Gordon Breems

Corporal 44th Tank Battalion 1st Cavalry Division

Gordon Breems (12/23/1921 – 10/19/2001 )of Prinsburg, Minnesota, served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific theater during World Wa rII as a member of the 44th Tank Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division.

He saw action in the Admiralty Islands, New Guinea, the Philippines and Japan.

A highlight of Corp. Breems’ service was his role in liberating 3,768 American and Allied captives from the Santo Tomas Internment camp in Manilla on Feb. 3, 1945. He was privileged to be a part of a small “flying column” that raced the 100 miles from the Lingayen Gulf (famous for Douglas MacArthur’s “wade to the beach return”) to Manila to save the prisoners from almost certain death.

In general, Gordon said little about his time in combat, but he often lamented that after crashing the gates at Santo Tomas with three 33-ton Sherman tanks, they had little to give the emaciated prisoners beyond a few k-rations and candy bars. Additional supplies arrived with Gen. MacArthur a week later after the battle for Manila.