from hunger that she missed the obvious explanation. Evans pats her shoulder. Look on the bright side. No more hassle finding clean rags for sanitary pads. Dorothy nods. That is a silver lining. But as the examination ends and she dresses for her shift, she still feels disturbed, however convenient. The loss of her period means her body is starting to break down. If they don't get more food soon, it will break down even further. She could lose her hair, her bones could become brittle, and she could become even more confused. That's what dying from starvation looks like. Filipina nurse Basilia Torres Steward leans down and presses her fingers against the neck of a young woman on a cot in the Los Banos infirmary. There's no pulse. Steward shifts her fingers around, trying to find other spots. Then she holds an ear over the woman's mouth. There's no breath. Steward sighs, but she's not surprised. The woman was little more than skin and bones when she was brought in a few days ago. Now she's dead. Another victim of starvation. Steward bows her head for a short prayer. It's Just before Thanksgiving in 1944, and the food situation at Los Banos is dire. Camp Commandant Sadaki Konishi has cut rations to 800 calories per day. Prisoners are desperate, eating slugs off the ground and banana skins out of the trash. After the silent prayer, Steward pulls a sheet over the dead woman's face. Then she hears Dr. Dana Nance enter the infirmary. He curses when he sees this latest fatality. The doctor takes every death hard. A moment later, a dog barks. Steward recognizes it as Poochie, an old shepherd dog. One family here keeps it alive by feeding it part of their daily rations. Nance hears the barking too, and Steward watches his face twist in rage. Oh, I hate that stupid mutt. It gets fed every day. That's 40 pounds of protein. That could have saved that young woman. Steward nods sympathetically. She figures Nance just needs to blow off some steam. But the more he rants, the angrier he gets. You know what the worst part is? Every time I beg Commandant Konishi to increase rations, he smiles and says, if there's enough food for a dog, then people can't be that needy. This ends now. Steward watches Nance sort through his surgical tools and grab a scalpel. Then he storms out of the infirmary. Stuart stands there, stunned, But a moment later, she rushes out herself and calls over to the barracks a hundred yards away. The family that owns Poochie lives there. Sonny, Benjamin, Dr. Nance is going after Poochie. Two teenagers faces appear at the barracks window, then vanish. Seconds later, they fly out the door. Steward runs in the direction Nance went with the boys. Sprinting after Stuart darts around the corner of a classroom building and gasps to see a pool of blood. She's too late. The dog is dead. Its throat is cut. Nance crouches over his body. Sonny and Benjamin arrive. The boys take one look at Poochie's dead body and rush at Nance, tackling him. They strike the doctor over and over. Steward screams for help. Get off him. Seconds later, other prisoners run over and tear the boys off. He killed Poochie. Steward hurries to tend to Nance, who has a split lip and an ugly knot beneath his eye. But he brushes Steward off, insisting he's fine. He limps back toward the infirmary. Once he's gone, the prisoners restraining Sonny and Benjamin let them go. They rush over to Poochie and fall to the ground. When they start sobbing, Stuart feels her own eyes well up and has to turn away. She doesn't know how much more of this hell she can endure. Henry Muller flips through an intelligence report at his desk, then rubs his eyes. He's exhausted, but he still has two more reports to get through tonight, plus an important meeting. Since his promotion to lieutenant Colonel a few months ago, he's been busier than ever. It's 9pm on December 31, 1944, but Mueller has no plans to celebrate New Year's Eve. He doesn't have time. He's working at an American military base on the liberated island of Leyte in the southern Philippines. It's a staging area for the all important invasion of Luzon, the nation's largest island and home to Manila, the capital. The paratroopers are expecting to see action. As the unit's intelligence officer, Mueller has to make sure his men know what's on the ground or they could get killed. But the reports are dry and hard to parse. He has high hopes for the upcoming meeting. Mueller looks up as a lieutenant knocks. Sir, the informant is here. Show him in. A middle aged Filipino man enters the room. His name is Angelo and he's a plantation owner. He recently traveled to Manila to get medication for his wife. He took different routes up and back so he could observe as much about the Japanese presence on Luzon as possible. Mueller jots some notes as Angelo details what he saw on his way up. The more Angelo talks Angel, the more excited Muller gets. He's a sharp observer. He can tell the ranks of different officers and even made an excuse to swing by a few train stations to watch them load cars with weapons and supplies. This is far better than flat intelligence reports. Then they go over Angelo's trip back home. He mentions heading south on Highway 17, right past the Big Picture POW camp near the lake. Muller's head snaps up from his nose. There's a POW camp near the lake? Sure, a big one. At Los Banos Agricultural College. How many prisoners? 