Title: Three Years, Three Months, and Nine Days

Identifier: 0677-026-b1-i1   (https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/86435)

Description: Three years, three months, and nine days, by Vernon G. LaHeist. Edited by Sharelle (LaHeist) Temaat. Vernon G. LaHeist's memoir, recorded by his niece, begins with his biography and details encounters between the USS FINCH, USS PIGEON, and a Japanese convoy in the Formosa Straits days before Pearl Harbor. It covers the Japanese attacks on Bataan and Corregidor, the sinking of the FINCH, the use of tunnels, and the scuttling and escape of the USS QUAIL crew. It describes the surrender of Corregidor, the transport of POWs to Manila, their cramped transport to Cabanatuan, and life in the POW camp with poor nutrition, sanitation, and high death rates. The memoir recounts the transfer of POWs to Manchuria, detailing their transport, living conditions, and work in a machine tool factory. LaHeist describes maintaining morale, factory sabotage, smuggling, air raids, and the war's eventual end. He also discusses being sprayed for lice, encountering a floating mine near Okinawa, returning to the U.S., and searching for his wife. The memoir includes a WWII chronology, a Pacific Theater map, and newspaper clippings.