THE F AMIL Y IN CRISIS The United States, the Philippines, and the Second World War.
By
Colonel John M Fitzgerald, United States Army Retired
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Š 2002 by John M Fitzgerald. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author. ISBN: 1-4033-9154-8 (e-book) ISBN: 1-4033-9155-6 (Paperback) ISBN: 1-4033-9156-4 (Dustjacket) Library of Congress Control Number: 2002095527
This book is printed on acid free paper.
Printed in the United States of America Bloomington, IN
lstBooks - rev. 11/26/02
TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements .............................................................................. v Foreward ............................................................................................ vii Illustrations and Photographs .......................................................... xvii Introduction ....................................................................................... xxi Setting The Stage ................................................................................. 1 The Japanese Take ControL .............................................................. 50 Luzon ................................................................................................. 57 The Collaborators ............................................................................ 110 Panay ................................................................................................ 124 Cebu And The Visayas .................................................................... 143 Leyte And Samar ...... :...................................................................... 166 Mindanao and Sulu .......................................................................... 190 Invasion Of Luzon ........................................................................... 218 Ferdinand Marcos ............................................................................ 244 Epilogue ........................................................................................... 262 Conclusions And Observations ........................................................ 286 Appendix OneAppendix TwoAppendix ThreeAppendix FourAppendix Five
Principal Guerrilla War Leaders ........................ 305 Presidents Of The Philippines ........................... 307 Philippine Graduates Of The Usma ................... 309 The Return Of The Conquerors ......................... 315 Peftok (Philippine Expeditionary Force To Korea) ................................................................ 323 Philippine Scouts ............................................... 325 Appendix SixAppendix Seven- SWP A Strength And Guerrilla Casualty Figures 30 Sept 1945 ......................................... 327 Bibliography .................................................................................... 329 About The Author ............................................................................ 347
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A great many people have aided me in the preparation of this book. Rick Bray and the staff of the Ernie Pyle Historical Site in Dana, Indiana opened their library to me unconditionally. The United States Army Historical Institute provided access to their treasure of documents on the Philippine Divisions. The staff of the St John' s County Library (Bartram Trail Branch) assisted me with numerous inter-library loans, many of which were very obscure. My son-in-law CW04(USAR retired) Kevin G. Peterson drove me around the libraries in New York state. Art Villasanta did some research in the Philippines and the United States Navy War College who provided data on-line. My youngest daughter, Heather Cristin, who helped this computer tyro clean up the manuscript and last, but far from least, my wife of 47 years, Marianne who accompanied me on my long and arduous travels making sure that I put back what I took out of the many library and research shelves and looked quietly away when I bought over 40 books for my own research library. I hope they all enjoy the results.
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FOREWARD The Philippines was my home growing up and remains a valued part of my life. I left the islands after my Sophomore year at The American School in 1949 so I could be properly Americanized before going to college. My father was a career Army officer stationed at the 52d Medium Port in Manila. I was far from a normal teenager. Our Senior class was loaded with war veterans, and several of our teachers and coaches had been guerrillas. Even in my class of 1951, we had a serving guerrilla from Bicol; the son of Charles Parsons, a guerrilla leader; and a German national who had not been interned but joined the Hunters guerrilla group. Among even the youngest children were many "veterans" of the Santo Tomas civilian internment camp. Discipline at the school was a bit of a problem for Principal Lois Croft, but we survived. I frequently made my way home after school by jeepney, the unique converted jeep taxis which ran scheduled routes and on one such trip the driver decided to take a classmate and me to the local Huks. My classmate, an Air Force junior, proceeded to pull a 45 from his bookbag and kill the driver. He and his parents were quietly transferred to Alaska the next day since President VII
Quirino was trying to negotiate with the Huks at the time. In the summer of 1948, I decided to go to sea and joined the Military Sea Transportation Service with some Filipino friends. My father let me get away with it, planning to have me sent back in a few days, but our LST 898 got trapped in China during the fall of Shanghai and when I got my minority discharge I was a Boatswains Mate 3d Class seven months later. Although I returned to school and caught up in my bilingual (Spanish-English) studies, my father decided he had seen enough of my independence and arranged for our return to the United States.
During the course of my 32 year military career I visited the Philippines many times. Twice while I was serving in Viet Nam and eight times while I was serving as Military Attache to Singapore. I saw the country I had loved become more foreign and hostile, although the friends that I had made never wavered. President Marcos, whom I had known as a young man, was always gracious and hospitable, once telling me I could call him by his guerrilla name of Nanding which I did once in the presence of my Viet Nam
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Commanding General, William C Westmoreland. Needless to say that did not happen again. Older Filipinos seemed to remember and love the best of America while the younger generation was mixed between dislike and the desire to emulate. Even then I thought I would like to write something that would pull it all together- what we shared during the war and what we lost after the war was over.
To an outside observer, usually visiting in Manila, the country seems like an enigma. A lot of English is spoken frequently unintentionally by those searching for words. The news on television jumps back and forth between English and Pilipino as do documentaries and quiz shows. American shows are still the most popular. The city has rebuilt in some areas and features modern department stores while some of the worst slums in history are just down the street. Sex is for sale and gambling casinos are available with a passport. The Philippine Professional Basketball League is full of Americans a touch below the National Basketball Association. The Manila Bulletin, an English language paper, is the top in readership since even those who can't speak English well any more can still read
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it. The prOVInces are more foreign, but more friendly as well, although banditry is up in the South and kidnapping has become a major source of funds.
