Philippine Scout Claims Bataan as a Victory

Victory In Defeat
Comments by Col. Mel Rosen at 18th Annual Reunion
I get rather disturbed by constantly hearing that the fall of Bataan and Corregidor was such a great disaster for the United States. Let me tell you my approach to this. If you agree with me, I request--no, I implore you to help me spread this word!

In 1941, the Japanese Imperial Headquarters gave Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma 50 days in which to completely conquer the Philippines. At the end of that time, they were going to take half of Homma's 14th Army with appropriate parts of his air and naval support for operations in the South presumably against New Zealand and Australia. At that time, New Zealand had few if any defensive forces, and Australia had only about 6,000 troops, as their forces were all fighting in North Africa. The Japanese would have gone through New Zealand and Australia like a hot knife through butter. Then what was going to stop the Japanese from taking Hawaii? The U.S. was still reeling from the disaster at Pearl Harbor. Instead of 50 days, the Fil-American forces on Bataan and Corregidor held out for 150 days thereby completely upsetting the Japanese timetable for victory in the Pacific. The Fil-American forces, fighting with no air support and with no hope of ever getting any replacements, held out until their ammunition, their weapons, medicine, food, and, yes, people just plain gave out. But we gave the United States what it needed most at that time and that was time!

I submit that even in defeat, the Fil-American forces on Bataan and Corregidor may have given the United States one of its more important victories of WWII.

http://www.philippine-scouts.org/Articles/rosen_comments.html

 

Looks like another case of 'Forgotten Heroes' and a reminder that, certainly in war, things are seldom as simple as they may appear....

 

Yes Martin the Philippine Scouts are truly a group of forgotten heroes. Even in their own country they recieve little recognition. Well at least now the US is beginning to allow them to recieve their vetrans benifets.

 

I agree completely reddog, The men of USAFFE Did stem the Japanese Tide in the Early months of the Pacific.


Too bad our Philippine Garrison/ Philippine army was only up to 35% of its strength when war broke out.

CvM

[ 06. August 2003, 07:57 PM: Message edited by: Carl G. E. von Mannerheim ]

 

Imagine what would have happened if the Philippine Army was at full strength before the war

Maybe they could have held out long enough, and supplies would have come the next year.

 

Here's more on the Philippine Scouts. BTW, I agree with the view that had the Philippines fallen earlier, Japan's expansion would have been faster.
The website is PSHS - The Philippine Scouts on Bataan: Their Finest Hour. This is an old thread but I found it through the search function. It seems that this is the appropriate place to post this.
The Philippine Scouts on Bataan: Their Finest Hour

by J. Michael Houlahan

The heroic role played by the Philippine Scouts [PS] in the defense of Bataan is one of the best kept secrets of the war. In fact, the most decorated U.S. Army units in the early days of World War II were composed of Filipinos.
While the commissioned officers of the Scouts included a number of native-born Americans, the noncommissioned officers and enlisted men were Pinoys. Well trained and highly motivated, they played a dominant role in blunting the initial attacks of over 43,000 fanatical Japanese, buoyed by an unbroken string of victories in China and South East Asia. This heroic stand began while opposing the Lingayen Gulf landings in mid-December 1941 and lasted beyond the surrender of the main body of Fil-Am forces on Bataan in early April 1942. Smaller groups of Scouts continued to resist the Japanese from Corregidor and the southern islands. Hundreds joined guerrilla groups following Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright's surrender of his Philippine command one month after the fall of Bataan.
During the defense of Bataan, three Scouts earned Medals of Honor, America's highest award for combat valor. Sergeant Jose Calugas, Sr. became the first Filipino ever to earn a Medal of Honor. First Lieutenant Alexander Ramsey Nininger, an officer of the 57th Infantry [PS] became the first member of his West Point class to die in combat and the first Medal of Honor recipient during World War II. First Lieutenant Willibald C. Bianchi of the 45th Infantry [PS] was the final Scout to earn a Medal of Honor. Of the three, only Sergeant Calugas would survive the war. Numerous Distinguished Service Crosses, Silver Stars and Purple Hearts also were earned by Scouts.
Scout heroics included the last cavalry charge of the United States Army. A 26th Cavalry [PS] platoon commanded by Second Lieutenant Edwin Ramsey unexpectedly encountered the advance guard of a large Japanese infantry force at Morong on the Bataan Peninsula. Deciding his best hope was an immediate attack, Ramsey launched a wild cavalry charge, scattering the dumfounded Japanese. A few weeks later the 26th Cavalry would be forced to eat their horses to stave off starvation. Ramsey escaped Bataan and gained fame leading a large guerrilla force against the Japanese.
Fierce Filipino Forces: The Japanese high command thought the Philippines could be captured in less than two months. The battle stretched to half a year because of the valiant defense of the Philippine Scouts.

