Chapter 5 MANILA AGAIN

1932-1941

Between 1932 and 1941, soldiers stationed in the Philippines performed their duties on the same half-day schedule as in earlier years. Once a year the regiment went to Fort McKinley for firing practice and field training and it conducted an annual field exercise at its assigned defense area south of Manila.1 Classes on soldier skills were usually held in the shade of palm and mimosa trees in the park around Manila’s walled city to fend off the oppressive heat. Once a month, companies took a 15-mile forced march with full field pack. They generally marched down Dewey Boulevard, past the

Army-Navy Club, the center of social functions for officers, and then past the partially submerged hulks of Spanish ships sunk by Admiral Dewey's fleet in 1898. Part of the dry moat around Manila's old walled city was a municipal golf course and nearby Jose Rizal Stadium held weekly boxing matches. For the athletically inclined, the regiment had basketball, swimming, track and field, and boxing teams that participated in annual Philippine Department competitions.

Downtown Manila provided the usual array of soldier hangouts, including the Metropolitan Theater, Tom's Dixie Kitchen, the Poodle Dog, the Oriental Bar, and Cumming’s Café, among many others. Prostitution, brawling, loan sharking, and gambling brought the same disciplinary problems to Manila as to any garrison town worldwide, keeping the staff at Sternberg Army Hospital busy. For those interested in seeing more than Manila, there were boat cruises to the Sulu Archipelago and Mindanao, or bus trips to Lake Taal, Laguna de Bay, Lamon Bay, and other scenic destinations on Luzon. Nestled on a mountainside cooled by breezes from the South China Sea, Camp John Hay, near Baugio was a particular favorite rest and recreation destination. Soldiers seeking to advance their education could

attend the University of the Philippines, which offered courses like those at land grant colleges back home. Service Company’s Corporal Farrell D. Lowe of Kirkwood, Missouri, was among those who took advantage of the opportunity. Farrell was one of the first replacements to join F Company after its return from Shanghai. A particularly bright young man, he soon became a company clerk. He also played intramural sports and assisted the regimental Chaplain on holidays. By the time Farrell completed his tour in the Philippines in May 1937, he had completed his college education and received a reserve commission as a second lieutenant.

1 There were two plans for the 31st Infantry’s employment. One employed the regiment north of Fort Stotsenberg to counter landings at Lingayen Gulf and the other employed the regiment to defend beaches along Legaspi Bay, south of Manila. When war came in 1941, General MacArthur kept the 31st Infantry in Manila, allowing the Japanese to gain a foothold first at Legaspi and then come ashore in strength at Lingayen Gulf, opposed by the ill-trained Philippine Army.

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Farrell remembers the regiment’s NCOs as true professionals, dedicated to the Service and to each other. When one of his First Sergeants was about to retire in 1935, Sergeant Major James Screan voluntarily took a one-grade reduction to Technical Sergeant for a month so that his friend could retire at the higher grade. At the time, sergeant major was a duty position held by a master sergeant E-7 (3 chevrons and 3 rockers), then the highest enlisted grade. When the man retired at the end of the month, Screan got his rank back and lost no pay. His friend got the honor, though without additional pay, of retiring as a master sergeant, a grade befitting the duty he had performed as a company first sergeant. In 1935, a law was passed promoting officers to first lieutenant after 3 years of service and to captain after 10 years of service. Until that time, it was not unusual for a man to serve 18 to 20 years as a lieutenant. In contrast to the uncomfortable return from Siberia in 1920, arrival in the Philippines was particularly gracious, with all military transport ships greeted by the Philippine Department band and a welcoming committee. When Lieutenant Arthur G. Christensen2 arrived in Manila on March 24, 1939, his company commander, who was also his sponsor, met him at Pier 7. He was driven first to the Chinese tailor, Ah Wong, who had a post exchange (PX) concession. Ah Wong fitted all new arrivals for khaki tropical work uniforms and a white mess uniform to be ready in time for the Bienvenida-Despidida3 always scheduled two days after a ship arrived to give Ah Wong time to work his magic with silk and cotton. Tailored khaki work uniforms cost P15 ($7.50) with rank insignia embroidered on at no extra charge. Silk-lined white mess uniforms cost P25 ($12.50). From Ah Wong's, Lieutenant Christensen was driven to the Army-Navy Club on Manila Bay to have drinks with the officers he would serve with and to take a furnished room that became his home for the

