FP-AGOM-Mitsos

Evacuation of Clark Field  by T. Mitsos

            Dec. 18 1941 Lt. Brown, Bill Lowe, Martin, Mitsos, and eight others left Clark Field and headed south, destination unknown. After riding in a truck for 160 kilometers, we arrived at a well hidden pursuit airfield, near Batangas City, Batangas, Luzon.

            There weren't any planes on this field, but we were told that an aircraft carrier was bringing us some P-40s!      For the next few days, we prepared the field for the arrival of the P-40s. We were sent to Batangas as a decoy. General MacArthur's plan was to show a lot of empty truck traffic in daylight hours between Manila and Batangas, while he was building up the defense of Battan after dark, in order to make the enemy believe that Batangas was going to be our last line of defense. This gave General MacArthur the time that he needed to move all his troops, food, ammunition, and medical supplies to Bataan. The ploy worked, and the Japanese made their landings in Batangas, instead of in Bataan.

            Dec. 24 1941 About mid-afternoon, a P-40 landed at the Batangas field; the pilot gave a message to Lt. Brown and took off immediately. The message informed us that a large force of Japanese had landed somewhere between us and Manila, and was expected to be at the crossroads by nightfall.

            We did not have any means of communicating with headquarters, so we were amazed that someone had sent a P-40 to warn twelve men to pack up and head for Bataan, or be cut off and captured.

            We proceeded to destroy drums of gasoline, and just before dark, got on the truck and headed towards Manila, 100 kilometers away. We weren't sure what lay ahead, but luck was on our side and we made it past the crossroads where the Japanese were expected to be and arrived in Manila about midnight.

            There we boarded a barge and were pulled by a tugboat toward Mariveles, Bataan. We spent the night anchored in Manila Bay, about a couple of miles off Corregidor. We didn't dare get any closer for Corregidor would open fire on any ship at night.

            This was Christmas eve. There we were, lying on the barge, on a moon-less night, staring at the stars and quietly humming Christmas carols. Needless to say, our thoughts were of our family back home, the Christmas presents that would be opened in the morning, and the coming Christmas dinner.

            Dec. 25, 1941 -- Christmas Day We were identified as friendlies by Corregidor and given the go ahead signal to proceed towards Mariveles, Bataan, on the southern end of Luzon. Meanwhile, a flight of fifty Japanese bombers were flying overhead heading towards Cavite Naval Base.

            We disembarked at Mariveles and joined the rest of the 30th Bomb Sqd., just outside of town. About noon time, we had our first decent meal in four days. It was a 'nice beef dinner prepared by Mess Sgt. Robinett and his crew. There were some rumors that one section of the beef had maggots on it, but after Robbie got through cooking it, you weren't aware of their presence.

            Dec. 26 1941 The next day, we had our Christmas dinner. Some how Robbie managed to get his hands on some turkeys and other goodies and gave us a real nice turkey dinner with all the trimmings. We even had some Marine Corps. guests, for our camp was right next door to a Marine Corps. anti aircraft battery. After dinner, we sang some Christmas carols and then paid a visit to our new friends, and watched them in action, firing at a flight of Bettys flying overhead, destination Corregidor.

            Dec. 27 to 29 1941 The following three days were quiet for us because most of the air raids were aimed at Cavite Naval Base, Corregidor and the Mariveles docks. The Japanese had control of the skies and could pretty well attack any target without any risk. Even our aircraft guns weren't much threat to them, since the shells used were of World War I vintage and only had a maximum range of 18,000 feet. The Japanese bombers (called Betty's) would fly above 20,000 feet and thus be out of range of our anti aircraft fire. This had its advantages for the Japanese bombardiers accuracy was reduced at the higher altitudes.

From Bataan to Mindanao aboard the Mayon

            Dec. 29 1941 -- Bataan After dark, most of the 19th Bomb Group boarded the Mayon, an inner island steamer, destination unknown. The group consisted of the following squadrons: Hdq & Hdq Sqd, 14th Sqd, 28th Sqd, 30th Sqd and 93rd Sqd. The amazing thing about being in the service is that you were never told where you were going. All you could do was guess or accept the rumor that made the most sense. I can safely say that 100% of the time we were wrong in our destination selections.

            After boarding the ships we were all placed on deck under a huge canvas cover tied to the mast heads. This was to be our camouflage in the event we were spotted by a Japanese plane. The last thing we wanted was for the Japanese to learn this was a troop ship, with few weapons. In the event we were attacked, we were to remain under this cover, not to fire at the enemy plane, and in particular, not to jump into the water while being bombed or strafed. We were told that anyone in water when a bomb explodes would be killed by the concussion.

            Dec. 30 1941 About noon, we were having a light lunch, when we heard the drone of airplane engines. This was an unfamiliar sound; we knew what a P-40, B-17, Zero, or Betty would sound like, but this is one sound we never heard before. Here the war is only three weeks old and already we can identify planes by sound. We finally got a look at the plane, and it was a Japanese seaplane similar to the U.S. Navy PBY's with six bombs under its wings.

            The seaplane flew over us a couple of times, trying to determine what this steamer was carrying. On the third pass, he came down low enough and he saw us under the canvas and we saw the co-pilot. In the mean time, you could hear the whispers amongst the 300 G.I.'s, "don't move, lie still, don't talk, maybe he'll go away", etc., etc.

            He started climbing to a higher altitude and we knew on the next pass, he was going to drop a bomb, and he did, and missed us. Two more passes and four more misses. Just prior to the last bomb being dropped, three of the men fell overboard, and were swimming towards shore, when the 6th bomb exploded off our right side. All three suffered severe internal injuries from the concussion; one died.

The Mahon

            It's a good thing the Jap plane did not spray the Mayon's decks with machine gun fire; we would have had more casualties. The only thing between the men lying on the deck and the plane was a canvas cover. After the raid, we were all put on shore, where we remained until dusk. We kind of expected more Japanese planes to be sent to finish the job, now that they knew there were troops on the Mayon.

            The rest of the day was peaceful and uneventful and we enjoyed it by lying on the beautiful sandy beach. At dusk, we all boarded the Mayon for our trip somewhere south. We still didn't know where we were headed.

Letter to Tom Mitsos from Bud Morris

Dear Tom:  These pictures were taken that day by our squadron clerk Sgt. Dick Bone.  He kept several pictures taken during the war all through prison camp, hidden under some tobacco. I got these from our Mess Sgt's widow, Elva Robinette. 

 

 

Left: The above looks like mostly 30th personnel, the one sitting down on the left is Jim Greene, our cook, he was later on a ship that was sunk off Zamboanga, there were ??? Americans aboard and 80 survivors, Robinette also survived that sinking. That was September 1, 1944. Jim, is still living, legally blind, living in Suwanee, GA. and cooks for the Atlanta Falcons. I saw him last year.  The one standing up facing the camera, next to Greene, is John Ferry, don't know what happen to John, but he never made it back. He didn't go to Japan with us and just haven't run into anyone that can account for him.

Right: Can only verify one guy in this one, Andy Anderson, far right, he never made it back either, died in prison camp.

Bud

            Jan. 1 1942 -- Mindanao We finally arrived safely at Bugo, without any more air attacks, and disembarked. Bugo was a very small town which consisted of a pineapple caning plant, larger than the town. This was to be the 30th's bivouac area until the surrender on May 10, 1942.

            Sometime in January, an inner island steamer was sunk at the Bugo docks, and the hillside, where the 30th was bivouacked, was shelled by a destroyer. Again, no casualties.

            In February, the Mayon was sunk somewhere near Butuan, which was at the mouth of the Agusan River.                                                                             --O--

            For a couple of weeks, we were put on guard duty at a Jap prison camp. Only American troops were on guard here, because the Filipino guards would kill the Japanese prisoners. Whenever B-17s came to Del Monte, either for bombing missions or to transport staff officers to Australia, we were sent to service them. Each time we were told that all Air Force personnel would be the next group to be shipped to Australia because they needed us down under to service the planes coming in. As it turned out, only the combat crews were taken out. (At that time ground crews were flight rated – senior personnel were taken out first – less senior were left behind.)

 

Maj Gibbs, CO 30^th Sqd near Clark Field, was shot down in B-18 a short time later.

Receiving bayonet training from Philippine Sgt, Sgt Jenkins near left

 

              Tagalong, Mindanao                                   ?   Bayles  at Del Monte Docks Bugo

 

       Mitsos           Herbert                  Ferry                           Porter on box

            February, 1942 Bugo had one river with one branch just south and one just north of it. Most coastal towns had rivers on both sides of them. Once the bridges were blown up, the Japanese were generally confined to these towns. This was the guerrilla best defense against Japanese attacks.  The village of Bugo is where the Del Monte canning plant was, which also had a dock for shipping canned pineapples.

March 12, 1942  After supper, sixteen of us were put on trucks and taken to the Cagayan docks. We had no idea of what was going on, but were put on guard duty that night, both on the docks and the road leading to them. Since none of us had any sleep the night before, it was hard staying awake; security was extremely tight, and officers constantly patrolled to make sure we didn't fall asleep at our posts.

            March 13 , 1942-Cagayan Docks  At 7:00 A.M., we heard the drone of engines. The sound was coming from the sea, but we couldn't see any planes. After about five or ten minutes of this tense situation, we saw three P.T. boats heading for the docks. They were the 34, 35, and 41 boats (Lt. Bulkeley's squadron).

            For a while we thought they were reinforcements, but they docked and we saw General MacArthur standing there; we knew they had come from Bataan.

            We watched General MacArthur shake Lt. Bulkeley's hand, thank him, and tell him he was awarding the Silver Star to him and every man in his squadron for bravery.

            The General, his family, and his staff got into cars waiting for them and were transported to Del Monte Airfield. The 30th personnel went along in trucks.

            March 16-17, 1942  Two B-17's arrive at Del Monte late in the morning, to transport the General, his family, and staff to Australia. The rest of the day was spent loading all of their documents on board, and about 4:00 P.M. all personnel boarded the planes and took off. They arrive in Australia on the morning of the 18th.

            That evening, we were back at our beach duty at Bugo. Between the 17th of March and the 27th of April, we will make about five more trips to Del Monte Airfield.

            On the 17th, we returned to our Squadron and resumed our infantry duties. That night, we dug in at the base of a hill behind Bugo and four machine guns were set up at the top of the hill to act as our cover, should we have to retreat.

            April 25th, 1942  Twelve B-25 bombers arrived at Del Monte on the evening of the 24th. We serviced and loaded them with bombs. The next morning, they took off, attacked various Japanese targets around the Philippines, and returned to Del Monte, where they were serviced again for their return trip to Australia.

PBY’s at Lake Lanao -- Nurse Rescue Mission

            April 26, 1942  Nine of us from the 30th bomb squadron were assigned to the U.S. Navy Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron #3 for training on the only remaining PT boat in the Philippines. The boat was being transported from Illigan to Lake Lanao, an inland lake on Mindanao. The following men were sent on this mission: Sgt. Jenkins, in command: Debord, Martin, Mitsos, Nangle, Purcell, Ramey, Thompson, Knudson.

            General MacArthur had promised Lt. Bulkeley, U.S.N., that he would have all the Navy personnel in his squadron transferred to Australia, so we were assigned to take over. Our mission was to patrol Lake Lanao in this PT boat and to defend the area, in the event the Japanese tried to bring troops in by seaplanes.

            The road between Illigan and Lake Lanao ran through mountainous country and had many sharp turns and “U” bends in it. On the way to Lake Lanao, we passed this PT boat stuck in one of these “U” bends with no way of making it to the lake. That's when we learned that our real mission was to service and refuel two PBY's that were coming into Lake Lanao.

            The mission of the PBY's was to fly from Australia to Mindanao (1200 miles), refuel, then fly to Corregidor (600 miles), evacuate the Army nurses, return to Mindanao (600 miles) for refueling, and return to Australia (1200 miles) with the nurses. Simple enough.

            We arrived at the lake in the late afternoon and were assigned to a baroto with a small outboard motor on it and a water-cooled .30 caliber machine gun (1917 vintage), mounted on a 3" pipe. Jenkins, Mitsos, Martin, and a Filipino guide spent the rest of the day patrolling the lake around an island containing many 55 gallon drums of aviation gas. This is where the PBY's were to be refueled.

            Nightfall came and the PBY's had not arrived. Martin and Mitsos were assigned to this island, to be on the lookout for the two PBY's and to guide them to the island for refueling. The only problem was that we did not have any lamp to signal the PBY with, and no boat to go out and guide them back to the island. It sure was pitch black on that island.

            April 27, 1942  Early this morning, Sgt. Jenkins came out to the island and brought us breakfast and a baroto. The rest of the day was fairly peaceful and quiet. At noontime, Martin and Mitsos went to the mainland for lunch and stayed there till supper. In the evening, Martin, Mitsos, and Glover (a Navy signal man) got into the baroto and went out to the island. This time, we had a Navy signal lamp and a man that could use it, Glover.

            After nightfall, two PBY's landed in Lake Lanao. We headed towards the planes while Glover was flashing the code signal to them, but they did not respond. All three of us were getting a little nervous by now, because we did not know if the seaplanes were American or Japanese, and it was too dark to identify them. Glover said he would try one more time and if they didn't respond, we would open up on them. Well, they did not respond again, so we decided to call to them and now they yelled back, and we recognized that southern drawl; no Japanese could imitate that.

            When we got to the planes, we learned that they couldn't respond because they did not know how to read the signals of the lamp. It's a good thing that we did not fire on them, for there were two fifty calibers aimed at us.  The two planes were guided to the island where they were refueled and prepared for takeoff the following day.

            April. 29, 1942  The two PBY's took off in the late afternoon, destination Corregidor, to pick up the Army nurses. They wanted to arrive at Corregidor after dark and thus avoid being shelled from Mariveles, Bataan, or being shot down by Zero's from Nichols Field, Manila. Bataan was now in Japanese hands.

            The two PBY's picked up as many nurses as they could safely carry (about 20) and took off at night for Mindanao.

            April. 30, 1942  The two PBY's arrived early in the morning on this date. They were refueled and serviced for their return flight to Australia. During the refueling, all of the passengers disembarked for safety reasons.

            After the two planes were serviced for takeoff, the nine of us took this opportunity to write a last letter home. We knew it was just a matter of days before the Philippines would completely surrender to the Japanese.

            Late in the afternoon, all of the passengers boarded the two PBY's, which proceeded to the middle of the lake to take off for Australia.

