Henry Muller had an important job. He was the intelligence officer of the 11th Airborne Division, known in military parlance as the G-2. As 1944 ended, his unit was engaged in heavy fighting on the Philippine island of Luzon. His mission was to gather the intelligence needed to keep the division informed about the Japanese forces it faced.
One day he sat down with a Filipino plantation owner who had recently traveled the length of Luzon to get medicine from Manila for his sick wife. It was a good chance to learn what the enemy was up to and where they were gathering.
The interview began with Muller asking a few questions he knew the answers to so he could verify if the man was honest; the Japanese had collaborators among the island nation’s populace. Soon he was satisfied and began asking the farmer new questions, starting with what route the man took during his journey. Within a few minutes the farmer mentioned, “I went by that big POW camp.”
Muller was surprised; he knew of no such camp in the area. “What camp?” he asked.
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