next year. Room service was provided to tenants as part of the rental fee. The Army-Navy Club had its own restaurant, several bars, a reading room, bowling alley, swimming pool, and tennis courts, a stark contrast to the bare frontier posts back home. The family of a sponsor accommodated married officers who arrived with their families until private quarters could be rented. If an officer brought a car with him, he turned its papers over to the Quartermaster, who would have it picked

up at the dock, taken through Philippine customs, and delivered to his quarters with a full tank of gas. Receptions were less regal for enlisted personnel. A leased civilian bus took enlisted men from Pier 7 to regimental headquarters for in-processing. At headquarters, an NCO from each company marched new arrivals to their barracks where a less formal system of sponsorship was arranged by squad members eager to show off their "old timers" knowledge of the post and city. Each battalion was housed in a quartel, four company-size barracks enclosing an open area. Barracks each had an orderly room (company headquarters), day room (recreation hall), mess hall (dining room), kitchen, arms room, supply room, and latrine on the first floor. Rooms on the ground floor were screened, but the second floor where the troops slept wasn’t screened because mosquitoes can’t fly that high. To take advantage of evening

2 Arthur Christensen was commissioned in 1936 through ROTC at North Dakota Agricultural College, and came on active duty in 1937, joining a company of the 17th Infantry at Ft Lincoln, ND where he remained until sent to the Philippines in 1939. 3 In Spanish, the colonial language of the Philippines, the term bienvenida-despidida means hail and farewell, a formal ceremony usually conducted the night before a ship sailed away with those being replaced. The Shanghai Bowl ceremony, with its traditional passing of the cups to newcomers, was the event's central feature.

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breezes, the second floor was open to a covered porch that ran around the entire building. Men contributed a dollar or two from their monthly pay to hire servants who performed kitchen detail, shined shoes, made beds, and kept the barracks clean, relieving soldiers of the most distasteful aspects of barracks living. The contrast to life in garrisons in the US made Manila one of the most sought-after duty stations in the world. Manila had its own daily English-language newspaper, the Manila Tribune. 4 On May 1, 1941, for example, the paper reported British fears of a German airborne and glider invasion of Egypt from the Mediterranean island of Crete. The Germans had not yet invaded Russia but had overrun France and the Balkans and had just captured Crete in their costliest military operation yet. There were two stories about men of the 31st Infantry in the Tribune that day. The first reported the belated award of the Soldier’s Medal to Private Boyle O. Inman who risked his life to save a fellow soldier from a rampaging carabao (water buffalo) during maneuvers near Cavite in January 1940. The carabao had trapped the soldier in a ditch and was goring him. Disregarding his own safety, Inman began beating the animal with his Browning Automatic Rifle, causing it to flee and saving his comrade’s life. Another article in the Tribune that day reported the retirement of First Sergeant David D. Crouse of L Company 31st Infantry. Crouse had been in the Army since 1908, serving on the Mexican border and in France during World War I before joining the 31st Infantry in Manila in 1925. He then remained with L Company for the next 16 years. A soldier could “homestead” as long as he wished in those days—it was cheaper for the Army not to move people and it fostered unit cohesion. But getting assigned to the 31st Infantry was not easy. Men in the first three enlisted grades who reenlisted from other duty stations had to voluntarily take a reduction to private to be reassigned.5 Assignments to regiments stationed in the Philippines (31st), Hawaii (19th, 21st, 27th, and 35th), Panama (14th and 33rd), and China (15th) were prized because duty was much more pleasant for soldiers stationed overseas than in the US. The Philippine people were friendly, attractive girls were abundant, the cost of everything was far below stateside prices, and duty still ended at 1:00 PM each day, although training took on a more serious tone from the spring of 1941 onward.

