Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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gone scarcely a mile, I looked back and saw a great billow of smoke which marked the final resting place of our gallant Avenger. VVe were taken to a village or Barrio,5' about a mile and a half from where we landed. This would be about twelve miles south of Tarlac, and near the village of Concepcion. The countryside through which we passed was in the heart of an agricultural district cut up into small rectangular fields and farms. There were few dwellings in evidence, but along the way men, women and children would suddenly appear offering us fresh eggs, little cakes of sugar and other edibles. We had so many eggs that we could not carry them all, but we ate all we could raw and took the rest with us. Every- where we were greeted with Americano, after which the people would stare at us as though we were strange creatures newly arrived from another planet. Soon we reached the barrio. Here were grouped several houses of the thatched roof variety and which in America we would call huts. As we walked into the barrio and through the dusty main street, the whole pop- ulation turned out to welcome us. Their smiles and laughter would suddenly subside into stares. I have never been so stared at in my life and I guess we did our share of staring in return. For we had never seen at first hand the look an oppressed people bestows upon those who bring them promise of freedom after years 'of torture and misery. There is a look in the eye 5 an expression of face that tells what words cannot articulate. We four Americans, in our funny Hying suits, toting our parachutes, lirst-aid kits, life jackets and other impedimenta of our kind, were symbols of imminent release from suffering and heartbreak for which these simple folk had prayed to Almighty God. Since December 1941-three long years and more-these spiritually stalwart people had seen their land over-run, their crops and live- stock stolen, their sons and husbands tortured and killed, and their wives and daughters de- tiled at the point of gun and bayonet by a God- less army of barbarians. The guerillas told me later that Red Cross shipments of medicines and supplies of mercy intended for our Ameri- can prisoners of war had been confiscated by japanese authorities, diverted to their own greedy use, or sold to Filipinos at prices which only a handful could possibly pay. For ex- ample, a Filipino, ridden with malarial fever, could obtain a single capsule of quinine only by . 158

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them didn,t make it, but I don,t know how many we killed and wounded. Turning to get into position for a second run, I saw that the tanks, trucks and the automobile were burning merrily. just to make sure, I made two more runs. After completing the final attack, and knowing that the ,laps would never be able to use those vehicles again, I pulled up toward some low foothills that fringed the otherwise fiat plain. Here I saw what must have been several thousand Japs scurrying into fox-holes and fortified caves, the latter rein- forced and protected by thick concrete. If I had had rockets and a few bombs I could have made mincemeat out of quite a few of those emplacements and their occupants. However, we still had plenty of ammunition for the guns so we went in and strafed the troops and set fire to a building which might have been a regimental headquarters. By this time the turret gun was out of ammu- nitiong so Gliszcinski called and requested that I fiy straight and level for a few moments so he could re-load. Accordingly, I levelled off at about 1500 feet. Suddenly I had a vague feeling that something was wrong with my engine. Checking the instruments hastily, I noticed that the oil pressure had dropped to zero. Also, the prop governor was not func- tioning. We had seen some anti-aircraft shells burst behind us on one of our strafing runs, but I had not noticed any tracers from machine gun fire. However, it was certain that some Nip had put a lucky shot or two into our plane, severing the oil line. We were in for it, no doubt about that. These engines are rugged and will take a beat- ing, but they wonit run long without oil. I called my crew and passenger to stand by for an emergency landing and looked around for a likely place to set the 1 5,ooo pound plane down. There were plenty of relatively flat fields below, so it was simply a case of picking the best one. Lt. Thalman called Commander Support Air- craft and reported the situation, gave our lo- cation and stated we were about to make an emergency landing. He received no acknowl- edgement of the transmission due to the fact that his earphones had become disconnected. Meanwhile, I was concentrating on getting the plane down as intact as possible, heading in a long glide toward the field I had selected. We glided right .over a Jap airfield, around the perimeter of which could be seen several single and twin-engine Jap planes nestling in the pro- tection of revetments. However, we didn't see any personnel or activity on the field itself. Cautioning the crew and observer to brace themselves, I brought the plane down in a wheels-up landing on a rice field. The rainy season had long since passed and the field was dry, hard and rough. The Avenger skidded along on her oyster-white belly and came to a stop none the worse for her experience except for a bent propellor. As soon as the plane ceased its forward motion I radioed a message to the command ship and received a Roger.,' Well, at least somebody knew where we were and what had happened to us. Help would soon be on the way, we thought. My immediate concern was for the condition of my passengers, particularly for Lt. Thalman who had been riding in the second cockpit without benefit of a safety belt. Much to my relief, all hands reported 'fOkay. Not one of us had been so much as scratched. Upon clambering out of the plane we sud- denly saw a sight that sent a momentary chill along our spines. Out of some distant weeds and brush came running toward us some twenty or thirty men. Our first