Blood Brothers by Eugene C. Jacobs (i can read book club TXT) 📕

consumed. Under the guidance of native officers, the bark of certain tall trees was gathered and boiled in water. The resulting extraction caused cessation of active malaria symptoms for a few days, and then had to be repeated. A similar potion was made from the bark of guava bushes, and was reputed to relieve diarrhea. We were fortunate that most Filipinos seemed to have considerable immunity against tropical diseases; our morbidity rates were low.

Our visits to the hospitals were frequently made on horseback.

As I rode along the trails, little Filipinos, noting my King George V beard, often amused me by doffing their big straw hats, bowing low and saying, “Buenos Dias, Padre!” For security reasons, and to keep rumors to a minimum, many of our trips were made after dark.

When patrols were going our on the prowl, medical aid men went along, carrying small amounts of medicines and bandages. Local physicians were used whenever possible. Civilians were very good to our sick and wounded, taking them into their homes and caring for them until they could travel, in spite of threats by the Japs.

Efforts were made to care for all sick and wounded civilians in our areas of operation. This paid dividends in many ways. It was the friendliness of the Filipinos that paved the way for MacArthur’s eventual invasion of Luzon. Most of the time there was no question of loyalty among the Filipinos.

Diet and Sanitation: Our diet was good-obtained from the fertile farms and haciendas of the Cagayan Valley. When possible, water was obtained from the deep wells in each barrio. Most Filipinos were familiar with crude sand filter, made by digging shallow wells a few feet back on river banks.

Pit latrines were dug whenever troops remained in an area for more than a few hours. We had no venereal problems. The majority of Filipinos were good “family” people.

Tuguegarao Air Field Raid: Captain Minton selected some of his outstanding Scouts for his patrol. Under cover of darkness, Minton and his men surrounded the Japanese barracks at the Tuguegarao Air Field, killed some one-hundred Japanese soldiers as they emerged, and destroyed two planes on the ground.

MacArthur was delighted! He promptly decorated the patrol

and promoted Majors Warner and Nakar to Lt. Cols. and Minton to Major.

The following communiqué was quickly announced from Corregidor: “One of General MacArthur’s guerrilla bands, operating in the Cagayan Valley in northern Luzon, scored a brilliant local success in a surprise raid on a hostile airdrome at Tuguegarao. The Japanese were taken completely by surprise and fled in confusion leaving 110 dead on the field. Approximately three hundred others were put to flight. Our losses were very light.”

MacArthur said, “If Bataan should fall, I’d consider joining the guerrillas myself.”

Patrols: Our patrols and outposts harassed the enemy until they withdrew from the Cagayan Valley late in March. One battalion pursued the Japs to Balete Pass, where they set up defense positions. Telephone and courier services were quickly established.

The patrols continued to make raids on enemy held barrios. Normally two soldiers (former townsmen when possible) entered the selected barrio as civilians with produce to sell or trade. After making the necessary observations as to the habits of the enemy, they would leave. The following dawn, they would cut the telephone lines at each end of town, and then attack the enemy barracks. Usually food, supplies and equipment could be obtained, in addition to disrupting Japanese activities. Any injured soldiers who’ could not continue with the raiding party were cared for by a local civilian family.

Politicians: Riding our horses into town, Col. Nakar and I met frequently with provincial governors, mayors and engineers to discuss mutual problems. We helped them police their areas and they helped us obtain supplies. When a politician became jittery, thinking of possible punishments if he should be captured, we had to replace him with a stable official.

We were able to get permission from President Quezon on Corregidor to print “emergency money” to pay the regiment and to purchase the supplies. The actual printing of the money was done by the provincial treasurer.

In late February, 1942, President Roosevelt announced that there could be no attempt to relieve the Philippines. Actually no reinforcements had reached the Philippines since the first bombing.

Roosevelt directed MacArthur to transfer his headquarters from Corregidor to Australia. On March 11th, MacArthur and his family, and some of his staff departed on P.T. boats.

Spanish friends: On Sundays, when things became quiet, Guillermo Nakar and I liked to ride our horses to a Spanish hacienda across the Cagayan River to spend several hours “away” from the war. We crossed the river in long bancas (dugout canoes) and swam our horses behind us, at times fending off rather large crocodiles.

Since Spain was a neutral country, the Japanese did not bother the Spaniards very much, except indirectly. The Spaniards grew fine fruits, vegetables and tobacco. They ate and lived well; Guillermo and I enjoyed sharing a good meal with them.

On my last visit to the hacienda, I gave the Spaniards my movie camera, Hamilton watch, fountain pen, and a pearl ring I had bought for Judy, for “safekeeping” until the war was over.

About one year after the end of the war, I received them in poor condition (being buried in the moist ground) from a Spanish priest, who probably had had great difficulty in locating me; (he wanted money to help him build a new church).

14th Infantry, Philippine Army: On April 1, 1942, USAFFE HQ on Corregidor seemed to have learned that guerrilla type warfare was not in accord with the rules of land warfare. Our regiment received a new title-we were the” 14th Infantry of the Philippine Army.” Our regiment now controlled the Cagayan Valley, from Tuguegarao in the north to Balete Pass in the south, and from Kiangan in the west to Palanan and Casiguran ports on the east coast.