By today’s standards, the regiment’s readiness for combat was abysmally low. In the late 1930s, the 31st Infantry's rifle companies normally had only two officers and an average enlisted strength of 70 men.6 When cooks, clerks, supply personnel, orderlies, guard details, and personnel on leave, pass, sick call, in the hospital, or in confinement were subtracted from a company's strength, most could muster only around 20 men for training. Headquarters, Service, and Machinegun Companies were all larger, although they too were below authorized strength. Infantry regiments were

reorganized in 1939 with a wartime authorization of 2542 men. An antitank company and three heavy

4 Courtesy of Professor Richard Meixsel. 5 In the pre-war Army, enlisted men in the top four grades (sergeant, staff sergeant, technical sergeant, and master sergeant) transferred in grade to new assignments. Corporals and PFCs automatically reverted to the grade of private when they joined a new unit because promotions through corporal were reserved to unit commanders. 6 In 1939, there were only 10,000 US troops in the Philippines. In addition, there were 6000 Philippine Constabulary (lightly armed police force) and a Philippine Army of 20,000 (formed in January 1936), backed by a nominal reserve of 4800 officers and 104,000 enlisted men.

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weapons companies (D, H, and M) replaced the regimental howitzer platoon and three machinegun companies. Antitank Company was authorized eight 37mm truck-drawn guns and heavy weapons companies were each authorized two .50 caliber machineguns, two 81mm mortars, and sixteen water-cooled .30 caliber machineguns. Each of the nine rifle companies included a weapons platoon with four air-cooled .30 caliber machineguns and two 60mm mortars. At least that was the way an infantry regiment looked on paper. Actual distribution of heavy weapons lagged behind the change in structure by at least two years. At least the reorganization plan showed that someone was actually beginning to think about the infantry's need for more firepower. In 1940, the 31st Infantry traded in its M-1903 Springfield rifles for Garand M-1s7. Men who claimed they could "shoot the wings off a gnat" at 750 yards with the Springfield did not like the new Garand with its more modest 550 yard accuracy, but its durability in mud and rain and its 8-round clip made a more positive impression on most. PREPARATION FOR WAR Many other things changed in 1940. The Selective Service Act, passed in September of that year, instituted a peacetime draft and authorized calling the National Guard into Federal Service. Its passage enabled the Army to expand rapidly from its depression-era strength of 132,000 to around 1.2 million men. In October 1940, all second lieutenants with more than a year of service were promoted to temporary first lieutenant and all first lieutenants were promoted to temporary captain.8 Most were promoted without additional pay since the law provided that first lieutenants with fewer than three years service would continue to receive second lieutenants’ pay and captains with fewer than seven years service would continue to draw first lieutenants’ pay. There were no provisions for accelerated promotion of other officers until January 1941 when all captains with more than seventeen years service were promoted to temporary major. Older officers who had commanded companies for years became “instructors” with the Philippine Army or returned to the states, leaving companies of the 31st Infantry suddenly commanded by much younger officers. Unlike units in the US, troops in the Philippines did not have to train with wooden mock-ups, but most heavy weapons did not arrive until 1941. Even then, the results were not always what was expected. One company that requested replacements for two inoperative .30 caliber machineguns was issued Navy Marlin guns wrapped in cosmoline-coated newspapers dated 1918. To overcome ammunition shortages, Antitank Company became particularly creative, inserting a sleeve with a .22 caliber rifle barrel in its 37mm antitank guns for training. They may have been the first unit in the Army to develop and train with sub-caliber devices. Communications equipment was similarly sparse. There were backpack SCR-195 radios in every battalion headquarters but batteries were hard to get. Companies were issued "walkie-talkies" that had a planning range of two miles, but they rarely achieved it because their signal was too weak to penetrate foliage. As a result, wire and runners were as much in use in 1941 as they had been in 1918. Other than a few ton-and-a-halfs in Service Company and light trucks to tow the antitank guns, here were few military vehicles in the regiment, requiring 6 civilian bus lines to move troops to distant field maneuvers. The Antitank Company received its guns in April 1941. They included four 37mm wheeled guns and four older British “one-pounders.” Starting with a cadre of one captain, two lieutenants, and 25 7 The reliable M-1 Garand remained the Army’s standard service rifle until 1963 when it was replaced by Springfield Armory’s 7.62mm M-14 which was lighter and fed by a 20-round magazine. 8 Until the late 1960s, a parallel promotion system endured in the Army. Officers were promoted to a temporary Army of the United States (AUS) or Army Reserve rank according to the needs of the Service, but were promoted to a permanent Regular Army (RA) grade only after completing a period of service prescribed by law. During force reductions, it was common for officers to revert to their permanent grade, a serious blow to morale.