100? 200? Oh no, probably 2,000. Mueller is floored. 2,000. He grabs the map and has Angelo point out the camp's location. Then he barrages him with questions about conditions there. Angelo wrinkles his nose. He's heard. It's brutal. There are beatings, people are starving. Mueller spends the next half hour wringing every detail he can out of Angelo. Then he thanks him, shows him out and plops down at his desk to digest what he just heard. Mueller's first thought thought is that his paratroopers could liberate the camp. It's deep in the jungle, a perfect place for them to infiltrate and it would win a lot of good publicity. But it'll be A tricky mission. To convince his higher ups to take on mobilizing the paratroopers will require the permission of Mueller's superior officer, General Joseph Swing. Unfortunately, Swing is an ardent military man who focuses entirely on strategic objectives. And based on what Angelo said, Los Banos doesn't lie near any military targets. Mueller can already hear Swing shutting down the idea, telling him to forget about the camp and focus on army objectives. But to Mueller's mind, the whole point of the American invasion is to help people. And if conditions are as bad as Angelo says, then no one needs help more than the prisoners at Los Banos. So Mueller makes a decision. He will start gathering intelligence on the sly about the camp. Mueller won't neglect the main invasion, of course, but when the opportunity presents itself, he'll propose they strike at Los Banos with all the details worked out, making it harder for Swing to object. He just hopes that opportunity arises soon. If conditions are as bad as Angelo indicated, the prisoners at Los Banos might not have much time. Dorothy still leans back on a bench under the moonlight, a small smile on her lips. She looks down at the treasure in her hands and hugs it to her chest. A whole roll of toilet paper all to herself. It's January 1, 1945, and Dorothy spent a lovely evening under the stars with Thomas Terrell, her boyfriend here at Los Banos. He just headed back to the barracks, but she wanted to savor this moment a little longer. Thomas gave her the toilet paper as a belated Christmas gift. Dorothy shakes her head at how much it means to her. Prisoners no longer receive rations of toilet paper, so they use pages ripped from books. An entire roll of toilet paper is the peak of luxury. What makes it even more meaningful to Dorothy is how Thomas obtained it. He traded a fancy fountain pen that his wife had sent him in a Christmas care package. Dorothy knows she shouldn't read too much into this, but it's hard not to. He gave away a present from his wife so he could give Dorothy a gift. She's been trying to deny it, but the truth is she loves Thomas. And who knows, maybe this roll of toilet paper is a sign that he loves her, too. Eventually, Dorothy gets up and makes her way home. A few months ago, the nurses sacrificed their dorm on campus in order to convert it into a medical ward. With so many new prisoners arriving and so many of them sick, there simply wasn't room for them all in the infirmary. Some of the nurses now live in the infirmary basement, while Dorothy and a few others moved into one of the shabby dirt floored barracks. And as she approaches the building, Dorothy hears something that drags her back to earth. Someone is sobbing. This isn't uncommon these days. Between the cuts to rations and the overwhelming number of patients, the nurses are being run ragged. They work 12 hour shifts and more patients die each day. It's exhausting in every way. But as Dorothy nears the weeping figure, she's shocked to find that it's Chief Nurse Laura Cobb. Cobb always puts on a brave face for her nurses. Dorothy has never seen her shed a single tear. Cobb sees her at the same moment and looks embarrassed. Dorothy stops a yard away. What's the matter? Cobb's lips tremble. It's Hugh. He died an hour ago. Dorothy's mouth drops open. Hugh Williams was Cobb's boyfriend. Here he was a gem of a man. Always playing games with children and pretending he was a pirate. Oh my God. What happened? He'd been giving away his rations to children and eating roots he dug up instead. One lodged in his intestines. Dr. Nance operated but couldn't save him. And now I'm all alone. At this, Cobb breaks down again. Dorothy hurries forward and hugs her. It feels awkward given how she and Cobb have clashed at times. But Dorothy whispers to Cobb that she's not alone here. The nurses have each other. Nurse Mary Rose Harrington blinks awake in the basement of the Los Banos infirmary. She can hear a commotion outside. Harrington pulls her pillow over her head and tries to block out the noise. She has another 12 hour shift today and she wants to sleep. It's January 