Filipino WW2 U.S. Veterans Fight 4 Equity

Freedom @ Dawn by Col Quesada
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Balitang Beterano by Col Quesada 2002
Balitang Beterano by Col Quesada 2003
Balitang Beterano by Col Quesada 2004
Balitang Beterano by Col Quesada 2005-2007
Ordeal in War's Hell by Col Quesada
Freedom @ Dawn by Col Quesada
Col Frank Quesada, RIP

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FREEDOM  AT  DAWN – 60th Anniversary


By Col. ( Ret.  US ) Frank B. Quesada 


This is a true story related by this author about his participation in the  daring raid how Fil-Am guerrillas and U.S. Army troops rescued and liberated 2,146 American POWs from prison, about to be massacred by their captors – in February 23, 1945 in Los Banos, Laguna (Luzon). Philippines.

Uncommon Platitude
Gen. Colin Powell, of the U.S Joint Chief of Staff said, I doubt that any airborne and guerrilla unit in the world will ever be able to rival the Los Banos raid. It is a textbook operation for all ages and all nations.
        
The Prisoners-of-war
Nearly sixty years ago today, on February 23, 1945 emaciated and tortured Americans and allied prisoners-of-war literally walked out of the Los Banos prison camp safely without any casualties except for two young guerrillas killed in a hand-to-hand skirmish during the assault and rescue.     

Joint-Rescue Operation
The daring rescue was staged by the Hunters-PMA-ROTC Guerrilla and the US 11th Airborne Division contingent together with other units during the Liberation Campaign  in the Philippines. 
 
Hunters(PMA-ROTC) Guerrilla
The Hunters was founded  in 1942 by a handful of cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (the West Point of the Philippines) and ROTC undergraduates with meager military training. Its founders were PMA cadets Eleuterio L. Adevoso (PMA ‘44) and Miguel Z. Ver (PMA ‘43) Gustavo C. Ingles (PMA ‘45) Emmanuel de Ocampo, Honorio K. Guerrero, Vic Estacio, Vic Novales, Raymundo Gozun, Alfedo Foz, Vic Salvador,  and  Tereso Pia Villa,, followed later by many stout and strong hearts, others  i,e., like this author, associate (PMA’44).
 
Irregular/Unconventional War
Through the ensuing years they quickly learned the art of irregular and un-conventional  warfare, from hit-and-run raids,  through beg-borrow-and-steal  of procurement  of logistics in order to maintain their operation of inflicting heavy casualties and damages against the enemy, with very little casualties on their part since 1942.


U.S. Army Forces
On January 31, 1945 U.S. Liberation Forces landed in Luzon one of which was the XIV Corps of Lt.Gen. R. Eichelberger, with the 11th Airborne Division led by Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing  USA, in Nasugbu, Batangas. and  was met by Col. Gustavo C. Ingles (PMA’45), Col. Janet Ferrer (PMA’44)   together with Gen McArthur’s representative from Australia,  Major  Jay Vanderpool,  USA.


POW  Concentration Camp
At the University of the Philippines,  College of Agriculture at the foot of mystic Mount Makiling, in Los Banos were some 2,146 American and allied POWs as captives of the Japanese Imperial Army troops hoping against hope for salvation.


Not until January of 1945 did the U.S. Army order for the liberation of the POWs finalized the original  plan by the Hunters, refined by the 11th Airborne General Staff – to free the  hapless POWs.
 
Final Assault Rescue
Final orders then came for the ultimate assault and rescue of the POWs to be carried out in February 23rd at 07:00 Hours. The overall assault plan was validated by Hunter Col. Marcelo Castillo, USNA ‘38 before we went in to action.
 
Guerrillas  Deployed
In February 22nd guerrillas were confidently deployed under cover of darkness around the POW camp in assigned stations that night  before the early morning assault upon the camp. Others arrived on Feb. 23rd.


Men lay on the ground for warmth, motionless, but wide awake  awaiting for the drone of the expected C-47 aircrafts that would disgorge the para-troopers at the designated para-drop zone guarded by guerrillas.  Their jump was the signal for us to commence the attack. Men prayed. There were indeed no atheists in the foxholes.


My Ingress and Assault
I took the southeastern corner of the POW camp as my point of ingress into the camp, near the charcoal mill bound by a boot creek  that would  lead me to the POW’s barracks, and waited for dawn, to shoot  down  the Japanese guards in the guard post.


As the morning mist lazily crawled through the double barbed wire fence, blurred shadows of the enemy guards moved nonchalantly about the camp preparing for their early radyo taisyo (their  morning calisthenics) as they stocked arms. This was their great mistake that gave us advantage during our attack.
       
The U.S. Paratroopers
Paratroopers were aboard the planes drew nearer and  the sound of the C47s grew louder and louder as they flew approaching  the camp. Our men prepared for the signal to attack.
 The enemy continued their morning routine without the slightest idea of what was going to happen to them. The element of surprise was in our favor. Most of all, God was on our side.


Premature  Assault
In one corner of the camp, a Japanese guard chased a hedge-hog and fired at the animal nearly hitting one of the guerrillas camouflaged near the barbed wire fence. Capt. Marcelino Tan, sensing that they were discovered by the enemy guard, gave the order to return fire .
 Upon hearing the firing, the guerrillas around the camp simultaneously commenced the premature ground attack. Pandemonium broke loose as machineguns and automatic rifles barked without let-up.  Men breached the fence and chased the scampering Japanese guards towards their barracks. Unarmed guards were hacked mercilessly to death by guerrilla bolo squads to their painful death as the enemies finally joined their ancestors. 
 
Hand-to-hand Skirmish

A handful of enemy guards, however, were able to put up a makeshift defense but was mowed down by superior guerrilla firepower. Hand-to-hand skirmish  ensued which killed two young Hunters  (Atanacio Castillo and Anselmo Soler) They  were hastily buried near the college chapel where they now rest in tranquility.


A Turkey Shoot Out
As I breached the south-eastern corner,  and fired at the two guards barricaded in a guard-post instantly silencing them. I was cocksure they also joined their ancestors  Then I proceeded towards the POW barracks where I saw and met Terry Talbot, a POW, frightened and shaken,  who asked me Who are you?.


I gave her my name, and  that I was one of the liberators, then told them to prepare for evacuation. They hugged and kissed me as I struggled to proceed with my mission to secure valuable documents from the enemy office intended for the counter-intelligence command to sort out and examine them.
 
Mini-Reunions
On my way to the enemy barracks, I also met an old pre-war family friend, John Ferrier, a POW who said, What kept you guys so long? All I could say was John, time flies and it’s good to see you alive. I told him, Pack up your things, for  you’re going home.


As I got nearer the enemy barracks, I met  Col. Gustavo Ingles (PMA’45) together with Lt J. Skau of the 11th AB Scout party that breached the main gate of the camp where they met slight resistance from the guard house, which they blew into kingdom come and eliminated  all the enemy guards.
 
The Brown Boots  Landed

At the para-drop zone, the 11th AB brown boots jumped at a perilous height of 500 hundred feet, quickly re-grouped and joined the melee inside the camp. They did a fine job of annihilating the remaining Japanese stragglers . Lt. J. Ringler of the 11th AB kept his men intact, including my pre-war chum, Bob Fletcher, a son of an American old timer in Manila,  who jumped with the brown boots. He said, Frank, how are you? I never saw you for sometime in the city? I said, Bob, I was in the Sierras most  of the time hunting the enemy. We parted and never saw each other again. He returned to the US along with the expatriates.
 
 Guerrillas Planted the Flags
 On one of the barracks atop a makeshift flagstaff, were three flags: (a) the Stars and Stripes, (b) the Philippine national tri-color, and (c) the Hunters 45th Regimental banner  flying triumphantly, which I brought  later to the  Presidio of San Francisco Museum, of the U.S Sixth Army for display after the war.
 And for display during the grand celebration initiated by the US 6th Army honoring the forgotten Filipino-American heroes of World  War II, at the Presidio of  San Francisco.
 
A Theatre  of Ovasion
Going  back to the firefight at the camp, sporadic gun fires were heard around the camp from mopping up parties, followed by an ominous silence. POWs sensed that they were safe to come out from their huts, all rushed out to hug us, abundantly. Unashamed tears of joy flowed down their cheeks  to express their  thanks and gratitude. It was quite an unforgettable sight.


A few mini-reunions went on quietly in a corner of the camp. while Frank Smith, of  Chicago, a U.S, news correspondent who was  with us when we stormed the POW camp. Movingly quickly, he located his family among the POWs. God was with them as they  tearfully embraced and prayed for thanksgiving. It was an emotional sight to see them together one more,  as I watched with – a lump in my throat. 
 
Prayers of Thanksgiving
Priests and nuns (as POWs) in the camp knelt down and offered thanksgiving for  their emancipation on that clear day of February 23rd saying amazing grace for all of us.


The day was wearing off quickly, and the Evacuation Officer, Maj. Henry Burgess must clear the camp as quickly as possible before any Japanese reinforcements arrive. The sick, women and children were loaded first in the 672nd  Amphibian tanks  unit under the command of  Col. Gibbs.


Evacuation via Laguna de Bay 
The tanks filled with POWs and some troops were ferried across the Laguna de Bay from Mayongdong Point, north of Los Banos to Muntinlupa, Rizal where the POWs were examined and treated by U.S Army doctors. 


The Red Cross  was on hand to process them for repatriation back to the U.S.. and  the POW’s preferred destinations.


War correspondents had a field day interviewing the POWs that had a thousand and one stories to tell. It was a festive day for all of us.
 
POW in Liberation Campaign
One POW, Peter Newsome, a Britisher – preferred to stay and joined us in the mopping up campaign in Luzon. I later learned that he was conferred knight-hood by the King of England for his heroism in WW-II. 


We last saw each other  and had a glass of beer  in San Francisco, California  after the war, when  he testified along with my boyhood chum, Benjo Osias, who was brought by the Japanese to Tokyo as Yoen, during the war, but was able to return to the Philippines, and was then  as  witnesses in the trial of Tokyo Rose.
  