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enlisted men, the company was reinforced by 60 additional enlisted men in June. Organized in two platoons of four gun squads each, the company had an authorized strength of 180 officers and men, a strength it never reached. Eight Dodge weapons carriers towed the guns and carried the crews. A command car, a supply truck, and a kitchen truck rounded out the company’s transportation. As the tocsin of war sounded ever louder across the seas, all personnel scheduled to return to the US had their tours extended indefinitely in March 1941. The families of officers and NCOs were ordered to return to the States. By July, most were gone. First Sergeant Arthur C. Houghtby (C Company) and

Technical Sergeants John B. Fry (Service Company) and Abie Abraham (C Company) who had become close friends, went together to bid the departing families farewell. Abraham's wife, whose American father came to the Philippines in 1898 and married a Filipina, knew no other home and would remain in Manila throughout the war with her two daughters. Before Mary Houghtby took her long walk up the gang plank onto the USAT Washington, Arthur gave her a long last kiss, wiped her tears away, and said "Honey,

don't worry, the Japs won't dare attack the Philippines as long as us Americans are here". As the Washington pulled away from Pier 7, the band played "Till We Meet Again". Houghtby murmured, "My God, I'm going to miss her."9 In April 1941, the USAT Republic and the President Pierce docked at Pier 7 in Manila. Aboard were over 3000 men, about 700 of whom joined the 31st Infantry, the first real growth in strength the regiment had experienced since it returned from Shanghai in 1932. Rifle companies received an average of 40 additional men each, while the three weapons companies, Headquarters Company, and Service Company received a slightly larger number. Most of the new men arrived untrained from recruit depots in the US. All were soon sent to Fort McKinley's B Range for two months of basic training under the regiment's own NCOs, a task that consumed most of the cadre's time until late June. During basic training, troops lived in tents lined up in neat rows on open ground and slept on folding cots draped with mosquito nets. The practice was not tactical, but was convenient for inspections. Training consisted mainly of close order drill, marksmanship, weapons maintenance, field sanitation, organization of a defensive position, squad assault tactics, and seemingly endless forced marches in the sweltering heat.

9 Arthur and Mary Houghtby would not see each other again. Less than two months after Bataan’s surrender to the Japanese, he died in captivity at Camp O'Donnell on May 20, 1942.

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Arriving aboard the Republic was a pair of recruits whose friendship got them both through tough times, but fate would take one of them before the war ended. Dale L. Snyder from L’Anse, Michigan and Joseph Q. Johnson from Memphis, Tennessee became friends at the Army’s Pacific Transit Depot at Fort McDowell, California. Big for his age, Johnson was a 14 year-old kid when he enlisted, prompting Snyder to take the youngster under his wing. When they arrived in Manila, both were assigned to D Company, the 1st Battalion’s heavy weapons company. Both were assigned to the 1st Platoon, manning a water-cooled .30 caliber machinegun—the proverbial “pig in a blanket”. During basic training at Fort McKinley, they shared the same tent and when other recruits and instructors ribbed Johnson about his

obviously tender age, Snyder stepped in and told them “Enough is enough, just let the kid do his job”. Snyder became Johnson’s mentor, teaching him how to cope with life in a hell-raising Army. The two went on pass together whenever they had the money and enjoyed mingling with Filipinos, a happy, friendly people who seemed to genuinely like Americans. They tended to stay away from the most popular spots because there was always plenty of trouble wherever large groups of GIs went. Johnson remembers most of the older men in

his company as “boozers, brawlers, and whore chasers who moved from one overseas assignment to another, but they were soldiers first and foremost and most were damn good ones.” They were a spit and polish outfit. Among the replacements arriving on the SS President Pierce was Private Ward Redshaw, a 6’7” Canadian with size 15 shoes. Ward left his widowed mother’s home in western Canada and joined the Army

