Rice and salt : a history of the defense and occupation of Mindanao during world war II

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rice and salt A History of the Defense and Occupation of Mindanao During World War"

by

Brigadier General John -Hugh McGee USA Retired

The Nay/or Company I.Jooh PuhlirhQr.J' of1M ScUllnwsi San Antonio, Teo.

Copyright. Š. by The Naylor Company This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced without permission except for customary privileges extended to the press or other reviewing agencies.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 62-20524 Printed in the United States of America

In memory of Major Lawrence F. Prichard, soldier, gentleman, and friend

foreword This is not a pretty story. No account of American defeats and of life in prison camps under brutal captors, who laughed at the Geneva Convention, could be a pretty one. But it is one with a lesson for all those interested in preserving our freedoms. It should be required reading for all who have anything to do with teaching our servicemen h?w to behave if captured.

RICE AND SALT brings home very clearly that a code of conduct, based on the assumption that chivalry is still in flower and that wars are fought according to a set of Marquis of Queensbury rules, is no good against a ruthless enemy. It shows how a prisoner of war is often faced with the choice of sacrificing his life, health, or sanity for no useful purpose whatever) or of complying to some degree with orders that are in clear violation of the Geneva Convention. McGee faced this situation several times, chose to stay alive and eventually to escape. It would have been much better, from the Japs' point of view, had he stuck to the "name, rank, and serial number" formula and been shot.

There is much between the lines in this book that McGee is too modest to put in print. For instance, when one of our submarines came up from Australia to evacuate escaped POW's from behind the guerrilla lines in Mindanao, there was grave doubt that the sub would be able to take more than about forty aboard.

There were eighty-two POW's in the party. McGee, as senior officer, had to make up the priority list for evacuation. He put the wounded at the top of the list and had all others except himself draw lots. He gave himself number 82. When our sub appeared that night off the coast, he sent a message out simply saying, "How

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many can you take?" I think the finger of God must have been on the sub blinker key when they replied, "82."

One of the outstanding things throughout the book is McGee's belief and trust in God. I think the reader will find it was justified many times over, even though the Supreme Court may now declare that some of his prayers were unconstitutional.

This book should, but probably won't, give pause to the starryeyed advocates of disarmament who are beginning to be heard in the land again. For the first three years of the war McGee paid a bitter prict, for our unpreparedness when war began. After his escape he held an important command in the most powerful military force. ever assembled on this earth. At the end of the war our Army, Navy. Marine, and Air Corps team was invincible and could have remained so for the next hundred years.

But the bubble-headed "One Worlders" claimed that the United Nations made this unnecessary, so we naively scrapped our defense forces. Only five years later McGee was in Korea with the "paper-tiger" Eighth Army which almost got shoved into the sea by a rabble.

Now the United States is strong again. But the will-o-the-wisp of unilateral disarmament is raising its ugly head again. God grant that we have learned our lesson this time and will remember the words of the Prince of Peace in the Gospel: "Where a Strong Man armed keepeth his house those things which he possesses are in peace."

N ext time, if there . is a next time, it won't be just a few unlucky foot soldiers like McGee who will lose their liberty temporarily, as the price for unpreparedness. It will be the United States of America.

D. V. GALLERY Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy Re.tired September 19, 1962

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acknowledgment I wish to thank my wife, Mary Anne, and my daughter, Kathy? for the many hours that have been devoted to writing this book and for their love and tolerance in bearing with me. A great debt of gratitude has accumulated through the years since 1944 to those who have helped in the typing, map making, and editing.

For both typing and editing, my thanks to Miss Marie Doyle, University of Illinois, in 1946, and to Miss Gertrude Mohrmann, Antilles Command, United States Army Caribbean, in 1960, and to the many others who helped in the interim.

For the sketches and maps, my thanks to Lieutenant Adan.

Philippine Army, in 1944, and to Mr. Wilfredo Santiago, Antilles Command, United States Army Caribbean, in 1960, and to the others who assisted in the years between.

For additional assistance in editing, my thanks to Mary Anne, Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery, United States Navy, and many friends whose suggestions and comments have been made a part of the chapters.

