February 5: Up at 3 AM and on our way. Bitter cold - towels on feet and face. Passed through hot (Japs) spot - set fast pace. Guerrillas with us are Korean volunteers. Slept three hours - fairly warm. Ate most so far - eggs, chicken, onions, meat, bread, tea. Had alert - Japs were sighted approaching but it turned out OK. Peasants made us a present of dozen new woolen stockings and we really needed them. Also had cookies, nuts. Cpl. Fall having trouble breathing (asthma) - started last night. Morrison getting saddle sores (can’t walk, sprained ankle). Washed handkerchiefs - have three of them. Fellows becoming expert with chop sticks and few Chinese words. Commander gave me a fork yesterday, but I use it only in emergency. (We use chopsticks.) Throat a little sore - nose running - no bad colds so far. At least half of crew swear that they will never fly again.

Arrived about 3 AM after ten hours or so. Rode an ass more than half of the time. Quarters cold on arrival - bed cold - drank nine cups of tea in a row and ate taffy, peanuts. Got bad cold and the runs. Same with three others. Osterhouse walking a little (sprained ankle), Morrison improving, Fall OK.

February 6: Up at 11 AM. Ate eggs, meat, tea. Much trading. All signed short snorters. This village burned by Japs last September. Slept a little. Boys have a great time talking over their experiences. Sure wish we had a camera. Commander cooked the meal. It is an honor in the Chinese custom. Pretty good chow - lamb like hamburger. Drank bottoms up (Gombay is Chinese for bottoms up) with strong Chinese wine. Everyone but Tobey has a hat now. Still drinking lots of tea and hot water. Short ride - 1-1/2 hr - four miles. Nice town in mountains - ate chestnuts - pretty good. Warm room. Cold pretty bad - nose running. Used wooden saddles on donkeys and we took a pretty bad beating.

February 7: Miserable night - hot underneath and cold on top. (they build fire under bed to heat it). Getting used to hard beds. Got Jap invasion money yesterday. Farmer came in at daybreak and said that Japs came out last night from East and West. They know we are here so we are leaving after breakfast. Saw can of Bordens milk and got the label for Dad (worked for Bordens). Huge tangerines and huge persimmons - delicious. Peanuts, chestnuts, cigarettes and we cut up toilet paper for ourselves. Breakfast menu - pears, candied and fresh apples, tangerines, persimmons, cherries, rolls, french toast, scrambled eggs, beef, sliced pork, salt port, chicken, hamburgers, honey, potato pie, sweet wine, tea, steamed rice, Bordens canned milk, pineapple and cigarettes. (This, by far turned out to be the best meal of the trip.) Latrines out in the cold and snow are plenty rough. Washed hanks. Beards growing and the fellows are not going to shave till we reach home base. My left leg is black and blue from knee to ankle due to parachute landing - hurts a little. Injured improving rapidly. Half of crew still say that they will never fly again. Feel that we will be returned to States and the boys want instructors jobs. Cold here in the mountains. Off again for 2-1/2 hours and then 1/2 hour rest. Hid behind huge rocks in valley while small Jap plane circled overhead looking for us. Rode three more hours - roughest trail yet - over rocky mountain trails and lots of snow and ice. Donkey threw me three times - hurt bad left leg the last time. At destination we found a Mr. Hao - a Chinese who spent eleven years in America years ago - graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College, Ohio. Tells us the Russians are thirty miles from Berlin and the Americans have taken Manila. Wonder if European war will be over when we get back. Ate - swell brown bread - best blankets yet.

February 8: Slept fairly well - it is fairly warm but a little cold and wind blowing. 8 AM - dressed quickly - 300 Japs coming. Whole town with animals and all their belongings plus us fled as babies cried and people got panicky. Could hear machine guns as Japs entered. Forced march of four miles (big 6’ Chinese guerrilla carried injured Morrison) - ate - played cards as we waited for the latest word. Japs are definitely searching for us. Took it on the run at 4 PM. There are 300 Japs in the village where we slept last night four miles away and about 400 more are reported coming down from the North. Walked, rode, climbed mountains till 3 AM (11 hours) with injured Morrison crawling (or carried) where he could not ride. Slept in barn on small rack which held woman, three babies, two chickens and eleven of us. Cold - smoky - no rest.

February 9: Ate stew and soup. Took off at 5 PM. Crossed under railroad where it crossed river on bridge. Saw three trains pass and could see Japs sitting in them - hid from one train which stopped on bridge as we went under it. Stopped at 2 AM. Country getting poorer - worse food - no blankets - use canteen for pillow.