            The first PBY, because of its heavy load, seemed to take forever to get into the air, but it finally made it and headed south for Australia.

            The second PBY no sooner left the island, when it hit a submerged rock, ripping a big hole in the hull. Since the plane was overloaded, the water was gushing into the hull. The pilot immediately turned the plane around and beached it on the island, but the tail kept sinking fast.

            In the meantime, the nine of us on the island put the caps on the empty gasoline drums and threw them into the water and placed them under the tail, the wing struts, the engine and under any other protrusion we could find. This gave the plane enough buoyancy to keep it afloat. The nurses and other personnel jumping off the plane as quickly as possible also helped in lighten the plane.

            Since we were not sure if the PBY could be repaired before the Japanese captured our area.  Our Commander decided to take the nurses to Del Monte Airfield, 100 miles away, for evacuation. As it turned out, the B-17's did not arrive in time and the nurses were captured at Del Monte Airfield and served three years in a POW camp.

            The Captain of the PBY looked at the two feet of water in the plane and the hole in the hull, and said "let's see if we can fix it."

            The nine of us from the 30th and the PBY crew pitched in and started taking steps to bail the water out of the plane and to patch the hole in the hull. First, we put a temporary cover on the outside of the hull and then proceeded to pump the water out of the plane. An aluminum cover was put over the hole from the inside, bolted in place and the plane was ready for take off. This was not a simple task; we worked on this patch from 6:00 P.M. of the 30th of April until about 4:00 A.M. the following morning.

            May 1, 1942  At dawn, the pilot was taxiing out for a takeoff, but never made it out, because the water pressure ripped the patch out and the water started rushing in. Luckily, the pilot was able to beach the plane on the island again.

            After that experience, the pilot decided that the patch would have to be put on the outside of the plane, and thus use the water pressure as a means of holding the patch in place. This meant we would have to work underwater without any diving or scuba equipment, so we worked in pairs, staying under water two minutes at a time, until we were able to secure the patch firmly in place. It took us about one hour to finish this job. By now, we had worked on this plane about twenty hours without any sleep.

            At about 4:00 P.M. on May 1, 1942, the pilot taxied out for a takeoff, but at the last minute, two barotas with about three sailors on board went out to the plane and got on board. Where they came from, we never found out, but they sure were lucky. They ended up in Australia, and they never even did any of the work on the plane.

            We stood in our barota, ready to take on passengers in the event the patch would be ripped out again. After a long run, the patch held and the plane took off and headed south for Australia.

            I can't describe the feeling we had at the time, watching that plane disappear into the horizon, for we knew this was going to be the last plane to leave Mindanao for Australia.

            May 1, 1942   By now the Japanese had made some big advances towards Dansalan, and we weren't too sure if we would be able to get there before them. Jenkins decided it would be best if we would leave in pairs at five minute intervals, with our final destination Del Monte Airfield (about 100 miles away).

            Martin and Mitsos were the last two to leave the island, and when we got to the road, all the transportation was gone, so we had to walk the 5 miles to Dansalan. We arrived there after dark and went to the Filipino scout headquarters hoping to find some Army personnel there.

            Upon arrival at Keithley barracks, we met six PT boat sailors: DeVries, Glover, Nappillo, Owens, Rooke, and Tuggles. They had heard that the Japanese had landed in Iligan. This meant that the only road to Del Monte Airfield was closed to us, and we would have to walk through 80 miles of jungle to get to the airfield.

            May 2, 1942  Talk about confusion, wait it gets better. Martin and Mitsos knew they had to get back to the 30th Squadron as quickly as possible, and we would have to find a native guide to get us through the jungle. We decided to leave after breakfast, when in walks Lt. Commander Worcester, and orders us to stay put until he returns with rifles and ammunition so we can all go to the front.

            In less that 1/2 hour after the Commander left, three Japanese tanks come into the village, spraying the houses on both sides of the road with machine gun fire. In situations like this, you either attack or take cover. We did not have any weapons that could stop a tank, so the eight of us took cover. (We later heard that the Commander was taken prisoner.)

      “After we left camp Keithley, we left the road and went into the woods. We spent the night with Filipino medical outfit. The next morning we left then and somehow came back on the road. As we moved down the road, we heard a truck coming, so we ducked off the road and prepared to fight if it turned out to be the Japs. It was an Army truck driven by a U.S. Army Cpl Barrett. We halted the truck and rode to Deisher’s place. The driver said he had a load of supplies for some units down the road. We learned that the bridge was out, and the truck couldn’t make it.  F. J. Napolillo  PT crew.

Contact with Mr Deisher

            By evening, we had made it to Abaca, Lanao and there we had the good fortune to meet Mr. Deisher (a Spanish War veteran who had settled there in 1902 and owned a coconut plantation.) Mr. Deisher must have led a very good life, for he weighed about 300 pounds. We also met his wife and his two sons, ages 8 and 6.

            Mr. Deisher did not want his family to be taken prisoners, so he had made plans to build a camp in the jungles and stay there till the war was over. He felt that the war would last only six months. The area he had selected was in Bukidnon Province, near the Lanao border. This camp was nine hours walking distance from his home. The only problem was that we would have to walk through seven hours of Moro country to reach the camp, and the Moros did not like Christians.

            That night at supper, Deisher said he would get us a guide that would take us through the 80 miles of jungle to Del Monte Airfield. He said we would be traveling through Bukidnon country before we would reach Del Monte Airfield, and that it would take us about four days to reach our destination.

            In return, he asked if we would act as his escort through Moro country, until he reached the camp in Bukidnon Province. He said that this plan would add one more day to our trip. Since he was kind enough to get us a guide, we felt it was the least we could do was to see him and his family safely through Moro country.

            May 3, 1942  At dawn, we were awakened by the sound of gunfire, which sounded very close. We heard that the Japanese had captured Momungan (two kilometers away) and were heading towards Abaca. We told the Deisher's to get moving while the eight of us delayed our retreat until they were out of sight. In about one hour we rendezvoused at the MacMichael's farm house. There we met Weyman McGuire (an Army Medical Corpsman) and Rose MacMichael.

            At mid-morning the 12 cargadores, the Deisher family (4), the six sailors, the (2) soldiers, started their trek into the jungle.

            The first day we only traveled about four miles, for traveling through the jungle was very exhausting. Between the heat, humidity, the muddy trails, the undergrowth, and the leeches, it was difficult to determine which combination tired us the most. Besides, Mr. Deisher, because of his weight, would tire more often than the rest of us. Pappy Owens (35 years old) was also a slow walker. Pappy was one of those guys you had to admire. He always did his part as much as he could, and never complained about anything. The jungle bothered him more than the rest of us, and he was the first to come down with malaria.

 

Left” Rose McMichael & Wyman McGuire (army medic) married, live in OK US 1995 newspaper photo

Right: Esperanza Page & John Tuggles (chief machinist’s mate on the PT boat that took Gen. MacArthur )  they have three daughters. Jean, Lorene and Anne.

            Early in the afternoon, we decided to stop and make camp. The natives showed us how to make a sleeping area above ground, for in the jungle, you avoided sleeping on the ground as much as possible. There were to many ants, scorpions, and snakes that were willing to share your blanket.

            Supper consisted of rice, chicken, and vegetables, and black coffee. We would be on this menu for the next six months, but most of the time without chicken.

            May 4, 1942  As soon as the sun would come up. the jungle would come to life. The monkeys would start chattering, the birds would be flapping their wings and many more sounds.

            Breakfast consisted of rice mush and black coffee and we were on our way. The deeper we got into Moro country, the more nervous our cargadores got, for they knew they were prime targets of the renegade Moros. Some had already disappeared during the night.

            We decided it would be best to send two men ahead and two men behind to be on the lookout for trouble. Martin and Mitsos walked about 100 feet ahead of the main group and we were to fire a shot in the event we encountered any outlaws.

            Mr. Deisher had briefed us on how to act in the event we ran into any armed natives in the jungle. He said to never trust any natives, because if you trusted the bad one, you'd be dead. Play it safe he said, the good natives would understand.

            About mid morning we met a group of Moros headed in the opposite direction, all better armed than we were. After a few minutes of small talk, they offered to buy our weapons, which we refused to sell. Mr. Deisher had warned us about these tactics and told us to be ready for an attack. As it turned out we heard the voices of the group behind us, and the Moros decided to leave peacefully. Deisher said, next time, pull your weapons, cock them, and hold them at your side, always be ready, and the chances are they won't attack.

            We arrived at the campsite that was going to be Deisher's camp for the next six months.

            Although this camp was not in Moro country, we still felt that the possibility of a Moro attack was still there. Deisher felt confident that the Moros would not attack anyone in Bukidnon country or vice versa. Sort of an unwritten truce between the Bukidnons and the Moros.

            We started making our plans for our four day trip to Del Monte.

            May 6, 1942-Deisher's Camp  Pappy Owens still wasn't feeling strong enough to make the four day trip to Del Monte Airfield. So we decided to stay put for another day.

            Deisher had brought a portable radio and a six-volt car battery for power. About noontime, we heard over the Japanese airwaves that General Wainright had surrendered all of the American Forces in the Philippines to the Japanese.

            At this point we did not know what to do. Because the news came from a Japanese station, we felt we didn't have to surrender. So we decided to take it one day at a time. Deisher was still anxious for us to stay at his camp and since we didn't have any other choices, we said we would stay for a while. (We were to learn about 8 months later that General MacArthur did not want the Philippines to surrender. Instead, he wanted all units to take to the hills and continue fighting).

            May 7, 1942-Deisher's Camp  Today our radio unit went dead. The high humidity at night had dampened the inside of the radio so much that when the power was turned on, the transformer was shorted out.

            On this day we received word that General Sharp and the Visayan Islands had not surrendered. This put a different light on our situation, so we told Deisher that we would have to leave the next day for Del Monte Airfield. This information had come from MacMichaels, a next door neighbor of Deishers, so we felt the information was reliable. (via bamboo telegraph).

            We still needed a guide to take us through the jungles to Malabaly. (A four day trip) Deisher felt that a Bukidnon would be our best bet, so he sent for one.

            May 10, 1942-Deishers Camp  Late in the day we received word that General Sharp had surrendered Mindanao and the rest of the Visayan Islands. Now we were back to square one.

            Deisher again asked us to stay in his camp as long as we wished. He said this would give us the opportunity to survey our situation and decide what action we could take. He said food wouldn't be a problem, because he had made arrangements with MacMichael's (an American Mestizo) to deliver rice to the camp about every two weeks. What he said made sense so we accepted.

            Our personal belongings were very limited and they would have to last us as long as possible. Each of us had a musette bag which contained the following:

                        (1) extra change of clothing

                        (1) towel

                        (1) razor with @ dozen blades

                        (1) tooth brush

                        (1) blanket, rolled up and strapped to bag

            Each of us had one .45 automatic pistol, with 21 rounds of ammunition, plus one 12 ga. riot gun for the group. This was it, with no prospects of getting any more ammunition or personal articles anywhere.

            We all also agreed to look after each other, and to take care of the sick and wounded; we didn't want anyone to die. There weren't any more replacements.

            This was a new experience for five city boys and three country boys, but it was a job that had to be done.

Bob Merchant to Mitsos:            Some of the guards that were in the group guarding the Japanese were Osbourne, Ratigan, Pills and a few others from the hdqs sqd, who went into the hills with me after the surrender. Osbourne later turned himself into a Japanese Captain whom he had met at the Japanese prison camp. The Captain saw to it that Osbourne was treated with kindness and respect, in return for the way he was treated by Osbourne, when he was a prison guard.

            We left Clark Field on Dec 24, 1941 in a convoy led by Sgt Merchant on a motorcycle, for Bataan. We arrived at kilometer 22 at about midnight. The road at this point was built on the side of a canyon with a drop off of 2000 feet to the river below. There were no guard rails, no signs, and no street lights to help guide us through all the tortuous curves and bends in the road. We made it by the grace of God. Had I known that this canyon was that deep, I would have been scared.

            Here is a list of some of the others that were in the hills with me around the Maramage Airfield area. Tracy Tucker, Fred Taylor, T/Sgt John F. Wood Jr, Tim Casey, Erling Jonassen, Clayton Manners (30th Sqd), Walter Sanders, Tom Stewart (30th Sqd), William W. Williams (30th Sqd), Jack Samples, James Garland (14th Sqd), and John Starkey.

            Another problem was getting soap for bathing and doing the laundry. We tried making soap from ashes and coconut oil with little success. Again, the Bukidnons came to the rescue and showed us a particular vine that could be chopped up and wrapped in the clothes which were then scrubbed and beat on a rock; not as efficient as regular soap, but certainly better than no soap at all.

            Those who decided to remain in the jungle rather than surrender were:

                        Paul (Pappy) Owens U.S. Navy-MTB3 (PT Boat Sqd)

                        Marvin DeVries U.S. Navy-MTB3

                        Dewit Glover U.S. Navy-MTB3

                        Harold Martin U.S. Army-30th Bomb Sqd

                        Thomas Mitsos U.S. Army-30th Bomb Sqd

                        Francis Napolillo  U.S. Navy-MTB3

                        Henry Rooke U.S. Navy-MTB3

                        John Tuggle U.S. Navy-MTB3

                        Mr. Deischer, his wife and two sons

Fred MacMichael, an American Mestizo (Mestizo = A person with mixed blood) who had a farm about three miles from Momungan, Fred would turn out to be our savior, for he would gather sacks of rice, camote, dried fish and dried carabao (Carabao = A Water Buffalo) meat and store it in a shack at the edge of the jungle. Whenever we needed more food, we would make the eight hour hike to his farm.

            Little by little, we adjusted to living in the jungle and eventually learned how to live like the Bukidnons. They knew which berries were good to eat and which were poisonous. They taught us to look around the bushes and the ground for signs of wild animals chewing on leaves or berries. How easy it seemed, once the signs were pointed out to us! We didn't make a habit of eating what the jungle had to offer, but the information came in handy on more than one occasion, when there was no other choice.

            In our treks through the jungles, we would, on occasion, run across small clearings with a half dozen huts in the center. There were always signs of life in these small villages, but you never saw anyone when you walked into them. The natives always knew when strangers were approaching and they would take all their belongings and disappear into the jungle. They were never too far away, however, and you always had the feeling you were being watched.