7, 1945, and the last few weeks have been wretched. There are now 2,100 prisoners here and even the overflow ward is jammed with patients. Food rations are lower than ever and Commandant Sadaki Kinishi is pushing prisoners to the brink, seemingly for fun. One day, Harrington watched him order a dozen prisoners to carry 50 pound sacks of rice from one shed to another. Then he had them move the sacks right back. Afterward, he stood by and laughed. The low food and the sadistic cruelty had led to a new sense of desperation amongst the captives. Prisoners attack each other for food. One man tried to eat his belt. Harrington feels crazed herself. Sleep is her only refuge. But with the noise this morning, it's just no use. She finally throws the covers off and drags herself upstairs to see what's going on. She finds several other nurses gathered by the door, pointing outside. They seem scared, which puts Harrington on edge. What's happening out there? They step aside to let her look in the growing light. Harrington sees A convoy of trucks lined up near the guards barracks in the distance. Then, over the next few minutes, all of the camp's guards stream out of the barracks and enter the trucks. A minute later, they all drive off. Harrington looks at the other nurses. They're as baffled as she is. Then the camp's PA system crackles to life. Harrington recognizes the voice, and as the chair of the Citizen Committee here, a body of prisoners elected to negotiate with their Japanese captors. Given the cruelty of the camp commandant, the committee isn't much use. But the chair sounds triumphant now. Good morning. I have wonderful news. Due to the advancement of American troops on Luzon, the Japanese are abandoning Los Banos. The nurses stare at each other in stunned silence. Then they erupt in joy and throw their arms around each other. The women join the throngs of prisoners making their way to the campus's administration building. As they approach, Harrington can hardly believe her eyes. A man is unfurling a bundle to reveal a ragged American flag that he says he's been hiding. A few men pry loose some bamboo from the camp fence nearby and erect a makeshift flag pole to fly it from. Then comes another surprise. The chair of the Citizen Committee gets on the PA again. I have some more contraband to cheer you up. Please place your hands over your hearts. A moment later, a record starts playing over the PA Bing Crosby singing the Star Spangled Banner. Everyone begins singing, even the Filipinos. Harrington can barely get through the song without getting choked up. All the misery and pain of the past few years bubble up inside her. When the song ends, the committee chair resumes speaking. We are officially renaming the camp. We are no longer Los Banos. From now on, this is Camp Freedom. Yes, we're in it. When the cheers subside, the Citizen chair turns serious. He explains that even though the guards have fled, no one should leave the camp grounds. Japanese troops still control the wider area. If a patrol saw them, they could be shot. They should sit tight and wait for American troops to come. But in the meantime, they can certainly raid the guards storerooms and eat their fill. Harrington realizes that she's almost faint with hunger. For the past few months, she's trained her mind to think of anything but food. It was simply too painful to dwell on. But the prospect of eating a full meal now leaves her ravenous. She joins the happy mob as they hurry toward the Japanese mess hall. Then she breaks into a run, almost delirious with happiness. She's eager to gorge herself in the name of freedom. Chief Nurse Laura Cobb drops her fork as a dizzy Spell washes over her. A moment later, her bowels clench in painful cramps. It's lunchtime on January 13, a week since the Japanese abandoned Los Banos, now renamed Camp Freedom. Cobb's eating with a few of the nurses in the mess hall. Nurse Mary Rose Harrington asks if she's okay. Cobb isn't. She fears she might need to rush to the toilet. Thankfully, the cramps pass, but Cobb is left sweating. Despite her hunger. She pushes away her plate of pork. Adjusting to life without the guards has been tough. Tougher than expected for Cobb and the other captives. While a few have boldly left the campus to explore the surrounding jungle, most are too scared to go past the fence. They mill around all day, looking anxious, as if awaiting orders. Then there's the food. If someone had told Cobb a week ago she'd be pushing meat away, she'd have called him a liar. But she knows recovery from starvation is complicated. People deprived of calories for months can't just gorge themselves. It shocks the body. Cobb has seen people eat and eat until they're sick. Their bodies can't handle rich food yet, and they suffer horrible intestinal problems. In fact, Cobb's nurses have actually seen an uptick of patients in the infirmary. Cobb's shift starts soon, so she excuses herself to take a walk and clear her head. She focuses on the music playing over the PA system. It soothes her. She's also looking forward to the next