The Americans prisoners were confined for 40 months in solitary confinement. They were fed one cup of rice and four ounces of bread three times a day. They were given 1/2 hour in the exercise yard.
The quards who tortured the Americans were called Kempeitai. They were trained in Germany by Hitler’s Gestapo before the war.
If the prisoners did not answer the Kempeitai’s questions, they were beaten about the head and ears with a rifle butt and subjected to water torture. With hands tied behind their backs, they were placed flat on their back on the floor. Guards would sit on the chest and legs. A towel was placed over the mouth and nose while water was forced into the mouth. A sense of drowning and loss of consciousness would occur. Guards would pound the stomach to force water out.
After each torture session, guards would pound on cell doors to awaken them if they fell asleep. Then they would jam sharp sticks under their fingernails and light them on fire.