            These clearings with their little villages were always a blessing for us, for we would find fields of corn, camotes (Camote = A sweet potato Filipino Variety), tomatoes and a variety of other vegetables. We made it a point never to take any more from these fields than we could eat at that time. Preserving cultivated fields in the jungle was a must for all of us, and by not destroying them, it made it easier to eventually meet some of these Taos (hill farmers). This was at a time when nobody trusted anyone, yet, somehow there was an unspoken understanding of sharing what you could. The thought of intentionally harming any of the Bukidnons or Moros never entered our minds; however, we always had to be on our guard against them, especially the Moros. One of the most prized possessions in the jungles were guns, and we knew the Moros would strike at anytime to get our guns. I had an Army riot gun (shotgun) and this type of weapon was especially desirable for hunting or for defense. It had a range of about twenty feet, and you were always sure of some pellets hitting anyone or anything within range.

            On more than one occasion, the Moros would offer to buy this weapon. Deischer had warned us to be on the alert when a Moro offered to buy a gun, for they would do anything to get it. If you sold it to them, they would kill you and get their money back, and if you didn't sell it to them, they would look for an opportunity to kill you. One ploy was for them to wine and dine you, and strike while you were eating, so we took turns - half of us would eat while the other half kept their weapons handy and ready for use. This had to be done in such a way so as not to offend your host.

            Moros, in particular, had strange customs to which we had to adjust, because it was very easy to offend them. It was apparent that the Datu (Moro Chief) was the law in the village, and you lived or died according to his desire or whim. At night, we made it a point to always have someone on guard, and kept a kinkic (coconut oil lamp) going all night long. You not only had to watch the windows and the door, but also the cracks of the bamboo floors. Since the nipa huts were built on stilts about two feet off the ground, it was very easy for someone to come from the underside and run a Kris  (Kris = A sharp double edged wavy sword) between the cracks and into your body. We always felt that if they wanted to kill us, it would have been easy for them, but having someone on guard day and night eased our minds a lot -- sometimes to the point where we would get careless.

            We soon learned that the Moros could move through the jungles without making a sound, whereas we would be stepping on twigs, dead leaves and whatever else could make loud noises, signaling our coming. Sounds of this type travel far through the jungles, and to a trained ear it can be heard quite a distance away. This is one reason why we seldom saw any wild pigs, deer, python, iguanas or other animals when walking through a jungle. The monkeys in the trees would make loud noises in our presence, as did the Kalao bird, whose yell could be heard for miles. These jungle sounds meant something to the natives and they were aware strangers were coming a mile or so before they got to their village.

            Hardly a day went by that we didn't learn something new about surviving in the jungle. The more we learned, the less jittery we became. We had a pig which, we were told, could keep our campsite free of snakes. It must have been true, because we never saw a snake in our camp. A cat was also a good pet to have around, for it kept the scorpions and field mice to a minimum. We also had a large dog, supposedly to warn us if any strangers were headed towards our camp, but he barked only when friendlies came around. The cat had its shortcomings too -- it seemed to chase mice only in the daytime.

            After a couple weeks in the jungle, our food began to run low and we had to get some from the farms along the road. This presented more than one problem, because our native cargadores (bearers) were no longer available, and the Japanese were constantly patrolling the roads on which the farms were located.

            Deisher had made arrangements with MacMichael's to have six 25 pound bags of rice delivered every two weeks, but none of the Filipinos wanted to risk traveling through Moro country. It was now up to us to take on the job of being cargadores in order to keep food on the table.

            It entailed eight hours of walking through ankle deep mud, hilly trails, across creeks and rivers and by nightfall would reach the spot where our viands (food) were stored. A couple of Filipinos were waiting for us and had supper ready; supper consisted of rice, some vegetables, and one chicken for us to share. We slept there that night, since it was impossible for us to travel through the jungle in the dark. The slightest sound awakened us, and we took turns standing watch, since the road was only one mile away from our hideout, and the Japanese army was three miles away in Momungan.

            The amazing part is that the Filipinos in and around Momungan knew when we were coming and how long we would stay, but no one ever told the Japanese they could catch Americans at the MacMichael farm. We would look forward to visiting them about every two weeks, just to get a good meal of rice, roast chicken, fresh vegetables, papaya and pineapples.

            At dawn, after rice mush and coffee for breakfast, we headed back to Deisher's camp, with each one of us carrying a sack of rice weighing about 25 pounds. Most of the way back, we had to travel barefooted since much of the trail was muddy, and there were creeks to cross, so care had to be taken to avoid stepping on sticks or stones.

            We had to stop fairly often to remove leeches from our legs and bodies. Each time we had to strip down and check ourselves thoroughly (you never knew how high up the leeches would get) then proceeded carefully to remove each leech so that the head would not remain in the body and result in an infection. A leech can keep sucking blood until it swells up to four times its size. The best way to remove them was to put a lighted cigarette to its butt and it would withdraw its head from your skin.

            About half-way home, we stopped to rest after crossing a river and thought we heard the safeties being clicked off rifles. We couldn't see anyone across the river, and decided it would be safer to move up the trail a bit and get out of rifle range. We did not have any rifles so we were at a disadvantage if the Moros had decided to fire on us. Japanese were not considered at that point because this was Moro country, and the Japanese learned the hard way never to enter where there were Moros.

            We arrived in camp about dusk, tired, aching and worn out. This had been our first experience as cargadores; it would not be our last. Before leaving the jungle camp, we would make about eight more trips, though each one got easier as we became more acclimated to the steaming jungle and our bodies adjusted to the weight of the sacks.

            The six of us kept food on the table for six months, and helped to feed a total of 11 to 26 people. Camotes were easily available, as were an occasional deer and wild pig -- after we learned how to hunt them. On future trips, we made arrangements to bring back some live chickens and carabao meat. We tried eating monkey, but it was impossible to chew. Once in a while a native would bring an iguana or a python, but not too often; both were very difficult to catch, but were very tasty.

            Getting food to the campsite was a lot of hard work and it was decided to limit ourselves to two meals a day. Our coffee was made from either ground up burned corn or ground up burned rice. After a while, either one tasted pretty good, though we preferred the rice coffee. Tobacco was plentiful in the islands; we learned how to dry and cure it over a flame with no additives. The cigarette paper was made from the schoolroom tablets, and the end product was a powerfully strong cigarette with the result that no one smoked too much. After a little more experimenting, we found that tobacco rolled into a cigar was tastier than school paper cigarettes.

            The day after our cargadore trips, was always spent cleaning and sewing up our shoes, getting them ready for the next trip. During the day, shoes were kept in the sun, and at night we slept with them next to our bodies to prevent their becoming mildewed. In the jungle, mildew forms on all leather in one night. We also had to change our clothes daily, washing and drying one set, while wearing the other. We slept on our spare clothing to keep it from becoming mildewed.

            Most of the time we walked around camp barefooted to make our only pair of shoes last as long as possible, and soon hard calluses formed on the bottom of our feet.

            Our camp turned out to be a way station for anyone traveling between Del Monte and Lanao, or Misamis or Cotabato. It appeared that ours was the main trail for a half dozen provinces and many villages. Once a path was cut through the jungle, it soon became a well traveled trail. This was to our benefit because we were able to stay in touch with various parts of the island.

            The bamboo telegraph was very efficient and effective, and it was absolutely amazing how many friends Mr. Deisher had. Filipino hospitality was, without a doubt the finest I had ever experienced anywhere. Whether they knew you or not was not important, their first question was always, "Have you eaten, Sir?" There was a huge reward on the head of every American, dead or alive, and yet we were never betrayed into Japanese hands. The Filipinos were loyal to the United States and to the GIs.

            After six months in the jungles we were to learn that the Filipino Christians and Moro Moslems were to have an unofficial truce until the day the war ended. They now had a common enemy and did not want to waste bullets killing each other, when they could use them destroying Japanese. Mind you, about 1,200 years of fighting, killing and raiding had come to a temporary end between the two factions. Prior to the war, the Filipinos entering Moro country would never had made it out, and yet, here they were, traveling through a corner of the Moro lands to get to our camp.

            One of our first visitors was the local Datu (Chief) of the land on which we were living. We never did find out if our camp belonged to the Moros or the Bukidnons. The Datu spent some time with Mr. Deisher and told him we were welcome to stay as long as we wished, and we assumed that as long as we were on his property, we were safe from attacks by other tribes (or so we thought).

            The next visitor was a Barrio  (Barrio = A small native village) Mayor from a small village near Iligan (8 kilometers away), about a day's hike from our camp. To our surprise, he had with him Cox and Dudley from the 30th Bomb Squadron who had wandered into his village, headed for Iligan. He advised us of the Japanese strength and activity around Iligan, and felt it was not safe for them to stay in the village. He also told Deisher that he had a Browning Automatic Rifle which he did not know how to use and for which he had no ammunition. A B.A.R. (B.A.R. =  Browning Automatic Rifle) is a deadly weapon, and we could certainly use it in our camp -- we had the ammo for it. The problem was that someone would have to go to the village to get it and bring it back, which meant returning back to camp without a guide which we were still leery of doing. Deisher bought the weapon, and Martin and Mitsos; volunteered to go near Iligan and get it.

            The next day, we left with the Mayor for his barrio, taking a trail which was entirely new to us and in a different direction than the one we took going for our viands (food). Each time we came to a fork or river crossing, we marked the trail and direction along the way. On the trail I surprised an iguana and before realizing what happened, it knocked me down trying to get away. It's amazing how fast a lizard can move when you come upon it suddenly. After two hours of walking, we came upon what seemed like a deserted village. The camote field was ready for harvesting, which meant the villagers could not have been too far away.

            At dusk we arrived at the Mayor's village, only to be told that the Japanese had been there and left about an hour before our arrival. The Mayor felt it would be best if we stayed at his brother's house, on the outskirts of the barrio. The Japanese would have to pass the Mayor's house first, he could warn us if they were in the village. The Filipinos were fully aware that if caught harboring or helping American soldiers, they would be executed on the spot. We inquired if there were any natives who may decide to collect the reward. The Mayor wasn't sure, but felt if we took the necessary precautions, we would be all right.

            Here were a group of natives who didn't know us, risking their lives to make sure we survived. They felt that as long as we were alive, the Americans would return and push the Japanese off their homeland. As the months passed, we were to have the cooperation of the whole island. Every time we ran across a Nipa hut, we were always offered their meager food and allowed to sleep on the floor. To the best of my knowledge, about 187 Americans ended up in the hills of Mindanao, and only three were turned over to the Japanese by Filipinos. The loyal Filipinos caught the traitors, tried them in one day, and executed them the next.

            We picked up the B.A.R. and went to the Mayor's brothers house for supper and some well-deserved sleep. The next day we were awakened at dawn and told to leave as quickly as possible. A Japanese patrol had come into the village, and if we were caught, the entire village would be wiped out. We took the B.A.R. and ran into the cogon grass which grows to a height of about seven feet or more, affording us excellent protection. These fields generally ran for miles, and once in there, it was impossible for anyone to find you. In fact, it was also very difficult to find your way out, as we were soon to learn.

            After lying for what seemed an eternity (actually about an hour), ants and gnats began to drive us crazy and we decided it was time to get out. We had gone in only about 200 yards, but didn't know in which direction to go to get back to the trail. With the grass taller than either of us by more than a foot, we couldn't see which way to go, but had to find the trail, otherwise we would end up wandering endlessly through miles of cogon grass. Martin got up on my shoulders and found a clearing for which we could aim for. We would walk a little, then stop and take turns climbing on each other's shoulders to make sure we were headed in the right direction.

            The first days trek was uneventful. We had done an excellent job of marking the trails so we had no problems following them. However, we had to rest more often now that we had the B.A.R., which was heavier than a rifle.

            After about five hours of walking, Martin began to feel weak and felt he was coming down with malaria. More frequent stops were necessary now, to give Martin a chance to rest. Mitsos took to carrying the B.A.R. all the time now, so Martin could conserve his strength as much as possible. It took ten hours to cover the same distance to the village that we did in six hours, a day earlier. Deisher's camp was another three hours away, but we knew we could never find it in the dark. We decided to stay put for the night.

            As we were settling down for the night in one of the Nipa huts, two Moros walked into the clearing. I hailed them and offered them the use of the other half of the house, feeling it would be easier to keep an eye on them in our presence than if they went to one of the other huts. As it turned out, they had food which they prepared and shared with us. Because we had assumed we would be in camp by nightfall, we had not brought rice with us -- one mistake we never made again, for we learned the hard way to always carry two days' rations with you.

            The Moros could not speak English and we could not speak Visayan, necessitating a lot of sign language to communicate with each other. They kept eyeing the B.A.R. and finally asked if they could look at it. It was not loaded, so there was no harm in letting them handle it, but I realized that for our safety, I would have to remain awake and stand watch all night. Although the Moros had no firearms, their Kris' would have made short work of us in no time at all. Moros were expert night fighters, very patient in stalking their victims, and would do anything to get a 45 caliber pistol even kill for it. Eventually, they apparently trusted us more than we them, for they slept soundly in their half of the hut.

            By morning, Martin felt much better and was willing to attempt making it to camp. We had a light breakfast of rice, thanks to the Moros, and took off. All four of us followed the same trail towards Deisher's camp, but could not walk for long periods of time since Martin was still weak. The Moros had a further distance to travel so they took off ahead of us. Between the slow pace, the frequent rests, and the partial support that had to be given to Martin, it took seven hours to reach camp. By the time we arrived, both of us were exhausted, and all we could think of was sleep.

            July 1942  It did not take long for word to get around that Deisher's camp was a good way station where an individual could stop for a few days, get some rest and eat. One of the first to be led to our camp by a pair of Filipinos was a soldier we will call Joe (his real name forgotten). They had found him roaming through the jungles in a daze, without any pack or weapons. Somewhere along the line, he must have been shocked into oblivion, for all he would do is just sit and stare at the ground. Whenever someone talked to him, he would stare, but did not speak. Joe would sit down and eat when he was told, but do nothing else. He would relieve himself in his trousers and we would only be aware of it when we saw the front or smelled a foul odor. We took turns taking him down to the river, making him take a bath and wash his clothes at least twice a day, and sometimes more. Since he had only one pair of shorts and shirt, DeVries loaned him his clothes to wear since ours were to small for him.

            As the days went by, Joe got worse. He developed an ulcer-type sore on his left leg, alongside the shin bone, and seemed oblivious to it. He was now wearing trousers and we were not aware of it until we noticed a dead flesh smell whenever he was around. We finally pinned him down and located the open wound which by now was 4" round and loaded with maggots. It was impossible to get all of the maggots out of his wound, for they had burrowed in holes in the healthy flesh around his wound. At Mr. Deisher's suggestion, we took raw tobacco leaves, soaked them in kerosene and covered the wound with them. The next morning, all the maggots were dead, but the kerosene had caused a burn around the wound.