Fort McDowell, Angel Island, California, the Army’s Pacific Deployment Center

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at Seattle in April 1941. His recruiter promised he could apply for duty with the Philippine Department Photo Detachment if he would enlist for the 31st Infantry in Manila. Arriving at Fort McDowell for his shots, uniforms, and passage to Manila, he was delayed because the supply sergeant couldn’t find any size 15 shoes or boots in the Army supply system. In desperation, the supply officer gave Ward $6.50 to buy an appropriate pair of civilian shoes. Ward bought a nice pair of Florsheim wingtips that he thought would look sharp with his crisp new khaki uniform. Although the startled supply officer fussed and fumed when he saw what Ward had bought with the Army’s money, he sent him to the Philippines, wingtips and all. Ward suddenly found himself in great demand. When his ship stopped in Hawaii for a layover, a captain offered to make him an MP (they needed big MPs in Hawaii). Ward politely declined. Later, he wished he had taken the offer. In Manila, Ward was assigned to G Company. Seeing his wingtips, the supply sergeant took him to Fort McKinley to get two pairs of boots made. A month later, the recruiter’s promise became reality. Ward was reassigned to the Philippine Department’s Photo Detachment. When the Philippines went on alert in October, Ward was sent back to G Company. In August 1941, the USAT Washington reached Manila with the last contingent of replacements to reach the Philippines before war came. After waiting an hour and ten minutes for clearance from port authorities, the Washington docked at Pier 7. Among those disembarking was Chaplain Robert Preston Taylor, a reserve lieutenant in the Army Air Corps who had taken a one-year leave of absence from his church in Texas to minister to Air Corps personnel in the Philippines. Neither condition of his employment contract would prevail and he would never return to his church.10 On arriving in Manila, he was assigned as Regimental Chaplain of the 31st Infantry. So much for the Army’s promises—even God has no chance against Army bureaucrats. As a bus took him and a group of fellow officers down Dewey Boulevard from the port, Taylor gazed in wonder at the walled gardens surrounding the old city, alive with rose-purple rhododendrons, scarlet hibiscus, and large China roses. The bells of Santo Domingo Cathedral pealed and traffic came to a near standstill as his bus competed with pony carts, taxis, cars, trucks, and an occasional military vehicle. No one seemed in a hurry. Private Joe Johnson was finding it easier than expected to gain respect. Among those who saw potential in him was D Company’s departing bugler. Eager to learn the instrument, “the kid” practiced diligently in a shed near the bandstand until he developed the necessary callous on his lip. He was soon recognized as the best bugler in the regiment. As a reward, early each morning he was sent with the guard detail to General MacArthur’s headquarters. 11 There he blew General’s Call when MacArthur arrived. As his reputation for earnestness grew, “the kid’s” circle of friends grew steadily, including men from all over the country. In addition to Dale Snyder, Johnson’s mentor, there was Wayne Seiling from Kansas, Earl Petrimeaux from Minnesota, Norris Cathey from Arkansas, and Dewey Smithwick from North Carolina. All would die before the war ended. “The kid” would survive to eventually tell their families what happened to them and where they were buried. His survivor’s guilt would last a lifetime. THE CURTAIN CLOSES ON PEACE IN ASIA On July 22, 1941, Japan occupied French Indochina, acquiring bases that dominated the South China Sea west of the Philippines. To the north, Japanese-held Formosa (now Taiwan) was only 65 miles

10 Robert Preston Taylor survived the war and captivity and remained in uniform afterward, transferring to the Air Force when that Service was formed. In 1962 President Kennedy appointed him Air Force Chief of Chaplains and promoted him to major general. He died in Arizona in 1995. 11 MacArthur’s headquarters was at 1 Calle Victoria near Cuartel De España. Although retired from the Army in 1937 after serving as military advisor to the Philippine Commonwealth, he remained in the Philippines in that capacity in the employ of the Commonwealth government. He was recalled to active duty in July 1941 to head what became U.S. Army Forces Far East (USAFFE).

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from the northernmost island of the Philippines. In the Central Pacific, Japan violated its League of Nations mandate and fortified the Marianas and Carolines, which had been placed under Japanese “protection” after World War I. They became menacing air bases astride US sea lanes between Hawaii and the Philippines. Japan made it clear that the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) were targeted for takeover just as French Indochina had been. It was only a matter of time before war with the United States and Great Britain would follow.12 Against that unsettled backdrop, the 31st Infantry Regiment celebrated its 25th Anniversary Organization Day on August 13, 1941. It would be the regiment's last celebration for four bitter years.