Enemy’s  Revenge
Back to Los Banos – a week later after the raid,  the Japanese in full force returned to Los Banos and massacred  thousands of  civilians in retaliation to save face. To the sons of the Bushido lost of face is worse punishment than death. Thus – they have to avenge their hurt to regain  forfeited Bushido’s honor. They vented their ire against Filipino civilians. Men, women and children were bayoneted to death, then thrown into the water wells. Others were set on fire during the scorch-earth revenge.


Los Banos survivors  blamed us, liberators for not leaving combat troops to protect them. Albeit, those casualties were those who did not heed the warning by local guerrillas to leave the place before and  after the raid.


We never lived that reproach down for many years. It was not a time to point fingers. Local guerrillas were unable to protect the civilians for lack of arms. Besides, civilians were hard to control. 


A Time of Healing         
Time was a great healer.  fifty years later, in Los Banos during the anniversary  celebration, Col Ingles and myself was given a chance by the townspeople the opportunity to elucidate on why and how we were quickly re-deployed under orders for the mopping-up operations out of Los Banos to another area.  So did the US 11th Airborne contingent neededfor the liberation of Manila.


We showed them copies of  our orders, and was accepted by them. We were reprieved and acquitted a pass over.
 
Camaraderie  Forvever
This powerful story will live forever in our hearts to remember that while there is life, there is hope. And that we stole precious minutes of contentment one day at a time. minute by minute, out of our lives to exist under the iron heels of a savage enemy. And never forgot the POWs in Los Banos.


Up until now, we write to each other, a phone call  for  exchanges pleasantries like long lost families. We meet in mini-reunions. As the years pass away  our ranks diminish, and nothing but deeply etched memories remain forever. 


For we are only young at any age as long as we can dream, can’t we? Never regretted having lived at all to hell and back.


 Nessun magior dolore, che recordasi del tempo falice nella miseria, (There is no greater sorrow than to recall, in misery, the time when we were happy..(Dante wrote  in Inferno)
War taught us to love and hate and to forgive. However, It lies not in our power to love or hate, for the will in us is over-ruled by fate ! (Marlow)


Los Banos was a testing ground for all of us who participated in this God’s challenge where it is not so much greatness of all our troubles, as the littleness of our spirits which makes us humble. (Adopted).           


                     ————————————————————————————–      
                           
NOTE: This story has accounted a bit more about the participation of the Filipino-American guerrillas – in order to give them credit which was not clearly portrayed in many books and stories printed in the U.S.


The whole detailed account may be found by reading my book on the making, or the internet version of Freedom At Dawn, by this author. It is in the internet under the same title. And the book in  the making entitled Ordeal in War’s Hell.


Books and videos were produced about such exploits among others i.e., book entitled  Los Banos Raid by Lt. Gen.(Ret.) E. Flanagan,  book: With No Regrets, by Patricia Brooks of New Zealand.


Videos such as: Epitafh by Patricia Brooks;  Rescue At Los Banos, by Holywood’s Keystone Pictures;  Battle of Bataan ad Corregifor,  The Bataan Death March,’ by the Pacific Islands Production.


fbquesada@cox.net

http://www.paete.org/literary/freedom/index.htm

FREEDOM AT DAWN
(How the Hunters lived and died rescuing POWS in Los Baņos)
By: Colonel Frank B. Quesada, USA, Ret.

 

This is a true story of how Filipino guerrillas, in a joint liberation campaign with the US 11th Airborne Division rescued all the 2,146 American and allied POWs safely on February 23, 1945 in Los Baņos, Laguna [Luzon], that earned the commendation of Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

It was a unique air-sea-land assault-rescue operation likened to a story book saga of an almost perfect rescue. Its intricate success, has been the object of continuing studies by different armies in the world, according to Gen C. Powell, former Joint Chief of Staff, US Army.

http://www.paete.org/literary/freedom/part1.htm

 

 

PART 1

 

Unconventional-Irregular Warfare

Against the panoramic background of World War II in the Pacific, this personal account is recounted by this author, as a participant in the daring raid. Then, a Captain, he operated as a guerrilla in an unconventional and irregular warfare activities in Luzon, with the famed Hunters Guerrillas, composed of former cadets of the Philippine Military Academy [the West Point of the Philippines] and Reserve Officers Training Corps [ROTC] shortly after the American surrender of the US Army [USAFFE] in Bataan and Corregidor.

Life of Privation and Peril

This author, was among who refused to take defeat from the enemy after the Fall of Bataan and Corregidor in 1942, and who took to the mountain vastness of the Sierra Madre to mount the uneasing resistance movement against the enemy invaders. They harassed the enemy all throughout the enemy occupation, inflicting heavy losses upon the invaders.

War Must be Won at all Costs

In any war, there were setbacks and casualties. Despite the lost of his father, Capt. Roman Quesada, and 11 members in the Quesada clan as casualties of war, this author persevered fighting the enemy until freedom was won at the end of the war in 1945.

Freedom at Dawn for American POWs

He now relates the inside story of the daring and death-defying surprise rescue of 2,146 Americans and allied prisoners-of-war who were all saved by the guerrillas and a contingent of the US Army that saved them from Harm's way before a mass massacre of the POWs by enemy guards in February 23, 1945.

Units that Participated

The POWs were incarcerated and truculently tortured under the iron heels of the Japanese guards for almost four punitive years in Los Baņos, Laguna province [in Luzon], 30 miles south of Manila, inside enemy lines, until they were unsuspectingly freed in a joint rescue operation by Filipino freedom fighters spearheaded by the Hunters Guerrillas of Col. E. Terry Adevoso [PMA Class '44], overall Supremo and the 45th Regiment led by Col. Honorio K. Guerrero, ground assault commander.

Other Participants

Other participating guerrilla units were: Fil-Americans and Marking's troops of Col. David Estrella; the Anderson's USAFFE intel-unit under Capt. Vero Gesmundo; PQOG guerrillas of Col. Fil Avancena in the sector of Col R. Price, a.k.a. Romeo Espino who would take command as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines after the war; the Hukbalahap guerrillas of Col. Pedro Villegas; the 48th Chinese Squadron of Col. Ong.

The US Army Contingent

A contingent of US 11th Airborne Division under Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing, assigned Col. Robert Soule, 11th AB commander and Maj. Henry Burgess, the 511th Paratroopers of Lt. John Ringler, Scouts of Lt. John Skau, the 762nd Amphibian Tractor unit of Col. Gibbs and the Airforce Squadron of Col. R. Anderson. Not to leave out a handful US correspondents who dared joining the assault of the POWs camp.

The Lightning Raid

The lightning raid took only a few swift hours under the very nose of a huge Japanese force under the command of Gen. Fujishige, stationed at the south side of Los Baņos, [opposite side of Mt. Makiling], some 8 miles away. Their attention was focused on an expected battle against the approaching US army liberation forces from Batangas province.

The element of surprise of the attack that was kept tightly secret in order to avoid any leak which may alert the enemy paid off without alerting Gen Fujishige's force nearby that could have frustrated the rescue operation and/or even endangered the whole rescue.

 

http://www.paete.org/literary/freedom/part2.htm

PART 2

 

First, A Brief History

But before relating the actual attack of the POW camp, a brief history of the war in the Philippines in World War II - hereunder related will prime the readers when the POWs were incarcerated by the enemy in 1941 and were liberated in 1945 and how the resistance movement and US troops were able to liberate the POWs. History written in blood and tears has always been both disconsolate and ecstatic. Revolutions and conflicts were described by a Filipino revolutionary hero, Apolinario Mabini, and I quote: "History is cruel because it is just."

Historical Background

World War II reached the Pacific on a flaccid early morning of December 8, 1941, shortly after the unwanted bombing attack by the Japanese navy of Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, that decimated the US Pacific navy. It left the Pacific rim wide open to enemy conquest. The Philippine Commonwealth was a magnet and a prime target of invasion by the Japanese Imperial Forces, being a base of the US Army and in the Orient.

Hostilities in the Philippine Commonwealth of the United States [territory] commenced a day after when the Japanese air force bombed military bases and defense installations in the islands, including the capital City of Manila.

Following the initial shock, Pres. F. D. Roosevelt sounded a call-to-arms [inducting all able-blooded Filipino & American nationals into the US Army in the Far East [a.k.a. USAFFE]. All military forces in the Commonwealth soon brought together thousands of Filipinos and Americans ready and willing to lay down their lives in defense of the US and Commonwealth against Japan. It was principally the war of the United States [not of the Filipinos] to further and protect its own imperial interests.

This war, therefore, commenced the honorable military service of Filipinos in the US Army by virtue of the unnumbered Military Order of Pres. Roosevelt, dated July 26, 1941 and were placed under the overall command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur as head of the USAFFE and jurisdiction of the Constitution.

Philippine Defense Repulsed

Astonishingly, all USAFFE defenses were savagely routed in 1941 by the obdurate Japanese invaders in all shore and land fortifications. US War Plan Orange III, as the defense of Manila, secretly included a concentrated expeditious retreat of the USAFFE forces to the desolate rugged mountains of Bataan Peninsula and the vulnerable island fortress of Corregidor at the mouth of Manila Bay.

Organized Retreat

The USAFFE defenders were suddenly bottled up in Bataan, diligently waited for logistics from the United States and her allies - while they savagely fought the enemy without air and naval support. In Bataan, despite of the lack of support, were able to delay the enemy's timetable of conquest of Asia, and humiliated Gen. Masaharu Homma, who once boasted that Bataan and Corregidor was a cinch. And that he could bring the USAFFE defenders to their knees in surrender within a month. That never happened.

Wretched Pawns

The promised US support never arrived. USAFFE defenders in the Philippines were inexorably sacrificed by officials in Washington, DC. And the much-bruited, about 8-mile, convoy of supplies for Bataan [Philippines] was shifted to the American white cousins in Europe instead, leaving the defenders as hapless pawns in America's listless gambit.

