My soul has often found relief,

And oft escaped the tempter’s snare,

By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

—William W. Walford, “Sweet Hour of Prayer”

Hamblin was among those who had arrived early from Cabanatuan to ready Dapecol for more prisoners. About ten days after his arrival, the Fifth Air Base squadron arrived from Camp Casisang. A couple of days later, Hamblin spotted a man lying on his back reading the Book of Mormon. Hamblin introduced himself and learned that he was Staff Sergeant Nels Hansen from Weiser, Idaho. From Hansen, Hamblin learned that approximately twenty other Latter-day Saint soldiers in that group were now at Dapecol.[1]

Under Hansen’s leadership, those Latter-day Saint POWs in the Fifth Air Base squadron had been holding meetings—beginning on their voyage across the Pacific, continuing at Del Monte on Mindanao, and persisting in the more relaxed environment of Camp Casisang. That had not been the case at Camp O’Donnell or Cabanatuan. While a strong religious subtribe of Latter-day Saints formed in Cabanatuan, they were too few and too scattered to have organized any regular meetings or established any kind of organization.[2] When the approximately one thousand POWs from Cabanatuan later arrived, including Brown and Davey and a few other Latter-day Saints, there was now at Dapecol a critical mass of members and leadership for organized religious services and the informal organization of a branch.[3]

They also had the good fortune of having Japanese Lieutenant Youke as the officer in charge of the Americans. Youke, a Roman Catholic, allowed these Latter-day Saint POWs to hold their religious services on Sunday. A POW at this camp later observed that the few Japanese who showed compassion to prisoners were usually Christians.[4]

For Hansen and the other Latter-day Saint POWs of the Fifth Air Base squadron, this was more or less a continuation of what they had been doing since they left the United States. But for others—such as Brown, Hamblin, and Davey—it was the first time they were able to join with others of their faith in worship on a regular basis and to enjoy the blessing of their fellowship. Davey recalled the joy he experienced at finding “a group of LDS people and join[ing] with them and the strength that you can get from one another in church, meeting together. . . . It was one of the few things, you might say, that would give you the strength and courage to carry on.”[5] As the Gospel of Matthew teaches, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”[6]

There is no surviving branch membership list, but if there had been, it may have looked something like this:[7]

• Private First Class William Murle Allred from Artesia, Arizona
• Private David Weston Balfour from Salt Lake City, Utah
• Private Jack W. Bradley from Moroni, Utah
• Private First Class Rex D. Bray from Provo, Utah
• First Lieutenant George R. (Bobby) Brown from El Paso, Texas
• Private First Class Allen C. Christensen from Tremonton, Utah
• Captain Robert G. Davey from Salt Lake City, Utah
• Private Mack K. Davis from Lehi, Utah
• Private First Class Woodrow L. Dunkley from Franklin, Idaho
• Private First Class Charles L. Goodliffe from Park Valley, Utah
• Private Orland K. Hamblin from Farmington, New Mexico
• Staff Sergeant Peter (Nels) Hansen from Weiser, Idaho
• Second Lieutenant Richard E. Harris from Logan, Utah
• Private First Class Theodore Jackson Hippler from Bloomfield, New Mexico[8]
• Private First Class Ferrin C. Holjeson from Smithfield, Utah
• Private Russell Seymore Jensen from Centerfield, Utah
• Private First Class Ronald M. Landon from Kimball, Idaho
• Corporal Kenneth B. Larsen from Salt Lake City, Utah
• Private Harry O. Miller Jr. from Magrath, Alberta, Canada
• Staff Sergeant Ernest R. Parry from Salt Lake City, Utah
• Private First Class Lloyd Parry from Logan, Utah
• Private James Patterson from Sunnyside, Utah
• Private First Class Lamar V. Polve from Kenilworth, Utah
• Corporal Carl D. Rohlfing from Salt Lake City, Utah
• Private Jesse G. Smurthwaite from Baker, Oregon[9]
• First Lieutenant Gerald Clifton Stillman from Salt Lake City, Utah
• Private Frederick D. Thomas from St. Johns, Idaho
• Corporal Donald L. Vance from Fairview, Utah
• Corporal Ralf T. Wilson from Alta, Wyoming
• Corporal James Edmund Wilstead from Provo, Utah

Like the names on any branch membership list, the list may not be complete, and those on this list likely varied in their participation and activity. Estimates of those in attendance at their regular Sunday services ranged between twenty-five and thirty, including a number who were not members of the Church. For example, Major Morris L. Shoss, a Jewish officer, frequently attended the meetings. In addition, there were others from Utah, such as First Lieutenant Dwayne W. Alder from Midvale, Utah, and Major Joseph R. Webb and First Lieutenant Carlyle Ricks from Salt Lake City, who, while not baptized members of the Church, had family ties to the Church and were likely friends with some of the members. They may have also attended some of the services.[10] Taking that into account, this listing, while not necessarily complete, seems a fairly close approximation.

