Thomas F. (hardtack) -
I have an entire shelf of books about Americans who either left their units before the surrender in the Philippines, or escaped from the "Death March." In most cases, these men wandered for some time, intent only in escaping capture. But most then formed or became part of the resistance to the Japanese. A great many of them died in this effort. The Filipino guerrilla movement was one of the greatest in history and seriously affected Japanese control of the Philippines.
This story is like many of the others. This part of the war has never received the attention it deserved, mostly because MacArthur and his staff did not want to share the credit for liberating the Philippines with others.
I encourage those interested in other stories to visit Wikipedia and read about some of the other men who deserve to be remembered, such as Colonel Wendell Fertig, who eventually led up to 30,000 men and women in active resistance to the Japanese. Fertig is now listed as one of the top ten guerrilla leaders in history.
Much of the credit goes to the unbelievable courage displayed by Filipinos. One out of every 20 Filipinos died under the Japanese occupation of their country. Yet our history books gives the credit for the liberation of the Philippines to Americans armies led by MacArthur.
This story is like many of the others. This part of the war has never received the attention it deserved, mostly because MacArthur and his staff did not want to share the credit for liberating the Philippines with others.
I encourage those interested in other stories to visit Wikipedia and read about some of the other men who deserve to be remembered, such as Colonel Wendell Fertig, who eventually led up to 30,000 men and women in active resistance to the Japanese. Fertig is now listed as one of the top ten guerrilla leaders in history.
Much of the credit goes to the unbelievable courage displayed by Filipinos. One out of every 20 Filipinos died under the Japanese occupation of their country. Yet our history books gives the credit for the liberation of the Philippines to Americans armies led by MacArthur.