Thus, the USAFFE was instantly orphaned, left to fend haplessly for themselves as wretched pawns of this American misadventure. America's pledge of support existed in a phantasmagoria of crazy dreams of the men in moments of respite while they bared their pliant souls in rumbling weariness in the frontlines.

The Battling Bastards

They carried on the fight against a surging obdurate enemy, with a single handful of rice, with out-modeled rifles, and a fervent prayer, as they trolled a masterpiece foxhole doggerel, which was on every lips of every men in the barren foxholes, that went this way: "We're the battling bastards of Bataan, no papa, no mama, no Uncle Sam, no cousins, no nieces, no aunts, no uncles, no pills, no planes, no artillery pieces and nobody gives a damn!"

Fall of Bataan and Corregidor

Bataan fell a week before Good Friday [April 8, 1942] under a massive offensive by the enemy's 14th Army of Gen. Homma and added units, following an ominous omen which signaled an infallible defeat. A strong earthquake, heavy rains, thunder bolt and lightning struck and fell incessantly upon the sick, emaciated and the hungry defenders who desperately vowed to fight to the last man. No one could describe their sufferance, as they mimicked God's suffering on the Cross during that Holy Week of gloom and despair.

Corregidor later fell in April 9, 1942 subsequently under incessant bombing and artillery fire, leaving no blade of grass left on the ravaged island. Remnants of the USAFFE put on an estimable defense to no avail, and finally capitulated.

All that was left was to tell the whole world via the "Voice of Freedom" headed by Brig. Gen. Carlos P. Romulo that the USAFFE had unwillingly decided to give up the struggle of the men who fought bravely the bitterly contested struggle until the last in the face of overwhelming odds.

Beacon of Hope

Notably a masterpiece was born, a somberly written chef d'oeuvre conceived in the dark tunnel of Corregidor by a Filipino officer, then Capt. Salvador P, Lopez entitled "Bataan Has Fallen". Then was staidly recited over the "Voice of Freedom" radio broadcast by my former classmate in English class at the pre-war University of the Philippines, the then Lt. Norman Reyes.

Part of the chef d'oeuvre ran this way during the incessant enemy bombardment which cowed the defenders in consternation but not in shame. A part of it, i quote:

Indomitable Farewell

"Bataan has fallen. Fil-American troops in the ravaged and blood-stained peninsula have laid down their arms. With heads bloody but unbowed, They have yielded to the superior force and numbers of the enemy.

"The flesh must yield at last, for they are not made of impervious steel. They fought a brave and bitterly contested struggle, all the world will testify to the utmost superhuman which they stood up until the last face of overwhelming odds.

"Bataan fell, but the spirit that made it stood, a beacon to all liberty loving peoples of the world, did not fail."

The Bataan Death March

The USAFFE defense in the Philippines was vanquished and the enemy occupied the country for four punishing years. But men with intense love of freedom and exultant in spirit, begrudged defeat, reluctantly surrendered. They braved the chastened 60-mile grueling march from Bataan to Capas, Tarlac province. The sick, the hungry utterly exhausted, haplessly endured the savagery under the hands of vengeful guards.

They foundered under the scorching tropical sun, under heavy guard, were bayoneted or shot when falling out of the strenuous march that dared to drink polluted water by the roadside. Nothing could be more accurate when this event was dubbed as the "Bataan Death March".

Thousands of Dead Men Walking

Almost half of the USAFFE troops perished during this defying march likened to the death warrant of thousands of men walking to the valley of the shadow of the Stygian shore. Never in any history could anyone describe the feral brutality inflicted by the enemy upon these intrepid heroes consigned to extinction.

Even those who reached the gates of Hades of Capas and Camp O'Donell, were thrown in unfurnished huts without food, water and medicine. they subsisted miraculously in the hell hole of the damned. While the weak and the sick saw the face of God as they followed their comrades into the last journey towards promised Eden.

Weeping Dead

Each day, burial details hauled hundreds those beyond hope, the half-dead and terminally ill to their shallow graves still gasping for the last breath, crying out to God and their mothers for succor, as the last spade of dirt was truculently thrown over them. Dutiful maggots abound the pits to finish their jobs of devour and consumption of these unknown heroes whose names can only be ascertained by God. Many of them up to now were merely listed as missing in action. And their compulsory heirs and next-of-kin are without war benefits.

In this Stygian pit, only the fittest survived in bare bones and skin until they were finally released to their loved ones, who met them but could hardly recognized them. Victims lived to tell their phantasmal survival, no one could ever believe. Each one had a bona fide story to tell as part of a "history that was cruel but just".

http://www.paete.org/literary/freedom/part3.htm

PART 3

 

Post War Conflicting National Interests

An autobiography of World War II cannot be divorced from the holocaust in the Philippines. The youths of the land must delve deep to understand the imposts, pillage and futility of war, as well as post-war relationship between the US and the Philippines. And the authentic meaning of freedom lost, and later won in war and in peace. Likewise, the tolls of World War II, not to forget the shoals of conflicting post-war national interests between the Philippines and the United States.

The tragedy of spotty American record in relationship that gave birth to irritants, patent iniquities traced from the arrogance of the strong or the insolence of the weak and the noxious racial critical perception under a Whitman's burden.

Although during the war, in the foxholes of Bataan and Corregidor and other fronts, it may have appeared that they were equal before the guns and bayonets of the enemy, patent iniquities were present [i.e. difference in pay, rations, and privileges, etc.] which made them separate but were concealed from the enemy by the USAFFE command to hold troop morale.

The Filipino-American intercourse therefore, could be described as have withstood the sacrifices in war and the uneven generosities during peace - if the truth must be revealed.

The USAFFE Martyrdom

If in Europe there was a holocaust - those who lived through this hell in Bataan Camp O'Donnell and other prison camps - our martyrs are the only ones who can eloquently speak about the tolls, ravages and uselessness of war, in the little-known holocaust in the Philippines during World War II.

Resistance Movements

During the "death march", however, there were USAFFEs who escaped aided by civilians, some were caught and executed [beheaded] on the spot by enemy guards. Many, however, melted into the mountain vastness of the Sierras and joined the guerrillas.

Not very many, especially the Americans, chose to stay in the resistance movements who could not withstand the hunted life of privation. They were never prepared or trained by the US Army for irregular warfare. Only a handful [Americans] who dreaded the life in prison led guerrillas in a struggle that would last for almost four years of deprivation and want.

Veritable Testimonials

"Only those who survived the ordeal saw the Filipino people in their heroic feat." said Col. Edwin Ramsey, a USAFFE escapee who led his own resistance group in Eastern Luzon.

"Americans hid in the hills but did not fight like Filipino guerrillas. They came down from the hills to surrender to the enemy for fear of being executed [by beheading] when captured by the enemy. They remained as POWs for the duration of the occupation or work as forced-laborer in Japan and elsewhere." Lt. Gen J. Wainwright was recovered in Japan after the war along with hundreds who survived to tell God's truth, which again saw the face of mortmain.

American and Allied POWs

In Los Baņos, Laguna at the University of the Philippines Agriculture and Forestry, 30 miles behind enemy lines, was the POW internment camp, wedged between the foothills of mythical Mount Makiling and the northern shore of Los Baņos facing Laguna de Bay.

Surrounded by barbed wire fences, in clusters of hatched huts, were 2,146 POWs incarcerated in the most dehumanizing conditions under the iron heels of their guards. Prisoners were composed of 1,590 Americans, 329 British, 33 Australians, 89 Dutch, 22 Polish, 16 Italians, 30 Norwegians and 1 Nicaraguan.

They were businessmen, teachers, bankers, missionaries and servicemen caught by the enemy during World War II in the Philippines and incarcerated in various POW camps in the country.

While incarcerated, the POWs formed an internee committee to deal with the enemy guards, composed of the following:

N. E. Haichert-------------------Chairman
Lewis Thomas Watty---------------Vice Chairman
George Gray----------------------Secretary
A. D. Calhoun--------------------Member
R. E. Cecil----------------------Member
Clyde de Witt--------------------Member
G. Harris------------------------Member

The Assault - Rescue

This crucible of Los Baņos seemed no less preordained by the unseen hand of the Almighty. Not one man could have orchestrated the near-perfect combined liberation operation without divine intervention. Operational units played their respective dutiful roles like a well-oiled machine, as if flawlessly facilitated by the Almighty. And who knows? Perhaps it was.

In contrast, the POWs went on their knees to pray each day and night for four punitive years for salvation. Finally, their prayers were ultimately answered early morning, on February 23, 1945. Freedom came at dawn to their astonishment.

Pre-Rescue Preparations

Guerrillas were in touch with Gen. MacArthur in his Australia headquarters since 1943. He had been receiving valuable intelligence reports of enemy strength, activities and movements in the Philippines from guerrilla intelligence radio nets.

Guerrillas were the secret Filipino unconventional army that did not wait for MacArthur to ask them to fight the invaders. They were born as freedom founders like their ancestors who fought all invaders.

On the other hand, MacArthur knew the Filipinos so well, and foresaw the potential of Filipino guerrillas that could help him make good his incertitude and promise to return to the Philippines under his much publicized propaganda: "I shall return!"

He could positively count on Filipinos to help the allied liberators annihilate the enemy in the liberation and mopping-up campaigns. And they did - that saved thousands of American lives of soldiers and saved billions of US dollars that shortened the liberation campaign of the Philippines and the Far East. Let there be no mistake about this.

Vital Logistical Support

Before the actual allied invasion of the Philippines, MacArthur shipped arms, ammo and supplies to guerrillas via US submarines under planetary missions. Likewise equipped them with radios to communicate with each other and with the headquarters in Southwest Pacific.

