“CHARGE!” PHILIPPINE SCOUTS AND THE LAST HORSE CAVALRY CHARGE: By: Dwight Jon Zimmerman Courtesy of: 1st Filipino Regiment, U.S. Army, 1942-1946 Facebook Group. A place for the children of the men of the Regiments to gather to honor and share memories of their Fathers with each other. The only way we will be able to keep the Regiments' legacy alive is to be able to pass on the stories of the men who served to the children who will follow us. https://www.facebook.com/groups/laginguna1942/about/   “CHARGE!” PHILIPPINE SCOUTS AND THE LAST HORSE CAVALRY CHARGE: By: Dwight Jon Zimmerman On January 3rd, 1942, Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma’s 14th Japanese Army captured the Philippine capital of Manila and was threatening to cut off the strategic retreat of Lt. Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s American and Philippine troops to the Bataan peninsula. To prevent this disastrous possibility, the elite Philippine Scouts were given the dangerous task of fighting a delaying action. Organized in 1901 and commanded and trained by U.S. Army officers, the Philippine Scouts originally fought rebellious Moros who lived in the southern Philippine islands. By the time of the Japanese invasion, the 12,000-strong Philippine Scouts had a reputation of being a crack unit. Twenty-four (24) year old Lt. Edwin Price Ramsey was one of the American officers attached to the Philippine Scouts, serving as the commanding officer of a platoon in the 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts). Born in Illinois, raised in Kansas, Ramsey had graduated from the Oklahoma Military Academy, where he developed a love for polo. In June 1941, he volunteered for service with the 26th Cavalry because he had heard they “had an excellent polo club.” Shortly after the Japanese landed in December 1941, Ramsey’s platoon was ordered north, where it conducted vital reconnaissance and assisted in rear guard skirmishes. On January 15th, 1942, Ramsey and his troops were looking forward to some rest and relaxation following a demanding reconnaissance mission. But a counterattack was being planned, and because he was intimately familiar with the region, he volunteered to assist in the assault. Then things took a different turn. Maj. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, commander of II Corps, wanted to make the Japanese-held village of Moron (now Morong), strategically located on the west coast of the Bataan Peninsula, the anchor for a defensive line stretching inland to the rugged Mount Natib. On the morning of January 16th, Wainwright ordered Ramsey to take an advance guard into Morong. Ramsey assembled a 27-man force composed of mounted platoons from the 26th Cavalry and headed north along the main road leading to Morong. Upon reaching the Batalan River that formed part of Morong’s eastern border, Ramsey’s unit swung west and cautiously approached the seemingly deserted village, composed of grass huts suspended on stilts, with the livestock living beneath the structures. The only stone building was the Catholic Church, located in the middle of the village. At the village outskirts, Ramsey reorganized his force into squads and ordered a four-man point unit to lead them in. As the point unit approached the village center, it came under fire from a Japanese advance guard that had just crossed the bridge spanning the river. Ramsey saw in the distance lead elements of the main force beginning to ford the river. If the Japanese troops managed to reach the village in force, Ramsey knew that his outnumbered troops would be overwhelmed. Ramsey then decided to do something the U.S. Army hadn’t attempted in more than fifty (50) years – launch a horse cavalry charge against an enemy in war. Ramsey quickly signaled his men to deploy into forager formation. Then he raised his pistol and shouted, “Charge!” With troops firing their pistols, the galloping cavalry horses smashed into the surprised enemy soldiers, routing them. Ramsey quickly signaled his men to deploy into forager formation. Then he raised his pistol and shouted, “Charge!” With troops firing their pistols, the galloping cavalry horses smashed into the surprised enemy soldiers, routing them. At a cost of only three (3) men wounded, Ramsey and his men then held off the Japanese until reinforcements arrived. Ramsey received the Silver Star for his action at Morong. He later fought in the Philippines as a guerrilla, and received numerous decorations. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Sadly the horses in Ramsey’s unit did not survive long. In early March 1942, with troop rations running low and animal fodder almost gone, Wainwright ordered all horses and mules slaughtered for food. Among the horses was Wainwright’s prize jumper, Joseph Conrad. After issuing the order, adding that Joseph Conrad be the first killed, Wainwright turned away and strode back to his command trailer, his eyes filling with tears. *** The historic last horse cavalry charge by the U.S. … [Read more...]