thought was that they were ,laps who had seen us go down and were bent on capturing us and our plane. We drew our revolvers, took shelter behind the fuselage of the aircraft and resolved to sell our lives as dearly as possible. As the men came closer, however, we saw to our relief that they were F ilipinos-mostly boys in their late teens or early twenties. Suddenly we were sur- rounded and bombarded with cries of 'fHow, ya, Joelw 'fAmericano!' and other equally heartening ejaculations. In surprisingly good English, they told us to come with them, that they would take us to the guerilla leader where we would be safe from the japs. They also indicated that the Sons of Heaven were in the immediate vicinity and that speed was of the essence. I told them that we would be happy to accompany them but that first it was necessary that we burn our maps and other confidential papers, and also destroy the plane. We immediately set about burning the papers. However, the Filipinos told us not to burn the plane as they would take care of that after stripping it of its precious guns and ammunition which were urgently needed by the guerillas. So we started off with the beaming and gesticulating youths, a small number of whom stayed behind to remove the guns and destroy the aircraft. Before we had

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for us the bare necessities of life until we could make our way to our own forces We found however that this money was valueless to us since the Filipinos would not accept payment for food or other articles of supplies with which they were so generous So we passed the money out to them as souvenirs and they re- ceived it with great elation. All of them carried invasion money issued by the Japanese thatched roof house with woven mats for beds Several guerillas of subordlnate rank also shared our room At bedtime I removed my Mae West the bright yellow infiatable life Jacket that all carrier pilots and air crewmen wear my Jungle knife and my revolver and holster The latter I placed several feet from my pallet whereupon one of the guerillas cautioned me to keep it within arm's reach as military government but this they would throw on the ground and stomp on, crying f'Damn Jap Pesos-no good! American pesos-they good! One of our pesos was the equivalent of about 40 Jap pesos in purchasing power. The Filipinos gave us American and Jap- anese cigarettes. A Spaniard who owned a sugar mill and was the leading citizen of one of the barrios because of his affluence, gave us+of all things-a bottle of Golden Wedding whis- key! He had been hoarding this since before the days of the Jap invasion and had reserved it for a very special occasion. Many of the Filipinos offered us native gin, distilled' from sugar cane. It tasted like American gin, but packed a much more formidable wallop. The food we were given was abundant but monotonous. It consisted of boiled rice, meat from the ubiquitous carabao, chicken, eggs, bananas, and fresh tomatoes which were us- ually on the green side. The carabao meat was tough but quite tasty and all the food was well seasoned. We considered this fare sur- prisingly good for a country whose farms had been picked again and again by the Jap vul- tures. We knew, however, that our food came from carefully hidden supplies and that many were going without so that we could eat. The health of the people seemed fairly good in spite of the acute shortage of medicines and medical care. There was much evidence of malaria and of nutritional deficiency diseases. And many of the guerillas had nasty looking leg sores. I noticed one lad in particular who had an unusually ugly sore on his leg. It was open and exuding pus, and extended for six inches across the front of his leg. I told him to go out of the house and he soon returned with no fewer than fifty of his companions similarly afflicted. So we set up a regular hospital ward, applying sulfa powder and bandages from our first-aid kits as long as the supply lasted. To say that our patients were grateful is something of an understatement. We spent our first night, II-IQ January, as guests of the guerilla leader in a one-room, I might need it before the night was over. c'Japs near-may come, he said. But the night and the next day were unevent- ful and Lt. Thalman, Glizczinski, Kirkpatrick and I were given an opportunity to get better acquainted with our new found friends. We discovered, for example, that the guerillas are strictly a military organization spending hours each day in close-order drill and maneuvers. The lads took great pride in their skill with the rifle. One youngster--he couldn't have been more than I5-p6I'fOI'I'1'1CCl the manual of arms for a solid hour, solely for my edification. Even the toughest Marine sergeant would have admitted that the kid was terrific. I-Ie doesn't remember how many Jap soldiers he has killed. During the early morning we would see Jap planes flying low overhead. Then by mid- morning they would disappear and our own planes would come over. The latter we frantically signalled with the few Hares we had salvaged from our plane and with our signal mirror, but to no avail. It gave us a helpless feeling. Just before dusk, the Jap planes would again put in an appearance. Although we had blasted many of them out of the sky and had destroyed many more on the'ground, they still managed to get more into the air. We consoled ourselves with the thought that soon our forces would overrun the well hidden Jap fields and capture the planes our pilots couldnit find. , I had been curious to know how the Filipinos felt about the damage inflicted on their homes and villages by our bombers. Many civilians had doubtless been killed and wounded by our air attacks, since the Japs had established fuel and supply dumps and many other kinds of ground installations throughout the island. These could not be destroyed from the air with- out cost to the Filipinos. Standing in the en- trance of our house one night I expressed my curiosity to the guerilla leader. He shrugged. 'cThe Filipinos are very grateful to the Ameri- canos. We know that some must die so that