In November of 1943, MacArthur sent his personal representative, Maj. Jay Vanderpool via submarine from Australia to work closely with the formidable Hunters guerrillas to coordinate the landing of the US 8th Army Forces in southern Luzon. The Hunters, a reliable intelligence and combat-ready outfit and with ably-trained led by former cadets of the Philippine Military Academy and ROTC colleges capable of assisting the US allied troops in the liberation campaign.

http://www.paete.org/literary/freedom/part4.htm

PART 4

 

Pre-Landing Preparation

Col Eleuterio (Terry) Adevoso, [PMA Class '44] Overall CO of the Hunters ROTC Guerrilla, set up its general staff headquarters in Nasugbu, Batangas, some 80 miles, southwest of Manila Bay, composed of the following:

Order of Battle
Col E. Terry Adevoso----------------- Overall Commander
Col Frisco San Juan [PMA '44]---------Chief of Staff
LtCol Jaime Ferrer--------------------G-1
LtCol Marcelo Castillo [USNA '35]-----G-2
LtCol Rigoberto Atienza---------------G-3
LtCol Willie Nomfort------------------G-4
LtCol Gustavo Ingles [PMA '45]--------Inspector General
LtCol Juan Daza-----------------------Chief District Intel
Maj Ambrosio Liwanag------------------Sp. District Intel
Maj Dionisio Sebial-------------------Dist. Spl. Troop Cdr
Capt Did Foz--------------------------Gen. Hqtrs. Troop Cdr.

Combat Teams
44th Regiment--------------led by LtCol Mike Ver [PMA '44]; Co-founder of the Hunters, was killed in action before the Los Baņos action.
44th Provincial Regiment--LtCol Tereso Pia
45th Regiment-------------LtCol Honorio Guerrero
ExO---------Maj Emy Casas
46th Regiment-------------LtCol Vic Estacio
ExO---------Maj Jaime Piopongco
47th Regiment-------------LtCol Emmanuel de Ocampo
ExO---------Maj Eufracio Villanueva [PMA '44]
47th Regiment, Manila-----LtCol Hermie Atienza
ExO---------LtCol Alberto de Joya
48th Regiment-------------LtCol Jose Borja
48th Spl Regiment---------LtCol Leopoldo Coronel
48th Spl Regiment---------Maj Godofredo Carreon [Gen. Swing's Own Guard, PMA '44]
49th Regiment-------------LtCol Juanito Ferrer [PMA '44]
49th Spl Regiment---------Maj Calixto Gasilao
Spl. Intel. St. Michael---Maj G. de Guia

Other Special Intel Net
Spec. Cdtr. Intel Net-----Capt. Frank Quesada [Associate, PMA Class '44, Los Baņos site]

Other intelligence nets, all of them PMAyers Class '44 are:
LtColonels Victor Punzalan and Pedro Galvez in Pangil, Laguna;
Daniel Adea and Benites Roque in Paete, Laguna
Jose Perlas in Sta. Rosa, Laguna
Domingo Alcasid in Calamba, Laguna
Capt. Antonio Nieva, Lancer Net in Quezon province
Maj Mauro Caballes [PMA Class'45] in Pagsanjan, Laguna

Note: The full Order of Battle including all the names of the men of Hunter Units could not be listed here owing to lack of space.

Joint Liberation Effort

The Hunters, 45th, 47th, 48th and the 49th Regiments awaited for the landing of the liberation forces of the US 11th Airborne Division, led by Maj Gen J. M. Swing in Batangas province.

On October 20, 1944, Gen MacArthur personally waded ashore at Palo, Leyte along with Philippine Pres. S. Osmena and his Cabinet members of the exiled Philippine Commonwealth - with the allied liberation force.

Guerrillas were ordered to increased harassment activities against the enemy to put more pressure on them, likewise to keep them on the run while allied liberation forces landed in Luzon and other islands.

8th Army's Landing in Nasugbu

Finally, the US 8th Army landed in Nasugbu on January 31, 1944 led by LT. Gen. Robert Eichelberger with the 11th Airborne Division, were met by Adevoso and LtCol Juanito Ferrer, Co of the 49th Hunters Regiment without much resistance on the beach.

From Nasugbu, the liberators mounted a joint-liberation campaign in southern Luzon and the drive for Manila from the southern corridor.

6th Army Landing in Lingayen

In northern Luzon, the US 1st Cavalry Division landed in Lingayen, Pangasinan, Luzon -- in a racing contest with the 11th Airborne in the south retake to Manila, consequently culminated in the dramatic rescue of all the 3,700 American POWs imprisoned at the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila by the US Cavalry assisted by Filipino and Chinese guerrillas.

Hunter's Quest - Los Baņos POWs

Long before arrival of the US liberation forces, the Hunters had clandestine intelligence operations that gathered precise inside information about the POWs in Los Baņos and their enemy guards. Many prisoners were long-time friends of Hunter families before the war.

Los Baņos was within the operational area of the 45th Hunters Guerrilla Regiment under Col. H. K. Guerrero and Inspector Gen. Col. Gustavo Ingles.

Early in 1943, the Hunters have hatched its own rescue plans for the POWs, however, they badly needed coordination and logistics from the US liberation forces to ensure safety of the POWs and success of the rescue.

Soon after the landing of the US liberation forces in Nasugbu, the Hunters updated its plans for the rescue of the POWs in Los Baņos. The US Army had also earlier learned of the Los Baņos POWs and from previous Hunter's intelligence reports.

Intelligence Preceding Rescue

This author, having several friends in Los Baņos, also being quite familiar with the terrain, was dispatched by Adevoso to Los Baņos on a detached-specifical intelligence mission to consolidate the flooding stream of valuable information about the POWs and the enemy guards.

There were a wealth of intelligence items coming from several clandestine units operating in the area [i.e. the Mary Mendoza-Josefa Escoda-Concepcion Iniguez sorties, Col. R. Price a.k.a Romeo Espino, the Espino and his brothers [Gustavo and Arturo] of the PQOG guerrilla from professors of the UP College: Cedana, Pantaleon and Iniguez, not to leave out the civilian sources comprised of the Paelmo, Palis and Deang families, and the integrated USAFFE guerrilla intelligence net under Col. Gaudencio Tobias [PMA Class'41]. A flowing stream of information was more than enough to equip rescue planners in conceiving a masterful plan of rescue.

Master Plan Conceived

All these were consolidated for consideration of the US 11th AB and Guerrilla headquarters. Intelligence reports were validated by the Hunter's G-2, Col. Marcelo "Middy" Castillo, [US Naval Academy Class '35] assisted by Col. Roberto Atienza, G-3, who would later be chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines after WW II.

My pre-war college chums, Phil Avancena, R. Aquino and relatives in Los Baņos provided me adequate cover while dodging Japanese spies and troops. I was very lucky to remain unscathed operating inside enemy lines. I never had to sleep in a place twice being hunted by enemy spies.

However, my other comrade, Maj. Daud Mancon of the Markings unit was ambushed earlier by the Japanese spies [the Makapilis] on his way from Calamba to Pansol, but went down gloriously taking dead aim at least four of the enemy before he passed on.

Local Operatives

Local operatives all made my job a bit easier operating in Los Baņos and adjacent towns of Bay and Calauan, Laguna while sorting out and revalidating intelligence reports. Other chums Maj. Cesar Jacinto, Cpl. Jovenal Tan of Bay, Capt. Arsenio Marfori and Cpl. F. Celino of Calauan, Laguna were also quite helpful in putting up more nets that were sources of information and of the courier's relay complex.

It was also quite a perilous job of interfacing with aloof members of the Bureau of Constabulary [the unit under close Japanese supervision] in Calauan, however, which were found to be sympathetic to their resistance movement. This penetration was made possible by Col. Agapito Heredia, Sr. [a fellow alumnus of the PMA Class '41], who brainwashed his men and later brought the whole company of turn-coats, including their arms to join the guerrillas.

Col. Ingles - Overall Coordinator

Adevoso had earlier directed Hunters Inspector Gen., Col. Gustavo Ingles [PMA '45] to act as overall operations coordinator of the Los Baņos POWs rescue in collaboration with the 11th Division. Precise intelligence, authentic maps, sketches, and overlays on the AMS map were produced, expertly developed by Ingles that were dispatched to the rescue planners at headquarters.

In the same token, crack Hunter women guerrilla operatives [led by Lt. Cristina Figueroa] successfully smuggled out as much information from the POW camp, which they hid in their undies while they passed through enemy checkpoints and sentries.

The 11th Airborne Expertise

Those precious information were shared with the General Staff of Gen. Joseph M. Swing of the 11th Henry Muller, G-2 and Col. Douglas Quandt, G-3 and other staff as the top planners, who fine-tuned the final strategy of the assault-rescue. It culminated into a very detailed meticulously planned wonderful air-sea and land joint liberation of the POWs.

POWs Escapees Joined Ingles

Just before the rescue, a few POWs in contact with Col. Ingles escaped from the internment camp and joined Ingles. They were: Bob Schaefer, Peter Newsome, George Gray and Zervoulakus - who had a brother Tony, in the Hunters guerrillas.

Newsome would later be awarded the Order of the British Empire by King George after the war for his daring guerrilla activities that help liberate the Philippines.

POWs: Peter Miles and George Gray were able to slip out of the camp and helped verify the latest camp guard movements, strength and fortification, etc. which were provided for Ingles.

Never had an operation afforded so much prim and accurate intelligence that helped top-planners at headquarters to meticulously employ air-sea and land units that would participate in a well-laid raid calculated to ensure success.

Hunter's Guerrillas Exploits

Noteworthy of mentioning, the Hunters had many successful experiences and expertise in storming and liberating fellow guerrillas from the enemy jails in the immediate past. And by no means the Los Baņos rescue operation was not their first, but was a cinch - and a piece of cake, so to speak. They were formidable and quite familiar with the terrain of their staging areas in each of their assaults, which had the support of the townspeople.

As a matter of fact, it was not too long in the past when Col. Ingles himself and Raul Manglapuz [Associate PMA Class '44] who would later be Secretary of Foreign Affairs after the war, were rescued and freed by the Hunter's earlier raid of Muntinglupa National Penitentiary in Rizal, along with 200 other prisoners, shortly before the allied forces returned to the Philippines.

