Breuer - The Great Raid on Cabanatuan: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor

THE GREAT
RAID ON
CABANATUAN

Also by William B. Breuer

An American Saga

Bloody Clash at Sadzot

Captain Cool

They Jumped at Midnight

Drop Zone Sicily

Agony at Anzio

Hitlers Fortress Cherbourg

Death of a Nazi Army

Operation Torch

Storming Hitlers Rhine

Retaking the Philippines

Devil Boats

Operation Dragoon

The Secret War with Germany

Sea Wolf

Hitlers Undercover War

Geronimo!

Hoodwinking Hitler

Race to the Moon

THE GREAT
RAID ON
CABANATUAN

RESCUING THE DOOMED
GHOSTS OF BATAAN AND
CORREGIDOR

WILLIAM B. BREUER

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

New York Chichester Brisbane Toronto Singapore

This text is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright 1994 by William B. Breuer
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada.

Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If legal, accounting, medical, psychological, or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Breuer, William B.

The great raid on Cabanatuan : rescuing the doomed ghosts of
Bataan and Corregidor / William B. Breuer.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-471-03742-7 (cloth)

1. World War, 1939-1945Concentration campsPhilippines
Cabanatuan. 2. World War, 19391945CampaignsPhilippines
Cabanatuan. I. Title.
D805.P6B67 1994
940.5425dc20 94-7866

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedicated to
Admiral Frank B. Kelso, II (Ret.),
former Chief of Naval Operations,
whose leadership, competence, skills,
and vision have earned for him the enduring
respect and admiration of tens of thousands
of present and past members of the
United States Navy

No incident of the campaign in the Pacific has given me such satisfaction as the release of the POWs at Cabanatuan. The mission was brilliantly successful.

General Douglas MacArthur

February 1, 1945

Contents

Maps

Acknowledgments

Creating this book would have been impossible without the valuable help of 306 participantsthose who fought on Bataan and Corregidor and in adjacent waters, Rangers, Alamo Scouts, guerilla leaders, Death March survivors, and prisoners of the Japanese army at Cabanatuan and elsewhere during World War II. They dug out old diaries, notes, letters, drawings, newspaper and magazine clippings, decoration citations, diagrams, combat maps, unit rosters, and photographs, and sent them to me.

They probed their memories and provided recollections in face-toface and telephone interviews, and by correspondence, by audiotape, and by fax. Many of the former POWs were able to give remarkably detailed accounts because they referred to summaries of their experiences that they had compiled after returning home and in the years ahead.

Regrettably, because of space limitations and the need to avoid repetition, many recollections had to be omitted. However, these were helpful in reconstructing the story.

While all accounts were beneficial, special thanks go to the following participants:

Leon D. Beck, Bill Begley, Robert J. Body, Charles H. Bosard, Commander Henry J. Brantingham (Ret.), Vice Admiral John D. Bulkeley (Ret.), Captain Malcolm N. Champlin (Ret.), Commander Barron Chandler (Ret.), Jerry L. Coty, Gilbert J. Cox, William Delich, Charles Di Maio, Colonel John M. Dove (Ret.), James Drewes, Cecil Easley, William R. Evans, L. Rumsey Ewing.

David Foster, Franklin Fox, Thomas E. Gage, Colonel Robert W. Garrett (Ret.), Michael Gilewitch, Major Richard M. Gordon (Ret.), Colonel Samuel C. Grashio (Ret.), Russell E. Hamachek, Harold N. Hard, Neal Harrington, Clifton R. Harris, James B. Herrick, Dr. Ralph E. Hibbs, Lieutenant Colonel Ray C. Hunt (Ret.).

Mrs. Dorothy Janson, Charles C. Jensen, Navy Captain Robert B. Kelly (Ret.), Robert W. Lapham, Captain Elmer E. Long, Jr. (Ret.), MCPO Darrell M. McGhee (Ret.), William Milne, Colonel Henry A. Mucci (Ret.), William E. Nellist, Colonel Gibson Niles (Ret.), Cleatus G. Norton, Robert W. Prince, Leland A. Provencher.

Colonel Melvin Rosen (Ret.), Colonel Thomas Rounsaville (Ret.), Francis R. Schilli, Melville B. Schmidt, Brigadier General Austin C. Shofner (Ret.), Andy E. Smith, Colonel Henry J. Stempin (Ret.), Master Sergeant George R. Steiner (Ret.), August T. Stem, Jr., Leo V. Strausbaugh, Colonel Robert S. Sumner (Ret.), Alexander Troy (Truskowski), E. C. Witmer, Jr., Leon Wolf.

Tracking down 306 participants was a daunting and time-consuming task, one that could not have been accomplished without the valuable assistance of the following:

Captain Elmer E. Long, Jr. (Ret.), National Secretary, American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor; Joseph A. Vater, editor of Quart magazine, publication for former POWs of the Japanese; Ms. Clydie J. Morgan, National Adjutant, American Ex-Prisoners of War; Sue Langseth, editor, ExPOWBulletin) Mrs. Gregorio P. Chua, Filipino War Veterans of America; Leo V. Strausbaugh, president, U.S. 6th Ranger Battalion Association; Colonel Robert S. Sumner (Ret.), director, Alamo Scouts Association; Donald M. McKee; and former guerilla leader Lieutenant Colonel Ray C. Hunt (Ret.).

Appreciation is expressed to other individuals and organizations who assisted the author in a variety of ways:

Archie DiFante, Historical Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; Alyce Mary Guthrie, executive director, PT Boats, Inc., Memphis; Richard J. Sommers and his associates at the U.S. Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania; Dean C. Allard and B. F. Calavante, historians, Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC; Colonel Lyman H. Hammond, Jr. (Ret.), director, Douglas MacArthur Memorial, Norfolk, Virginia; Bernard Norling of Notre Dame University, a foremost authority on Philippines guerilla actions; Colonel Samuel C. Grashio (Ret.); Kim B. Holien; and the authors wife, Vivien Breuer, for her dedicated research and coordination.

Finally, a tip of my hat to numerous qualified men who read various chapters or portions of the manuscript with the critical eye of participants and provided the author with their expert critiques.

William B. Breuer
Lookout Mountain, Tennessee

A broiling sun began its ascent into the cloudless blue skies over Luzon, the largest of the Philippine Islands, when Lieutenant Colonel Henry A. Mucci, the scrappy leader of the U.S. 6th Ranger Battalion, convened a powwow of his officers in the barrio (hamlet) of Plateros. Mucci and 107 of his Rangers were in a perilous situation, for they had infiltrated thirty miles behind Japanese lines on one of the most audacious missions of the war in the Pacific and had been holed up in Plateros for twenty-four hours. It was January 30, 1945.