Scout Origins

Organized in 1901 and recruited from the indigenous population, the Philippine Scouts initially were used to suppress Muslim Moro rebels in the southern islands and garrison the Philippines when most U.S. troops were diverted to Europe during World War I. In gratitude for this, the U.S. Congress authorized induction of the 6,000 Scouts into the regular U. S. Army.
A common misperception is that the Philippine Scouts are descended from the Macabebe Scouts, who gained notoriety by serving first the Spanish, then the Americans during the suppression of the Philippine independence movement. The Macabebe's also are resented for playing a key role in the capture by subterfuge of General Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the Filipino independence forces. The Philippine Scouts and the Macabebe Scouts were formed almost simultaneously, but separately.
In 1935, when the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines was established, the Scouts played a major role in training recruits and furnished many of the most able Filipino officers in the newly-authorized Philippine Army.
Defensive Preparations

Unfortunately the Philippine Army was far from completely trained and deployed when the Japanese attacked in December 1941. Furthermore, much needed supplies and reinforcements were still months from delivery. One of the very few bright spots in this gloomy scenario was the well-trained Philippine Scouts, who had almost doubled in manpower in the year prior to the war, now numbering nearly 12,000 officers and men.
The U.S. Army contingent, which was the only truly professional military force available to General MacArthur, totaled just over 2,500 commissioned officers, only 31 of whom were Scouts, and 28,591 enlisted men, almost 12,000 of them Scouts. The 10,000-man Philippine Division, with nearly 8,000 Philippine Scouts contributing most of its combat muscle, was the only trained fighting unit of its size in General MacArthur's command. The Division consisted of the 57th Infantry Regiment [PS], the 45th Infantry Regiment [PS], and the 31st Infantry Regiment, made up of American troops. Supplementing the Philippine Division, were the 26th Cavalry [PS] the 43rd Infantry [PS], two Scout field artillery regiments, two American light tank battalions and an American Coastal Artillery/Anti-aircraft unit.
An additional 2,000 Scouts were involved in Harbor Defense and Service Detachments. None were included in the Army Air Corps, which was decimated at the beginning of the conflict, inexplicably caught on the ground by a Japanese air raid several hours following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The 120,000 man Philippine Army consisted mainly of reservists whose mobilization took place over a three-month period up to the outbreak of hostilities. Mostly under-trained and poorly-equipped, its fighting ability was suspect. Many of the conscripts went into combat never previously having fired their weapon. Furthermore, many spoke no Tagalog, the language of most of their Filipino officers. The results were sadly predictable when these raw recruits were thrown into battle against better-trained and equipped Japanese.
MacArthur's prospects were further compromised by detailed intelligence on Fil-Am defenses supplied by numerous spies hidden among the 30,000 Japanese residing in the Philippines.
Armed with Courage: The well-trained Philippine Scouts courageously defended the Philippines when Japanese troops attacked in 1941. The Scouts' courage made up for the lack of supplies and reinforcements.