This was, of course, an unofficial branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, would have had no way of even knowing of its existence, let alone providing any sort of official recognition or authorization. Nonetheless, drawing on their experiences as young men growing up in the Church, these POWs did what Church branches always do. They organized themselves. Hansen was the only high priest among them. Following ecclesiastical lines of authority rather than military rank, Hansen assumed leadership.[11] However, as is typical of Church organizations, there was a sharing of leadership responsibilities, with Brown taking on some of those responsibilities. It appears that Hansen and Brown were the driving organizational force in the branch.[12]

In the more lenient circumstances of imprisonment in Camp Casisang, Hansen had been able to keep his copies of the Church’s scriptures, along with five copies of the Deseret Sunday School Song Book and a copy of Added Upon, by Nephi Anderson.[13] Charles Goodliffe had with him a copy of Unto the Hills, by Richard L. Evans, a compilation of some of the short talks Evans had given in the Music and the Spoken Word programs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.[14] Goodliffe’s father gave him the book before Goodliffe left for the Philippines.[15] These scriptures and Church materials, together with Brown’s triple combination and hymnbook, provided a library of sacred materials at a time and place where such materials would have been both rare and priceless.

The branch held Sunday services as regularly as possible.[16] The meetings were spiritual events, and testimony meetings were particularly moving.[17] They sang hymns, with Brown leading the singing. For these POWs, the hymns were like sermons and provided a source of great comfort. The branch members reached out to others. Brown was something of a missionary for the branch and appears to have taken a lead in encouraging others to attend.

Lieutenant Glenn L. Nordin, a former POW, took this photo in 1955 of the noncommissioned officer barracks at the Davao Penal Colony. The note on the back of the photo reads in part, “Protestant church services were sometimes held under these trees.” After the war, Nels Hansen stated that some of the Latter-day Saint services were held under a “spreading mango tree,” and James Patterson referred to meeting near some trees. Some of the Latter-day Saint services may have also been held at this site. BenHaven Archives. Courtesy of Walter J. Regehr.

They discussed gospel principles and had long conversations about points of doctrine and religion. They studied scriptures. Brown’s triple combination and Hansen’s scriptures circulated among them. Many prisoners took turns reading the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, and many wrote comments and testimonies in the margins.[18] Every blank space of Brown’s triple combination was covered with notations signed by those readers, telling of their faith, their testimony, and their love of the gospel. It was the same with Brown’s hymnbook.[19] Additionally, nearly all the Latter-day Saint POWs read Hansen’s copy of Added Upon.[20]

They also got together during the week to tell stories or sing. They held a prayer circle almost every night when allowed by the Japanese guards.[21] They became very well acquainted with each other. They shared their past experiences with each other and, for want of things to talk about, retold them all again and again. Hamblin wrote of the happiness he felt “to have the association of men with whom I had so much in common,” a sentiment likely shared by all.[22]

They also cared for each other. Major Morris L. Shoss, a Jewish officer who knew Brown well, often participated in the branch services and was particularly interested in the songs and their poetry. At one time, he was asked by a superior to arrange help for an ailing prisoner. Shoss learned that the prisoner was a member of the branch and contacted Brown as one of its leaders. Brown in turn asked Staff Sergeant Ernest R. Parry of Provo, one of his close friends, to help him, and together they took care of the ailing brother. There was no medicine to give, but it is evident from Shoss’s description that Brown and Parry gave him a priesthood blessing. Shoss recalled that the soldier was soon feeling better.

