Custodial History
Prior to boarding the Arisan Maru prison ship, Pearcy gave a portion of his papers to Robert Frank Augur, a fellow prisoner at Bilibid Prison, who was confined to the prison hospital. Augur agreed to return the papers to Pearcy after the war, if possible. In March 1945, Augur was recuperating in the United States and upheld his promise, mailing the papers to Pearcy’s parents. It is unclear if all four diaries (MS08-MS11) were returned by Augur, or if some were returned to the family by other means. According to the donor, Pearcy family lore suggests that Pearcy divided his papers into two parts, and gave half each to two prisoners who were not to be transported to Japan, with the hope that they would be able to return the papers to him after the war.