            The wound was finally healing properly after a week, but we had to keep Joe under constant surveillance to keep the wound from becoming re-infected. It was necessary to keep the wound open and moist, and this was done by applying coconut oil, which attracted flies, and someone had to keep brushing them away. Joe appeared to be improving, for he was now going to the latrine, but still would not talk.

            How long Joe stayed in our camp, I don't remember. All I know is we got up one morning and he was gone. We immediately started looking for him by the river, and the trail in both directions for about one kilometer, but he was no where to be found. About a week later, we heard he had been hacked to death by Moros with a Kris and stripped of everything he owned.

            July ? 1942  Sometime in July Fertig, Hedges, and Offret with a couple of cargadores also came to our camp. Offret had come down with malaria and he couldn't do any more traveling. Now we had 23 to feed. This meant we would have to make twice as many trips to Momungan for food. So, we had a discussion with our guests regarding their helping us bring rice from MacMichael's farm to Deisher's camp. We explained to them that this was an eight hour hike each way via jungle trails carrying 25 pounds of rice on the return trip. The sick did not have to help until they were well enough to do so. With that, we closed the meeting.---

            July ? 1942  The following four POW's escaped from the Japanese prison camp in Dansalan.

                        Robert Ball, 5th Air Base

                        Bill Johnson, P.T. Boats, U.S. Navy

                        Bill Knortz, 14th Bomb Squadron

                        James Smith, 30th Bomb Squadron

They walked through the thick jungles until they reached the village of Kapai in July, 1942. This was a small village in the hills of Lanao. There they met

                        Charles Boles, plantation owner

                        Bill Boles, Charles' son

                        Jordan Hamner, mining engineer

                        Charles Smith, mining engineer

                        Ben Farrens, 14th Bomb Squadron

                        and a 1/2 dozen other Army personnel

The new visitors were welcomed and fed by the Moros of the village. Datu (Datu = A Moro tribal leader) Mulla was like the Mayor of the village with life or death authority over everyone that stayed in his barrio.

            The Moros had a kind of unwritten law amongst themselves. All visitors to any Moro village came under the protection of the Datu of the village. In other words, the Datu would issue the execution order, and the man of the house you stayed in, had first call in killing you and laying claim to all your possessions. If any other Moro in the village killed you, he would die. This lesson we got from Jacob Deisher, he said always keep your eye on the man feeding you and never let a Moro walk behind you.

            Smith, Johnson, the two Boles and 4 Moro guides left Kapai on July 21 heading toward another Moro village. When they arrived at the river which was also a fork in the trail (one leading to Momungan and the other to Deisher's camp), the Moros started shooting at the four. Bill Johnson was hit on the first volley, but the other three escaped without a scratch. Luckily for the survivors, the Moros decided to run away instead of staying and finishing the job. Had they attacked the men with their Kris, none of the four would have been alive today. Johnson and the Boles' made the mistake of letting the Moros walk behind them instead of ahead. The Moros wanted their guns.

            In the evening of July 21, the three of them arrived at the Deisher camp. Mr Deisher took a look at Bill’s wound and saw that the bullet had gone clean through the left shoulder, without hitting any bone.  He said the wound would have to heal from the inside out and must be kept open at both ends. Mitsos boiled a handkerchief and a chopstick made from bamboo, let them cool enough to be handled without burning the skin, tore the handkerchief in half and proceeded to push one half through the rear hole and the other through the front hole. We had no anesthetic, and had to stop pushing the handkerchief when Johnson yelled. This went on for about three days, and it seemed that the wound was healing properly.

            July 25, 1942  About 8 A.M. of this morning the five of us (DeVries, Glover, Martin, Mitsos, and Tuggles) left for Momungan to obtain more food. With the four additional mouths to feed, our food supply was used up 25% faster. We arrived at MacMichaels farm about 5:00 P.M. of that evening and prepared our cargos for our trip home the following day.

            Meanwhile, those that had stayed at the camp were in for a surprise that night. Included were:

                        1. Deisher and his wife

                        2. His two children

                        3. Nappolillo

                        4. Pappy Owens

                        5. Charles Boles and his son

                        6. Henry Rooke

                        7. Bill Johnson

            After we left the camp, Napolillo had three assignments: he was chief cook, chief guard, and now a pharmacist mate, when he was cleaning Bill Johnson’s wound.  About 9:00 P.M. that night, the camp was attacked by a band of Moros, and in Francis J Napolillos’ own words, this is what happened.

 

     "The night the camp was attacked most of the men were gone from camp. Except Mr. Deisher, me, Mr. Boles, the wounded people, plus Deisher's family and in-laws. That evening we were trying to get some news on the battery powered radio but could not. Everyone went to the shack they were living in. If you can recall how the camp was set up you will remember Deisher had his shack up a high spot. Ours was below that, to the side. There was a cook shack and then there was a trail leading down to the river. The two Boles, Johnson and Rooke were in a shack down from the path to the river. When darkness came we all went back to our shacks. I was with Pappy in our shack. The two Boles, Johnson and Rooke were in the lower shack. Deisher was on the hill. The attack came, and Deisher was firing everything he had, and yelling for help. I grabbed the BAR and some clips and told Pappy to guard the other trail leading up from the river. I remembered there was a fallen tree below Deisher's shack, and that was where I went and started firing the BAR. The attackers were using ammo mixed with tracers so I knew where they were. When I finally got the BAR on automatic and sprayed the area they ran off. I'm not certain, but Deisher or I killed one. Boles received two wounds, and one was a tracer."

            Fortunately, no one was killed, Boles received a superficial intestinal wound with an incendiary bullet. Bill Johnson was not hit, but in falling to the floor, landed on his left shoulder, opening up his wound again. This turned out to be a blessing, however, for his wound had become seriously infected, and he probably would have died in a week or so.

            Obviously the rags were not deep enough into the wound to allow it to drain properly and heal from the inside out. The pus flowing from his shoulder was very foul smelling and would kind of upset your stomach.

            After that Napolillo and Mitsos would take turns treating Johnsons’ wound and making sure that all the dead flesh was removed before bandaging it.

            We always knew when we hit pay dirt (healthy flesh), because Johnson would yell and then hit us, or did he hit us first and then yell, anyway Bill’s wound eventually healed, and he went on to become a dentist.

            Mr. Boles wound was just below his skin, near his navel, but had not penetrated into his intestines. He was struck by an incendiary bullet so the wound looked bad. We would have had to cut him open to remove the bullet, but since we had no anesthetic, Mr. Boles refused to let us touch him. Even after telling him he would die if we didn't get the bullet out, he still refused. No amount of persuasion could make him change his mind, and he died within five days. We buried him in the jungle on the same day.

            Some time during the month, I (Mitsos) became very ill with high fever, nausea and extreme pain and sensitivity around the stomach. Though I recovered in a week, I was quite weak for a while. (In 1952, I had my appendix removed, only to learn that it had been ruptured a long time ago. The surgeon felt that it must have happened in 1942.) It seemed as though every week someone was sick with either malaria, dysentery, or just plain weakness. To cure the malaria, we drank a quinine brew made from the bark of the chincona tree, which pharmaceutical houses use to extract quinine. It was the most bitter drink we ever had to swallow. A boiled brew made from the guava leaves was used to relieve dysentery. How fortunate that all these drugs were available in the jungle.

            Luckily, none of us ever got the yaws, an ugly ulcer-type wound that seems to get larger and larger, and takes a year or two to heal. Without proper medication, which we did not have, it was almost impossible to heal it.

            It wasn't long before Don LeCouvre (14th Bomb Squadron) came through our camp. His destination was unknown, but he was looking for his brother Len. He left the next day.

            August to December 1, 1942  The next four months were placid, and we settled down to a normal routine becoming educated in the art of surviving the jungle. We tried our hand at hunting with little success. Most of the fish in the river were too small to eat. Certain palm trees could be used for food -- all you had to do was find the one that was not poisonous, climb to the top of the palm and remove the heart at the peak. This delicacy tasted a little like cabbage and was worth the effort. Unfortunately, there weren't too many of this type of trees near our camp and one had to travel some distance off the trail to find them. Needless to say, we always made it a point to stay near the trails; it was so easy to get lost in the jungle.

            On occasion, via the bamboo telegraph (Bamboo Tellegraph = Latest Gossip), we would receive some news and knew a little of what was going on around the rest of the world.

            During the day we managed to keep fairly busy, policing the camp, gathering firewood, bathing and washing our clothes daily, keeping our shoes and huts in repair. Napolillo and Rooke were U.S. Navy cooks so they took over the responsibility of preparing the meals. Whenever we were fortunate enough to get some flour and spices, we would have gravy to pour over our rice. it was always a constant battle with the bugs, to see who was going to get to eat most of the flour.

            Every once in a while we would hear of other camps being raided by outlaw bands of guerrillas but somehow they stayed away from our camp. Apparently news of our automatic rifle got around fast, and no outlaw gang was willing to risk attacking our camp. By October, we heard that many little bands had formed and were beginning to establish territorial rights in various towns around the islands. These bands would take over the towns after the Japanese left them, rob the natives of whatever the Japanese did not take and entertained themselves with the village women.

            The Filipinos did not know to whom to turn for help -- their own people were as bad, and in some instances worse than the Japanese. If the Filipinos talked to the Japanese, the outlaw guerrillas would execute them, and if they did not tell the Japanese where the guerrillas were hiding, they were beaten or shot to death.

            It soon became obvious that one leader was needed to whom the others could turn to for direction, but every chieftain wanted to be the General of the island of Mindanao. For a while longer the stalemate and the marauding bands continued.

            Finally in November, we heard that L/Col. Fertig had been put in command of the Guerrilla forces on Mindanao. We were not sure how this would fit into the U.S. Army organization charts, and felt we were caught in the middle.

            After some discussion, we advised Mr. Deisher that we had to report to L/Col Fertig in Misamis and were willing to escort him and his family there. Deisher had many friends in and around Momungan and he felt it would be safer for him and his family to stay there rather than go into an area where he was not well known.

            During the first week of December, we said our good-byes to Mr. Deisher and his family and started our 3-day trek to Misamis. The first night we spent at the MacMichael home, just outside of Momungan. There we met Tait who was the guerrilla leader around the Momungan area. He assigned a couple of his boys to guide us through the back trails and around the Japanese occupied town of Momumbugan. They took us to a small barrio above Baroy, where a small diesel launch was waiting to take us across Panguil Bay to Misamis. This crossing had to be done in daylight within sight of Kolumbugan to avoid being shot at by our own troops.

            During the crossing, a Zero circled us a couple of times. We were hidden under a tarp and he took off. The Filipinos operating the launch would always hide their guns, disguise themselves as fishermen and wave at the Japanese planes. There was less chance of being strafed if you appeared friendly. Within an hour, we docked at Misamis adjacent to an old Spanish stone fort built in the 1750's. From there, we were taken to Colonel Fertig's headquarters and given a rundown of his plan and how he could use us.

            On December 16, 1942, we were all commissioned in the USFIP forces and our careers in the guerrilla forces began on this day.

Personnel at Deisher's Camp from May 2, 1942 to December 1942

            Each of the above generally had from one to two Filipino natives to serve as guide and cargadores which added another 30 visitors to the camp.  In addition to the above visitors, we would have about two to three Filipino families per week stop over for an overnight stay. Some of the women would be carrying a baby on their backs.  All of these families were looking for a barrio to live in that was not Japanese occupied. Most of the Filipinos had their own food, but if they didn't, they were given food by Deisher.  We looked forward to having visitors for that was the only way of receiving news of local events. The only minor problem was that all of these visitors would use up our food supplies quicker, which meant the six of us had to make more frequent trips to MacMichael's farm, which we did.  When Mr. Deisher went into the hills on May 4, 1942, he weighed about 325 pounds. In order to keep his pants up, he wore a pair of suspenders, and a 6  inch wide x about 70 inch long leather belt with a specially made metal belt buckle.  By the time he left this camp and came to Misamis in January, 1943 (six months later), he weighed about 200 pounds, and he had trimmed his belt down to a 38 inch length.  All eight of us lost about 30 to 40 pounds in our six months stay because of the diet we were on. Mitsos went from 145 pounds to 110 pounds in six months.

            MOROS:  The Moros are Mohammedans, and throughout the centuries, there has never been a true peace between the Filipino Christians and all of the Mohammedans of the Philippines.

            Deisher knew the Moros as well as any American living in Lanao, for he not only fought them for many years after the Spanish-American War, but he was also married to one of the local Datus daughters.

            This marriage meant that he now came under the protection of this Datu and was relatively safe from any attacks by Moros from other villages.  When we decided to stay in his camp, we also now came under the protection of his father-in-law, the Datu, but there was no guarantee of this for us.

            Mrs. Deisher was a fine woman, but one thing we noticed about her, was that she never carried on a conversation with any of us. When ever we would ask her a question, she would smile, answer the question, and continue with what she was doing. Mr. Deisher said this was a Moros custom.

            The Moros were a warlike tribe, and although they represented only 20% of the island of Mindanao, they were feared by the majority of the Christians on the island. They also were a very devout religious group.  Although a Moros diet was like a Filipinos, they never ate pork even if they were starving.  It was easy to identify a Moro, for their clothes were different, they wore a turban, had black irregular shaped teeth, red gums and red lips. They would constantly chew a beetle nut, which would eat away the enamel of the teeth and darken them. This beetle nut also had a mild narcotic effect.

            The Moros had a religious ceremony called Juramentado, which was not part of the Islamic Religion or the Koran. As to it’s beginning and the reason for it, is unknown.  When ever a Moro desired eternal life, he would go through this religious ceremony, which involved two days of praying and anesthetizing all of the nerve centers of the body, thus making him insensitive to pain.  After this ceremony, he would be taken to the market place and would run amok, killing as many Christians as he could with his Kris (a double-edged sword with wavy edges), until he was killed.            Killing a Moro running amok was not easy, for he could not feel any pain. A 30-06 rifle bullet or a .38 caliber revolver bullet would not stop them, unless you shot him in the head. Some of them took as many as 6 bullets to kill them.  The .45 caliber bullet was invented for the purpose of stopping a Moro running amok. (amok-a person gone berserk, and aimlessly killing everyone in his path).  The more infidels (Christians) a Moro kills in this ceremony, the higher he would ascend up the ladder to heaven. All his wishes and desires would be fulfilled. The killed Christians would become his slaves forever and he would have all the young wives that he desired for an eternity.