The weather was bright and sunny when General MacArthur took the regiment's salute as it paraded proudly down Dewey Boulevard. The parade was followed by military displays at Wallace Field. Private William J. Garleb, a recruit in H Company, remembers that day as one of the happiest of his life. His squad demonstrated setting up, loading, firing, and displacing its .30 caliber machinegun with crisp precision. It was what he had practiced repeatedly on Fort McKinley during basic training and now he was having his graduation exercise to the applause of an appreciative crowd. Later, there was a barbeque at nearby Harrison Park in the Luneta area along Manila Bay. In the evening, there were boxing matches at Jose Rizal Stadium. An extract of the address given by Colonel Albert M. Jones, the regimental commander, on that occasion follows. "Fellow members of the 31st Infantry: Today, August 13th, we commemorate the Silver Anniversary of our regiment's organization. Due to unsettled world conditions, the Army of the United States is now engaged in intensively preparing to meet any emergency. Our regiment occupies a key strategic position in this far eastern possession. It is ready for prompt expeditionary employment. It is a reservoir of trained troop leaders. It is prepared to take its position in the defense of the Philippines. ..... During the past 6 months, our ranks have been greatly increased by the absorption of the highest type of young American manhood. In the face of a threatening international situation, these patriotic young men volunteered for service in this exposed outpost. We have subjected them to intensive training under trying tropical conditions. the soldier of today, more than ever, must spend his time learning the things that make a man efficient in combat, that make him act intelligently in an emergency and that toughen him physically to withstand the rigors of

12 In August 1941, the Army Air Corps had 81 P-40 Warhawk fighters and 9 B-17 bombers in the Philippines. In December, they were joined by another 35 B-17s, 107 P-40s and 52 P-35 fighters. On the ground, the Army had 54 tanks, 50 antitank guns, 10 75mm pack howitzers, 178 75mm field guns, and 123 .30 caliber machineguns.

31st Infantry Passes in Review on Burnham Green (Manila Hotel is in background)

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modern warfare. In no other arm must so much trust be placed in the individual soldier as in the Infantry. Since I assumed command of the regiment on November 1, it has more than doubled in strength. Its armament, transportation, and equipment have been tremendously increased and modernized. Its officers and NCOs have worked ceaselessly and tirelessly to train these young men in the fundamentals of soldiering. .... We know not what lies ahead. We must be fully prepared. We must not spare ourselves. I have absolute faith in the ability of our regiment to accomplish all of its many and varied missions. The honor and glory of the 31st Infantry established by our predecessors must and will be upheld by us. " On that day, there were still four men in the 31st Infantry who had served with the regiment in Siberia 21 years before. They were First Sergeant Beresford O. Seale (Headquarters, 2d Battalion), Staff Sergeant Sam Dietz (Service Company), Staff Sergeant John P. Flynn (L Company), and PFC John Labasewski (A Company). Thirty-eight others had served with other units during World War I. First Sergeant Emmanuel Hamburger (Antitank Company) served with "Black Jack" Pershing in Mexico in 1916 and in France with the 1st Division during World War I. By the time World War II came four months later, Sam Dietz had departed the regiment. Emmanuel Hamburger was still Antitank Company's first sergeant. He would survive the war. Beresford Seale would become E Company’s First Sergeant, earning the Silver Star trying to rally his frightened company at Layac Junction. In captivity under the Japanese, he worked as a plumber in Manila’s Bilibid Prison where he died of disease and starvation. John Flynn received a battlefield commission soon after the battle of Abucay Hacienda in January 1942. He had already become the most decorated man in the regiment, earning the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and two Purple Hearts. He died in captivity in 1944 when the “hell ship” taking him to Japan was sunk by the US Navy. John Labasewski, the regiment's oldest private, died on the same ship. In the summer of 1941, the tempo of training picked up. All administrative functions shifted to the afternoon hours, leaving officers free to play a more direct role in morning training. Beginning in late summer, the regiment conducted one 3-day exercise per month to toughen the men for the rigors of combat and familiarize them with their intended wartime operating area. At the time, the 31st Infantry had responsibility for defending Batangas, Tayabas, and Lamon Bays south of Manila. On September 1, the Philippine Army began mobilizing.13 The 31st Infantry, still far short of its wartime authorization, was tasked to provide officers and NCOs to help mobilize and train new Philippine Army units. More than half of the regiment's senior officers and an average of 2 lieutenants and 10 NCOs per company were soon sent to hastily built posts all over the Philippines to train and help lead the Philippine Army and form two corps staffs. Their loss would be sorely felt in the months ahead, but without them it is doubtful that the ten Philippine Army reserve divisions could have fought as well as they did. Although Filipinos came in for considerable criticism from their American comrades for fleeing under pressure, few remember that two battalions in every Filipino regiment had not even received basic training when the war started and most Filipino soldiers had never even seen a rifle before being inducted. Recruited from isolated tribes that spoke at least 40 distinctly different languages, some units could not understand the Tagalog language of their commanders, who were mainly from Luzon's major cities. Despite that and the fact that most Filipinos were armed with old Springfield M-1903 rifles and had few heavy weapons, they constituted Bataan's main line of defense for nearly four months and suffered over 80 percent of the campaign’s battle casualties. 13 On that date, the 31st Infantry Regiment was reassigned from the Philippine Department to the Philippine Division which had since 1931 consisted of only Philippine Scout units. The transfer order was not posted and therefore went unnoticed to men of the regiment who continued to wear the blue and white seahorse patch of the Philippine Department, rather than the red and gold Carabao (water buffalo) patch of the Philippine Division.