Ingles would play a pivotal role in the whole Los Baņos rescue after surviving the barbaric torture chambers of the notorious death cells of the "Airport Studio" and "Fort Santiago" under the dreaded Japanese "Kempei Tai" [Military Police] in Manila. Very few survived captivity in those execution cells of captured prisoners. The mere mention of "Fort Santiago" in those days meant execution of prisoners.

Jittery Enemy POW Guards

It was verified by intel-operatives that enemy guards received a standing secret order to massacre all the POWs if and when the allied liberation and guerrilla forces are approaching Los Baņos.

Guards appeared very jittery about the surging battle victories of the allied forces in Luzon. As a matter of fact, sorties of US observation planes had already been flying near the vicinity of the POW camp.

Somehow, the enemy could sense their impending defeat and they grew more abusive against the POWs and innocent civilians in the town. Guards also suffered lack of food and supplies. Food rations of the POWs were almost depleted. And the Japanese even took away whatever was previously left to the prisoners.

Precise Intelligence Uncovered

The Simbu [Japanese] defense line in Southern Luzon was in near collapse. And the order of massacre of the POWs had been activated. The appointed day and hour was left to the discretion of the camp commander. This was prime intelligence which was verified by planted agents inside the POW camp.

Ingles, in turn, immediately reported the information to Adevoso, by radio, who in turn, relayed it to the 11t AB and Guerrilla Command headquarters for immediate action. Thus, the Los Baņos assault-rescue operation received priority implementation.

http://www.paete.org/literary/freedom/part5.htm

PART 5

 

The Joint Guerrilla-US Army Assault

The final plan and scenario went this way, to wit:

The 45th Hunter Regimental point assault contingent with Col Ingles, will spearhead the ground assault from all directions surrounding the camp, and with the scouts of Lt. Skau making an attack at the front gate, while the whole camp is surrounded by units of the 45th Hunter regiment in strategic stations to attack the guards at a signaled hour.

The 511th Paratroopers of Lt. J Ringler will jump from C-47 aircraft that will disgorge paratroopers at a paradrop zone near the camp secured by elements of the Hukbalahap [partisan] guerrillas.

Evacuation of POWs will follow involving the 762nd amphibian tractors unit to ferry the POWs across Laguna de Bay.

Other guerrilla units such as the Fil-American and Marking troops and the 48th Chinese Squadron will act as road blocks in the towns of Calauan, Bay and Pila to deter possible enemy troops that might try to interfere with the rescue.

The Hunter 47th Regiment under Col E. de Ocampo will act as roadblock in the Calamba-Pansol area to deter possible enemy incursion that may also interfere with the rescue.

The backup 11th AB pack Howitzers in Calamba area will bombard the road as possible access of the enemy towards Los Baņos. In a nutshell, all the surrounding approaches and to the main camp itself has been secured. The townspeople were briefed and asked to vacate Los Baņos by the local PQOG home-guard units.

Clockwork Raid Operation

This near-perfect assault-rescue of the Los Baņos POW camp could have overseen any single commander owing to the magnitude and complexity of the clock-work operation that did not have any benefit of previous rehearsal before the raid.

The secret of the expected success depended on the expert and precise orientation of each participating unit by their own commanders, who earlier were carefully briefed by Col Ingles, Col Guerrero and other commanders of other participants about their specific roles based on the master plan laid out by Col Henry Muller, Col Douglas Quandt and Col T Adevoso and the headquarters general staff.

The rest of the coup d'maitre [success] was left to the Almighty. We prayed and hoped that Gen Fujishige's forces, not far away, would not learn of our attack and the evacuation of the POWs. For if he did, it could frustrate or blow the whole rescue operation into a failure and a great big fiasco. A great calculated risk was assumed.

Precision Planning and Execution

The result of the whole operation proved to be what was expected by the planners under the proficiency, savoir-faire and the expected diligence of all participants in playing their respective part under the master plan. And specific time frame allowed for each unit's role. All of these secret plans were kept from the POWs, except for a few limited top officials of the POW committee, who knew of the rescue. POWs were casually asked to keep to their huts and stay away from the abusive guards.

The death-defying raid was a great success without any casualty on the part of the POWs, but with only two casualties on the part of the Hunters. Killed in action during a hand-to-hand skirmish against enemy guards were two young Hunter guerrilla combatants.

The Lethal Onslaught

By February 22nd, guerrillas were fully equipped by Maj Nicanor Liwagon and Ma Gabriel Cruz, regimental QMS officers, and fully-briefed in Pila, Laguna, about 20 kilometers from Los Baņos, the main base of nearly 10,000 combined guerrilla forces from different units operating in the area.

In Pila, was the advance penetration team of the US 6th Alamo Scouts with Lt Tom Rounsaville, Lt Bull Littlefield, Sgt Alfred Alfonso and a team of radio operators, was our communication link with Gen D. MacArthur and other nets.

The different assault groups were separately dispatched by Col Guerrero at intervals and deployed in their assigned stations around the POW camp under the cover of darkness.

Other units were dispatched early morning of the 23rd via sailboats over Laguna Lake that would reach the northern shore of Los Baņos junction going up the hill towards the UP College of Agriculture, where the POW camp was located.

In summary, all possible entries and exits around the camp were sealed before dawn of February 23rd. Remaining civilians in town were cautioned by the guerrilla home guards to remain safely in their homes during a raid or evacuate to safer areas, because the Japanese might retaliate against them as suspects of being an accomplished to the raid.

Combat Assault Units

The Hunter ground assault combat teams reached the edge of the camp with the guides of local guerrilla unit [PQOGs] under a cover of darkness. They were in strategic foxholes, adequately camouflaged, as close as possible to the barbed wire fence, that surrounded the camp. They would spend the longest night, fervently waiting for the signal to attack and storm the camp at dawn of February 23rd.

Almost motionless, half-awake, quietly waiting for the signal to attack the enemy guards, they were also awaiting for the drone of the C-47 aircraft to arrive in time that would disgorge the paratroopers at the paradrop zone nearby. Every minute detail were checked and re-checked by the planners, allowing no room left for possible mishap.

No Atheists in the Foxholes

There were no doubt at all on the minds of the guerrillas that they had the superior advantage in number and the precious element of surprise on their side.

The men hugged the earth for warmth. They prayed. There were indeed no atheists in every foxhole.

They prayed more for the salvation of the POWs, a number of them were priests, nuns, missionaries and army nurses captured in Bataan and Corregidor after the American surrender of the USAFFE.

Couldn't Wait to go into Action

The chilly morning mist awkwardly crept down from the summit of the mystic Mount Makiling, cruising lazily downward through the barbed wire fence, as the light of dawn calmly greeted all of the liberators.

Inside the camp, blurred shadows of enemy move about non-chalantly as part of their daily routine, the day's assembly for the "Radio Taisho" [their early morning calisthenics] before breakfast time. They stacked their arms, as usual never suspecting what was in store for them that fateful day.

Enemy's Weak Point

Their daily movements had been verified as a routine of the guards every morning, which was distinctly noted by the planners of the raid, based on the precise intelligence reports.

It was why the attack at dawn was chosen and considered by the planners as the most propitious time for the surprise attack. The information paid off handsomely during the execution of the rescue.

http://www.paete.org/literary/freedom/part6.htm

PART 6

 

Hunters Assault Units

The Hunter's 45th Regimental units that were utilized for the ground assault were:

The Battle Order
LtCol Honorio Guerrero,----------Regt. Commander
Maj Emmy Casas-------------------Exec, Officer
Capt Gonzalo Magsalin------------S-1
Capt Hestor Palileo--------------Assistant S-1
Capt Clodualdo Manas-------------S-2
Capt Charlie Chan----------------S-3
Capt Daniel----------------------Asst S-3
Lt. Alfredo de los Reyes---------Asst S-3
Maj Vicente Bautista-------------S-4
Capt Pedro Valdez----------------Asst S-4
Lt Jose Taino--------------------Asst S-4
Capt Frank Quesada---------------Cdtr, Intel Officer

Regimental Staff
Maj Serafin Estrada--------------Hqs Troops Commander
Capt Francisco Agorilla----------ExO
Capt Hilario Sangalang-----------Hqs Commandant
Lt Floro Bautista----------------Rgtl Liaison Officer
Lt Julio Mayuga------------------Liaison Officer
Lt Julio Balala------------------Liaison Officer
Capt Diosdado Concepcion---------Propaganda Officer
Capt Reynaldo Bernal-------------Provost Marshal
Capt Reynaldo Concepcion---------Asst Marshall

Women's Auxiliary Service
Capt Lucila Manayan--------------C.O. First Aider
Lt Crispina Salamatin------------ExO
Lt Sinfrosa Publico--------------C.O. Nurse Corps
Lt Purita Galipot----------------ExO

Medical Service
Capt Mateo Advento---------------Regimental Surgeon
Capt Casimiro Garcia-------------Asst Surgeon
Capt Demetrio Nalagan------------Asst Surgeon
Capt Wilfredo de Ramos-----------Asst Surgeon
Capt Rizal Napisa----------------Asst Surgeon

Regimental Services
Lt Jose Montenegro---------------Chaplain
Maj Nicanor Liwagon--------------44th Div QMS
Lt Rodrigo Dator-----------------Asst QMS Officer

First Battalion, 45th Regiment
Maj Francisco Villar------------BN Cdr
Capt Jose del Rosario-----------Reliever BN Cdr
Capt Abelardo Remoquillo--------ExO
Lt Perfecto Rivera--------------Relieve ExO
Lt Jose Fernandez---------------Asst BN S-1
Lt Agustina Figueroa------------BN S-2
Lt Edita Mijares-Manas----------Asst BN S-2
Capt Jose del Rosario-----------BN S-3
Lt Emerson Albano---------------Asst BN S-3
Lt Jose Madrigal----------------Asst BN S-3
Lt Gregorio Delgado-------------Judge Advocate
Lt Martina Agorilla-------------C.O. First Aider