War Plan Orange

During the early days of the Japanese onslaught, most of the elite troops of the Philippine Division were held in reserve while the Philippine Army units were being mauled on the invasion beaches. On Christmas day it became clear to General MacArthur that allied beach defenses were unable to hold, and he fell back on War Plan Orange.
War Plan Orange required Fil-Am forces to retreat to Bataan and Corregidor, then withstand a lengthy siege. A six-month stockpile of food, ammunition and other necessities would tide over garrisons of 40,000 and 10,000 until the American Pacific Fleet could mount a rescue. [After the near total destruction of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, realists in Washington knew that the garrison might have to hold out as long as two or three years.]
War Plan Orange planned for a garrison of 50,000. As the siege began, more than 90,000 Fil-Am troops and 26,000 civilians were trapped on Bataan and Corregidor.
From the beginning, General MacArthur viewed War Plan Orange as defeatist. Because of this he successfully pressured the War Department to approve Rainbow 5, an alternative plan based on defending the beaches. Developed in partnership with the British, this plan theoretically would have allowed MacArthur to defend all of the Philippines and to blockade the South China Sea. Such an action would thwart Japanese plans to expand their empire to include the Malay Peninsula [now Singapore and Malaysia] and the Netherlands Indies [now Indonesia.] According to some historians, this sealed the fate of the Philippines, which Japan had planned to bypass in their conquest aimed at seizing South East Asian oil fields and rubber plantations. Unfortunately, there was neither the time nor the will for the massive buildup needed to implement Rainbow 5.
War Plan Orange had been compromised by MacArthur's forward placement of supplies in support of his misguided beach defense strategy. Most of these stockpiles were either destroyed by the retreating Fil-Am troops or captured by the Japanese, so the ammunition, food and medicine needed to withstand a lengthy siege of Bataan and Corregidor were not available. Almost immediately the Fil-Am defenders were placed on half rations, which eventually were reduced even further. As a result, the surrendered troops were malnourished and ill, which contributed to the high mortality rate on the Bataan Death March and in the prison camps.
When General MacArthur reverted to War Plan Orange, it fell to the 26th Cavalry (PS) to shore up Philippine Army units attempting to delay the Japanese long enough to allow the bulk of MacArthur's command to withdraw from Manila, now declared an "open city." This maneuver was made more difficult for two reasons. First, most of the Fil-Am troops were forced to travel by land, thereby requiring them to move north from Manila towards the invading Japanese closing in from the Lingayen Gulf landings, then swing west skirting the impenetrable Candaba Swamp to prepared defensive positions on Bataan Peninsula. Secondly, this maneuver had been part of the West Point curriculum for more than 30 years, including periods when Japanese officers had studied at the Military Academy, so the Japanese high command knew exactly what to expect.
Despite these obstacles, in a series of courageous, hard-fought rear guard actions spearheaded by the 26th Cavalry, the Japanese were slowed sufficiently to allow the main body of MacArthur's troops to withdraw to Bataan. The week's delay in the Japanese advance was adequate for the troops, but not nearly enough to relocate supplies from the exposed caches. Casualties during the 26th Cavalry's heroic series of rearguard actions reduced the unit by a quarter to under 650 Scouts.
Bataan

Shortly after the reversion to War Plan Orange, in late December 1941, major Scout elements of the Philippine Division were moved to the Abucay line, the first row of defensive positions on the Bataan Peninsula. By January 9, all Fil-Am units were successfully repositioned on Bataan. The withdrawal had been costly, with the Fil-Am forces fighting the delaying action reduced to 30,000 men from an initial strength of 43,000. However, most of this reduction in force was due to desertions by inexperienced Filipino reservists. The Japanese lost around 4,500 men, more than half due to illness.
After some initial probing by both sides, the battle for Bataan began in earnest when the Japanese launched a major assault on January 11. Fortunately, the Japanese high command assumed that MacArthur's troops were in a state of near collapse and that their 50-day timetable for seizing the Philippines was on schedule. As a result, they ordered General Homma, commander of the Japanese invasion force, to release his 48th Division and the 5th Air Group for use in the upcoming Java campaign. These two seasoned units were Homma's best fighting assets. Largely made up of Formosans, the 48th had been a particularly nasty foe with a reputation for abusing prisoners and civilians. "Mopping up" on Bataan was now assigned to the Japanese 16th Division, which did not have a good combat record, and the newly arrived 65th Brigade. The 6,500 soldiers of the 65th Brigade were mostly conscripts intended for garrison duty, not a first rate fighting force.
Heroic Stand