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On October 25, the 31st Infantry boarded leased civilian busses at Fort McKinley's B range and traveled nearly 100 miles to establish coastal defenses north of Subic Bay. On reaching their destination, the troops were dropped off and the busses returned to Manila empty. While on the coast, Philippine fishermen alerted the men that a Japanese ship was in the bay warning fishermen away. The Filipinos thought the ship might have been laying mines near the U.S. naval base at Subic Bay. The information was passed through channels to MacArthur's intelligence staff in Manila, but no response was noted. On completing its coastal defense training, the 31st marched 30 miles a day back to Fort McKinley in the unrelenting tropical heat. Private Garleb noticed that his squad leader, Corporal George Eckhardt, Jr., did not flop on the ground and rest at halts as the others did. He remained standing and kept his pack on, but never seemed to get tired. Garleb followed his example and found that it worked. He also learned from some of the "old hands" to put a pebble under his tongue to keep from getting too thirsty. There were always moments of comic relief amid the Army’s grim preparations for war. Private Harold O. “Red” Dyer was one of the new men in the 31st and a real character, according to fellow members of F Company. Dyer, a 6’2” Texan, got the nickname “Red” because of his reddish pink complexion and reddish blonde hair. After taking all the ribbing he could stand, Dyer persuaded the company barber to dye his hair and his fuzzy wisp of a mustache coal black. No one recognized him when he walked out of the barbershop. At recall formation, his secret vanished when he took his place in the ranks. His buddies howled with laughter, disrupting the formation, but First Sergeant George Shirk was not amused.14 Dyer’s fuzzy strands of a moustache-in-the-making quickly came off but it took months for his hair to return to its natural color. In November 1941, unusually heavy Japanese troop movements throughout East Asia and the Western Pacific alarmed US intelligence. On November 27, USAFFE was placed on war alert. On that day, the SS Henderson, delivered the regiment's long-awaited 60mm and 81mm mortars. PFC Paul Kerchum of D Company was sent by his first sergeant with a Dodge 4x4 truck, a signed requisition, and a four-man detail to pick up the weapons. At Service Company's arms room in Santa Lucia Barracks, Kerchum received the mortars, but no ammunition. When Kerchum asked where to draw the

ammunition, the master sergeant issuing the weapons responded in frustration "There ain't any, soldier". Kerchum made the mistake of asking why. His response was a fiery blast. "Look son, the ammunition is due to arrive with a convoy from the states in about two weeks. Its not up to you or me to judge the decisions of the brass, so pick up your mortars, be thankful for what you got, and haul your smart ass out of here!"15 Ten days later, Japan attacked Hawaii, slamming the door shut on shipping lanes to the Philippines. When war came, 81mm mortars would have to make

do mostly with old, unreliable 75mm Stokes mortar ammunition left over from World War I and the 60s would be useless because their ammunition never arrived. Despite a series of war warnings that arrived in late November, life in the Philippines changed little. Arthur Christensen and some of his friends went to Camp John Hay for Thanksgiving. In Manila, Japanese residents were free to move about as they pleased, sometimes provoking the ire of American soldiers who had come to view them as enemies after seeing or hearing about Japanese brutality in China. Paul Kerchum was at a bar with some of his buddies when two Japanese made an offensive gesture as 14 1SG George L. Shirk (Modena, PA) died at the hands of his Japanese captors on January 19, 1944, while on detail at Clark Field. PVT Harold O. Dyer (Galveston, TX) was severely wounded at Abucay Hacienda and died in captivity at Cabanatuan on July 21, 1942. 15 Corregidor, the End of the Line, p. 46.