Second Battalion, 45th Regiment
Capt Abelardo Ronquillo---------BN Cdr
Capt Antonio Guevarra-----------ExO
Lt Juan Hernandez---------------BN S-1
Lt Celestino Dacanay------------Asst BN S-1
Lt Luz Flores-------------------BN S-2
Capt Proceso Domingo------------BN S-3
Capt Enrique Cadayona-----------Asst BN S-3
Lt Pedro Nava-------------------BN S-4
Lt Lydia Bernardo---------------C.O. First Aider
Lt Maura Reyes------------------First Aider
Lt Cleta Real-------------------First Aider
Capt Nestor Alampay-------------Judge Advocate

Third Batallion, 45th Regiment
Maj Francisco Adricula----------BN Cdr
Capt Octavio de Rosas-----------ExO
Lt Anselmo Adefuin--------------BN S-1
Lt Leonardo Adefuin-------------BN S-2
Lt Jorge Afable-----------------BN S-3
Lt Leopoldo de Ramos------------Asst BN S-3
Maj Quinciano de Ramos----------BN S-4
Lt Fernando Acero---------------Asst BN S-4
Lt Filomeno Cadayona------------Judge Advocate
Lt Efren Bague------------------Liaison Officer
Lt Flora Dono-------------------C.O. First Aider
Lt Teodora Caballos-------------First Aider

Line Officers
Capt Proceso Domingo------------Reliever, CO-A of Capt Frank Quesada
Lt Leodovico Nepomuceno---------ExO
Capt Ruben Adricula-------------CO Co-B
Lt Felix Villanueva-------------ExO
Capt Ciriaco Nicolas------------CO Co-C
Lt Wenceslao Calayag------------ExO

GHQ TDY with the 45th Regiment
LtCol Gustavo Ingles------------Inspector General
Capt Marcelino Tan--------------CO D-1 GHQ Det
Lt Velasquez--------------------ExO

The Unexpected Episode

In one corner of the camp, an unexpected episode occurred. A hedgehog emerged from a forested area of the camp. An enemy guard chased the hog across the field, then fired his rifle at the animal narrowly missing the guerrillas deployed across the fence.

Sensing that the guerrillas were discovered, Hunter Capt Marcelino Tan ordered a return fire, thus resulting to a premature attack by his men, even before the much-awaited arrival of the C-47 aircraft that will disgorge the paratroopers that would join the ground assault as planned.

Guerrillas around the camp reacted simultaneously, opening fire at predestined targets in all directions at the guards on sight. Machine guns and automatic weapons barked without letup, catching the bulk of the petrified enemy guards under complete surprise. They were cut down mercilessly as pandemonium broke lose.

As the guerrillas breached the camp perimeter, bolo-knife squads quickly silenced as many enemy guards. The bolo [razor-sharp bladed native machete] is the Filipino standard weapon aside from their carbines, Thompson machine guns and automatic rifles. Almost every combatant carried a sharp-edge bolo. [See US Army Poster honoring he guerrillas in the last page of this story].

Afterwards, this author interviewed Capt Tan; he confirmed giving his bitter-bit order to return fire at the enemy guard. He construed the enemy's fire as discovery of his men.

Hand-to-Hand Skirmish

The hand-to-hand skirmish was without let up and was not without casualties. A handful of guards were able to muster a makeshift defense and retaliated instantly killing two young Hunters [Pfc. Atanacio "Tana" Castillo and Pfc. Anselmo "Momong" Soler]. Their bodies were quickly recovered and immediately buried beside the College chapel.

Traditionally, fallen Hunters killed in action are given the Hunter's honored Viking's funeral [cremation] immediately after combat so the enemy cannot identify and desecrate them. This time, however, was an exception. Next to cremation was interment in a distant consecrated landmark suitable to their quietus fall. They were too valuable not to be left to the elements. That is how the Hunters passionately regard each and every member.

As a matter of fact, the Hunter's motto is, to wit: "Those who are not afraid to die are fit to live in freedom." And another saying in every lip of any Hunter says: "Once a Hunter, Always a Hunter."

Assault of the Main Gate Entry

At the main gate of the entrance of the camp, consolidated joint guerrilla elements led by Col. Guerrero, Lt. Col. Emy Casas, Col. Ingles with scouts of Lt. Skau respectively, encountered resistance from the enemy sentries. The raiders quickly decimated the enemy guards with heavy gunfire, then cautiously entered the campsite, heading towards the POW barracks dodging enemy fire.

At the Paradrop Zone

In the designated paradrop zone, a distance away from the main camp, the paratroopers that included one Hunter, Bob Fletcher, jumped with the troops from the C-47s, quickly assembled after landing and hurriedly proceeded to join the action going on inside the perimeter. They immediately participated in the melee, and surprised to see the Hunter's 45th Regimental banner already waving triumphantly atop a makeshift Flagstaff in one of the POW's barracks. Guerrillas were all over the place.

Historical Banner Taken to the US

Years after the liberation of the POWs in Los Baņos, this author returned to the US to resume his military service in the US Army at Sacramento, California headquarters of the Army National Guard, as Division ACS G-3 [Plans, Operations and Training of three brigades] of the California State Military Reserve Force, under BrigGen Richard Keith.

From Manila, he brought with him the 45th Hunter's banner [the one used during the raid] to the US 6th Army Museum of the Presidio of San Francisco, California, where it was displayed to the public, given proper honors an due credence during a celebration honoring the "Forgotten Heroes of World War II in the Philippines" at the Presidio de San Francisco, headquarters of the US 6th Army.

The occasion was sponsored by the US Army, honoring Filipino war veterans of World War II in an award of distinction, recognition and deference for the heroism and gallantry of the Filipino soldiers who served the United States Armed Forces, but most of them had been precluded from the GI Bill of Rights benefits. While the US Army and politicians praised and adulated them with platitudes, their injustice remained unresolved for over 50 years. They have been dying unceremoniously each day without their due reward for their honorable military service in WW II.

Mrs. Jean MacArthur's Attendance

This extraordinary occasion was graced by Mrs. Jean MacArthur, widow of the late Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the revered commanding general of the famed USAFFE and the guerrillas.

She renewed acquaintances with friends and loyal Filipino soldiers who served under her late husband, during the celebration. She said, she could never believe her husband's faithful followers would be mistreated by the very government that sent them to Harms' Way, in a war not intrinsically their own.

As I shook her hands, she remembered and asked for my late father, Capt. Roman N. Quesada, who worked with her husband. She did not know, but learned from me that my father and eleven members of the family clan were casualties in World War II. She appeared cheerless and consoled me.

Years later, she would write me a letter from New York, thanking me for sending a copy of the letter written by a member of the POW committee, Mr. Lewis Thomas Watty, who wrote a letter of thanks in behalf of the British internees to Gen. MacArthur for their liberation at Los Baņos. Watty's letter formed part of the memorabilia's of Gen. MacArthur's Museum.

Amphitheater of Ovation

Back to the fire-fight that was going on in the camp during the assault, the POWs upon sensing that the liberators had breached the camp and had control of the situation, they peeked from their huts to confirm whether they were safe to go out to see what was going on.

Upon confirming this, they all rushed out from their barracks almost in unison, hugging, kissing and thanking their emancipators profusely, shedding unabashed tears of joy. Their long hope of deliverance finally came at dawn of February 23, 1945, after four years of unending prayers on bended knees in supplication asking God for deliverance.

Emancipation Day at Last

This very special day would be deeply etched in their memories forever. And with special thanks of gratitude for the "angels" that set them free at last.

At this juncture, the whole camp became virtually an amphitheater of ovation. It was indeed a captivating moment for both the POWs and their emancipators instantly caught in unaffected jubilation.

We could not also hold our tears upon seeing these poor emasculated souls in skins and bones, undernourished and bemused. It was a scene I would not forget for the rest of my life. They have a warm spot in my heart.

Never could one like me understand such man's inhumanity to man. I could swear I have actually seen enough of the enemy's malevolence in the edge of hell in this forsaken estate of holocaust.

Constraints of Evacuation

The fighting had almost subsided at the timely arrival of the elements of 762nd Amphibian Tank Unit of Col. Gibbs with Maj. Henry Burgees; amphibian which tractors started their journey from the eastern shore of the liberated towns of Laguna de Bay that churned its way across Laguna Lake towards the Mayongdong Point [shore] north of Los Baņos.

Mood of Vacillation

The day was quickly wearing off. But the POWs could not quite seem to shake off the sudden shock of suddenly being free. Free at last, but were not quite prepared how to deal with it. Startled, bewildered and immobilized, even if already free, something held them back which prevented them to move on. There were stupified. None of us could figure out what and why. And kept on glancing back at their rummage they would leave behind with much pathos.

Sentimental Journey

Their feeling of nostalgia was quite strong among them, for they have inured a kind of life they shared together in privation and camaraderie during the incarceration. That thought can not just be swept away overnight.

The liberators set fire to their barracks so they would leave some of their considered precious but disposable possessions, so they would board the amphibian tractors that would take them across the Laguna de Bay to a free area. It took a good while to evacuate them.

Immediate Evacuation Critical

After the fire-fight, immediate evacuation was critical for these frightened but joyful internees under a trauma of perplexity. Their lives are still in danger. The Japanese could mount a retaliation. Nobody knows. What if Gen. Fujishige's men learned of this rescue mission of the POWs?

The whole mission relied on the element of surprise of the enemy guards and a brisk pull out from Los Baņos.

There was the possibility of the arrival of enemy guards with reinforcement from Gen. Fujishige's huge force nearby. So there was really no time for vacillation.

The sick, the weak, women and children were first to be loaded into the amphibian tractors. Those who could manage to walk were safely escorted by the liberators on a half-mile hike from the camp downward to Mayongdong Point, the northern shore of Los Baņos in Laguna de Bay.

Enemy Snipers versus US Artillery

The liberators presumed that the POWs were a bit safer at Mayongdong, dock before churning over the lake to Muntinlupa, Rizal, where the American Red Cross was waiting for them.

