I will never forget those who gave their Lifes
in the Phillipines ! Pro Patria doughboy

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pillsburydoughboy,

The Greatest Grunts on this Earth are My Brothers who have Served and are Serving with The 31st US Infantry Regiment and Our Brothers who have Served and Serving with 6th Ranger Battalion Specially Charlie, F Company an Alamo Scouts and Phillipine's that Rucked Up, I will never forget Your Courage and Honor ! Pro Patria doughboy

History of the 31st US Infantry
http://www.31stinfantry.org/history.htm

Found all 5 History Channel Shoot Out Shows on Bataan ! Pro Patria doughboy

Shootout: Raid On Bataan Death Camp 1/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if8H2-xyEOs

Shootout: Raid On Bataan Death Camp 2/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy3iddUhuKc

Shootout: Raid On Bataan Death Camp 3/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiul4AlPJyA

Shootout: Raid On Bataan Death Camp 4/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSktLLINcfw

Shootout: Raid On Bataan Death Camp 5/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiHz7SUPhKU

my dad was captured and survived the death march and then survived three and 1/2 years in a jap prison camp, only to be transfered to mainland japan 1 week before the camps liberation. Once on mainland japan he workewd in the mines until the end of the war. He stayed in the military until 1967 when he retired as a Bird Col. Even with a steel plate in his head,complaments of a Jap. rifle butt.

The Marines don't usually like to admit it, but elements of the 31st (and 32nd) Regiment were there with them at the Frozen Chosin.

This week marks the 67th Anniversary of the capture of Bataan and the whole Philippine Island by the Japanese Army. My Uncle, Able F. Ortega, is a survivor of the infamous Bataan Death March. He is also, according to records, the lone surviving member of the 192nd Tank Battalion, one of the units involved in the battle to evade capture while defending the island.

The Japanese landed on the island December, 1941. After four long and hard months of fighting to defend the island, 11,000 American and 65,000 Filipinos were ordered to surrender, April 9, 1942. Thus began their grueling seven day, 65 mile trek from the Bataan *****ula.

After 3 1/2 years in captivity in the Philippines and Japan, the survivors were liberated August, 1945. My uncle eventually returned to the United States October, 1945, the first of five brothers to return home from the war. A sixth died in action during the Normandy Invasion.

My dad and uncle fought in Bataan during the early days of World War II and losing his life after months of tenacious fighting which lasted for 4 months until the surrender of 76,000 American and Filipino forces on August 8, 1942.
What made me wonder was what I read and observed about the resistance offered by the British and Commonwealth forces-
who practically offered no resistance to the invading Japanese at the same time,in fortress Singapore,Malaya. There were only 30,000 Japanese facing 130,000 British and Commonwealth forces yet the outcome was decided in less than a week.This is partly due to British overconfidence and low regard for the Japanese fighting man. The big guns of fortress Singapore were pointed out to sea while the Japanes came inland. When the Japanes struck, front line troops panicked and fled their positions. One Indian brigade went over to the side of the Japanese and even offered to fight for their cause.They thought that the Japanese are going to win the war.
When Singapore surrendered during the early days of the war, the Japanese strengthened their siege of the Philippines by adding more troops that were assigned to Malaya to the Philippine campaign.
Another factor that precipitated the early surrender was when the British bungled by sending 2 battleships, the "Prince of Wales" and the "Repulse" to the Malayan straits without air cover in a show of force to dare the Japanese to fight. These two ships were sent to the bottom of the Malayan straits by land based Japanese bombers at a cost of only 2 planes.

There was another unit that participated in the Fight for Bataan. It was the First Provisional Air Corps Regiment, II Corps consisting of various AAF units that formed two battalions.

I would like to share how today's Army thanks veterans that participated in the Battle of Bataan.

The U.S. Army Awards Board provided the following:

During World War II, award of the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) was limited to infantrymen assigned to bona fide infantry units. Personnel other than infantry who were members of provisional infantry units organized by local field commanders and who fought as infantrymen due to tactical exigencies were not eligible for the CIB. Army leadership at the time recognized that tactical emergencies compelled the temporary performance of infantry duties by personnel assigned to branches other than infantry. However, performance of these duties was temporary and limited to the duration of the particular emergency, whereas infantrymen continued their primary combat mission indefinitely.

