According to Lieutenant J.W. Geist, an officer aboard the "Panay", "the day before we told the Japanese army in the area who we were," and three U.S. flags were plainly visible on the ship. Planes also machine-gunned small boats taking the wounded ashore, and several additional survivors were wounded. "The Times" correspondent Colin MacDonald, who had also been aboard the "Panay", saw a Japanese army small boat machine-gun the "Panay" as it was sinking in spite of the American flag painted on the side of the ship. Since Japanese planes continued to circle overhead, survivors cowered knee deep in mud in a swamp.