            After the war against Spain was over in 1898, the American Army took on the task of pacifying the Moros of Mindanao.  It took 15 years of guerrilla warfare before the Moros were convinced that the American soldier was someone to respect and a truce was signed.   This respect was handed down to the G.I.'s that were stationed on Mindanao in 1942 and made it easier for us to deal with the Moros.

            The Japanese made the mistake of using force to conquer the Moros. In the summer of 1942, 120 Japanese soldiers got into some boats, crossed Lake Lanao and entered the jungle of Lanao Province. Mission: to teach Moros a lesson.   In the jungles, the Moros killed many of the Japanese, so the commander of this force decided to go back to the boats and leave the area.  Upon his arrival at the beach area, he found all of the Japanese guarding the boats dead, and their boats burned. Needless to say, the rest of the Japanese soldiers were killed and the Moros had 120 more rifles.

            Some of Mr Deisher’s basic rules: Mr. Deisher was our mentor, and taught us a lot about the Moro customs. Whenever we made a mistake when Moros came to our camp, he always corrected us. 

            1. Never trust any Moro, the bad ones will kill you. It was unfortunate that you also had to distrust the good Moros, but we had no choice.

            2. Never let a Moro walk behind you on a trail.

            3. Always travel in pairs.

            4. If you meet Moros on a trail, step off the trail and let the Moros pass. If you are within arms length of a bad Moro, you might lose your head.

            5. Always show the Datu the same respect you would your elders.

            6. The Datu of any barrio had life or death say so over any visitors and his people.

            7. Above all, never talk to any Moro women. the Moros believed in having more than one wife, so all girls of age and women in a barrio belonged to someone.

            Deisher also informed us of a very ticklish situation that could result in our death by a Datu.  If a Datu offered you one of his wives and you refused, this was an insult and the chances were that you would be beheaded.  He said, tell the Datu that you already have a wife and children and it was against the law to have two wives in the U.S. This answer was acceptable, for this was the Christian way of life.

            One day, a Datu gave me a Koran, and I accepted it because we didn't have any reading material.  I read the Koran cover to cover, and was surprised to learn how similar it was to the Bible. I carried the Koran for two years and then lost it in the Agusan River.

            As to the question of were there any good Moros? The answer is yes, there were many good ones.

            Ben Farrens and his group lived in Kapai, Lanao which was a Moro barrio with Datu Mulla in charge for six months.

            BIRDS:  The monkey eating eagle is a large bird about the size of the American eagle. It would circle our camp for a while and then perch on the top of a dead tree and stare towards our camp. It had a very intimidating stare and would occasionally let out an ear-piercing scream or cry. We never found out if we were its target or the piglets, but we kept our eyes on it. Eventually, it would fly away.

  

Moro woman dressed as in 1943        Monkey Eating Eagle        Domestic Horse fight

            CHICKENS: We never kept live chickens, hens, or roosters, for their clucking or a roosters crowing would be a dead giveaway as to our camp location.

            KALAW BIRD: This was a toucan, a big and black with large yellow bill. There were many around the Malabang area where McClish and Childress were outposting the Malabang airfield and guarding the roads and trails into the interior. It had a peculiar call, sounded like the cawing of a blackbird, only it started off loudly and diminished the sound through seven caws then stopped.  Clyde Childress

                DOMESTIC HORSES:  I asked the guy, “how do you get the horses to fight?” He pointed over to a fellow holding the halter on the mare. Mares, Female horses, are the source of all problems. Bill Johnson.

            DOMESTIC PIGS:  Every small village or barrio in the jungles or hills of Mindanao would have live pigs in them. The pigs were not only a good source of food, but also would keep the area free of snakes, mice, and insects. These pigs would eat all of the above, plus all discarded food and other wastes.

            WILD DEER, PIGS, LIZARDS, AND SNAKES Hunting the creatures of the forest was quite a challenge. When walking the trails, you would hear them scurrying, but would never see them. We left the hunting of them to the Bukidnons. First, they would locate a berry bush or leafy bush and look for deer or pig tracks. Then they would climb a tree nearby and wait for the animal to show up for its morning meal. Sometimes, they would stay up there all day and no animal would show up.  When they did kill a deer or wild pig, they would give us all of the intestines, internal organs, and the head of the animal, and walk away with the rest of the animal. To the natives, these parts were the delicacies. We would call them back, offer an even swap, which they gladly accepted, and walk away shaking their heads, thinking "those crazy Americans."  Iguanas and pythons were just as difficult to kill, but both were tasty, tender and fat free.

            DOGS: Very necessary, for they would give us advance warning of any visitors, friend or foe.  In our case, we had a real beaut. He was a German Shepherd, and always barked whenever friendly strangers would be coming up the trail to our camp.  After dark, he always laid on the ground under the table where we ate. We were happy to have him near us for we could sleep without fear of a night attack.

            The night our camp was attacked, Napolillo noticed that our guard dog got up from his bed and slowly walked under our bunk area with out making a sound, and laid there shaking. A few minutes later, all hell broke loose, Napolillo blew out the lamp, grabbed the B.A.R., and went into action.

            CATS:  We kept two kittens in our camp to keep the area free of mice, small snakes, and other small animals. At night, these two kittens would curl up on both sides of the legs of one of us. We were never aware of their presence until you tried to roll over on your side. So, whomever this happened to would boot them away. This did not discourage the kittens, they would just go to the next available person that was sound asleep.

            This one night, we were all awakened by the two kittens fighting, hissing, and screeching. We all spread out from this area, lit a lamp, and saw them fighting a very large scorpion. This scorpions body was about 6" long. Napolillo threw a shoe at it, hit it, but it still got away. Mitsos had a forked tree branch which he used to pin the scorpion to the floor. It would strike this branch with its stinger with such force that you could see the stick move with each blow. Napolillo chopped its head off with a bolo and, for a while that stinger kept striking.

            After this incident, these two kittens were never booted out of bed again.

            FIELD MICE:  Everything seemed to happen after dark. This particular night, we were all exhausted and sleeping soundly. But throughout the night, we felt a tickling sensation on the bottom of our feet. We would rub, our feet together, while half asleep; the tickling sensation would stop, and we would go back to sleep. This incident occurred several times during the night.

            The next morning, we woke up, and found the soles of our feet were very tender and sensitive. The calluses were gone and the entire bottom of our feet looked pink and skinless.

            Mr. Deisher told us that field mice ate the calluses on our feet because of the salt in the dead skin. They ate all of the calluses from our feet without drawing any blood. After this incident, we slept with our shoes on. It took about a week for our feet to get back to normal.

            BUFFALO GNATS:  These gnats looked like little specks when they were flying, and were difficult to see, except in swarms.  Occasionally, we would walk into a nest of them and they would swarm all around you, stinging you on every exposed part of your body, getting into your eyes, nose, ears, and under your clothes. When this would happen, you would panic and try to get away from this area as quickly as possible.

            A good example of this can be seen in the movie "African Queen." There is one scene where Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn ran into a swarm of gnats while they were attempting to tie their launch at the shore. They both panicked and couldn't get away fast enough. Each of them should have gotten an Oscar for that scene.  There was also a scene about their being lost in a sea of cogan grass, without any idea of what direction to go to get out. Both of these things were experienced by all of us.

            TINY SCORPIONS: This was a very small scorpion with an ivory body and a red spot on its back. The body size was about 3/4" long, the diameter of a pencil, and a tail 3/4" long, with a very painful sting.

            Mitsos was stung once on his nerve center on his right shoulder, and within seconds, the pain was felt from the top of the head, down to the finger tips and the right side of the body. The pain on the whole side was excruciating and lasted for quite a while. It slowly subsided, but it would take a couple of days for it to disappear.  One day we were bathing in the river and left our clothes on the ground. One of the fellows got out, started to put on his shorts and he froze. There inside his shorts was a red spotted ivory scorpion.  The thought of any one of us being stung below the waist line sent shivers down our spines. This scorpion was smashed to death. At some time of another, we would all become victims of this scorpion.

            LEECHES:  A leech is a worm that thrives in rivers, swamps, and very muddy trails.  These little creatures would adhere to any part of your body, stick their head into your flesh, eject a blood thinning solution and slowly fill themselves with your blood. By the time they have satisfied their appetite, they are about five to ten times thicker.  You are never aware they are on your body until after they have filled themselves, and you feel a very minor itch at the point of entry. Don't scratch it.

            The best way to remove them was to put a lighted cigarette to their butt and they would pull their head out of your flesh and fall off. You should never pull them off, for their head would remain in your flesh, which could cause an infection. They were unavoidable; wherever there was water, swamp, and muddy trails, there were leeches.  They were never seen in a camp area, because we built the camp on a slight incline, so as to get a good runoff of water and thus kept the camp grounds dry. Besides, the pigs you kept in the camp would eat them.

            There was another scene in the movie "African Queen" where Humphrey Bogart became aware of the leeches on his body after he got out of the water. In this scene, he overacted his part. They really weren't as bad as he made it look. A leech was less bothersome than a swarm of gnats.

            MEDICATION:  When we first went into the hills in May, 1942, the one thing we did not have was medication. The only time you would become aware of this was when someone would become ill and you started looking for some way of treating him.

            The most common illness was malaria, and quite often we would have people come to our camp with a very bad case of it. The only way you could catch malaria was through the mosquito, and in the jungle where we were at, there weren't any mosquitoes. Of the eight of us that went into the hills, only one had what we thought was an attack, but were not sure. When you did become ill, the symptoms would last anywhere from 10 to 21 days.

            To treat malaria, we would strip the bark of the chincona tree (quinine is obtained from this tree), boil it for about an hour, cool it off and then try to force it down the throat of the victim. This was a very bitter tasting liquid and everyone had a difficult time swallowing it. The majority of times, we preferred riding out the symptoms of malaria, rather than drink this bitter medicine. From May 1942 to Jan 1945, each of us would come down with malaria at least 5 times. The worst type of malaria we would catch was in the Agusan river valley. The Filipinos called it “Black Water Fever”, because your urine would be discolored during this attack, only this time we had Dr Evans with Atabrine or Plasmochine to treat it. This malaria would really hit us hard.

            When we were in the Misamis Lanao area, all of us noticed that the mosquitoes never bit Len Lecouvre. they would fly around his head but never land on him. He never had malaria, until we got to the Agusan river area. I thing he may have had one attack there (not sure). To the best of my knowledge he was the only one that mosquitoes refused to bite.

            DYSENTERY: No one in camp ever caught this because of our strict sanitary conditions. Napolillo, a Navy cook, took over the responsibilities of our kitchen area, and because of his strict cleaning rules, in the seven months in Deishers camp, we never had one case of dysentery.

            For the visitors who came in with a case of it, we had a native cure for it. We would roast camotes (a native sweet potato) until the skin turned to charcoal and feed that to the patients. In addition to that, we would boil guava leaves until we would get a red watery solution and give this to anyone who had an upset stomach or a case of dysentery.

            WOUNDS: Healing bullet wounds was a very painful process, but since we did not have any morphine or sulfa pills, we did not have much choice in how to treat them.

            If the wound looked like the person would not be able to handle the pain, he would be tied down on the bamboo floor with rattan, and then we would proceed to clean his wound with a mess kit knife and a razor blade. In the John Wayne movies, they would give a bottle of whiskey to the wounded soldier, get him drunk, and then operate. No such luck here.

            After the wound was cleaned and bandaged properly, then you would untie the individual from the floor and treat the wounds around his wrists and ankles - sometimes they were worse than the bullet wound. This last scenario happened only once to the best of my knowledge.

            “Swede” Swanson:   A large Japanese patrol was coming through the Upper Agusan in the zone of the 107th Division. We knew they were in the area but had no plan to take them on unless they got too close to Fertig's installation. Fred Fiegel, a prewar mining engineer in Mindanao assigned to the 107^th Division. His main duty was to establish trails from Surigao Province into Agusan to transport food supplies to Fertig's hqts. He set up bodegas along these trails and rivers, established a procurement operation in Surigao to buy rice and other items to transport over the mountains and down the rivers into Agusan.   Fred Fiegel, Oscar “Swede” Swanson, Capt R Buhay and others in their party, felt that the safest place for them was along the trail they had established.  They were heading down a tributary when they were ambushed by the Jap patrol. Fiegel was killed outright but his body was never found. Buhay got away and Swanson was wounded, taking a bullet in his exposed rear end as he was scrambling up the river bank in an attempt to get away.  The shot Swanson, took excised one of his testicles. He got up the river bank but passed out from the shock of being wounded and lay in the grass safe from being found by any Japs that might have been looking for him. When he came to, he made his way to an abandoned nipa shack. As soon as the news of the ambush reached us, we sent out search parties to find anyone still alive. Mark Wohlfeld discovered where Swanson was hiding from the smell of the putrefying wound. Mark had Swede stand up and cling to the rafters of the shack while he operated on the wound with a razor blade, cutting away the rotten flesh and treating the open wound with sulfanilamide. The next time I saw Swede he was wearing the same green coveralls he was wearing when he was shot and had neatly sewn a patch over the exit hole where the bullet and some of his anatomy had come out.  Clyde Childress.

            All of the above surgery was done without any anesthetic, and the wound was not sutured.  About a couple of months later, Swanson and Whofield came to Fertigs headquarters to get some radio equipment.  With a big smile Swanson greeted us. “One is as good as two.”

            Bill Johnson:  also had to endure a lot of pain when Mitsos and Napolillo were cleaning his wound with a rag wrapped around a chopstick. Dead flesh was cut away with either a mess kit knife or a razer blade. Again all of this surgery and treatment was done without any anesthetic or any antiseptic. Bill said that we used a liquid made from Guava leaves as an antiseptic.

            Jock McLauren:  Another example of survival was what happened to Jock McLauren (an Australian soldier). At the time this incident occurred, Jock was with a group of Filipino guerrillas heading somewhere via jungle mountainous trail, when all of a sudden he got an appendicitis attack. There weren't any other Australian or Americans in his group, so he decided to take out his own appendix with the help of a mirror and the assistance of a couple of Filipino guerrillas, he somehow managed to remove his own appendix and survive.

