161st Infantry, Company F, February 1945

I am looking for information regarding the 161st Infantry Regiment, Company F, in February 1945, in particular the 'Dirty Dozen' and Capt. Alfred Finck, my uncle who died on February 25th while attempting to take Taka Hill in the Phillipines

 

I also am looking for information on the 161st Infantry Regiment, Company F.

My Uncle was 'KIA' in WWII, during the battle to take San Manuel in the Pangasin Province, Phillipines.

I found the following on the battle but would like to talk with others and find more information:

========================

First Attack Haulted

The main attack on the town began on January 24th, by the 1st Battalion supported by six Shermans but was halted by a drainage ditch and 47mm anti-tank fire. One tank was lost, 4 disabled and one immobilized, and 8 KIA 63 WIA.

Southern Attack & House-To-House Fighting

The 2nd Battalion attacked from the south towards the town. The first assault was stopped by three Japanese tanks. A second attack gained a foothold in town and destroyed 5 tanks. The next day the attack was reinforced by the 1st and 3rd Battalions, and a slow house-to-house fight took place. On the morning of January 26, 1945 assualted the area with over a dozen Sherman tanks, firing on the Japanese from a safe distance, destroying most.

Banzai Attack & End of the Battle

By the 27th, the remainng tanks were pushed back to the hills. Knowing they had no route of escape, the 7th Tank Regiment carried out a Banzai attack at 0100 on January 28th with the remaining 13 tanks. Ten were destroyed before breaking the American lines, the remaining three retreated towards the hills.
By 1330 on the 28th the Japanese had abandoned San Manuel. The Japanese lost all their tanks, heavy weapons and 750 KIA. Commander Shigemi and 7th Tank Regiment commander Colonel Maeda were both killed. After four days of intense close-combat the 161st liberated the town. For their gallantry in the battle for San Manuel, both Company E and Cannon Company, 161st Infantry were awarded Presidential Unit Citations. After the battle, the US Army 32nd Infantry Division arrived at this town, then proceeded to San Nicolas

 

"Triumph in the Philippines" is online is case you did not know.

HyperWar: US Army in WWII: Triumph In the Philippines

http://www.25thida.com/161stinf.html

And I have a seven page "Commentary on Reduction Strong
Point San Manuel, Luzon, P.I," written by Col. James Dalton,
dated 8 February 1945. It is a legal size document, which
I copied at the NARA on 14 August. The pdf is about seven
megabytes.


Dave

 

Dave,

Could you e-mail a copy of the report?

And I have a seven page "Commentary on Reduction Strong Point San Manuel, Luzon, P.I," written by Col. James Dalton, dated 8 February 1945. It is a legal size document, which I scanned at the NARA on 14 August. The pdf is about seven megabytes.

My e-mail is msgelinne at gmail.com

Thanks.

Mike Gelinne

 

Mike,

I sent you a copy of the Dalton report.


Dave

 

By the way, I have four Signal Corps photos of the 161st which I
scanned at the NARA:

210437 Jap PW, Luzon 6/19/1945

264167 Bazooka Man, K Company, Luzon 3/23/1945

264171 K Co., 3rd Bn., 161st cross Balete Pass 3/23/1945

264215 Balete Pass, Luzon 3/27/1945


Dave

 

I discovered today I have an additional 46 pages of history
of the 161st in Luzon. They cover the landing through
the engagement at Mount Taka in late February 1945.

I just finished scanning the pages at 300 dpi. The result
is a 33 megabyte file, which I will convert to five parts
for email.


Dave

 

You can write to the Department of the Army's U.S. Army Human Resources Command to obtain your uncle's Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) or also known as the 293 File. This is packed with information from where your uncle is buried, communication from all various departments and next of kin, morning report(s) listing in detail what happened to your uncle and sometimes graphic pictures, artifacts if unclaimed by family and eyewitness testimony.

I did this for my great uncle and found a treasure trove of good information. But be warned, some files can contain very graphic testimony, artifacts and images. It took me about five months to get this information back, so please be patient.

Address
Department of the Army
U.S. Army Human Resources Command
200 Stovall Street
Alexandria, VA 22332-0400

Request for IDPF form.
293 File

Here is the pdf file I made you can fill out and then print. However, when I uploaded it to Scribd, the fields vanished. But if you would like, I can upload the file to a file sharing site. The address I listed in this thread and the one in the form are different, but not to worry because they go to the same office.

 

Hans,

I am going to request a copy of my uncle's IDPF.

Thank you.

Mike

 

Once you get his 293 file, please share with us what you are willing through images or a wall of text description of what you found. But be ready to wait up to six months to receive it.

Here is the link where you can download the PDF form requesting the 293/IDPF form. You can type in the information into the PDF and then print and mail.
http://www.filefront.com/15075951/293 File.rar

You will need WinRAR to open up the pdf file. It can be downloaded from this link.
http://www.rarlab.com/rar/wrar391b2.exe

 

Looking for information on my father, Kearney Scott Bothwell, who joined Co. F on July 6, 1944, and was later assigned to BTN & then RGT I&R platoon.

 

His records were among those lost in the 1973 fire at NARA.

 

Dave -

I realize this is an old post, would it be possible to get copies of the 161st Infantry SC photos you mentioned in post #6?

thanks,
Peter

 

My Uncle, George W. Cook from Baker, Oregon was also Killed at the Battle of San Manuel, 24 Jan. 1945. He was an armor bearer, and returned with ammo for their machine gun and found the other two KIA, so he took the gun and fired for a long while before being wounded in the arm. His buddies were carrying him back to an aid station when he was hit again, which was fatal. I have the original telegram from the war dept. to my grandmother, and also a letter from his friend that helped carry him on how he was killed.

 

Harold,

Where did you get the information about your uncle?

NARA had nothing for me due to the 1973 fire and when I contacted the Washington State National Guard (161st was originally a National Guard unit that was Federalized) I received the run-around.

Michael Gelinne