U.S. Philippine Cavalry Scouts at the 2017 Pasadena Rose Parade. California, USA. On Bataan, a 26th Cavalry Troop, consisting mostly of Filipino Troopers and led by Lt. Edwin Ramsey performed the last U.S. Cavalry horse mounted charge to engage an enemy in warfare. This charge occurred at the town of Morong, Bataan on January 16, 1942.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVCZrg-xQxo&feature=share 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS) Link to original site: http://www.philippine-scouts.org/the-scouts/regiments-units-bases/26th-cavalry-regiment-ps.html Original coat-of-arms for the 26th Cavalry (PS), courtesy of First Sergeant Charles Aresta (USA Ret.). The red and white mantling signifies that the unit was originally formed from Field Artillery personnel.   History   The 26th Cavalry was formed in 1922, at Fort Stotsenburg, Pampanga Philippines from elements of the 25th Field Artillery Regiment and the 43d Infantry Regiment (PS). The regiment was based there, with the exception of Troop F (which was based at Nichols Field). In addition to horse mounted troops, the regiment had an HQ Troop, a Machine Gun Troop, a platoon of six Indiana White M1 Scout Cars and trucks for transporting service elements. Scout Cars of the 26th Cavalry (PS), 1937.   On November 30th 1941, the Regiment had 787 Filipino Enlisted Men and 55 American Officers. For the rosters of the 26th Cavalry Regt., please click here. Captain John Wheeler leading the Machine Gun Troop of the 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS) prior to the Japanese invasion. From the cover of the March/April 1943 issue of "The Cavalry Journal".   After the Japanese invasion on December 8, 1941, the 26th participated in the Allied withdrawal to the Bataan Peninsula. In doing so, the unit conducted a classic delaying action that allowed other, less mobile, units to safely withdraw to the peninsula. During the delaying action the 26th provided the "stoutest and only" serious opposition of the withdrawal. In the initial landings of the Japanese Imperial Army invasion, the Regiment alone delayed the advance of four enemy infantry regiments for six hours at Damortis, a town in the Lingayen Gulf, and on December 24 repulsed a tank assault at the town of Binalonan, Pangasinan. However, the resistance was not without cost, as by the end of that day, the Regiment had been reduced down to 450 men. Colorized photo of Capt. John Wheeler's troopers. Photo appeared in Life Magazine in 1941. Colorized by Sean Conejos.   Following these events, the Regiment was pulled off the line and brought back up to a strength of 657 men, who in January 1942 held open the roadways to the Bataan Peninsula allowing other units to prepare for their stand there. 26th Cavalrymen pass an M3 tank, December 1941.   On Bataan, a 26th Cavalry Troop, consisting mostly of Filipino Troopers and led by Lt. Edwin Ramsey performed the last U.S. Cavalry horse mounted charge to engage an enemy in warfare. This charge occurred at the town of Morong, Bataan on January 16, 1942. Lt. Edwin Ramsey on Brynn Awryn prior to the beginning of WWII. He led the last wartime U.S. Cavalry charge. Col. Edwin Ramsey recounts how the Last Cavalry Charge came about.   Following this, due to a shortage of food, their mounts were butchered and the regiment was converted into two squadrons, one a motorized rifle squadron, the other a mechanized squadron utilizing the remaining scout cars and Bren carriers. Other actions of the 26th Cavalry are; Following the delaying action down the central Luzon plain, 26th Cavalry Troop C was cut off from the rest of the Regiment, having been ordered into Northern Luzon in an attempt to defend Baguio by Major General Wainwright in late December 1941. In January 1942, the unit, with assistance from 71st Infantry and elements of the 11th Infantry raided Tuguegarao Airfield, destroying several planes and causing enemy casualties. Eventually the unit was supplemented by other soldiers and guerrillas, and remained an effective fighting force well into 1943. The remnants of Troop C would later be integrated into the United States Army Forces in the Philippines-Northern Luzon. Other guerrilla organizations were led by Officers of the regiment like Lt. Edwin Ramsey who ignored the surrender orders (and other Filipino enlisted men) who escaped from Bataan to form a substantial guerrilla resistance force against the Japanese Imperial Army. Rudy Cabigas, a retired San Jose Fire Department Captain, representing a Filipino trooper of the legendary 26th Cavalry, Philippine Scouts. His father and uncle served with the 26th.        … [Read more...]