The United States is responsible for a great deal of the dichotomy. Our reparations help after the war was far below our help to our former enemies and our allies in Europe. General MacArthur went off to Japan and those who came over post-war did not have the emotional ties needed to fight for our old friends. The Filipinos themselves had to go to Washington and lobby Congress for full veteran status and a delegation including Brigadier General Carlos P Romulo and LT. Colonel Ferdinand Marcos did just that. The U.S. then attempted to administer the programs on the cheap resulting in fraud and mismanagement. Our bases remained well after the war in Viet Nam and became both economic boons to the islands and the center of every immoral activity that a soldier, sailor, or airman could imagine. Their return to the Philippines during the Ramos Administration was viewed by the people as a cave-in to pressure, not a magnanimous gesture by their old friends. This view was aided by
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the fact that Clark Field had already been virtually destroyed by a volcanic eruption two years before. When Marcos, who had expanded his presidency into a virtual lifetime dictatorship, was run out of the country in 1986, he went to Hawaii, a logical choice for a retired LT. Colonel. Nevertheless, it was viewed as support for his excesses as a payoff for Philippine service in Viet Nam. Filipino troops had also served with the UN in Korea, a national source of pride, but the Philippine Civic Action Group (PHILCAG) was virtually ignored in Viet Nam although their service to the populace there was laudatory.
The ties between our two countries will never be broken. Three of the last four Presidents were educated in the United States. Filipinos still join the United States Navy under an old law, only now they may serve in any capacity not just as stewards as they did for so long. More Filipinos live in the United States than any other individual Asiatic group and because of their extensive family ties, their reach extends across the Pacific. A large group of aging veterans remains in the Philippines receiving pensions and utilizing a revived Veterans Administration. At one time there was talk of the Philippines as 51 sl
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state, not appropriate because of geography and other factors. The war on terrorism has resulted in American troops returning to the Philippines in a supposed six months training exercise. There is talk now about a limited but regular presence of the U.S. military in the islands again. I would encourage it if the size and composition of the support unit there was a positive to the community where it is located, like the U.S. Navy Supply Facility is in Singapore.
The story of the United States and the Philippines can be classified as a series of promises and their resolution. The United States promised the Philippines their independence in 1946 and we delivered. The United States promised to defend the Philippines from outside aggression until independence but we were unsuccessful. The Filipinos promised to assist in their own defense at the side of the United States and for the most part they kept that promise. The United States in the person of General MacArthur promised to return and that promise was kept. Implied at least was that the United States would put things right after the Japanese were defeated. That promise was weakly met by a shortage of needed aid and a lack of proper
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administration of the aid that was provided, resulting in the waste of most of it. Equally implied was that the Filipinos would make every effort to maximize aid and assistance received and that was not done. Finally the Filipinos like every young person leaving the protective nest were expected to honor and respect their former benefactors and this has been not met by their current attitude. The American post-war conduct was a major factor in Philippine post-war ambivalence.
With these thoughts as a springboard, let us go back to 1941 when the American colonial empire died forever.
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ILLUSTRA TIONS Map of the Philippines ...................................................................... xix Advance Japanese Landings-1941 (Fall of the Philippines) .............. 20 Situation on Bataan-1942 (Fall of the Philippines) ........................... 23 Corregidor-1942 (Onwar.com) .......................................................... 38 Central Luzon .................................................................................... 88 Panay War Map (The War in Panay) ............................................... 131 N egros War Map (The Rescue) ....................................................... 155 Cebu and Bohol (Triump in the Philippines) ................................... 159 Clearing the Cebu Area (Triumph in the Philippines) ..................... 165 XXIV Corps Landings (Leyte, the Return) ..................................... 177 X Corps Landings (Leyte the Return) ............................................. 178 Invasion of Mindoro (Triumph in the Philippines) .......................... 189 Mindanao (They Fought Alone) ...................................................... 194 Clearing Eastern Mindanao (Triumph in the Philippines) ............... 208 The Enemy on Luzon (Triumph in the Philippines) ........................ 221 Sixth Army Advance (Triumph in the Philippines) ......................... 224 Capture of Manila (Triumph in the Philippines) ............................. 225 Seizure of the Ipo Dam (Triumph in the Philippines) ..................... 233 Northern Luzon (A Rock and a Fortress) ........................................ 236 Through Bessang Pass (Triumph in the Philippines) ...................... 239 Pursuit in Northern Luzon (Triumph in the Philippines) ................. 241 Final Operations (Triumph in the Philippines) ................................ 242
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PHOTOGRAPHS
General MacArthur and Major General Wainwright in October 1941 (USA Foto) .............................................................................. 5 Major General Sharp and his staff in 1942 (USA Foto) .................... 47 RalphPraeger-(The Intrepid Guerrillas of Northern Luzon) .............. 70 Thomas Jones (The Intrepid Guerrillas of Northern Luzon) ............. 70 Robert Lampham-1945 (Lapham's Raiders) ..................................... 81 Lapham, McKenzie, Hunt with BG Roxas-1945 (Lampham's Raiders) ........................................................................................... 81 Edwin Ramsey and John Boone-1945 (Lieutenant Ramsey'sWar) ........ :....................................................................... 87 Yay and Marcos Agustin-1945 (The Crucible) ............................... 100 LTG Krueger and Colonel Kangleon (Leyte, the Retunm) ............. 184 Filipino Guerrilla guides tank (Leyte the Return) ........................... 184 McArthur and Osmena-Restoration of Civil Government (Leyte, the Return ......................................................................... 185 General MacArthur and Mahor General A Arnold 9Leyte, the Return) .......................................................................................... 185 Colonel Wendell W Fertig (USA Special Operations in WWII) .... 208 Liberated Interness at Santo Tomas (USA Foto) ............................. 224 Colonel Russel W Volckmann (USA Special Operations in WWII) ........................................................................................... 241 Ferdinand Marcos and General of the Army MacArthur (For Every Tear a Victory) ................................................................... 261
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