Did you know that the 2,146 Allied POWs rescued at the campus of UP Los Baños (which was then only growing up as the UP College of Agriculture) on 23 February 1945 had been imprisoned there for 3 years?
According to Col Frank B Quesada (Retired), Associate PMA 44, former Senate Committee Secretary, Veterans and Military Pension, members of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) as members of the Hunters ROTC Guerrillas, ‘participated as the lead ground assault force’ in the liberation of the POWs in UP Los Baños (newsflash.org).
The daring rescue was actually a joint Filipino-American force, including the US 11th Airborne Division, Marking’s Fil-American Troops, Anderson’s USAFFE Bonn Military Area Unit, President Quezon’s Own Guerrillas, Fil-Chinese 48th Squadron, including the Hukbalahap.
According to the same source:
This liberation operation was described by military experts as one of the almost perfect assault-rescue ever attempted during wartime (in world War II) in the Philippines. It has become a model in the War College and Staff Schools.
All POWs on campus were rescued without any casualty. What is not so well known is that at the time of the rescue, Los Baños was 10-12 miles behind enemy lines, and the rescuers did not believe they would get everyone out there alive. ‘They told us later that they expected to get about a third of us out, maybe two-thirds,’ not all, said John MacDonald of Missoula (missoulian.com). Oh yes, there were priests and nuns among the POWs. Now then, let me just say that this was a case where all prayers were answered.
Filed under: Vanguards | 2 Comments
Hi Frank, Although your information as far as it goes is correct, please take note that the rescue of the foreign civilian internees should not be the only consideration in measuring the success of this operation. There were some direct fatalities among the Filipino guerrillas, and that should at least be mentioned. However, the rescue was a disaster for the Filipino civilians of the area, who as a result of the rescue were later massacred by Japanese soldiers. The number of Filipino civilians who were massacred in College and in Bayan was approximately 2000, about the same number as the rescued internees. While that horrible war crime was due to Japanese policy as ordered from Tokyo, the Japanese officers and soldiers involved were equally guilty, and some were executed for it after the War. There was also criminal negligence by the American forces who failed to provide any assistance or security for the Filipino civilians. If you wish to obtain further information and details about the massacre, please contact the retired dentists Dra. Florentina Romero, or Dra. Susie Honrado Ocampo. Susie was bayoneted and left for dead and can show you some of her scars. Florentina was fortunate to barely escape to Mt Makiling, where she had to remain for about a month with almost no food. While the rescue of internees has been trumpeted in various books, etc, the story of the massacre victims of Los Banos and vicinity has never been properly told. I hope that maybe you will decide to be the one to record the memories of the rapidly diminishing number of survivors! Best wishes, SanMigs
SanMiguel,
If you want a tale of atrocity, the whole World War 2 was an atrocity. Any war is an atrocity.
I have also been told that the Americans were more atrocious in manhandling the Filipinos in those Katipunan times than the Japanese in those Japanese times in the Philippines.
But I’m finished writing about the negative as negative.