Filipinos with M1903s

[Rick the Librarian]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/q71/s480x480/484697_612423742104063_896929696_n.jpg

A gentleman shared this picture with me on Facebook. He didn't have too many specifics but thought this was possibly a picture of Filipino Scout recruits sometime in the summer of 1941.

[dkmatthews]

Thanks, Rick. That's a fascinating glimpse into history.

[Brother_Love]

Rick,
Thank you for sharing this, I love WWII history. My Dad was captured on Corregidor shortly after the war started, he was still 17 yrs old. He was not a gun guy but from what he has told me years ago he was holding a 1903 in his hand when they had to surrender. He did not return home until late 45. He weighed 80 lbs when he came back to America.

Regards, Malcolm

[Rick the Librarian]

Malcolm, do you know what unit he was with on Corregidor? If you hang around here long, you'll find out I am a real "nut" about the Philippines and especially Bataan and Corregidor.

[Brother_Love]

Rick, I do not know off hand but I will look it up again. I have that info somewhere. I also have all the postcards that the Japanese sent my grandmother telling her how well he was being treated. He was a marine.
Malcolm


Malcolm, do you know what unit he was with on Corregidor? If you hang around here long, you'll find out I am a real "nut" about the Philippines and especially Bataan and Corregidor.

[pmclaine]

4th Marines?

[Rick the Librarian]

There were a lot of other units on Corregidor ... the 59th Coast Artillery (operated the seacoast guns), 60th Coast Artillery (anti-aircraft), 91st and 92nd C.A., both Philippine Scouts. The 4th Marines didn't arrive at Corregidor until the outbreak of war.

[ncblksmth1]

Nice finger groove stocks and polished bolts. I may be wrong but the wood on number one looks very good.

[Viking Guy]

My uncle too, was captured on Corregidor. He survived and like most others returned home a virtual scarecrow. He was a big man for the time, over 6' and weighed less than 100 pounds. I have a newspaper clipping somewhere of him in the VA hospital in Walla Walla, Wa with General Wainwright standing by his bed (Wainwright was from Walla Walla) taken in late '45 or early '46. My uncle passed several years ago but until the late 1960's early '70's he would retreat to the mountains or other remote areas around the 4th of July as the fireworks really got to him. Of course we know that today as PTSD but then it was "Battle Fatique" or "Sheel shock (more of a WWI term but used by my grandma to describe it)" and in many cases both the vet and society just thought one had to get over it. My uncle never talked about his time in captivity....I wish he could but I never asked as my dad would have tanned my hide for asking.

[Rick the Librarian]

Do you know what unit he belonged? If you have no records, keep in mind you can obtain them through the National Archives.

[Viking Guy]

I'm going just from an old memory but I seem to think it was one of the Coastal Artillery units. Not sure which, however. The archives are a great suggestion and I intend to follow up. On another note: Seems I didn't spell "fatigue" quite correctly in my previous post. I'll plead fatique or fatigue or just being tired on that one.

[Rick the Librarian]

Unless he was Filipino, he would have been with the 59th Coast Artillery Regiment (Harbor Defense - seacoast guns) or the 60th C.A. Regiment (AAA - antiaircraft artillery).

[Dracster]

A guy my dad served with was a Marine in the Philippines. After the Japs invaded and things went south, he was on a detachment tasked with demolition of supplies. He said it was disgusting the stuff they were leaving behind and blowing up. They would load their vehicles up with as much as they could carry and destroy the rest. They kept this up all the way down Bataan. At some point they were destroying naval stores. The fuel was just dumped in the harbor. A Jap destroyer pulls in, they light the fuel and are credited with sinking the destroyer.

With the fall of Bataan, they steal/borrow/take anything that floats and make their way to Corregidor. When the final assault began, they repulsed a first wave but ran out of ammo in the process. So, they went out on the beach, stacked arms and smoked what they knew was going to be the last cigarette for a long time. When the Jap troops landed, they indicated through hand gestures that they were out of ammo and surrendering. After stealing their watches, the Japs moved off the beach.

He was liberated from Cabanatuan in 1945. He stayed in the Marines and wintered at the Chosin Reservoir in 1950. A few years later, his Silver Star citation from the destroyer incident was declassified. In 1998 he received his Purple Heart from Bataan.

[Rick the Librarian]

I assume he was one of those rescued in the "Great Raid" on Cabanatuan, performed by the Rangers and Filipino guerrillas?

[Dracster]

I assume he was one of those rescued in the "Great Raid" on Cabanatuan, performed by the Rangers and Filipino guerrillas?

Yes. The way he described it is he weasled his way into maintenance on the camp generator since the manual was in German and he knew enough to get by. His #1 goal was to not get shipped to Japan.

[Rick the Librarian]

Yes. The way he described it is he weasled his way into maintenance on the camp generator since the manual was in German and he knew enough to get by. His #1 goal was to not get shipped to Japan.

Smart man!

Can I have his name? I maintain a record. If you don't want to "broadcast" it, please email/PM me.

[Dracster]

Fred Vinton is his name. Somewhere I've got a picture from the mid-1980's with his dress blues and a copy of the article from 1998 about his purple heart. I'll see if I can dig them up and scan them in.

[Viking Guy]

Rick,

I did some checking and my uncle was in the 59th Coast Artillery Regiment

VG

[Rick the Librarian]

They worked the seacoast guns, along with the Philippine Scouts of the 91st; the 60th and 92nd were anti-aircraft artillery (AAA).

[Shooter5]

A modern production movie of the Cabanatuan liberation:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326905/

Here is the National Archives link to obtain service records:

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/

Rick:

Mr Mims survived the Bataan march:

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/04/bataan-death-march-survivor-shares-story-memorial-walk

[Rick the Librarian]

"The Great Raid" - excellent movie. With a few flaws, but generally very well-done.