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they departed. Kerchum tore after them, saw them jumping into a cab, and lit into them through an open back window. When the door opened, Kerchum and one of the Japanese spilled out into the street and were still flailing away at each other when the MPs arrived. When the matter was brought to Lieutenant Lloyd Murphy’s (Kerchum’s company commander) attention, Murphy decided to press charges, referring Kerchum for trial by Special Court Martial. His trial date was set for December 7, 1941, a day that lives in infamy for other reasons.16 On December 6, the movie Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper in the title role, was playing in Manila. The theater was jammed beyond capacity with Filipinos and Americans vying for the best seats to see a shy World War I hero from Pall Mall, Tennessee single-handedly destroy a company of Germans. For a few more days at least, war was still only a movie in Manila.

References 1. Abie Abraham (Sergeant, C Company, 1940-42), Oh God, Where Are You? New York: Vantage Press, 1997. Also telephone interview and exchange of letters with the author 1996-98. 2. Series of letters and emails from Arthur C. Christensen (Captain, F Company and HQ Company 1939-41), concerning his pre-war experiences in the Philippines and invaluable data he provided on the pre-war strength, billeting, training, and organization of the 31st Infantry. 3. Series of letters from William J. Garleb (Private, H and M Companies 1941-42), and personal interviews during regimental reunions concerning his pre-war experiences in the Philippines. He also provided pictures and copies of his pre-war and wartime letters to his family in St Louis. 4. Letters and emails from Richard M. Gordon (Corporal, F Company, 1940-41), concerning his pre-war experiences in the Philippines. He also provided a copy of the wartime regimental roster compiled by LTC Jasper Brady and MAJ Marshall Hurt while they were in captivity at Cabanatuan—a uniquely helpful source document without which this book would have missed much important detail. 5. Ralph E. Hibbs, M.D. (Captain, 2d Battalion Surgeon), Tell MacArthur to Wait, New York: Carlton Press, 1988. Also telephone interview 1997. 6. History, Lineage, Honors, Decorations, and Seventy-Third Anniversary Yearbook (Unit History Committee, 4th Battalion 31st Infantry, Ft Sill, OK 1988-89. 7. History, Lineage, Honors, Decorations, and Seventy-Fourth Anniversary Yearbook (Unit History Committee, 4th Battalion 31st Infantry, Ft Sill, OK 1989-90. 8. Letters from Joseph Q. Johnson (Private, Company D 1941-42), to Michael Pullen concerning shared experiences in the Philippines with Pullen’s uncle, Dale L. Snyder (Private, D Company) who was executed by the Japanese at Cabanatuan. Also a series of email exchanges and a draft manuscript of his unpublished book. 9. Series of letters from Paul Kerchum (Corporal, B Company) to John W. Whitman for the preparation of his singularly helpful book, Bataan, Our Last Ditch. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1990. John

16 Kerchum was informed by the Staff Judge Advocate’s office on December 15 that the charges were dropped. Japanese bombs were falling on Manila at the time.

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Whitman’s book adds invaluable painstakingly-researched dissertation-quality detail to Louis Morton’s official history of the defense of the Philippines. Also personal interviews with Kerchum during regimental reunions 1995-1998. 10. Letters and emails from Farrell D. Lowe (Corporal, F Company and Service Company 1932-37), concerning his pre-war experiences in the Philippines with pictures and a map of Manila. His account is the most complete of any of the era. 11. Letter and emails from Dr. Richard B. Meixsel (Professor of History, James Madison University) a scholar of the era, providing a thorough and very helpful review of the initial draft of the first two sections of this book. He also provided maps and pictures of pre-war Manila. 12. Louis Morton, The Fall of the Philippines, United States Army in World War II, The War In the Pacific, Washington: Office of the Chief of Military History, US Army, USGPO, 1953. 13. Letter and phone interview with Ward F. Redshaw (PFC, G Company 1941-42), 1998, concerning his pre-war experience in the Philippines with his picture. 14.“Regimental Heraldry”, United States Army Recruiting News, Office of The Adjutant General, 1938, pp. 9, 13 (discusses the 31st Infantry’s history.)