“2/3. Dusk—7 pm. Heard tanks arrive. 1st Cavalry.” (Diary entry, 2/3/1945, noting the beginning of his liberation from Bilibid Prison)

Robert Frank Augur

Robert Augur, Ft. Mills, Corregidor [1941] War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Army Unit: 60th Coast Artillery; Battery C, 92nd Coast Artillery; Battery E, 92nd Coast Artillery Service Location: Fort Vancouver, Washington; Fort Lewis, Washington, Fort Stevens, Oregon; Fort Mills, Philippines; Bilibid Prison, Philippines; Pacific Theater Rank: Captain POW: Yes

By February 1945, Lieutenant Robert Frank Augur had spent 33 months as a prisoner of war, held by the Japanese in Old Bilibid Prison in the Philippines. During the two and a half years he spent as a POW, Augur made entries in a small pocket diary. He included the names and addresses of fellow prisoners, books contained in a small prison library, and lists he constructed in order to occupy his mind. His diary also narrates what came after the war: he made special notations of his first tastes of ice cream, beer, hot biscuits and steak during his journey homeward. Three months after his liberation, he married his prewar sweetheart, Anna. His arrival back in the United States also allowed him the opportunity to repatriate the diary of his friend and fellow POW George W. Pearcy, who had not survived.