I wish to express my appreciation to the authors and publishers of the following reference books:

Extracts of Moro History, Law and Religion - Najeeb M. Saleeby.

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The Subanu) Studies of Sub-Visayan Mountain Folk of Mindanao - Lieutenant Colonel John Park Finley, USA. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II) Volume III - The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931 ~ April 1942 Samuel Eliot Morison.

The Army Almanac - The Stackpole Company.

Thanks are given to God for the times when things were entire1y in His hands.

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contents xvii

introduction 1

the philippine scouts

1

2

the philippine army

22

3

prisoner of war

65

4

escape

5

guerrillas

6

evasion

7

freedom

126 163 193 216

annex 1, Status of American Prisoners as of 1946 229 annex 2, List of Survivors. of Prison Ship

235

annex 3, Background and Record of Military Service of Author

239

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maps Frontispiece Map

xx

Map I

8

Map II

40

Map III

128 194 228

Map IV Map V

sketches Sketch

1

6

Sketch

2

ii

Sketch

3

76

Sketch

4

Sketch

5

84 92

Sketch 6

End Sheet

Sketch

7

Sketch

8

Sketch

9

132 142 168 180

Sketch 10

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introduction In 1940 at Pettit Barracks in the southern Philippine Islands I was concerned about Japanese intentions and capabilities for conquest. The Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, or the New Order in Greater East Asia, clearly stated Japanese ambitions.

The Philippine Islands, which the United States had committed herself to defend, would be an East Asia objective of Japanese conquest. War between the United States and Japan seemed close. We began the evacuation home of our dependents, knowing that the United States, because of neglect of her armed forces since World War I, was poorly prepared to defend not only the freedom of the Philippines but also the freedom of the home land. War did come, and the freedom of the Philippines was lost in a tidal wave of Japanese conquest. The basic cause of our defeat in the Philippines and the jeopardizing of our country's freedom was a weakness in national patriotism.

In 1960 from duty stations in Puerto Rico and Panama I was again concerned with conquest that threatens the freedom of the United States. Communist Russia and China have replaced Japan as the potential conqueror. Lack of patriotism is again the basic weakness of the United States which jeopardizes our national freedom. I believe this weakness is primarily caused by the failure of many of our citizens to realize the meaning of the loss of freedom.

The great lesson of the conquest of the Philippines, to those of us who were subjugated there by the Japanese, was realization of the preciousness of freedom. I have attempted in this book to pass on to the reader this lesson on freedom.

I have also in this book made observations on combat training and tactics. The training of an army unit is very similar to the xvii

training of a football team. My observations, where appropriate, point out these similarities. At the time of surrender in Mindanao we needed tactical doctrine which would provide transition from defeat to guerrilla warfare. I have in Chapter V expressed my thinking on guerrilla warfare, which I believe will play a decisive role in the winning of a future war.

The third and final objective of the book is to present the military history of the Defense and Occupation of Mindanao during World War II.

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1942, when he was taken prisoner hy the Japanese in the Philippines.

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He escaped after two years in the Da\'ao Penal Colony, and after participating in the occupation of Japan, served in Korea in 1950-51, w here he organized the guerrilla force.

Prior to his retirement in 1961, he served in Puerto Rico and Panama, where he observed the Communists' SllCcessful prosecution of the Cold 'War in the Caribbean.

Lieutenant General Arthur G. Trudeau United States Army, Ret.

Gen. Trudeau says: "What a story of the unappreciated blessing of freedom and the camaraderie of free men under stress and strain. - And what a name!

Rice - precious food for thought and sllstenance in the Orient! And Salt-:food, too, but bitter and smarting."

Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery United States Navy, Ret.

Admiral Gallery says: "This is not a pretty story. No account of American defeats and of life in prison camps under brutal captors, who laughed at the Geneva Convention, could be a pretty one. But it is one with a lesson for all those interested in preserving our [reedOlns."

General Emmett O'Donnell, Jr. Commander-in-Chief Pacific Air Forces United States Air Force

General O'Donnell says: "A splendid portrayal of the valor and courage of the Philippine people and an accurate account of their unswerving loyalty to the United States during World War II."