news broadcast. Yesterday, they learned that the American military has invaded northern Luzon and is fighting its way toward Manila. She's eager to hear how it's going. Suddenly, the music cuts off. It's replaced by what sounds like a scuffle over the loudspeaker speakers. Cobb is confused. Did a fight break out? Then a voice blares through the pa. Attention. Your masters have returned. The Japanese are once again in command of Los Banos. Cobb recognizes the voice immediately. It's the Japanese interpreter who served under Commandant Sadaki Konishi. Cobb feels panic rising in her chest. She runs toward the front gate of campus. She arrives to find the same convoy of trucks that left Los Banos six days earlier. Their old guards emerge from the vehicles looking humiliated. Several have bandaged heads or arms. Cobb suspects they suffered attacks from local guerrilla groups. That's probably why they came slinking back. But soon their humiliation gave gives way to anger. They point at the looted stores of food. Even worse, they notice that the prisoners have raided the barracks where they had to abandon their personal effects last week. Seeing this, they yell in fury. One of the Last soldiers to emerge from the trucks is Commandant Konishi. Cobb turns and hurries away, telling herself this cannot be happening. But it is. After a single week of freedom, they're prisoners of war once again. And now their captors are more furious than ever. Dorothy still strikes a match and lights the cigarette hanging from her lips. Then she leans wearily against the outdoor wall of the Los Banos infirmary and stares blankly across the prison yard. A hundred yards away, Japanese guards exercise in their underwear. It's January 27, 1945, two weeks since the guards returned. In some ways, it's like they never left. But to Dorothy, things feel different. Being a prisoner of war again is all the worse. For the short burst of freedom they tasted, Dorothy almost wishes Camp Freedom had never happened. She stubs out the cigarette. She knows she's smoking too much, but it calms her frayed nerves. It also curbs hunger pains, which are sharper than ever. Rations are down to one daily handful of rice per prisoner, just 400 calories. Dorothy suspects there's not a single prisoner over 100 pounds. Now, as she's preparing to return indoors, a rifle shot rings out. Dorothy prays she imagined it, but Dr. Dana Nance sticks his head out of the infirmary window. Did you hear that? A moment later, they're both running in the direction of the shot. Dorothy fears they've shot a prisoner. Despite the return of the Japanese, a few prisoners dared to keep making excursions into the surrounding jungle to forage for food, their captors be damned. Ten days ago, one was shot dead while climbing the fence around the camp's perimeter. And now, as Dorothy and Nance round a classroom building, she sees a man writhing on the ground, bleeding. Dorothy recognizes him as George, a mechanic for Pan Am before the war. He's not even 30 years old. Nance and Dorothy rush forward to help, but two guards intercept them and force them back. One guard knows some English and speaks up. He's already dead. Move back. Dorothy can't believe her ears. No, he's not. He's still moving. I can hear him moaning. The guards point their rifles at Nance and Dorothy. A minute later, Commandant Sadaki Kinishi approaches, an interpreter in tow. Nance points out to him the absurdity of claiming the man is dead. When the message is relayed, Konishi nods and answers. The interpreter turns to Nance. But he was trying to escape. A hostile act. So he must be executed anyway. Dorothy jumps in. He has an armful of food and he was shot in the front. He wasn't escaping he was returning to camp. Upon hearing the message, Konishi laughs and answers through the interpreter. Perhaps. But to return, he must have escaped first. He's guilty either way. Kinishi unholsters his pistol and hands it to a guard. When he doesn't move, Konishi screams at him. The guard finally slinks over to finish the prisoner off. Dorothy turns away. Kenishi orders the guards to carry the body back to the infirmary. Nance and Dorothy follow. Nance is in a rage. I'm going to conduct an autopsy. This is an atrocity. I'm going to document it for the world. But Dorothy simply feels broken. Based on news broadcasts they heard during the camp Freedom Interlude American military forces are focused on liberating Manila, dozens of miles north of here. Seemingly, no troops are anywhere near Los Banos. In fact, Dorothy doubts that anyone in the American military even knows Los Banos exists. In which case, there's no hope of liberation anytime soon. Lieutenant colonel Henry Muller spreads out a large map of Lausanne on his office table. With a pencil, he circles a spot just south of a large lake, then turns to the army major next to him. He's a guerrilla warfare expert named J. Vanderpool, who's been infiltrating the Philippines to organize guerrilla troops there. Here's Los Banos. Show me the position of all the guerrilla forces in the area. It's 9pm