A few years ago, I created an immersive blog post about the Liberation of the Los Baños Internment Camp during World War II. I recounted the story of the raid from the perspective of the Maryknollers interned there. To craft the narrative, I used the plethora of resources in our Los Baños Internment Camp Collection. The collection contains numerous accounts, background information, and ephemera surrounding the story of Los Baños. Now, I want to visit another set of records from this collection: Camp Songs.
These records come from the Camp Life Series, containing information about the daily life of internees. This includes numerous Camp Songs, intended to add some levity to an otherwise awful situation. The songs usually were parodies, using the melody of popular songs to add laughter to a wartime camp. Join me as I learn more about these songs and how internees kept entertained.
Entertainment in Camp
Life in an internment camp could be quite dull, with little to keep you occupied. The internees were separated from the luxuries of entertainment, such as playing cards or radios. Instead, they needed to get creative and find ways to pass time time. One thing that was available was music, as no one could take away a singer’s voice.
One group of particularly gifted individuals was the Jesuit Fathers and Scholastics, interned alongside the Maryknoll Sisters. Over the three long years of interment, the Jesuits formed a Glee Club to offer musical flair to a dull atmosphere. The Sisters, including Sr. Rose Genevieve Koll, mention the glee club several times in their writings.
Instead of signing the same old tunes, the Jesuits began to improvise with the lyrics for popular melodies. Instead of White Christmas, how about Dreaming of a Ham Sandwich (what a luxury)? Maybe a twist on When They Come with the lyrics focusing on liberation by the Marines? Below are 6 samples of the many camp songs preserved by the Sisters, recorded after the fact for posterity.
“August 4th [1944]… In the evening the S.J. [Jesuit] Glee Club came to our barracks and presented a much enjoyed program. Fr. De la Duente, OP closed with a song he has sung some 20 years ago the same [night] when he was on his way, a scholastic to the US changing the wording slightly and ending with a heavy, viva, viva Americano.”
Sister Rose Genevieve Koll
Song of the Kitchen Crew
Leyte
Bulldog on the Bank
Three Little Sisters
Dreaming of a Ham Sandwich
When They Come
Camp Songs to Remember
These are not the only songs preserved by the Sisters. A few camp songs were created after liberation, to commemorate their freedom and the time spent at Los Baños. Some aimed to praise the efforts of their liberators, the Eleventh Airborne Division. Other songs say Bye, Los Baños, putting interment behind them and looking towards the future. Here are another 2 samples from the same set of recreations.
Eleventh Airborne Division
Bye Los Baños
Thank you for joining me as we discovered the various Camp Songs of Los Baños. I hope you enjoyed them as much as the interned Sisters. Hopefully the songs give a good view into one aspect of camp life in an interment camp.