            Weyman McGuire:  was the only one that had any Medical Corp Training, but he couldn’t be everywhere. The rest of us got our training the hard way, by practicing on each other. Our professors were the natives of the jungles, for they showed us where and how to extract quinine from the Chincona tree, anesthetics from certain plants, and other medication for dysentery, tropical ulcers and other diseases. In time we all became experts in the practice of jungle medicine.

            As the guerrilla organization became stronger, each regiment recruited the local doctors, and established mobile clinics. Medication became more available with each submarine supply mission.

CONTACT WITH AUSTRALIA

  

Bugo, Cagayan, Iligan, Deisher’s Camp, Dansalan, Lake Lanao, Malabang area

Oroquieta, Jimenez, Misamis, Bonifacio, Baroy, Kolumbugan, Liangan

Iligan Liagan Camp #15, Kolumbungan, Baroy area

            Dec 16, 1942  After being commissioned in the USFIP forces (United States Forces in the Philippines), but before receiving assignments, we spent the interim discussing our situation, and wondering if we had made the right decision. There was much that bothered us about the guerrilla movement, since we were aware the U.S. Army did not recognize any guerrilla units as a part of the U.S. Forces. We had been told that any Americans serving in the guerrillas were not to be considered U.S. troops and, if captured by the Japanese, could be executed as outlaws. (Surrender meant death). Therefore, when we accepted a commission in the USFIP forces, we were in a special fighting force.

            Dec 16, 1942  After the meeting with L/Col. Fertig, we were taken to our quarters in Misamis -- and what quarters they were! Mr. Jouridene's beautiful home was to be ours while in Misamis. Upon entering the house, the dining room was on the right and the living room on the left. A stairway led up to the six bedrooms on the second floor, with a bathroom (including a shower) down the hall.

            We were each given our own room, and along with the house came two house-boys to make the beds, clean the house, and do the laundry. In addition, there was a Chinese cook and his assistant, or procurer, who was responsible for doing the shopping, helping the chef, setting the table, serving the food, and after the meal cleaning up and washing the dishes. (This was to last for four months).

            After seven months of surviving in the jungle, this seemed like a dream that was bound to end in the morning. After breakfast, we each went to our assigned jobs, wondering what surprise our chef would have for supper.

            Lts. Martin, Mitsos, and Tuggles reported to Lt. Lewis, C.O. of the motor pool, (both land and water). Our job was to get as many trucks and buses working and in service as quickly as possible. Since Mr. Jouridene owned the Misamis Bus System, we were fortunate to obtain some trucks and buses which had been hidden around the Province of Misamis to keep them out of the hands of the enemy. In order to keep the buses running, however, fuel and spare parts were required, neither of which were available.

            The spare part problem was easily solved by pirating parts from inoperable buses to keep the others running. Fuel, however, presented a major obstacle, since all the gasoline was imported and had been confiscated by the Japanese.

            Lt. Offret, one of those rare natural mechanics felt he could convert the gasoline engines to run on alcohol, and within a month he had modified the carburetors so the trucks ran on 100% alcohol which we had no problem in obtaining, for an alcohol plant was located in Jimenez. Lt. Offret, a machinist mate from the torpedo boat squadron was made Production Manager and was now responsible for manufacturing alcohol. In no time at all, he was supplying us with 100 proof alcohol made from tuba, a liquid obtained from the coconut trees -- and we could either drink it or use it as fuel.

            Tuba is extracted from the coconut tree by tying the fruit bearing branches together in such a way that the liquid flows into a bamboo tube. It is then collected every morning and taken to the plant for processing into alcohol. The interesting thing about tuba is that it continues to ferment throughout the day. If you drink it in the morning, it has a rather sweet taste; late in the afternoon, it has the effect of beer; the following day you can use it on your salad like vinegar. Within a week, the tuba would be so sour, we would have to dispose of it.

            General Fertig established his first headquarters in Misamis, situated at the inlet to Panguil Bay, in the Province of Misamis Occidental. Across from Misamis was the town of Kolumbugan with a small garrison of about 50 Japanese, some small bore field artillery pieces and small patrol boats. This put the enemy about three miles and approximately one hour away.

            The half-way point of the inlet served as an invisible boundary line between the two towns, and whenever any of our launches strayed towards the other side, they were shelled by the Japanese. By the same token, if the Japanese patrol boats got within our range, we fired on them. After a while, this got to be a kind of game between the two groups, to see how close they could get before being fired upon.

            Many of the small towns along the coast had small Japanese garrisons of from four to ten men. The Japanese had a habit of taking whatever they wanted in these towns, and beating or killing anyone who refused to comply with their wishes. The Filipinos always had to bow in the presence of the Japanese or receive a rifle butt in the head or a bayonet in the leg. If a woman resisted the advances of a Japanese, she was severely beaten in public.

            Within a couple of months, small guerrilla bands would form in each of the towns and the Japanese were forced to pull the troops and concentrate them in larger towns such as Kolumbugan. Little by little, they found themselves restricted to about thirty coastal towns and a few villages inland, leaving about 80% of the island roads, small villages and all of the jungle in Filipino hands. They soon learned it was not only difficult, but dangerous to travel by land. The bridges between villages had been destroyed and the Japanese could expect to be fired upon in the jungles. It was obviously safer for them to travel by boat.

            This arrangement presented a number of obstacles for us. We could use most of the roads between towns, but had to carry supplies around the garrisoned villages. Sometimes the equipment was too heavy to be carried, and had to be taken by boat around the Japanese held coastal towns. Naturally, most of our sailing was done during the night, and very quietly. Though the Japanese had the superior force and could drive us out anytime they desired, we had the advantage of mobility and, more important, the loyalty of the Filipino people.

            In the meantime, a civilian department was also established by prominent civilian lawyers and judges, bringing the citizens of Mindanao into the guerrilla movement. Now there were two separate and distinct units which helped in unifying all of the Filipinos on the island. The military were responsible for policing the island and harassing the Japanese, while the civilian government concentrated on governing the people. The military never interfered with the government's problems or duties, unless specifically requested to do so.

            In order to give more credence to what Col. Fertig was attempting to accomplish, he had Capt. DeLeon (C.O. of Finance Dept.) print a limited amount of emergency currency money which was used in paying the salaries of the military and civilian personnel and also in purchasing food from the farmers. These funds were backed by the U.S. Government.

            As for the local government being set up, this worked out very well, for they still recognized President Quezon (who was in Washington D.C.) as their president and had been forming an underground civilian government as a continuation of the government prior to the Japanese occupation. They were now a part of the war effort and knew they no longer had to be afraid of the guerrillas; they were willing to assist them.

            If a soldier was caught harming a civilian in any way, he would be court-martialed and sent on garrison duty in very dangerous areas. It was very important for the civilians to respect us and not fear us. The loyalty of these people was amazing, and we no longer had to worry about traitors, for the Filipinos would capture them, try them and execute them all within a very short time.

            The next important phase of our operation was the location of the transmitting station and headquarters. Since we were no match against the Japanese army, it was extremely important that we be very mobile at all times. No matter what the cost or sacrifice, the transmitting equipment had to be saved, for it was our only link with Australia.

            Misamis was in a fairly ideal location for there were no roads between it and any of the Japanese-held towns. The only way the Japanese could attack us was from the air or sea. To the best of our knowledge, they had not used paratroops in the islands, and this left the sea as the only approach to Misamis. There was only one road along the coast running from Pagadian through Misamis to Dipolog, with no connecting roads to Zamboango or Kolumbugan, and this made it easy for the Japanese to cut us off by making one landing above Misamis, one at Misamis, and another below, thus boxing us in.

            We had set up a second radio station in the hills behind Bonifacio, which was about 15 kilometers from Misamis. Now there would be ample time to relocate our radio station if threatened.

            Lt. Martin was assigned to the cryptographic section under Lt. Ball (C.O. of the radio station). Lt. Bill Konko, the radio operator formerly from the PT boats, was assigned the task of putting the transmitter together and getting in touch with Australia. This was no easy feat, for there were no local radio supply stores from which to purchase parts. Konko was able to get his hands on a ham radio station and a diesel engine generator. He now had the nucleus for a radio, but still needed many parts to make the unit operable.

            Jan 1943  An all-out effort was made to locate whatever radio parts were available elsewhere and bring them to Konko. After a month of scrounging around and improvising, Konko was able to get a radio together and began sending signals to Australia. We had no code arrangements and all of our messages had to be transmitted in the clear, making it easy for the Japanese to monitor us and know what we were sending.

            After a few unsuccessful weeks of trying to contact Australia, Konko finally made contact with KFS in San Francisco. Apparently, atmospheric conditions were such that our weak signals could reach San Francisco, but not Australia. KFS was a Naval Station and was surprised to be receiving messages from the Philippines, knowing the islands were in Japanese hands. They understandably concluded, that the Japanese were sending the messages. During January, 1942, KFS stayed in contact with us, but we were never able to convince them we were Americans and not the enemy.

            In the meantime, the Japanese would send fighter planes to bomb and strafe Misamis, hoping to hit the radio station. As long as they kept hitting, we knew they did not know the radio station was in the hills behind Misamis, and this left our one lane open to the U.S. Forces.

            In January, 1943, a launch that had been converted into a sailboat arrived in Australia with five men aboard -- Charles Smith, Jordan Hamner, A. Smith and two Filipinos who had sailed from Mindanao. They had miraculously traveled 1,200 miles through sea lanes patrolled by the Japanese Navy, with only a simple map of the Far East and a compass to guide them -- no navigational instruments to tell them where they were located on a day-to-day basis. All they knew was if they headed south and did not drift too far off course, they would reach Australia. On two different occasions, they were sailing within view of a Japanese Task force making its landings on Borneo. The Japanese probably thought they were Mestizos and did not bother them; they were too busy fighting a war to worry about one sailboat.

            Fertig had made arrangements with Hamner and Smith to take call letters and a code book to Australia, thus officially establishing the presence of an American radio station in Mindanao. Smith had also taken some code words with him which enabled us to transmit messages back and forth in secret.

            The arrival of Hamner and Smith in Australia was a blessing for those of us on Mindanao as well as the U.S. Forces in Australia. Although transmission could now be sent to Australia in code, they were still not entirely convinced they were dealing with Americans. For the first week, the messages sent by Headquarters in Australia were of no military importance to anyone. We also continued the transmissions between San Francisco and Mindanao on a daily basis to maintain contact until a plan could be formulated.

            Feb., 1943  SWPC (Southwest Pacific Command) advised us that Station KAZ from Australia would be in command and sending us orders relating to our mission. We were also informed that Lt. Col. Fertig would be in command of the 10th Military District consisting of the island of Mindanao only. Our mission was to keep Australia informed of Japanese activity around the islands and keep a low profile. In other words, Headquarters wanted us to defend ourselves only, and under no circumstances were we to harass the Japanese. MacArthur knew we could be of more value to him spying on the Japanese rather than fighting them.

            Another message we received advised us that we were all transferred from the U. S. Army Air Corp. to the United States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP). Headquarters made it very plain that only wounded soldiers and civilians would be taken off the island by submarine. The General said that if we could walk, we stayed. So we stayed.

            MacArthur had other plans for us, however; he felt that if we could survive in the jungles on our own thus far, we were well trained for the mission he had in mind for us. It was obvious now that the sooner American troops returned to the Philippines, the sooner we would get home.

            It was now up to us to do whatever we could to get the American troops back on Philippine soil as quickly as possible. We accepted our assignments knowing what our goal was -- with a lot of griping, but with an all-out effort to succeed. The morale of the men was generally good, considering that many of them were on individual assignments at "watcher" stations throughout the island.

            Mar. 1943  In March we were advised that a submarine loaded with supplies would arrive at Pagadian as a trial run. All precautionary measures were to be taken to ensure the safety of the submarine. Lt. Col. Fertig and his staff went to Pagadian a day earlier. His presence there aroused the curiosity of the Philippine people, and they started flocking to the barrio. Who knows why they were going there -- they had not been told of the impending arrival of an American submarine, but the presence of a Lt. Colonel in a coastal town made them curious. When the submarine arrived the next day, rumors spread fast that MacArthur had returned and that they had seen him. It was Lt. Commander Chick Parsons and Capt. C. Smith that they had actually seen. The first supplies to reach the Philippines since the beginning of the war consisted of transmitters, receivers, carbines, small generators, some medicine and a new short-barreled carbine which fired a short .30-caliber shell.

            Also in the shipment were thousands of book matches and small packages of American cigarettes, with General MacArthur's now famous "I Shall Return" message. There were also many other propaganda items which either had General MacArthur's face on them or his famous quote. These were to end up all over the islands, and probably had more to do with making believers out of the civilians than any broadcast could have done. The Filipinos now felt it was just a matter of time before the American troops would be landing.

            With the arrival of Chick and Charley, we were now recognized as USFIP (United States Forces in the Philippines). Not only had Chick brought enough radio equipment to set up six or more "watcher" stations, he also brought a code book, and we could now transmit messages in secret to Australia without having them sent to San Francisco for relay to Australia.

            May, 1943  In May Mitsos was assigned to the Cryptographic Sections of Headquarters radio station which was under the command of Lt. Robert Ball. Our first station was located in the hills behind Misamis, and we now had a good transmitter, receiver, a diesel generator and a steady schedule with Australia. In a very brief time, all six "watcher" stations were set up and the information of Japanese activity at Davao, Malabaly, Zamboango, Cagayan, Surigao and Iligan was being relayed to Headquarters on a daily basis.

            For a while, the Japanese considered us only a nuisance, and would send a Zero twice a week to strafe and bomb Misamis. Davao was the third largest Japanese naval base in the South Pacific and it naturally received most of our attention. There were six coast watchers around Davao Gulf and whenever any freighters or naval vessels left any of the six ports, our submarines knew exactly where to go and would sink them. (From Feb. 1943 to Jan. 1945, over 300 Japanese ships were sunk around the island of Mindanao.

            The U.S. Navy would also be informed when the ships were sunk, which increased their kill ratio. It did not take too many sinkings around Mindanao for the Japanese to realize we were a big threat to their shipping.

            June 22, 1943  I ended up in the hospital at Labo, with a severe case of dysentery and malaria. There, I met Murphy (real name forgotten) who had just returned from Davao. The coast watcher station Murphy was at, had been attacked and burned. He managed to escape, but was now in a state of shock; all he would do was just sit, stare at the wall, and not talk.

            June 26, 1943  The Japanese attacked Misamis and Labo. Five Zeros bombed and strafed Misamis and Labo and a Japanese destroyer shelled both landing, sites.