On January 30, 1945, on the island of Leyte in the southern Philippines. Mueller spends most of each day sifting through reports and photographs to help his paratroopers on their missions inside Luzon. But by night he obsesses over Los Banos. Reports have emerged from other camps of beatings, starvation and prisoner torture. Hundreds are dying, and while there aren't any firm details about Los Banos, every rumor says that it's the worst camp of all. After Vanderpool finishes his briefing, Muller orders him to keep what he's about to hear top secret. Then Muller begins outlining his plan for liberating Los Banos. There are only 200 guards at the camp, but there are 8,000 Japanese troops within a 20 mile radius. So step one involves creating a diversion to keep them occupied. Mueller taps a bridge on the map. He wants a brigade of American soldiers backed by local guerrillas to feign an attempt to take it. That should buy them a window of several hours. As for the liberation itself, Mueller's plan involves three points of attack on Los Banos. First, Alamo scout Terry Santos will lead an advanced platoon of a dozen soldiers. They'll leave 40 hours before the attack starts and sneak through the jungle to the camp. Two dozen guerrillas will accompany him. They'll make the first strike on the camp at 8am Second airplanes will drop 110 paratroopers a half mile from Los Banos. The timing of the paratrooper drop will be critical. The trickiest part of the mission. If they arrive too soon, the element of surprise will be lost. The Japanese guards at Los Banos will see them in the sky and could start executing prisoners. Paratroopers are also highly vulnerable. As they drop in, they're just hanging in the sky, unable to hide or defend themselves. So they need to arrive after Terry Santos team strikes, but they can't arrive too much later because Santos small team team can't take out 200 guards alone. Ideally, the first paratroopers will leap out of the plains the very second that Santos men fire their first shots. The third and final group converging on Los Banos will be a team of six amphibious vehicles. They'll approach from a large lake and land on a beach two miles from Los Banos. A few of the vehicles will drive to the camp to load prisoners who can't walk due to injury or illness. Santos crew and the paratroopers will lead the mobile prisoners to the beach for evacuation. As Muller wraps up, Vanderpool frowns. This plan seems awfully ambitious. Are all three teams really necessary? If you can simplify it, then I'm all ears. But I've been over and over it and I can't see another way. Vanderpool nods, but admits he's still skeptical. Are there sentries patrolling Los Banos keeping watch for people sneaking in or machine gun nests anywhere? We're trying to determine that. What about the landing site for the paratroopers? Have you scouted that? Look, I'm still working out a lot of the details. With respect, this whole plan sounds haphazard. Why don't you wait to liberate the camp until we conquer more of the island? Muller hesitates, But Vanderpool already knows most of his top secret information. He might as well know it all. We're hearing chatter that the Japanese plan to liquidate all POWs within three weeks to cover up atrocities. If we wait until Luzon is liberated, every man, woman and child in the camp will be dead. Vanderpool looks grim. I understand, but I don't think this plan is going to work out without more solid information. Mueller stands there in silence, chewing his lip. He hates to admit it, but Vanderpool is right. Where on earth can he get more intel, especially so soon. The clock is ticking down for the 2100 people at Los Banos, and Mueller's plan to liberate them has major problems.
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Follow against the Odds on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of against the Odds ad free by joining Audible.
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From Audible Originals. This is episode four of our five part series, World War II Nurses Turned Prisoners of War. A quick note about our scenes. In most cases we can't know exactly what was said, but everything is based on historical research. If you'd like to learn more about this event, we recommend the books this Is really war by Emily LeBeau Lucchese Rescue at Los Banos by Bruce Henderson and We Band of Angels Angels by Elizabeth M. Norman Produced by Audible I'm your host Cassie depechel. Sam Keene wrote this episode. Our editor is Steve Fenasey. Sound design by Rob Schieliga engineered by Sergio Enriquez Original theme music Scott Velasquez and 2K for frees on sync Fact checking by Alyssa Jung Perry Produced by Emily Frost Managing Producer Desi Blaylock senior producers Andy Herman and Austin Rachlis Executive producer for Audible Jenny Lauer Beckman, Head of Creative Development at Audible Kate Navin, head of Audible Originals North America Marshall Louie Chief Content Officer Rachel Gyazza Copyright 2026 by Audible Originals, LLC Sound Recording Copyright 2026 by Audible Originates, LLC.