Realizing what had occurred, he shaved, put on his best clothes, and sat waiting for help to arrive. A long trek yet remained, one POW said “I made the Death March from Bataan, so I can certainly make this one!”  Over three days, up to 106 carts joined the procession, their plodding 2 MPH progress covered by strafing American aircraft. Japanese guards estimated to number between 225 and 250 billeted on the opposite side of the road. They then trekked 30 miles through back country to avoid observation, before taking-up a position of surveillance. The memorial is open to visitors Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Download this infographic to see where ABMC sites are located throughout the world. Then, on December 14, the Americans learned that the Japanese had ordered all 150 American POWs on Palawan into air-raid shelters, then locked them in. “Our bacon will be out for frying if we collide with those bastards.”. The atrocity sparked a series of raids at Santo Tomas Internment Camp, Bilibid Prison, Los Baños and others. Given the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Japanese in the area, both knew only a well-concealed, lighting-strike had any chance of success, and that even those odds were decidedly slim. “Were you on the Cape Oransbari raid, son?” he asked gruffly. Spotting the fluttering American flag, they stopped in their tracks and – overcome with emotion – slid down from the carts, and held onto, or steadied one another as best they could. These are a reminder of the camp that once occupied this location. Best estimates of enemy strength at the time put about 300 Japanese guards in the camp, another 1,000 troops on the Cabu River – only a few hundred yards distant – and as many as 5,000 Japanese in Cabanatuan City, a few miles away. The raiders had to covertly cross-over 30 miles of jungle and back country while avoiding Japanese observation, then launch an overwhelming strike that had to be over in minutes, not hours. Go with God—and bring our boys home. Cabanatuan held 8,000 prisoners at its peak, though the number dropped considerably as the able-bodied were shipped out to work in Japanese slave labor camps. It was 11:30 AM, January 30, 1945, and time was of the essence. He proposed an immediate raid to free the prisoners at Cabanatuan.

Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Japanese casualties, on the other hand, while imprecise, were far heavier. After what seemed an eternity, the Scouts and Rangers slipped into the drainage ditch that paralleled the road in front of the stockade. Only later did the raiders learn that a U.S. Navy POW had improvised a ship’s bell to sound the watch at periodic intervals.
( Log Out /  “They won’t,” promised grim-faced Captain Pajota.

Running lights glowed like cats’ eyes on Japanese truck convoys and tank units crossing the highway bridge to defensive positions in the mountains. “I and Captain Joson promise you a half hour,” Captain Pajota said. “We knew which way the gate opened,” said Nellist. Ranger Corporal Jim Herrick hoisted a naked bag of bones into his arms and trotted toward the gate. It was 1920 hours, 10 minutes until H-hour, when they heard a commanding “Halt!”  Either the guard in the tower possessed some acute sixth sense or the moon playing through the clouds revealed something suspicious in the night shadows. We attack tomorrow night. The Cabanatuan Memorial is about 4.5 miles northeast of Cabanatuan City, situated on the south side of Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road. They waded the river and crawled to the top of a knoll where they parted the grasses and peered out. Cabanatuan Memorial

Their reputation would far exceed their small number. This memorial was erected by survivors of the camp and the Bataan Death March, to honor the dead. In the camp, all was pandemonium as some prisoners came out and others hid, suspecting some trick to bring them out into the open. A second group of 90 rangers would then attack the camp directly, overwhelm any opposition and remove the prisoners to a rendezvous point on the Pamanga River, about a mile-and-a-half away. A Ranger cried-out that he had been wounded.

Two of the prisoners, unfortunately, had died from exhaustion, illness, excitement, or a combination thereof. The main force of 121 Rangers moved out the following day, meeting up with 200 Filipino guerrillas, who served as guides and helped in the rescue. On January 30, 1945, a group of U.S. Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas set out on a daring nighttime raid on Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines. The entire camp was under American control in six minutes – a textbook assault.

Seventy-three years ago, the place was home to one of the worst POW camps of WWII. One hundred yards from freedom, he had died. A closed-mouthed diminutive soldier barely five feet four inches on a tall day, he was the youngest fighter assigned to the elite Alamo Scouts. Likewise, the Filipino guerrillas moved-out. At 2100 hours, 13 Scouts and about 50 of Major Lapham’s partisans set out under a half moon to establish advance surveillance on the prison camp.
To the Japanese below, the plane appeared to be in serious trouble and might crash at any moment. Part II - POW Camp Rosters. When the smoke and exhaustion finally cleared, it was determined the raid had rescued far more than American soldiers. “We need a half hour to shoot our way into the camp and herd out the prisoners,” Colonel Mucci estimated. Japanese soldiers once again occupied the camp, with 1,000 more camped across the Cabo River outside the prison. In August, 1942, Dad was moved from Bilibid Prison to Cabanatuan camp. endstream endobj 149 0 obj <> endobj 150 0 obj <> endobj 151 0 obj <>stream They have not been forgotten.”, An Allied Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter buzzed the camp on the morning of January 30. In the camp, all was pandemonium as some prisoners came out and others hid, suspecting some trick to bring them out in the open. Everything beyond was Indian country. You be ready when the time comes.”. On the evening of January 27, 1945, a 14-man advance team formed from the 6th Ranger Battalion and a special reconnaissance group called the “Alamo Scouts”, separated into two groups and began the 30-mile march behind enemy lines to liberate Cabanatuan.

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