I had a good chance to exchange pleasantries with a POW, John Ferrier, a family acquaintance before the war. I was able to gather more information from him about the POW's experience while in incarceration, which helped me write this story. Among those who stayed in the Philippines after the liberation was John. He was a permanent resident of Hotel Filipinas, a stone's throw from my apartment in the Teodorica building across the US Embassy at Roxas Blvd [formerly Dewey Blvd] facing Manila bay.

Through the years, John and I have spent many mornings at the famous Taza de Oro restaurant for breakfast recalling every minute episode of Los Baņos. He loved the Philippines and the Filipinos, was sickly and expressed preference to be buried in the Manila American cemetery instead of returning to the United States. His wish was fulfilled

http://www.paete.org/literary/freedom/part7.htm

PART 7

 

Living POW's Testimonials

Nothing could be more veritable than the firsthand and personal accounts by the POWs themselves and the different versions of their liberators as well.

Just after their rescue, Lewis Thomas Watty, vice president of the POW committee had this to say, and I quote:

"The ensuing fight went on for very long minutes without letup, enemy defenders caught by total surprise were pinned and cut down mercilessly by liberator's fire. The Hunter experience through the years in irregular warfare paid off handsomely. It was also true of the paratroopers who were veterans of he South Pacific before they landed in Luzon."

Clyde de Witt, another member of the POW committee related his personal experience, to wit:

"None of us could live through this and will ever forget the crowded and exiting events of that memorable morning of February 23rd.

"From the western side of the camp came sounds of rifle and machine gun fire. This, I learned later was from Filipino guerrillas who had infiltrated into the area and were timed to operate against the Japanese guards on the western boundary of the camp, almost simultaneously with the dropping of parachutes on the eastern boundary.

"Guerrilla troops were all over the place. They seemed to rise out of the ground and I can vouch for the fact that they showed no mercy against the enemy.

"In addition to their rifles, they carried 'bolos', their beloved huge razor sharp knives that made sure the enemy had gone to meet their ancestors.

"A little brown man, with a handkerchief around his head with a feather stuck into the headband, was the first Hunter I have ever seen.

"When I learned later of the great part they played in our rescue, I felt that I owed him and his organization a debt of gratitude I could never repay. I am sure the other Los Baņos internees felt the same way." De Witt said.

Another POW, a Protestant missionary, Carol Terry Talbot, whom I met during the raid among the POWs in Los Baņos, later had written a book entitled "Escape at Dawn". She dedicated a page in the book with my picture with a caption, to wit:

"To Colonel Frank Quesada: who helped in our rescue from Los Baņos internment camp… honoring the Filipino guerrillas, Col. Quesada, then a Captain of the Hunters ROTC Guerrillas, who rushed into my barracks during the rescue.

"Creeping into foliage near the prison camp, some of the pathfinders [guerrillas] had the mission of sending smoke upward to mark the landing zone for paratroopers who would be descending by parachutes.

"Accomplished by guerrillas, more of these intrepid men had to deploy themselves in hiding around the prison camp so every Japanese sentry in the outposts and pill boxes was covered.

"When the planes flew in and the liberators decimated the sentries and neutralized enemy guards doing physical exercises in the morning, while their arms were stacked and unattended.

"What could go wrong? Only one thing. If any word of this rescue leaked out to the Japanese, the nearly 10,000 Japanese troops of Gen. Fujishige, just eight miles from the prison camp, could commit a horrible massacre of the POWs and the rescuers."

US Army Official Dispatch

After the joint rescue operation, the following official dispatch [which was published by the US Army along with the US Army poster series entitled "The American Soldier" that portrayed the Filipino Guerrillas in Los Baņos read as follows, to wit:

Official Account of the Raid

"By the time the airborne company could join the assault, most of the guards had been killed or driven from the posts.

"When the reminder of the parent airborne and pack howitzers arrived by amphibious tractors, the remaining pillboxes were taken and the force turned its attention to the sole reason for the entire mission: the liberation of the 2,147 internees from certain death. By 1:30 p.m. that day, the last of the internees, paratroopers and guerrillas had been evacuated from Los Baņos. Apparently, the entire Japanese garrison had been killed."

Enemy's Revenge

A few days after the astounding rescue, the enemy in full force vengefully returned to Los Baņos to reclaim their ignominious loss of face, a distinct disgrace to any Bushido warrior of the Rising Sun.

Upon seeing that there were no POWs in sight that escaped the unreserved order of massacre of the POWs, the Japanese turned their ire and wrath towards the remaining innocent civilians in town who failed to heed the counsel and warning from the guerrillas that there may be a retaliation by the Japanese who might return to Los Baņos.

And the enemy did, as they mercilessly massacred thousands of the senior menfolk, women and children, and burned their houses as well as those in the adjacent towns suspected by the enemy for having collaborated with the liberators.

Puzzling Aftermath

The townspeople never understood the aftermath and never forgave the liberators for the rescue operation of the 2,146 Americans and allied POWs, which they believed was the cause of the massacre of the people of Los Baņos.

Specific orders were for all liberators to proceed to liberate other areas. None of the liberators were left in Los Baņos except for the local guerrilla homeguard unit [the PQOGs] who also had their own orders to join the US forces in the campaign in southern Luzon.

The Defiant were the Victims

Those civilians, who defied the warning by the liberators for them to leave Los Baņos, consequently became the victims of the wholesale massacre by the inexorable Japanese troops who ran berserk.

Lessons of War and Peace

Someone said, "When war's declared and danger's nigh, God and the soldiers – is the people's cry. But when peace is once more achieved, God is forgotten and the soldier is slighted."

And in the course of events when the veterans are slighted, no one but them can only speak more eloquently for peace, their sacrifices, the tolls and ravages of war – than them, who saw the face of e enemy in combat.

And the Hunters- ROTC Guerrillas have said; "Only those who are not afraid to die for freedom, are fit to live in a democracy for which a price was dearly paid."

A greater crusade we need now than history had ever known is for world peace, liberty and equality. As the world turns each day, towards the new millennium, government and politicians are once more inebriated with borrowed power from the people, disremembers the veterans who made democracy safe for everyone. And the veterans are once more mistreated.

Post-War Hunters

It can be said that majority of the Hunters completed their studies and became professionals. Majority of them became high government officials and top military officers.

Most of them also became politicians who have helped rehabilitate the Philippines.

Hunters in Politics and Government

The Hunters is a closely knot fraternity, and a formidable political group, remained as a single nonpartisan group, but with some members who chose to be in both dominant political parties.

Individually, they have shown uncanny leadership in many fields. As President Johnson said, "Unity does not mean unanimity."

Hunters has his own mind and heart and his own political philosophy and conviction honored and respected by other Hunters. Exposed to constant pressures since the war, they have made them as good crusaders for what is right.

In order to protect themselves they have divided political leaders to be in both dominant parties so whoever is in power, he, as Hunters will always be on power. And they are always ahead in the race in the top berth of their adopted parties.

They have learned the artful tactics under any administration. Whatever party they may represent, they have always crusaded for good government. The top consideration is to protect the Hunters first.

-- end --

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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FREEDOM AT DAWN

By Col. ( Ret. US ) Frank B. Quesada

Former Senate Committee Secretary

Veterans and Military Pension

Associate PMA ?44

( 61th Anniversary today)

Year 2006

This is a true story related by this author about his participation in the daring raid how Fil-Am guerrillas and U.S. Army troops rescued and liberated 2,146 American POWs from prison, about to be massacred by their captors - in February 23, 1945 in Los Banos, Laguna (Luzon). Philippines.

Uncommon Platitude

Gen. Colin Powell, of the U.S Joint Chief of Staff said, " I doubt that any airborne and guerrilla unit in the world will ever be able to rival the Los Banos raid. It is a textbook operation for all ages and all nations."

The Prisoners-of-war

Nearly sixty years ago today, on February 23, 1945 ? emaciated and tortured Americans and allied prisoners-of-war literally walked out of the Los Banos prison camp safely without any casualties except for two young guerrillas killed in a hand-to-hand skirmish during the assault and rescue.

Joint-Rescue Operation

The daring rescue was staged by the Hunters-PMA-ROTC Guerrilla and the US 11th Airborne Division contingent together with other units during the Liberation Campaign in the Philippines.

Hunters(PMA-ROTC) Guerrilla

The Hunters was founded in 1942 by a handful of cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (the West Point of the Philippines) and ROTC undergraduates with meager military training. Its founders were PMA cadets Eleuterio L. Adevoso (PMA ?44) and Miguel Z. Ver (PMA ?43) Gustavo C. Ingles (PMA ?45) Emmanuel de Ocampo, Honorio K. Guerrero, Vic Estacio, Vic Novales, Raymundo Gozun, Alfedo Foz, Vic Salvador, and Tereso Pia Villa,, followed later by many stout and strong hearts, others i,e., like this author, associate (PMA?44).

Irregular/Unconventiona War

Through the ensuing years they quickly learned the art of irregular and un-conventional warfare, from hit-and-run raids, through beg-borrow-and-steal of procurement of logistics in order to maintain their operation of inflicting heavy casualties and damages against the enemy, with very little casualties on their part since 1942.

U.S. Army Forces

On January 31, 1945 ? U.S. Liberation Forces landed in Luzon ? one of which was the XIV Corps of Lt.Gen. R. Eichelberger, with the 11th Airborne Division led by Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing USA, in Nasugbu, Batangas. and was met by Col. Gustavo C. Ingles (PMA?45), Col. Janet Ferrer (PMA?44) together with Gen McArthur?s representative from Australia, Major Jay Vanderpool, USA.

POW Concentration Camp

At the University of the Philippines, College of Agriculture at the foot of mystic Mount Makiling, in Los Banos were some 2,146 American and allied POWs as captives of the Japanese Imperial Army troops hoping against hope for salvation.

Not until January of 1945 did the U.S. Army order for the liberation of the POWs finalized the original plan by the Hunters, refined by the 11th Airborne General Staff - to free the hapless POWs.