Due mainly to the heroics of Scouts units, Fil-Am forces were able to hold the Abucay line just over two weeks, then retreated to their main defensive position, the Orion-Bagac Line, about half way down the peninsula. Here they fought the Japanese to a standstill, repulsing several attempted amphibious end runs and some temporary Japanese penetrations of the main defensive line. In late February the Japanese pulled back. They had absorbed 7,000 combat casualties and had between 10,000 and 12,000 troops incapacitated by disease. During his post-war trial for war crimes, General Homma testified that, by the end of February, his army had ceased to be an effective fighting force and that a Fil-Am counteroffensive would have overrun his command and retaken Manila.
However, depleted by combat casualties, starvation and disease, MacArthur's forces did not attempt a breakout. The pause in heavy combat was a prelude to the end for the Fil-Am defensive effort. Re-supplied with fresh troops, Homma launched a Good Friday offensive on April 3, which broke through the final Fil-Am defenses forcing an unconditional surrender of all the units on Bataan on April 9. Corregidor was to suffer the same fate on May 5.
The aftermath of the surrender was horrific. Of the 75,000 Fil-Am soldiers captured on Bataan, only 63,000 arrived alive at Camp O'Donnell following the Bataan Death March. Some of the 12,000 who were unaccounted for, escaped. However, many thousands died on the way, succumbing to thirst, starvation, disease and Japanese brutality. In camp O'Donnell itself, approximately 26,000 Filipinos and 1,565 Americans died. Included among the Filipino victims were 2,600 Scouts. Between combat, the Bataan Death March and prison camp, approximately half the 12,000 Scouts did not survive the war.
The fifty-day conquest of the Philippines predicted by the Japanese high command had taken six months. The valiant stand of the Philippine Scouts had bought enough time to save Australia and New Zealand from invasion. These two countries would then become the staging point from which General Douglas MacArthur would launch his island-hopping campaign leading to his wading ashore on a Leyte invasion beach in mid-October 1944, thereby making good on his famous "I shall return" promise.
The Japanese unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945 ended World War II. The United States quickly moved to fulfill its pre-war promise, granting independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946. These two events marked the beginning of the end for the Philippine Scouts. Many of the veteran Scouts became naturalized Americans and transferred to non-Scout units. By early 1950 only a few hundred unabsorbed pre-war Scouts remained. A proud tradition of loyalty and combat heroism in the service of the United States had ended, made obsolete by the demise of the colonial relationship and the achievement of full independence for the Philippines.
Many of the Philippine Scouts joined guerrilla units to harass the Japanese following the Fil-Am surrender.

Newsletter editor J. Michael Houlahan is a retired Foreign Service Officer, who served as Cultural Affairs Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Manila from 1989 to 1992. This article is republished with permission from the October 2002 issue of Filipinas magazine.

 

Here's more about this almost forgotten US Army unit.

Bataan: Victory in Defeat

by Larry L. Pangan, MSgt. USA (Ret.) (Deceased)