Praising the character of the Latter-day Saint group, Shoss considered these POWs remarkable because, in spite of the horrible conditions in the prison camp, they tried to live according to the principles of their religion.[23] Two American majors who attended the services as visitors later joined the Church after the war. Others, through participation in the branch, converted to the faith but were never baptized, as they did not survive the war.[24] Bray recalled that several of those converted to the gospel in the Davao camp sought baptism, but, lacking the required official authorization from Church authorities, the Latter-day Saint POWs could not perform the ordinance.[25]

That these POWs, scattered as they were among the two thousand prisoners in this camp, could come together and organize a branch to comfort and care for each other in the midst of the horrific conditions of a WWII POW camp is a remarkable event in the history of the Church, but not an unexpected one. This was nothing more than what these young men had been taught and prepared to do. These POWs knew there was no need to wait for a priest, an ordained minister, or a commissioned chaplain to organize their religious worship. While Hansen was older than the others—forty years old at the time—a high priest, and had served a mission, others were relatively young, and most were without significant Church leadership experience or training. Nevertheless, these POWs drew on a reservoir of experiences and examples from growing up in Latter-day Saint homes and congregations.

For example, Brown had been an active member and participant in an established and fully functioning ward in El Paso that met in a beautiful meetinghouse. But as a young boy, he had also watched his father conduct church services in their home in Chuichupa, an isolated Latter-day Saint colony high in the Mexican Sierra. Later in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, Mexico, where the family had briefly lived, Brown, as the only deacon, had passed the sacrament to the small group of Saints that had gathered together from that large city in a small home for that purpose. He had seen his father and mother go about performing their various church responsibilities, organizing and conducting church programs, leading the music, teaching gospel lessons, and ministering to and helping others in need, including the administration of priesthood blessings, and he had heard their faithful prayers. Although perhaps not appreciated at the time, such experiences had prepared them, for such a time as this “line upon line, precept upon precept.”[26]

The Book of Mormon prophet Alma speaks of a people who “are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; . . . and to stand as witnesses of God . . . , that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon [them].”[27] What the prophet Alma describes is perhaps the essence of a Christian life. It is also what these Latter-day Saint prisoners had organized themselves to do in the midst of a hellish POW camp.

Notes

[1] See Ashton, “Spirit of Love,” 175.

[2] Daws, Prisoners of the Japanese, 136; McCracken, Very Soon Now, 106. Although Hansen was never at Camp O’Donnell or Cabanatuan on Luzon, he later wrote, “I understand meetings were held at Cabanatuan and other camps on Luzon.” Call, “Latter-day Saint Servicemen,” 115 (quoting from a letter by Hansen to Call, August 14, 1954).

[3] After the war, Hansen wrote “Five hundred officers and five hundred enlisted men were sent to our camp at Davao Penal Colony from Luzon and it was among these officers that we met Lt. Robin (Bobby) Brown. He had a very close friend among the enlisted men, . . . Orland K. Hamblin. He is a grandson of Jacob Hamblin.” Call, “Latter-day Saint Servicemen,” 115 (quoting from a letter by Hansen to Call, August 14, 1954); Brown and Zundel, “George Robin Brown . . . His Story,” 17–18.

[4] Lawton, Some Survived, 66; Call, “Latter-day Saint Servicemen,” 115; see also Bray, “War Memories” (Bray notes that for a time at Dapecol the commander, who some thought may have been a Christian, did not require them to work on Sunday); Charles Goodliffe, interview with Sam Orwin, undated, response to question 10, unpublished copy provided to author by Bonnie Goodliffe (Goodliffe recalled in an interview after the war that at that time they did not work on Sunday and so they could have Church services); see also Bolitho, “Japanese POW Story,” part 3, 7.

[5] Davey, “Last Talk,” 3.

[6] Matthew 18:20.

[7] The author is not aware that any membership list was actually prepared by these POWs. Rather, the author created this list to illustrate the likely size and makeup of the branch. The list was compiled using information from Clark and Kowallis in their article in BYU Studies and the author’s additional research. Clark and Kowallis also identified eight men at Davao who, while there are no records indicating they were members of the Church, likely had a previous acquaintance with the Church (largely through parents or grandparents) and therefore may have attended or been involved with the branch. Clark and Kowallis, “Fate of the Davao Penal Colony,” 119. There is evidence that at least one of these eight, PFC Clay Lenno Rosenvall, attended some Church services with James Patterson. See chapter 8, note 3.

[8] After the war, Hamblin wrote a letter to Hippler’s sister, Herberta McDaniel, about Hippler and mentions his participation in the Church services at Davao and social activities with other members. A transcript of the letter was provided to the author by Marianne Loose. Hippler enlisted in the Army and was assigned to the 440 Ordnance group. That group was assigned to Mindanao, and Hippler likely surrendered along with the Fifth Air Base group and came to Davao by way of Camp Casisang.

