Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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all Inav be free. lt is worth anvthing to be rid of the ja ps. During the evening ol' the second full day with the guerillas the leader told us to get ready to move as the battalion was about to head' north. He hoped that before many days we could etliect contact with the American forces advancing south from the Lingayen area. We were delighted as we had become im- patient to get under way. lfVc lived in dread that our commanding ollicer had already sent official dispatches to our wives and parents, c'The Navy Department deeply regrets to in- form you that your husband tor soul is missing in actionf' VVe must spare our loved ones that grief and anxiety at all costs, and we well knew that every day, every hour hastened that inescapable event. We started just before dusk. VVe marched in single file across fields and streams. The guerillas would not let us walk through the streams ourselves but insisted on carrying us on their backs. We avoided the main roads and the areas where the laps were known to be concentrated. In about six hours we reached a barrio which was an almost exact duplicate of the first. Here we were assigned a thatched hut and a straw mat and were soon sleeping like exhausted children. 'l'he next day, the leader told us that wc had met up with the lst Battalion of Hukbelahops and that we would split up, two of us going with each ofthe battal- ions. Thus, in case one of thc groups ran into trouble, at least two of us Americans would stand a good chance of getting back to our own forces. He also said that it was known that the japs were combing the countryside for us. The roads were alive with Nip patrols. Ac- cordingly, we split up 3 Kirkpatrick and I went with the new group fist Battalion? and Lt. Thalman and Gliszcinski remained with the original outfit. We were introduced to the commander of the Ist Battalion, a Major and a veteran of numerous engagements with the Japs. In the early part of the war hc had been captured, subsequently escaping to become an important cog in the Vast guerilla organization. Ob- viously well educated, he was perhaps 25 years old, of slim stature and wore glasses. He was constantly attended by no fewer than six order- lies. He wore civilian clothes with an air of 3, well trained military man and he had bean fighting the .laps since thc day they 'first lfmdcd 1 60 on the same Lingayen beaches had so recently secured. l or the next seven nights we barrio to barrio. One night we halsgd. ll'llCllllt.Q'lll to get some much needed was soon sound asleep. At about 0269 awakened by someone shaking my Conte quick. said a voice, flaps! were instantly awake. The Major than formed us that one of his sentries ha covered a large-lap patrol moving down a toward us, not Qoo yards away. One of guerillas had crossed a small stream and stealthily established a defense line between and the llaps. ln front of this line was a in the road, one prong leading to our and the other away from us. If the laps crm.. tinued down the road and took our fork, would be a skirmish. If they took the other fork, they would pass by without discovering us. We waited tensely. ln a few minutes a courier appeared out of the night and reported that the ,laps had passed by. We breathed considerably easier. During the day we would hide in a barrio, keeping out ol' sight as much as possible. Once from our hut we saw a -lap raiding party ap-A proaching the barrio bent on stealing food supplies. Quickly we made our way to opposite side of the village and waited until. the .laps had departed. Had we not been with them, the guerillas would taken care of this raiding party with However, the lVIa,jor would not risk a for fear that our security would be During our nocturnal travels the Major that we were headed north. However, soon discovered that our route was far straight one. ln fact, after having passed same sugar mill several times, lirst on one of us and then on the other, it dawned that we had been travelling in Circles. I the Nlaljor the reason for this and he that the .laps had us blocked on the he could not risk a skirmish with their until we had been delivered to our Since it was dangerous for us to remain spot, it was best that we keep though we were getting nowhere. a unit of the Alamo Scouts, a and trained group of two Amerie ten enlisted men. lt was the intrepid explorers to range far advanced lines and report aa On Saturday, 20 january, we HR