Valdemar DeHerrera

The Taos News

Time hasn't erased terrible memories

Story by Denise M. Spranger
Photo by Megan Bowers

COSTILLA -- You may find it hard to believe that Valdemar DeHerrera just celebrated his 82nd birthday. He still rides horses, leads an active life, and looks a good 20 years younger.

Even more difficult to believe is what he has been through during a portion of that lifetime. One of three remaining Bataan survivors in Taos County, he spent three years and seven months of his four year-stint in the 200th Coastal Artillery of the U.S. Army as a prisoner of war.

When the Bataan peninsula in the Philippines surrendered to the Japanese, about 10,000 troops escaped to the small island of Corregidor where they fought the Japanese for another month.

"I was one of the lucky ones that got away," said DeHerrera. "We had no tanks, no airplanes, no hand grenades, it was all hand-to-hand combat."

When General Jonathan Wainwright surrendered Corregidor in an effort to save the lives of his men, DeHerrera remembers seeing the white flag flying above the man-made island of Fort Drum. As Japanese soldiers began routing the area, he told his companions, "Eat, drink and get ready to die."

The troops on Corregidor were shipped to a prison in Manila where they spent a couple of months before making their own "death march" to Camp O'Donnel. DeHerrera remembers a certain Japanese captain who gave the order to spare his life.

"He was either my enemy or my guardian angel," said DeHerrera.

The captain, a fan of American movies, asked DeHerrera if he knew Tom Mix. "Yeah sure, I know him," he said. The 22-year-old soldier fabricated anecdotes of American movie stars and performed antics of the Three Stooges to amuse the captain.

"I thought, if it's going to keep me alive and happy, why not?" DeHerrera said. "Whatever it takes ..."

The World War II veteran, decorated with the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and countless other medals, has more difficult memories.

"Those are the nice things I can tell you," he said, "but there are terrible things, things I hate to remember because I start dreaming again."

Certainly a chilling memory was his time aboard one of the infamous "Hell Ships," the convoys that transported POWs to forced-labor camps in China and Japan. Over 3,000 starving and ill men were packed into the front hold of DeHerrera's ship alone. DeHerrera partly credits his survival to his position on deck in the open air.

"I held on to a rope or a pole," recalled DeHerrera.
The ships, bearing no Red Cross insignia to indicate the presence of American prisoners, were chased and attacked by U.S. submarines. Torpedoes sank three ships in the convoy, forcing the remainder to "lay low" in the Taiwan harbor until the way was clear.

While a number of POWs were sent to Japan to work the mines, DeHerrera was among those transported to China to work in the textile mills.

"There was no medicine in China," said DeHerrera. "Once you got sick enough to be put into the (hospital) ward, you never came out alive."

Toward the end of the war, an order had been given to kill all POWs the "moment that the U.S. invaded the Japanese mainland." Fortunately for DeHerrera and his companions, not many Japanese troops remained in the area. Most of the POWs working in the textile mills were liberated by U.S. paratroopers.

Along with the rest of the nation, DeHerrera began a new life with the armistice of World War II. In 1949, he married Consuela (Concha) DeVargas. They have five daughters and one son, and the couple celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary today (Nov. 1).

"We also have 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren," said Consuela.
DeHerrera was employed by Molycorp for 24 years before retiring in 1986.

"He never told the kids about the war," Consuela added, "but then the grandkids came along and said, 'Grandpa, we're writing an essay about ex-POWs, would you tell us about it?' That's when he opened up."

Since that time, Valdemar DeHerrera has also shared his experiences of World War II with others outside his family. Recently, he spoke to an audience at Los Alamos National Laboratory on Memorial Day.

With so many memories of the horrors of war, it is no wonder that the Bataan survivor views the events of Sept. 11 with great apprehension.

"We are supposed to be the intelligent animals on this holy earth. But we have been killing each other since before the time of Christ, and we continue killing each other. That is the way the world will end," said DeHerrera. "We will be annihilated by each other. Believe me."