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Herman Knight Beaber was a minister in the United States. He sailed for the Philippines on January 12th 1941 to help spread Christianity in that part of the world.
On December 7th 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and three days later on December 10th they attacked the Philippines Islands. Herman spent three years as a prisoner or war under the Japanese. During this time he wrote a powerful and telling POW diary which is a compelling story of his fight to stay alive during times harder than many today could imagine. Reading this work will take you back to times that many want to forget. Take yourself back into the past and relive the brutality and romance of the Second World War through the eyes of another.
Deliverance It has Come; WWII POW Diary 1942-1945
William Rowan (a member of AuthorsDen) a WWII historian, publisher and author, in his book review states the following:
"No account of conditions in Manila during the Japanese occupation would be complete without including John S. Beaber's carefully edited account of his father's WWII Philippine diary entitled Deliverance! It Has Come! As a missionary to the Philippines, Herman Beaber was allowed to spend most of the war outside the prison camps. Initially, most missionaries registered at Santo Tomás and then soon afterward were released only to be reincarcerated again in July 1944. Herman Beaber kept typed and written records of his observations throughout the Japanese occupation. He details the early months of the war, describing each air raid carefully as regards the presence or absence of American fighter planes, how many Japanese planes were seen to be shot down, and what the intended targets probably were. His information seems accurate and should add measurably to other accounts.
One of the most interesting aspects of Herman Beaber's diary is the background coverage he gives regarding a fellow missionary named Ernest Stanley. Stanley appears in Clio Mathews Wetmore's book entitled Beyond Pearl Harbor as one of the unsung heroes of Santo Tomás. Based on information that Clio received, Clio cites Stanley as a British agent responsible for tipping off MacArthur as to Japanese plans to murder thousands of male prisoners February 4, 1945, and retreat from Manila with the women and children as hostages. The tone of Beaber's numerous references to fellow-missionary Stanley during the days and weeks before the war seem to me to cast considerable doubt on Wetmore's conclusion that Stanley was a British secret agent planted by British Intelligence long before the war. It will be interesting to see how history treats the Stanley story in the years ahead.
After being rounded up in July 1944, Herman Beaber and many other missionaries spent an uncomfortable night sleeping on wooden desktops or the concrete floor at Santo Tomás. Early the following morning then were shipped off to Los Baños prison camp south of Manila. Here, Beaber adds valuable detail of conditions in Los Baños and of the rescue of the camp February 23, 1945.
John S. Beaber has done an excellent job of editing his father's diary. The book was available as an e-Book 'through Global Publishing Bureau Limited and was listed as a Best Seller'. It is thoroughly documented with footnotes. John's website contains additional illustrative material and photographs as well as many important links to related sites. It is this factor that makes this site one of the most useful to ex-POWs."
Excerpt
Herman Beaber wrote in his diary (February 23,1945)
"at 7:00 a.m. sharp, we heard and saw nine large transport planes flying low, and passing close to the camp; perhaps one mile to the east. Even as we all watched, we saw doors open and paratroopers came tumbling out. OH WHAT A SIGHT! With a tropical sunrise for a background, we saw about 150 parachutes open one after another and settle slowly earth-ward out of our sight behind the distant trees. We knew help had come but had little time to contemplate this good, even before rifle fire commenced to the west of our camp. It was guerrillas with American Officers who had been waiting there for hours...Bullets whizzed and buzzed through the camp. I was hugging the floor, looking out under the large crack beneath the door at the Filipinos and Americans sneaking into the camp, their rifles ready. The guerrillas...defeated the Japs in quick order. It was over in less than an hour. All the Japanese guards were killed, I believe. Planes hovered overhead. As the firing died down a bit, we heard the roar of motors...then we saw the large amphibious tractors (Amtracs)...that had come across the water, down the lake, for the express purpose of rescuing us."
Deliverance! It Has Come! ......... ©
2001 John S. Beaber, U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress, registration number TXu 1-024-026
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