Bataan: The Bataan situation was becoming desperate; rations had been cut a second time. Soldiers in foxholes were having trouble getting food. The 26th Cavalry was eating its horses. The 65th Pack Train was eating its mules. Other soldiers ate trapped dogs, monkeys, lizards; in fact most anything they could catch.

On Good Friday, 1942, General Homma opened up with his biggest offensive-all his artillery supported by heavy bombing.

The front line of General Lim’s 41st Division was pulverized. Nearly 100,000 seasoned Jap troops were overrunning the cadaverous defenders of the “American Way of Life.” A few terrified and bedraggled remnants of the native companies were managing to filter back.

General Edward (Ned) King’s 11th Division was too exhausted

to plug holes in the 41st Division. The Japs were now penetrating in large numbers.

On April 8, Gen. King called all his officers together; he tried to spare his starved, diseased, wounded, and exhausted troops such things as marching to internment camps; he requested conditions of surrender:

1. A four-hour armistice.

2. Japanese forces to remain in present positions during armistice.

3. Consideration be given for sick and wounded soldiers and civilians.

4. That U.S. Army transportation be used to carry sick and wounded to any internment camp that the Japanese General may direct. General Homma’s Chief of Staff shouted, “Yuo vill sullendah unconitionarry!”

Bataan Falls: On April 9, 1942, starvation, disease and the ubiquitous Japanese caused the collapse of Bataan. General King became the first U.S. general ever forced to surrender his command to an enemy. He referred to his “heroes of Bataan” as follows: “Courage is a quality God has seen fit to dispense with utmost care. He limits it to His special favorites. He knows they will reward Him well, using the power with dignity, strength and distinction. The men of Bataan and Corregidor were His chosen favorites. They walked through unbearable hell and labored on-under conditions that history had never recorded. When they were supposed to be dead, these men of honor rose again-to battle a cruel enemy with this intangible weapon.”

“When history of the Second World War is fully written, Americans will thrill to the story of the ‘Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor!’”

The fall of Bataan ended any possibility of getting supplies for the 14th Infantry; our patrols had only three rounds of ammunition per man. We became quite depressed over the surrender of Bataan; we knew many of our friends there must be dead, wounded or suffering from starvation and many diseases.

Shortly we received the following order from Corregidor: “CUT STRENGTH OF 14TH INFANTRY TO 600! WAINWRIGHT.” This was a big blow to the whole regiment.

Thousands of Japs were massed at Balete Pass and moving north into the Cagayan Valley. Our patrols kept us posted. Col. Warner, becoming frustrated and trying to determine what

positive effort could be made toward winning the war by his remaining troops, noted that the 14th Infantry held two valuable ports at Casiguran and Palanan. He took Major Minton and some Scouts across the Sierra Madre mountains to the Pacific coast to explore possibilities. He considered finding or building a good pier for supplies to be brought in; he looked for suitable beaches for landing craft in the event of an invasion and as a last resort, boats that could carry personnel to China.

The Japanese troops were advancing on Echague, some fifteen miles from Jones. Guillermo was fearful lest the Japanese locate the regimental radio by triangulation of transmission waves. Guillermo and I, with several Scouts, got into two bancas and worked our way up the Cagayan River through a series of rapids to Pinippigan, where we spent the night. The following day, with the barrio teniente, we looked for places to hide the radio if it became necessary.

When we returned to Jones, we discharged nine hundred soldiers, to be sent home, to grease and hide their rifles, to hide their uniforms and equipment, and to become civilian farmers. They soon earned the reputation, “farmers daytime-soldiers nighttime.”

Corregidor, the “Rock”: With the fall of Bataan, the Japanese moved their heavy artillery right into the grounds of our Army hospitals on Bataan-to concentrate their massive barrages on Corregidor-without fear of retaliation from the big guns on Corregidor. The shelling and bombing became relentless for several weeks.

On May 5th, as the Japanese barges were approaching Corregidor, General Wainwright offered to surrender to General Homma, who replied, “Imperial Japanese Army and Navy are only prepared to accept surrender of all American and Filipino troops in whole Archipelago - Homma.”

One of the last messages to come from Corregidor: “Major Eugene C. Jacobs, M.C., transferred to command of Col. John Horan in Mountain Province north of Baguio.”

I reasoned, “Maybe his heart is giving him trouble and he feels the need of a doctor.” My weight was down from 165 to 120 pounds. I had had amoebic dysentery for several months and had lost considerable strength. I didn’t relish traveling some one hundred to 150 miles through areas held by the Japanese, to learn that Col. Horan had already surrendered to the Japanese.

 

(Later I learned that this is exactly what happened. He surrendered on May 14, 1942).

Corregidor Falls: With the silencing of the big guns and the radio on Corregidor on May 6th, we found ourselves unable to contact any ally. In a matter of hours, we picked up the voice of General Wainwright over the Japanese radio in Manila: “WE ARE 8,000 MILES FROM THE UNITED STATES. THERE HAS BEEN AND WILL BE NO REINFORCEMENTS. FURTHER RESISTANCE AND BLOODSHED ARE USELESS.

I ORDER ALL FIL-AMERICAN FORCES IN THE PHILIPPINES TO LAY DOWN ARMS AND TO SURRENDER! WAINWRIGHT.”

We were quite sure that Wainwright was being pressured by the Japanese to make his broadcast. We questioned whether or not a captured general still had the authority to issue orders to his former “unsurrendered” command.

Transfer to Mountain Province: Trying to be a good soldier, I