Final Assault Rescue

Final orders then came for the ultimate assault and rescue of the POWs to be carried out in February 23rd at 07:00 Hours. The overall assault plan was validated by Hunter Col. Marcelo Castillo, USNA ?38 before we went in to action.

Guerrillas Deployed

In February 22nd guerrillas were confidently deployed under cover of darkness around the POW camp in assigned stations that night before the early morning assault upon the camp. Others arrived on Feb. 23rd.

Hunter Col. M. Guerrero. ground assault Commander had a full grip of all the forces that were to spearhead the ground assault.

Men lay on the ground for warmth, motionless, but wide awake awaiting for the drone of the expected C-47 aircrafts that would disgorge the para-troopers at the designated para-drop zone guarded by guerrillas. Their jump was the signal for us to commence the attack. Men prayed. There were indeed no atheists in the foxholes.

Guerrilla blocking forces both on the East and West side of Los Banos were adequately deployed for possible enemy intrusion.

My Ingress and Assault

I chose and took the southeastern corner of the POW camp, with the guerrilla infantry, at the side of the camp, near the charcoal mill bound by a boot creek that would easily lead me to the POW?s barracks, and waited for dawn, to surprise the Japanese guards in the guard post.

As the morning mist lazily crawled through the double barbed wire fence, blurred shadows of the enemy guards moved nonchalantly about the camp preparing for their early "radyo taisyo" (their morning calisthenics) as they stocked arms. This was their great mistake ? that gave us advantage during our attack.

The U.S. Paratroopers

Paratroopers were aboard the that took off from Nichols Field, on the C47s approaching grew louder and louder as they flew approaching the camp. Our men prepared for the signal to attack time for the brown boots jump on the side of the camp.

The enemy continued their morning routine without the slightest idea of what was going to happen to them. The element of surprise was in our favor. Most of all, God was on our side.

Premature Assault

In one corner of the camp, a Japanese guard chased a hedge-hog and fired at the animal nearly hitting one of the guerrillas camouflaged near the barbed wire fence. Capt. Marcelino Tan, sensing that they were discovered by the enemy guard, gave the order to return fire .

Upon hearing the firing, the guerrillas around the camp simultaneously commenced the premature ground attack. Pandemonium broke loose as machineguns and automatic rifles barked without let-up. Men breached the fence and chased the scampering Japanese guards towards their barracks. Unarmed guards were hacked mercilesslyto death by guerrilla bolo (machete) squads to their painful death as the enemies finally joined their ancestors that fateful morning.

Hand-to-hand Skirmish

A handful of enemy guards, however, were able to put up a makeshift defense but was mowed down by superior guerrilla firepower. Hand-to-hand skirmish ensued which killed two young Hunters (Atanacio Castillo and Anselmo Soler) They were hastily buried near the college chapel where they now rest in tranquility.

A Turkey Shoot Out

As I breached the south-eastern corner, and fired at the two guards barricaded in a guard-post instantly silencing them. I was cocksure they also joined their ancestors Then I proceeded towards the POW barracks where I saw and met Terry Talbot, a POW, frightened and shaken, who asked me "Who are you?.

I gave her my name, and said that I was one of the liberators, then told them to prepare for evacuation. They hugged and kissed me as I struggled to proceed with my mission to secure valuable documents from the enemy office intended for the counter-intelligence command to sort out and examine them.

Mini-Reunions

On my way to the enemy barracks, I also met an old pre-war family friend, John Ferrier, a POW who said, "What kept you guys so long?" All I could say was ? "John, time flies and it?s good to see you alive." I told him, "Pack up your things, for you?re going home."

As I got nearer the enemy barracks, I met Col. Gustavo Ingles (PMA?45) together with Lt J. Skau of the 11th AB Scout party that breached the main gate of the camp where they met slight resistance from the guard house, which they blew into kingdom come and eliminated all the enemy guards. It was a piece of cake, so to speak.

The Brown Boots Landed

At the para-drop zone, the 11th AB brown boots jumped at a perilous height of 500 hundred feet, quickly re- upon hitting the ground, and joined the melee. They did a fine job of annihilating the remaining Japanese stragglers .

Lt. J. Ringler of the 11th AB kept his men intact, including my pre-war chum, Hunter Bob Fletcher, a son of an American old timer in Manila, who jumped with the brown boots. He said, "Frank, how are you? I never saw you for sometime in the city? I said, "Bob, I was in the Sierras most of the time hunting the enemy." We parted and never saw each other again. He returned to the US along with the expatriates.

Guerrillas Planted the Flags

On one of the POW?s barracks, atop a makeshift flagstaff, were three flags: (a) the Stars and Stripes, (b) the Philippine national tri-color, and (c) the Hunters 45th Regimental banner flying triumphantly, which I brought later to the Presidio of San Francisco Museum, of the U.S Sixth Army for display after the war.

And for display during the grand celebration initiated by the US 6th Army honoring the forgotten Filipino-American heroes of World War II, at the Presidio of San Francisco.

A Theatre of Ovasion

Going back to the firefight at the camp, sporadic gun fires were heard around the camp from mopping up parties, followed by an ominous silence. POWs sensed that they were safe to come out from their huts, all rushed out to hug us, abundantly. Unashamed tears of joy flowed down their cheeks to express their thanks and gratitude. It was quite an unforgettable sight for allof us to witness.

A few mini-reunions went on quietly in a corner of the camp. while Frank Smith, of Chicago Sun, a U.S, news correspondent who was with us when we stormed the POW camp. Movingly quickly, he located his emaciated family among the POWs. God was with them as they tearfully embraced and prayed for thanksgiving. It was an emotional sight to see them together once more, as I watched them with - a lump in my throat and tears rolling down my cheecks.

Prayers of Thanksgiving

Priests and nuns (as POWs) in the camp knelt down and offered thanksgiving for their emancipation on that clear day of February 23rd saying amazing grace for all of us.

The day was wearing off quickly, and the Evacuation Officer, Maj. Henry Burgess must clear the camp as quickly as possible before any Japanese reinforcements arrive. The sick, women and children were loaded first in the 672nd Amphibian tanks unit under the command of Col. Gibbs.

Evacuation via Laguna de Bay

The tanks filled with POWs and some troops were ferried across the Laguna de Bay from Mayongdong Point, north of Los Banos to Muntinglupa, Rizal where the POWs were examined and treated by U.S Army doctors.

The Red Cross was on hand to process them for repatriation back to the U.S.. and the POW?s preferred destinations.

War correspondents had a field day interviewing the POWs that had a thousand and one stories to tell. It was a festive day for all of us present that day.

POW in Liberation Campaign

One POW, Peter Newsome, a Britisher - preferred to stay and joined us in the mopping up campaign in Luzon. I later learned that he was conferred knight-hood by the King of England for his heroism in WW-II in the Philippines.

We last saw each other and had a glass of beer in San Francisco, California after the war, when he testified along with my boyhood chum, Benjo Osias, who was brought by the Japanese to Tokyo as "Yoen", during the war, but was able to return to the Philippines, and was then as witnesses in the trial of Tokyo Rose.

Enemy?s Revenge

Back to Los Banos - a week later after the raid, the Japanese in full force returned to Los Banos and massacred thousands of civilians in retaliation to save face. To the sons of the Bushido ? lost of face is worse punishment than death. Thus - they have to avenge their hurt ? to regain forfeited Bushido?s honor. They vented their ire against Filipino civilians. Men, women and children were bayoneted to death, then thrown into the water wells. Others were set on fire during the scorch-earth frenzy of revenge.

Los Banos survivors blamed us, liberators for not leaving combat troops to protect them. Albeit, those casualties were those who did not heed the warning by local guerrillas to leave the place before and after the raid.

We never lived that reproach down for many years. It was not a time to point fingers. Local guerrillas were unable to protect the civilians for lack of arms. Besides, civilians were hard to control.

A Time of Healing

Time was a great healer. fifty years later, in Los Banos during the 50th anniversary celebration, Col Ingles and myself was given a chance by the townspeople the opportunity to elucidate on why and how we were quickly re-deployed under orders for the mopping-up operations ad away frm Los Banos, as did the US 11th Airborne contingent headed for the liberation of Manila.

We showed them copies of our orders, and was understandably accepted by them. We were reprieved and acquitted? a pass over.

Camaraderie Forvever

This powerful story will live forever in our hearts to remember that while there is life, there is hope. And that we stole precious minutes of contentment one day at a time. minute by minute, out of our lives to exist under the iron heels of a savage enemy. And never forgot the POWs in Los Banos.

Up until now, we write to each other, a phone call for exchanges pleasantries like long lost families. We meet in mini-reunions I theU.S. As the years pass away our ranks diminish, and nothing but deeply etched memories remain forever.

For we are only young at any age as long as we can dream, can?t we? Never regretted having lived at all in my journey to hell and back.

"`Nessun magior dolore, che recordasi del tempo falice nella miseria," (There is no greater sorrow than to recall, in misery, the time when we were happy..(Dante wrote in Inferno)

War taught us to love and hate and to forgive. However, "It lies not in our power to love or hate, for the will in us is over-ruled by fate !" (Marlow)

Los Banos ? was a testing ground for all of us who participated in this God?s crucible where it is not so much greatness of all our troubles, as the littleness of our spirits which made us more humble." (Adopted).

NOTE: This story has accounted a bit more in detail about the participation of the Filipino-American guerrillas - in order to give them credit which was not clearly portrayed in many books and stories printed in the U.S.

The whole detailed account may be found by reading my book on the making, or the internet version of "Freedom At Dawn," by this author. It is in the internet under the same title. And the book in the making entitled Ordeal in War?s Hell."

Books and videos were produced about such exploits among others i.e., book entitled "Los Banos Raid" by Lt. Gen.(Ret.) E. Flanagan, book: "With No Regrets," by Patricia Brooks of New Zealand.

Videos such as: "Epitafh" by Patricia Brooks; "Rescue At Los Banos," by Holywood?s Keystone Pictures; "Battle of Bataan ad Corregifor," "The Bataan Death March,? by the Pacific Islands Production.

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