Sixty years ago on April 9, 1942, elements of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East fighting on the Bataan Peninsula, surrendered to the enemy. It was the largest known mass surrender of any contingent in U.S. Armed Forces history.
But on the comforting side, let us look back in history prior to that dark day of April 9. What the defenders of Bataan accomplished between December 8, 1941 and April 8, 1942 will remain as a major victory even in the face of humiliating defeat. During the many battles of this period, the records show that we inflicted heavy causalities on the enemy. We disrupted the Japanese Imperial High Command timetable for taking control of the entire Pacific Rim, including the Philippines, by the end of January 1942. To save face, the Japanese ordered their advancing troops back to the Philippines to reinforce their already large numbers. Not only did they have superior arms; they also had complete control of air and sea. We were dug in and were getting weaker every day, being on short food rations and a limited supply of ammunition and medical supplies.
After General Douglas MacArthur slipped out of his headquarters in the Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor with the Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon and his family on their way to Australia, we were given orders to hold our positions at all cost. From that moment in late February 1942, we became expendable. We were the sacrificial lambs left behind at the mercy of the enemy. But before the enemy succeeded, we had killed thousands upon thousands of them. That earned us the name "The Battling Bastards of Bataan." In retaliation for their losses, during the "death march" and in the concentration camps, they tortured us. When reminded, they said they did not believe in the provisions of the Geneva Convention. Our beleaguered forces were comprised of the Philippine Commonwealth Army (with little training and experience), U.S. Air Force and Navy personnel (who were given rifles and pistols to fight as infantry), and U.S. Army 31st Infantry Regiment, the 4th Marine Battalion, and a National Guard Tank Battalion from New Mexico. The main driving force in containing the enemy during the four plus months of fighting was the elite U.S. Regular Army Philippine Scout units. As recorded in military history, these Scout units fighting on Bataan, distinguished themselves in battle after battle, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. As a result of these engagements, three Philippine Scouts won the Medal of Honor, America's highest award for valor in combat. They are:
Sgt. Jose Calugas, Sr. of the 88th Field Artillery (PS), who was awarded his for actions taken on Jan. 6, 1942. Sgt. Calugas ran 1,000 yards to direct a battery gun, which a volunteer squad fired effectively against the enemy, although his position remained under constant and heavy Japanese artillery fire. Calugas survived the death march and concentration camp. He continued his military service and retired with the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army. He settled in Tacoma, Washington with his family, and passed away in 1999.
On January 12, 1942, 2nd Lt. Alexander R. Nininger, Jr. of the 57th Infantry Regiment (PS), inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. Although wounded three times, he continued his single attack deep in enemy terrain until he was killed. When his body was found after recapture of the position, one enemy officer and two enemy soldiers lay dead around him. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
The third recipient of the Medal of Honor is 1st Lt. Willibald C. Bianchi of the 45th Infantry Regiment, (PS) during the action on February 3, 1942, and "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty" in action with the enemy. The records also show that each of the Philippine Scout Units earned three Presidential Unit Citations. Typical of the valor of the Scouts is the record of the 57th Infantry (PS), whose members were awarded 21 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 68 Silver Stars during their combat service in Bataan.

Just who are these Philippine Scouts? They are professional Filipino soldiers organized by authority of the U.S. Congress in 1901 to replace the American soldiers who were going home after the U.S. defeated Spain in 1898. The initial strength was 6,000 who were commanded by American Officers who were mostly West Point graduates. Well-known officers who have served with the Philippine Scouts are General John J. Pershing, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General Douglas MacArthur, and General Jonathan Wainwright. By early 1941, their strength was increased to 12,000 due to the growing tension between Japan and the United States. Little known outside the Philippines and largely forgotten by the U.S. Army of which they were a proud part, the Scouts were soldiers par excellence, according to the statements of the Generals who have served with them. We celebrated the Philippine Scouts Centennial on October 6, 2001, at the Presidio of San Francisco. Today, there are just a few hundred of the original Scouts left who fought on Bataan and Corregidor. To preserve the history and legacy of the Scouts, we formed the "Philippine Scouts Heritage Society" in 1989.

 

More details on Medal of Honor awardee Jose Calugas. He looks like a very tough mean guy.
this is from the website PSHS - Philippine Scout Heroes of WWII


Jose Calugas. Sr.