            The hospital was hit on the first pass and demolished; one of the nurses received a 20mm in the forehead, but it did not explode. Both Murphy and I got out with minor wounds and ended up in a fox hole.

            After the air raid, we saw the Japanese troops coming up the trail towards the hospital. The two of us lay in the brush and watched them killing civilians and hospital corpsmen. After they went by, we went back to the hospital, got our Colt .45's and took to the trail toward the radio station at Bonifacio. Fertig had received word around June 21, 1943 of the pending attack and had relocated the station to the hill country behind Bonifacio. (Source of information-the Japanese Colonel's mistress).

            About half way there, I decided to stop and spend the night at the first hut we would come to. Murphy was still in a state of shock, but at least he would follow me everywhere I went. We finally reached a nipa hut occupied by a Moro and his family. Not knowing if he was friendly or not, I pulled my pistol out just in case. He was friendly, he told me my barrel was plugged with dirt. Must have happened when I had to hit the dirt in one of the strafing.

            We arrived at the Bonifacio station in the afternoon of the following day and was happy to see that everyone had made it through safely, with all of the equipment. All the Japanese had captured in Misamis was an empty nipa hut.

            While all of this was going on, FRS (Force Radio Section) managed to maintain contact with Australia 24 hours per day.

            Murphy was still living in a world all his own. He would only listen to me and would follow me everywhere I went, never saying a word. He would sit in the corner of the code room all day long with that blank stare, never bothering anyone.

            The Colonel felt, for his own safety, it would be best if he was left in the care of a Filipino family living in the hills until he could be taken to Australia. That was the last day I would see him. The very next day, he shot himself and he was buried in the hills behind Bonifacio.

            The traitor who had guided the enemy to the Misamis Camp was finally captured and brought to our headquarters. It was a touchy situation, for he was an influential Misamis business man. The Colonel turned him over to the civilian authorities to do with as they wished. That same day, we received word that the traitor had been tried and executed.

            There weren't any prisons on the island, so anyone found guilty of a serious crime was tried and executed the same day. They punished those guilty of minor offenses by drafting them into the guerrillas. By not getting involved in civilian affairs added credibility to the guerrilla movement.

            In the meantime, the Japanese were exerting all kinds of pressure on the Filipino people, trying to find the location of our radio station. Whomever was asked this question and didn't reveal our location was killed instantly. The Japanese would machine-gun entire families in trying to find our station. It didn't make any difference whether they knew or not.

            The patrols around our station became more frequent. It was obvious by now that we would have to relocate our station to a more remote area.

            Each time the Japanese soldiers came into the hills, the Moros would reduce their numbers. The Filipino scouts captured three Japanese soldiers and were bringing them to our headquarters when they escaped. The escaped Japanese had a general idea where our station was, making it essential that they be recaptured. A price of 1,000 pesos was put on their heads to facilitate their capture, and the Moros complied with the Colonel's order, delivering the Japanese heads to him in two days.

            That night, we packed up and boarded some bancas, heading across Panguil Bay to Baroy. Baroy was under the control of Capt. Morgan, an American Mestizo formerly with the Philippine Army. Nobody had notified Capt. Morgan's sentries that we were coming and as we approached the shores, they opened fire on us. Now we were caught in the middle of Panguil Bay with Japanese troops on one shore, our troops on the other and sharks in the bay.

            We drew straws to see who would attempt to reach the sentries and one of the Filipinos lost; he had to swim to shore to try and get in touch with the sentries. He was really lucky; the sharks were somewhere else, and he went ashore where the sentries weren't. Fortunately, he made it safely and we were allowed to land at Baroy.

            A radio station had been set up at the Lumber Camp #15 in May, 1943. This was located 3 kilometers inland from the coastal town of Liangan. To reach Camp # 1 5, you had to follow a narrow gauge railroad track through hilly jungles, cross two deep ravines and one river. One of the ravines was about 50 feet deep.

            Crossing these ravines afforded us the opportunity of surveying the countryside and we concluded that if the bridges were destroyed, the Japanese would not be able to get to us, but we would have one heck of a job getting out.

            We finally arrived at the camp on June 27, 1943 and immediately sent a message to Australia.

            The first message we received was from a very angry General MacArthur. In our move from Bonifacio to Camp #15, we had been off the air for 36 hours, and the General was furious.

            General MacArthur depended heavily on the information we transmitted about the Japanese Navy, for this gave him the advantage of concentrating his limited Air Force and Navy forces where they would do the most damage. To this day, I remember part of the message: "Under no circumstances are you to ever, repeat, ever be off the air again." Needless to say, we were never off the air again. From June 27, 1943 through Jan., 1945, our unit operated seven days a week 24 hours per day.

GUERRILLA RADIO CAMP #15   July 1943-December 1943

 

Nipa hut at Kolumbugan Lumber Camp #15, three kilometers above Lianigan, Lanao, Mindanao

Radio Operators in the 10th Military District Headquarters Radio Station. Call letters “WAM”

            This & following photos were taken with a camera belonging to Sam Wilson. The negative was carried about in the camera and not developed until after leaving Mindanao sometime in 1945. The photos scanned 03-15-95 for this document are copies of copies.

At Kolumbugan Lumber Camp #15, three kilometers above Lianigan, Lanao, Mindanao

10th Military District Hdqs Radio Station Personnel July 1943-December 1943. Call letters “WAM”

Seated in front are 18 Filipino Guerrillas.

Commanding officer of the radio station: Lt. Cdr. Samuel J. Wilson, USNR. Commanding officer of code room: Harold D. Martin, 2nd Lt., USFIP   All Army Air Corps men received battle field commissions of 2nd Lt in the USFIP.

            Pictures were taken at the Kolumbugan Lumber Camp #15 which was located about 3 kilometers above the coastal Town of Liangan, Lanao, on north coast of Mindanao, Philippine Islands. To get to this camp we had to walk along side of a small gaged railroad track and when we came to a ravine, walked on the railroad ties to cross it. There were about 2 ravines that had to be crossed before arriving at the camp. The ravines varied in depth anywhere from twenty to fifty feet.

            We did have a railroad hand car, but it was mainly used for transporting diesel fuel, food and radio equipment to the camp. Rice, dried fish, and some vegetables had to be brought into the camp about every five days to feed the forty to fifty men assigned there.

            Besides the Americans shown in the following pictures, there were also:

                        1. Kenneth L. Bayley                14th SQD  19th Bomb Group.

                        2. Wilbur E. Dallenbach            Hdqs & Hdqs Sqd  19th Bomb Group.

                        3. James  L. Garland                14th Sqd  19th Bomb Group.

                        4. William Konko                      USN Bulkeley’s  P.T. Boaters - MTB-3

                        5. Francis J. Napolillo               USN Bulkeley’s  P.T. Boaters - MTB-3

                        6. Marvin Devries                     USN Bulkeley’s  P.T. Boaters - MTB-3

            You would think that electricity for operating the Radio Equipment would be a problem, but it wasn’t. All lumber camps located in the jungle, Plantation owners, and affluent Americans and Filipino citizens had their own diesel generating units plus the 200 gallon tanks of diesel fuel. Fairbanks-Morse must have sold a lot of units in the Philippines prior to the war.

            We arrived at Camp #15 in July 1943 and left there sometime in December 1943. Somehow the Japanese always managed to locate our radio station and the weekly bombings and strafing would begin. We would generally have about 30 days of no air attacks.

            Our radio unit had to be relocated at least eight times in order to keep it out of the Japanese hands and on the air.

            In Sept 1943, a U.S. submarine docked at the Kolumbugan/Liangan area and unloaded radio equipment, arms, ammunition, medical supplies, clothes, cigarette packs, match books, Hershey bars, and sewing kits, all tagged “I SHALL RETURN” Gen MacArthur. Each new piece of radio equipment would be brought to our camp for survival testing in the jungles.

            Some of the radio transmitters were more susceptible to the high humidity of the jungle, and when they were turned on in the morning, they would short out. After a little experimenting, we learned that by leaving the models on 24 hours a day, it would not fail. The only problem with that was that each station would now use twice as much fuel. Eventually we received sets that would not short out.

            Bill Knortz came to our Camp #15 about September 8, 1943 to get his share of radio equipment and supplies for the Cagayan area, and that was to be the last time we would see him.

At Kolumbugan Lumber Camp #15, three kilometers above Lianigan, Lanao, Mindanao

July 1943-December 1943

Cryptographers in the 10th Military District Hdq Radio Station. Call letters “WAM”

All of the above Army Air Corps men received battle field commissions of 2nd Lt in the USFIP.

            Guerrillas: Each morning we would be awakened at dawn by the crowing of the roosters, the chattering of the monkeys, and other birds and animals in the jungle forest. Every camp had its share of roosters which would end up in a cock fight sometime during the week. The betting that would go on at these cock fights was unbelievable, and as in horse-racing the handicappers had the advantage. The guerrillas were soon to learn that these crowing roosters were a give away as to the camps locations. The Japanese used the roosters as a means of finding these camps and destroying them. This ploy only worked about a week, because the Guerrillas were able to turn this around to their advantage.

            We would start the day by washing our face and hands out of a dish pan or by the river and sit down for good “ole fashioned” army chow. Breakfast would consist of rice mush or corn mush, rice coffee and occasionally we would also have some dried fish, vegetables, or Kamotes (kinda like a sweet potato). Fruit such as bananas, papaya, pineapples, kiwi, Chinese grapefruit, and other tropical fruits which were available on the sea coast, were scarce because we were so far up in the forest jungles where there weren’t any farms.

            As long as the coastal barrios remained in guerrilla hands, the food was plentiful and we ate three times a day. The Japanese were aware of this and would send patrol airplanes to search and destroy docks which had too many bancas tied to them.

            After breakfast we would go to work coding and decoding messages. Our normal work day would be from dawn to dusk, somewhere between 10-12 hours per day, seven days per week. The only time off we got was to eat, sleep, and when you had malaria, which would usually last about seven days, if you had quinine or atabrine. We did not mind the long hours or working 365 days a year, because we had a common goal: to see this war successfully come to an end (ASAP) As Soon As Possible.

            To our families back home we were "MIA” (Missing In Action) for over three years. They did not know where we were or if we were alive or dead. The last letter I sent to my family went out via a Navy PBY flight from Lake Lanao on May 1st 1942 and I received my first letter in October 1944 via a US Navy submarine.

            As soon as we went on the air, the messages would start coming in. The coastal watchers would notify us of all Japanese activities, especially Japanese warships, freighters, or aircraft traveling in their respective areas and also any enemy troop movements. The messages received had to be decoded, sent to Colonel Wendell W. Fertig (our CO) for analysis, and his messages recoded for transmission to General MacArthur in Australia. A normal days work would be anywhere from 150 to 300 radio messages per day or 4,500 to 9,000 messages per month.

            In the early stages (November 1942 through February 1943) the US Navy was reluctant to bring radio equipment to Mindanao via submarines. They felt that the intelligence information that we would be sending would not be accurate enough to risk a submarines mission. (commanders wanted to sink enemy shipping as first priority.) On March 5th, 1943 Lt. Comdr  S. H. Armbruster brought USS submarine Tambor into the Moro Gulf near Pagadian, Mindanao for a successful mission. Comdr Charles "Chick" Parson, USNR and Charley Smith were aboard. Also $10,000 cash, 50,000 rounds of .30 cal ammo and 20,000 rounds of .45-cal ammunition. From March 1943 through December 1944, there were sixteen submarine missions to Mindanao, and not one submarine was lost to enemy action.

            As to the accuracy of the ship movements, in the two years of operation on Mindanao approximately three hundred (300) Japanese ships were sunk (especially in the sea lanes between Davao Gulf and Zamboanga City), and not one American submarine was lost to enemy action. Their kill rate around Mindanao was so high that the U.S-Navy assigned several submarines on permanent duty around the island. Since the average submarine carried about 23 torpedoes, they would occasionally run out of torpedoes before they would run out of ships to sink. The Japanese losses around the island of Mindanao were so high, that they took to traveling after dark only. This increased their travel time from one day to three nights to go from Davao City to Zamboango City. This tactic helped the Japs a little, but our submarines still managed to sink many.

            The radio operators were the ones that worked the hardest. There were only three (3) operators at camp #15 and they had to take turns working at the key during a 24-hour period. Once a message was being transmitted they couldn't stop (except for air raids) until the message was sent or received in full. At least in the radio code room we could stand up and stretch occasionally but not so with our excellent radio operators.

            Every so often a Japanese airplane, usually a Zero, or a Betty two engined bomber would come by flying very low, strafing and bombing the radio camp. We never had much time to take cover, for they always  flew at tree top level to avoid early detection. We did not have any anti-aircraft weapons, so our only defense was our trenches. Hardly a day went by that we didn't hear the drone of the Japanese airplane engines.

            Supper was usually after dark, and the menu was rice, vegetables, kamotes and an occasional chicken or dried fish. In the thirty (30) months of operation we had only one American meal and that was on December 25th 1943. The menu on that day consisted of canned ham, cranberry sauce, vegetables, corn, kamotes, and bread.

At Kolumbugan Lumber Camp #15, three kilometers above Lianigan, Lanao, Mindanao

10th Military District Hdqs Radio Station Personnel July 1943-December 1943. Call letters “WAM”

Seated in front are 18 Filipino Guerrillas.

            After supper we would relax, play cards and have our nightly bull sessions. There was the usual G.I. gripping and did you hear this or that kind of rumors, but, one thought never left our minds: "how soon would MacArthur return.”

            The one tremendous advantage we had in working at the Headquarters Radio station was that we were well informed of everything that happened around the islands. Every night we would discuss the important events that had occurred that day. General MacArthur kept us well informed on some of his planned invasions, for he wanted us to be especially on the alert for any Japanese movements that may jeopardize his invasion of the Philippine Islands. We received advance information about the Guam invasion, the Leyte invasion, and other attacks around the islands. The advance information that General MacArthur received about the Japanese enemy movements from our guerrillas 10th Military District Radio Network, was instrumental in stopping any surprise attacks on our American troops or U.S.Navy.

            About 10 pm we would all head for our bunks for a night of rest. After dark the stillness of the jungle was unbelievable, occasionally you would hear a branch of a tree falling, or some animal scurrying from a predator, but that’s all. On a moonless night it was impossible to tell time, so you went to bed when you were tired.

            In October, 1943, Col Fertig left for the Agusan River Valley to set up another transmitting station. We all knew it would be a matter of time before the Japanese would be landing in the Kolumbugan-Liangan area.

