Uncover Buried Loot On Luzon
Cpl. Howard Lubbers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lubbers of Orange City and Marvin L. Gilmore of Cleghorn, brother-in-law of Della Beth Thomson of Orange City, are the with the 33rd Division, which recently uncovered half a million dollars in buried Jap loot. Says the Division newspaper:
“There I stood, kneed deep in money. I had to pinch myself to see if it was really me.” That was the felling of Pfc. Lew Zerillo of Long Island, N.Y., when he found some half million dollars in silver coins, looted by the Japanese and buried alongside a highway somewhere in the Philippines. The money was partially uncovered by an exploding shell and came from the vaults of Philippine banks. Four army trucks were required to haul the six tons of silver away. Although bales of Jap invasion money had been captured, this was the first American and Filipino money recovered during the liberation campaign.
Source: The Alton Democrat, Thursday, March 22, 1945