[9] Gary Dielman, a local Baker, Oregon, historian, authored a 2015 essay entitled “The WWII Sinking of the Shinyo Maru: A Story of Loss and Survival of Two Baker POWs,” about two POWs from Baker—Smurthwaite, who did not survive, and William E. Hall, who survived the war. The essay includes a brief biography of Smurthwaite and a history of his time as a POW, including a few quotations from his diary. Dielman mentions Smurthwaite’s Church membership and observes that because Smurthwaite and Hall became close friends and were usually together as POWs, Hall probably also attended Church services with Smurthwaite. Gary Dielman, “The WWII Sinking of the Shinyo Maru: A Story of Loss and Survival of Two Baker POWs” (2015), 20; accessible at Baker County Library District, https://www.bakerlib.org/photo-archive/dielman-local-history-files.html.

[10] Major Morris L. Shoss was a survivor of the Shinyo Maru and returned to the United States a few weeks after his rescue. Wanting to know about the fate of their son, Ruby and George Brown contacted him, and a friend, Sadie O. Clark, interviewed Shoss on their behalf in Houston in November and December 1944. Although Jewish, Shoss had attended branch meetings and is the source of much of what we know about Brown and this branch. Shoss knew Brown well and identified him as one of the leaders of this group. Shoss estimated the size of the group at approximately twenty-five Latter-day Saint POWs. Shoss also specifically mentioned Staff Sergeant Ernest R. Parry, who had helped Brown provide what was likely a priesthood blessing to another POW. “LDS Group in Jap Prison Described,” Deseret News, January 20, 1945, 1, 11 (newspaper account interview by Sadie O. Clark of Major Morris L. Shoss); Clark and Kowallis, “Fate of the Davao Penal Colony,” 117. Davey estimated the group size at about thirty. Davey, “Last Talk,” 3. See also Ashton, “Spirit of Love,” 175–76 (noting that nonmembers attended and some joined the Church after the war).

[11] A high priest is an office in what is called the Melchizedek Priesthood, or higher priesthood, of the Church. If available, a high priest would normally preside in Church meetings. An elder, another office in the Melchizedek Priesthood, would preside only in the absence of a high priest. Brown was an elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood.

[12] “LDS Group in Jap Prison Described,” Deseret News, January 20, 1945, 1, 11; Clark and Kowallis, “Fate of the Davao Penal Colony,” 117; Brown and Zundel, “George Robin Brown . . . His Story,” 17. Major Shoss in interviews after the war identified Brown as the leader of this branch. In a letter after the war, Davey referred to Brown as one of the “mainstays” of what Davey called their Sunday School at Davao. Robert G. Davey, letter to Dorothy Jacobs, December 1, 1945 (a copy of which was provided to the author by Davey’s daughter Marilyn Springgay).

[13] Ashton, “Spirit of Love,” 175.

[14] The choir is now known as the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.

[15] Goodliffe managed to keep the book through his captivity and after returning home. He later gave his son the copy to take with him to Vietnam during that war. When he returned from Vietnam, he returned the book to Goodliffe, who still had it at the time of that interview. He said it was “ragged and torn and beat up and has lots of marks in it where I marked it while I was reading it.” Goodliffe, “Recollections,” 15.

[16] Rohlfing, “Carl D. Rohlfing,” 2; Hamblin, “My Experience,” 15.

[17] Davey, “Last Talk,” 3; Clark and Kowallis, “Fate of the Davao Penal Colony,” 117; Brown and Zundel, “George Robin Brown . . . His Story,” 18.

[18] Goodliffe also mentions that they had “some copies of the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and we did a lot reading in those when we had the chance.” Goodliffe, “Recollections,” 15–16.

[19] Brown and Zundel, “George Robin Brown . . . His Story,” 18.

[20] Ashton, “Spirit of Love,” 175.

[21] Rohlfing, “Carl D. Rohlfing,” 2.

[22] Hamblin, “My Experience,” 15.

[23] “LDS Group,” Deseret News, 1; Clark and Kowallis, “Fate of the Davao Penal Colony,” 116–17.

[24] Ashton, “Spirit of Love,” 175–76.

[25] Kurtis R. Bray, email message to author, February 22, 2017.

[26] 2 Nephi 28:30

[27] Mosiah 18:8–10.