            In December, 1943, Dapron, Martin, and Mitsos boarded Zapantas banca, destination: Agusan river valley.  When we got in the Cagayan area, a Japanese P.T. boat pursued us, but stopped when we reached the shark infested waters around Camiguin Island.

            All the other personnel remained at Camp #15, and stayed in contact with Australia until we could get the Esparanza Station on the air.

            Within a few days, the new station was in operation, Camp #15 was shut down, and a couple of days later the Japanese were shelling and landing at Liangan.

            A week or two later, the rest of the team arrived at Esparanza. While all of this was happening, we maintained 24 hour contact with Gen MacArthur in Australia. We did not want to receive another one of those “where were you” messages from the General.

AGUSAN RIVER VALLEY

            Oct. 15, 1943 ESPERANZA  Fertig with Lowel Holder, 14th Bomb Sqd, go to Esperanza-to set up new FRS in preparation for our transfer from Liangan.

Agusan River area: Butuan Bay, Nasipit, Esperanza, Talacogan, Lapaz, Waloe, Umanyon River, Mills, Waters, Smith-Matsos  areas

            Nov. 15, 1943 NASIPIT MINDANAO  U.S.S. Narwahl delivers 46 tons of supplies-many radio sets-now more coast watcher stations can be set up; 22 men, 8 women & 2 children evacuated.

            Dec. 2, 1943 CABADARAN - AGUSAN - MINDANAO  U.S.S. Narwahl delivers 90 tons of supplies - Com. Parsons, two women, and five men go to Australia.

            Dec. 5, 1943 MAJACALAR BAY   3 women, 4 children, and 2 men evacuated - U.S.S. Narwahl

            Dec. 4, 1943 ESPARANZA - AGUSAN - M INDANAO  Martin, Mitsos, and Dapron arrive from Liangan, Lanao-Station is set up-new call letters are "WAT" for SWPA and inter-island, for U.S. Navy call letter are "ZAV". Lts. Konko, Chimelewski, Mills, LeCouvre, Garland, and Farrens continued to operate Station "WAM" until station "WAT" was set up and operating.

            Dec. 22, 1943   Japanese invade Liaugan-Lanao-Station "WAM" off the air

            Jan. 19, 1944 ESPARANZA   Dapron, Martin, and Mitsos promoted to lst Lieutenant. (Call letters changed to “WAT”.)

            Jan. 1944 TALACOGAN   Station "WAT" now moved another 6 hours up the Agusan River to Talacogan.

            Feb. 1944 TALACOGAN  Major James L Evans (M.D. ) (a "ham" radio operator) is put in command of station "WAT"

            More personnel arrive at station. Hage, Taylor, Schoen, LeCouvre, Holder, Mills, Garland, plus four Navy radio operators from Australia, and six Filipino operators.

            Transmissions increased in volume-Station "WAT" put on 24 hour duty. Two stations would receive messages; one station would send messages to MacArthur, and one station would send messages to Navy intelligence in Australia.

            March 1944 TALACOGAN-MINDANAO  Thirty new watcher stations are set up around Mindanao. Four new ones covering the Straits of Surigao. Two new ones around Davao.

            March 2, 1944 BUTUAN   U.S.S. Narwhal brings in 70 tons of supplies, plus Lt. Commander Wheeler (Naval Intelligence), Lt. Silva and four Filipino Radio Operators.

            U.S.S. Narwhal comes into Butuan Bay at high tide; by the time it was unloaded it was low tide. Submarine is now sitting on a sand bar. Everyone ran back and forth on sub deck trying to rock sub off sand bar, along with maximum power, and cannot budge it. A Japanese patrol plane circles sub a half dozen times, but leaves without bombing or strafing it. Everyone works harder; finally succeeds and sub leaves -- 28 women were evacuated.

            March 15 1944 TALACOGAN  Japanese bomb Butuan; they land and capture town. Bettys bomb Talacogan and strafe all huts. No one was killed; minor wounds only. This goes on for two days.

At Waloe, Agusan River, Mindanao June 6, 1944-Aug 1944

10th Military District Radio Station Personnel – Call letters “9LL”

            March 17 1944   A Japanese unit, moving south out of Butuan on the west side of the Agusan River, attacked a unit of the 113th Regt, 110th Div, defending Vitos Hill and drove them off. The defenders abandon a 20 mm cannon that had been dropped off to the guerrillas by the submarine NARWHAL. Captain Khailil Khodr, C.O. of the 113th Regt and Major Clyde Childress witnessed the action from a vantage point. There was a 37mm anti-tank gun nearby with its crew idly watching the attack. As soon as it was apparent that Khodr’s people were off the hill and the Japanese were in possession of it, the 37mm gun shoot rapid fire point blank into the exposed Jap soldiers who were standing in full view on the hill. The Japanese rapidly withdrew and never again attempted to penetrate any further into guerrilla held territory.

            April 30 1944   Mitsos was given 1000 pesos, to use in purchasing food from the local natives. In October 1944 he returned the 1000 pesoes to the finance officer, and yet managed to keep the two stations (Mills and Waters) supplied with food.

            May 6 1944 WALOE, AGUSAN  Waloe-4 more hours up Agusan. Food is not available here. Jungles uninhabitable - unfriendly natives - cerebral malaria common here. Contact with Australia maintained. Today, six Bettys salvo bombs on Talacogan - every hut destroyed.

            May 8 1944 WALOE  Commander Wheeler made CO of FRS. Major Evans CO of Medical Corp. Reporting of all Japanese planes and ship movements improved to within ten minutes of sightings.

            Procuring food in this area became a major problem. What few farms there were in the Agusan River Valley could not be seen from the boats on the river. In fact, you seldom saw any nipa huts, either.

            Mitsos was given the assignment of procuring rice and delivering it to the two emergency stations. It was difficult to convince headquarters that there wasn't any rice to be purchased in the valley.

            June 1944 WALOE  Radio transmission between coast watchers, Australia, and the U.S. Navy almost doubled this month. there was plenty of Japanese freighters going between the islands-but very few naval ships. MacArthur to Fertig: Guam to be invaded June, 1944 - Location of Japanese task forces unknown - Imperative to locate same. Next day-Fertig to MacArthur: Palawan spots large task force in South China Sea heading north. Panay also sends message. Another small fleet spotted by Mindanao and Leyte coast watchers. Fleet heading toward Luzon. By now, Japanese task force is under surveillance of the Luzon coast watchers and the final message is sent by Gerald Chapman.

            Samar Coast Watcher Gerald Chapman sent the final message on this large Japanese task force passing through the San Bernardino Straights., heading eastward towards Guam. This message was sent to Radio Station “WAT” for transmission to U.S. Navy in Australia, June 16, 1944.

Marianas Turkey Shoot

            June 19 1944 PHILIPPINE SEA BATTLE “MARINAS TURKEY SHOOT”   U.S. Naval aircraft attack Japanese task force in Philippine Sea. When it was over, 350 Japanese aircraft had been shot down, compared to 30 U.S. losses. This sea-air battle was called "The Marianas Turkey Shoot”. (see chapter 10 for  A Day in the Life of Station MAG.)

            July 1 1944 PAGADIAN BAY  U.S.S. Narwhal lands 16 men, 25 tons of supplies. Rosenquist, McGrath and Finnegan in the group. This landing was supposed to have been made at Butuan, but the Japanese had captured this town and every barrio for 30 kilometers up the Agusan River, so the landing was made at Pagadian. Two men evacuated.

            July 25 1944 WALOE, AGUSAN  Major Rosenquist (G2), Sgt. McGrath and Sgt. Finnegan (weatherman) arrive at 10th MD station. It took them 55 days of walking through jungle trails around Japanese garrisons to arrive at Waloe.  WAT call letters changed to “9LL”.

UMAYON RIVER

Aug. 1944 to Nov 1, 1944

            August, 1944 - Upper Agusan River   Russel Smith, Mitsos and four guerrillas were assigned to set up a radio station in the path of on coming Japanese troops. Japanese had pushed up three trails towards Waloe.

            Force Radio Station (FRS) had moved another 10 hours further up the Agusan to the Umayon River. This was an area where hostile pagan natives lived with a complete dislike for any strangers entering their river valley.

            Food procurement became the second biggest problem for there weren't any farms in this area, at least not where you could easily see or reach them. By now, the Japanese had advanced to within a couple kilometers of Waloe and to two other tributaries around Waloe.

            Both sides of the river banks were heavy unpenetrable jungles, so the only means of transportation was by baroto (a small dugout canoe) poled by two natives.

            The first couple of times I stepped into a baroto, I ended up in the river. After a couple of lessons and help from the natives, you learn how to get in and out without falling in the river.

            Anyway, you would load the supplies in this baroto leaving space in the middle for one person to sit on the bottom with crossed legs. There you would stay for 8 to 10 hours until you reached your destination. In a diesel motor launch, the same distance could be covered in 2 to 3 hours, and you would be sitting on a bench.

            You seldom stopped to eat for it was too dangerous. The hill people would think you were coming to attack their villages. Every so often (like two hours), you would see one nipa hut on the bank, but no natives. If you saw a total of 4 nipa huts in 10 hours of riding, this was a semi-populated area. Another thing you learn early in the jungles, distance was always measured in time, whether you were walking or riding in a boat.

            It would take ten hours to go up river and maybe three hours to come down river, depending on the rate of flow of the river. Russell Smith and Mitsos arrived at the tributary where we set up the station that was supposed to be captured, complete with outdated code books. Between us and the oncoming Japanese, were about two squads of guerrillas that had fought a delaying action against a company of Japanese, for six months (March to August 1944).

            The plan was for us to join this retreating group of guerrillas and let all the equipment to be captured, and thus give the Japanese the impression they had captured the 10th M.D. Radio Station.

            What we didn't know was that the guerrillas had run out of ammunition and had already retreated one hour up the river past us.

            Now, there weren't any troops between our station and the advancing Japanese, so we put a guard about 10 minutes away from the camp, just to avoid any surprise attacks. Any form of communication between the units was non-existent. At the time we left Waloe to set up this decoy station, the guerrillas were where they were supposed to be, but by the time we got to the tributary, (which could have been two or three days) they had run out of ammunition, retreated, and they did not have any radio to inform us of the change.

            The shortage of ammunition in the guerrillas was one of our biggest problems. On one occasion one sub delivered 50,000 rounds of ammo. This broke down to five rounds per man in a 10,000 man guerrilla movement. Every submarine brought in some ammo on each trip, but never enough.

            Within a couple of days, the Japanese started withdrawing all their troops out of the Agusan River Valley. If they had only known that our backs were up against the wall, as we couldn't go any further up the rivers.

            They would not have captured us, but they would have gotten all of our equipment. This wouldn't have stopped the radio transmissions to Australia, because four other stations were set up to take over our job. Wilson, Hedges, Bowler, and one other, whose name escapes me.

            We found out a couple of days later that American planes had attacked Butuan and they may have thought that an American landing was coming.

            The thing we did not have in the islands was good radio communication between the various units. When an outfit got attacked, the C.O. would send runners to the other companies near by so they could be on the lookout for any attacks.

            September 1944    It would normally take about three days to make the trip from Butuan to Waloe by launch. (A distance of 60 kilometers) The Japanese started their attack in April 1944 and started their withdrawal in September 1944, after the air attack at Butuan.

            The guerrilla company of 120 men stationed in Butuan, slowed the advance of 1000 Japanese soldiers in April. They were out-gunned and outnumbered, but for 150 days they fought and retreated. The Japanese had mortars, machine guns, ammunition, food, supplies, and an armored launch with a 20mm on it. All fighting was done in the jungles.

            The guerrillas had about 100 rounds of ammunition per man, a few hand grenades, and caches of food supplies in various places up the Agusan River - and that was all. When they ran out of ammunition, they retreated; they had no choice.

            OCTOBER 1944 WALOE   MacArthur to Fertig: "Tacloban, Leyte to be invaded 20 October 1944. Evacuate all Filipinos week before." When the Japanese saw the Filipinos leaving town, they also left. A new line of defense was set up by the Japanese about five kilometers outside of Tacloban.

            OCTOBER 17 1944 TACLOBAN, LEYTE, P.I.  U.S. Navy shells Tacloban.

            OCTOBER 20 1944 TACLOBAN  MacArthur invades Leyte - unopposed - minimum casualties on beach. About five kilometers inland U.S. Forces run into heavy resistance.-

            OCTOBER 21-24 1944 WALOE   Many messages were transmitted from Fertig to MacArthur. The U.S. Navy and MacArthur knew the positions, direction and number of ships in three task forces two days prior to the sea battles.

            The Negros Coast Watchers informed us of two Japanese task forces rendezvousing at the southern tip of the island, heading toward Leyte.

            Bohol Coast Watchers advise us of Japanese task force heading toward Leyte.

            Surigao Coast Watchers advise us of Japanese task force entering Surigao Straits.

            U.S. Navy strikes Japanese task force in Surigao Straits on 24 October 1944, inflicting heavy damage.

            Palawan Coast Watchers advise us of Japanese task force in South China Sea, heading northeast.

            Mindoro Coast Watchers inform us of Japanese task force going around southern tip of island.

            Luzon Coast Watchers advise of Japanese task force in Sibuyan Sea.

            U.S. Navy strikes superior Japanese task force in Sibuyan Sea on 24 October 1944, inflicting heavy damage.

            DEC 1, 1944 ORMOC, LEYTE  MacArthur's troops land at Ormoc, Leyte, unopposed, and head toward the Japanese positions holding up another U.S. Army Division.

            DEC 8, 1944 ORMOC GULF, LEYTE  Leyte Coast Watcher informs us that a half dozen barges loaded with Japanese are heading toward Ormoc. Objective: Attack our troops at landing site.

            Message sent to MacArthur: "P-38's sank all barges. No Japanese soldiers made it to shore." American losses in this battle, none.

            Although little incidents such as this are insignificant to history, their importance lies in the lives that are saved.

            Had the Japanese landed at Ormoc and attacked our supply base there, the U.S. Army could have suffered larger losses than the Japanese did.

            DEC 29, 1944   Childress, Hage, Konko, Martin, Mitsos, Dapron, LeCouvre and Waters are reassigned from tenth M.D. USFIP to GHQ USAFFE on Leyte.

            JAN. 12, 1945    we boarded two P.T. Boats at mouth of Agusan and headed for Leyte.

            JAN 14, 1945  Arrive at Tacloban, Leyte.