It was the
friendliness of the Filipinos that paved the way for MacArthur's
eventual invasion of Luzon. Most of the time there was no question of
loyalty among the Filipinos.
Diet and Sanitation: Our diet was good-obtained from the fertile farms
and haciendas of the Cagayan Valley. When possible, water was obtained
from the deep wells in each barrio. Most Filipinos were familiar with
crude sand filter, made by digging shallow wells a few feet back on
river banks.
Pit latrines were dug whenever troops remained in an area for more
than a few hours. We had no venereal problems. The majority of
Filipinos were good "family" people.
Tuguegarao Air Field Raid: Captain Minton selected some of his
outstanding Scouts for his patrol. Under cover of darkness, Minton and
his men surrounded the Japanese barracks at the Tuguegarao Air Field,
killed some one-hundred Japanese soldiers as they emerged, and
destroyed two planes on the ground.
MacArthur was delighted! He promptly decorated the patrol
and promoted Majors Warner and Nakar to Lt. Cols. and Minton to Major.
The following communiqu? was quickly announced from Corregidor: "One
of General MacArthur's guerrilla bands, operating in the Cagayan
Valley in northern Luzon, scored a brilliant local success in a
surprise raid on a hostile airdrome at Tuguegarao.
Pages:
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62