Jose Calugas, Sr., had a long and illustrious career with the U.S. Army, first as a Philippine Scout and then in a range of assignments after the war until his retirement with the rank of captain. It was as a Scout that Calugas was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism on January 6, 1942, at Culis, Bataan Province. As a Sergeant in Battery B of the 88th Field Artillery (PS), Calugas witnessed the Japanese bombing and shelling of a nearby Scout gun position until it was put out of commission and its crew members killed or wounded. Calugas from his own battery, in the words of the Medal of Honor citation, "voluntarily and without orders ran 1,000 yards across the shell-swept area to the gun position. There he organized a volunteer squad which placed the gun back in commission and fired effectively against the enemy, although the position remained under constant and heavy Japanese artillery fire."
I met Jose Calugas and his family in Tacoma, Washington, during a reunion of the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society. It was a great honor to speak with him and to be in his presence. In frail health, Jose Calugas, Sr. passed away in 1999. He is remembered in many ways including Calugas Circle, a section of family quarters at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. After the dedication of Calugas Circle in 1999, Jose Calugas, Jr., and the entire family presented the Medal of Honor to the Fort's museum for safekeeping and display. It will always be symbol of an extraordinary man who went to extraordinary lengths to defend his country and his fellow man.

 

Thanks Falcon, I hoped you'd add some useful information about the Scouts. It was great reading and the Medal of Honor well deserved!

 

When the Japanese invaded the philippines, the philippine military academy was closed down. third years and fourth years were immediately commissioned as second luies while the lower classmen were sent home. the sad thing: the lower classmen immediately enlisted and joined their senior cadets in the bataan defense as privates.


what comes to an 18-year old's mind at a time like that i wonder?

 

That's true. Many of these cadets plus others from the ROTC were later grouped in the guerrilla unit Hunter's ROTC Guerillas.

You're welcome Skipper. You guys have experts from all the war theaters and it's pretty tough to find new info to share.

 

The P.S. never surrendered! They kept the fight as guerrillas until the liberation, and held out on almost nothing far longer than they were expected to by the Nip.

They will never be forgotten.

 

Conversly by the same logic the Japanese were successful on all of their island stronghold scenarios because in each and every one the projected American timetables to secure them was thrown off large amounts.

Logistically Austrailia did present a real threat as a target of invasion. Hawaii was a damned long way to mount a serious invasion. There could be no possible, realistic supply line if a landing did occur.

Besides, if we look at Guadalcanal and the failure of the Japanese to conquer it I have no doubt that attempting the same on Hawaii would have been quite detrimental to the Japanese.

 

A little clarification...
The Philippine Scouts from prewar and the Bataan campaign did receive and have always received their benefits. It's the "new scouts" formed after the war who were caught in the middle of the Rescission Act. The Philippine Army Bataan vets also fell victim to the Act and didn't get their benefits.

(VIDEO)
Incidentally, here is a long trailer preview of an upcoming documentary film about the Philippine Scouts:

YouTube - Forgotten Soldiers - trailer

 

That is exactly true. The "new" Philippine Scouts unit was formed by the US with some cadre from the original Philippine Scouts and a large number of new recruits. This new Philippine Scout unit and others soon-to-be formed Philippine units under US Army were to be used in the invasion of Japan.
Technically, they were classified as US soldiers but when the US let go of the Philippines, these soldiers were dumped too.

 

>Numerous Distinguished Service Crosses, Silver Stars and Purple Hearts also were earned by Scouts.

Let us remember recipients of the Bronze Star Medals and Combat Infantryman Badges as well.

The majority of participants should have, regardless...

Robert

 

The Philippine-American troops fought above the expectation thought, but they did so with one arm tied behind their back due to flawed high command who failed to follow the agreed war plan. Time, supplies and men were wasted that could have delayed the Japanese even further. With respect to Co. Rosen, I am not sure I could call it a victory, but from the sacrifice of the troops on the ground, it was a supremely honorable defeat.

 

not entirely true. the veterans' benefits is just some unhappy problem which the philippines can do little to ameliorate.

but every filipino i know knew of the battle, knew that homma was beaten back and had to call for reinforcements, knew of the the death march.

there's even a joke about women finally surrendering to their suitors' advances. whenever a woman gives in, her friends would say, "bataan has fallen again!"