Upon release of POWs in the Philippines, the question arose as to which individuals should be considered eligible for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge. After a thorough study, Army leadership determined that the award of the CIB would be confined to personnel who basic branch was infantry and who, during active ground combat, were assigned to Table of Organization Infantry (TOI) units.

There was no evidence found that indicated that the PACR was designated among the TOI units. Accordingly, the members of the PACR were not eligible for the CIB.

Adair Petty
Operations Officer
Army Review Boards Agency (ARBA)
(703) 607-2190
http://arba.army.pentagon.mil
___________________________________

"the CIB would be confined to personnel who basic branch was infantry and who, during active ground combat, were assigned to Table of Organization Infantry (TOI) units."

Petty is referring to a guideline dated 17 October 1944, and does not apply to veterans of Bataan, it is not retroactive.

Where is the justice today for WWII veterans? As recent as 2003, Congressman Patrick Kennedy(RI) presented the CIB to a former member of the unit. Records show substantial number of veterans awarded same. You may be asking, why is a badge so important? It is the most prestigious badge in the U.S. Army. Furthermore, all WWII veterans awarded the badge are entitled to the Bronze Star Medal.

I am looking into another avenue. The Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 92. Failure to Obey Order or Regulation.

Robert

...To..rollo 2..
..You were right about British's are overconfidence and lack of intelligence in the defending the South East Asia..Sorry about your father's and uncle, they might be very young at that time..They fought the very good fight at least..Although lot of guys are escape in that Jap's death traps, including our famous President. John F Kennedy..It seems like that lessons of W2 before and after is the same as every war every human are fought..That is a lessons every leaders should learn and keep ahead of their enemies in the war..It all the same history writing with blood of rivers..

@ Robersabel..
- CBI IQ -
..Jim Allan who fought with the Green Howards in the Arakan campaigns of Burma likes to tell the story of the radio operator on his first bombing mission over Burma..At the debriefing following the air raid, the debriefing officer asked the radio man if he had been excited over the target..
.."Not a bit," said the radio man, "I was as cool as a cucumber."
.."Only reason I asked," said the debriefing officer, "was to make sure you were reporting the facts when you sent the following radio message:
..AIRCRAFT UNDER ATTACK BY 23 THOUSAND JAP FIGHTERS AT EIGHT FEET."

..Hello..GoldenCrown..Here another story on the air..

" Hatchet Men " Save 14th Air Force Cargo Plane

..Quick thinking on the part of a crew in a troop carrier squadron of the Fourteenth Air Force saved a transport from destruction and possibly saved the lives of everyone on the plane..
..The plane was on a dropping mission and started the return flight with sufficient gasoline to reach the home base..Adverse weather conditions forced the pilot, Lt. Glover E. Philbrick, Glendale, California, to turn back and fly off course for a long distance and as a result the gasoline was running low..
..Part of the freight aboard the plane consisted of two drums of gas and after the crew conferred on the subject Lt. Philbrick ordered the aerial engineer, Corp..Vernon S. McKee, Brentwood, Missouri, to get the " crash axe " and chop a hole through the floor of the plane and into the gas tanks so that the gasoline could be poured from the drums to the tanks..The co-pilot, Lt. Milton C. Woolson, Marinette, Wisconsin, who formerly worked on the construction of the same type transport, knew just where to chop the hole in order to make contact with the gas tanks..
..Corp.McKee aided by Lt. Herbert J. Adams, navigator, Tampico, Illinois, succeeded in chopping the hole through the floor and into the tank..The gasoline was poured into the tank and a short time later the plane landed at a friendly air base..
..Quick thinking and a hole in the floor and gas tanks saved thousands of dollars worth of Air Corps equipment..

..These are lucky story on the air, another unlucky story was, those who put the same gas gauge but wrong type A and B, for the plane and gas run out and the plane went down killings all aboard..These people who put the wrong type on the plane, the 2 mechanic, 1 supervisor and others all get 6 to 4 years jail terms..That story on the last week Aviation week and space technology magazine..