Liberation That Destroyed: The End of Manila, Queen of the Pacific   By HECHO AYER: https://hechoayer.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/liberation-that-destroyed-the-end-of-manila-queen-of-the-pacific/ An Insult to Religious Filipinos' Sensibilities: Nuns Being Rounded Up by Japanese Soldiers (http://img51.imageshack.us/i/image005wn.jpg/) With no applause, but with artillery fire, American bombs, Japanese lust and death, Manila, Queen of the Pacific, made her inglorious bow to the world in February 1945. Iconic Photo of an American Tank Forcing Its Entry Into For Santiago, Once Impenetrable (AHC) In a single month, what was built for centuries to being Asia’s first and genuine melting pot was destroyed and forever erased from the world. The capital city of the Philippines became the stage for not only bodily massacre but also, spiritual, cultural, artistic and national eradication. It was in 9 January 1945 when Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger arrived in Lingayen Gulf, Pangasinan in what would become a United States campaign to recapture the Philippines from Japanese claws. By the end of January, much progress has been made by the Americans in reaching the outskirts of Manila namely that of Tagaytay and Nasugbu. They began to make their way up north to Manila. American Tank Inspects Intramuros' Ruins. Notice the Walls of Sto. Domingo (AHC) Backside of Once Marvelous Sto. Domingo Church (AHC) The Manila Post Office (Where my Great Grandfather was Post Master General Before the War) (AHC) On the other hand, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese mission to the Philippines, General Yamashita, has moved his headquarters to Baguio. He gave specific orders to make Manila an “Open City” and to simply destroy bridges and other critical infrastructures that may aid the Americans. He had no intention, whatsoever, of keeping Manila. However, Rear Admiral Iwabuchi Sanji disobeyed the orders of his superior and launched a bloody and diabolical campaign to “defend” Manila to the end. With his motley group of Japanese soldiers, a month of suffering and sheer darkness engulfed the city of Manila, victimizing its citizens, its art, its culture, its heritage, its very soul. The Intact Facade of San Francisco Could Have Still Been Restored (AHC) When the Americans were making much advances into the city, the Japanese blew up Manila’s very historic and beautiful bridges, thus virtually dividing Manila into two: the Northern and Southern banks. In the eastern suburbs outside Manila, like Cubao, Kamuning and San Juan, the resistance against the Americans was minimal. My own lola and her two sisters and their mama moved to Cubao during this time precisely because they had a bad feeling of what would happen to Manila during those tense days. All girls, they were luckily spared. They were said to have only witnessed one violent act: the neighbor peeked while the Japanese were making the rounds when suddenly, he was shot in the head by a Jap who saw him. Survivors of Intramuros Try to Escape The Place By Crossing the Pasig (AHC) The National Assembly (AHC) Likewise, although not without giving a good fight, the Japanese were unable to hold on to the northern banks of the Pasig. The areas here were the districts of Binondo, Sta. Cruz, Quiapo, etc. In 3 February 1945, the US infantry, led by Atenean Manuel Colayco, managed to reach the Allied Internment camp that was actually the University of Santo Tomas’ sprawling campus. Its main building became the prison for around five thousand foreigners and Filipinos. The interment camp was captured the following day. UST Concentration Camp's Liberation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Santo_Tomas_Internment_Camp_Liberation_.jpg) The situation, however, at the southern banks of the Pasig was far different. What is considered Manila’s most heavily concentrated area of rich architectural masterpieces, from ancient Spanish intramuros, to the American’s Neo-Classical corridor, as well as genteel Ermita, this area of Manila became the hiding place of the losing Japanese soldiers who became insanely cruel, killing people with no mercy. The Navy Club on Fire, While Letran Being Heavily Attacked by the Americans Since There Were Japanese Hiding Inside (AHC) According to the eminent Dr. Fernando N. Zialcita, my own professor in cultural heritage studies, the remaining soldiers in Manila, a good 10,000 marines, proceeded what would become infamously known as the “Manila Massacre”. Every morning, the soldiers would get heavily drunk before the roamed the city to kill civilians found in the streets. They began to set beautiful Filipino homes on fire (Ermita, Singalong and Malate became the worst hit residential areas), raid schools, kill orphans and even the mentally challenged. Legislative Building Ruins (AHC) Refuge in a Church (from LIFE Magazine) Suddenly, Manila was in a bloodbath. As the … [Read more...]

The Americans destroyed Manila in 1945 By Ricardo C. Morales Courtesy of: http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/82850-americans-destroyed-manila-1945 If the carnage of Manila in 1945 did not happen, we would have had a very different Philippines today. Our momentum ran out and the other nations in Asia eventually surpassed it. DESTROYED. Photo shows the destruction at Intramuros after the Battle of Manila. Photo from the US Army/Wikimedia Commons MANILA, Philippines – It was mainly the United States' casualty-avoidance policy that resulted in unrestrained and indiscriminate application of overwhelming firepower by forces under MacArthur, which caused the utter devastation of Manila and the loss of 100,000 Filipino lives in 1945. The Japanese forces, certainly capable of unequalled brutality and barbarism themselves, also contributed to the outcome, but could not have inflicted the same level of deaths and destruction. This cataclysmic event was a turning point in the development of Filipino society and its effects are more evident today, 70 years after. The figure of 100,000 civilian deaths is a conservative estimate. Some sources cite as high as 240,000. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki onlykilled 70,000 and 40,000, respectively. The firebombing of Dresden killed 25,000. Only the the rape of Nanking in 1937, where Japanese troops murdered 300,000 civilians, eclipses the destruction of Manila which some historians call one of the tragedies of WW2. The immediate U S objectives in Luzon in early 1945 was to rescue the POWs in Cabanatuan and the internees at the University of Santo Tomas. Once these were achieved, the Americans turned their attention to Manila and this time, it appeared, avoiding civilian casualties was no longer a concern. In the liberation of the internees, the Japanese custodial force of 150 were allowed to leave under a flag of truce. That was the only time the Americans attempted to negotiate with the enemy. Not that it would have been easy. The city of one million inhabitants was defended by a fanatical, death-seeking naval officer who had his previous command torpedoed under him in the Guadalcanal campaign. He was, quite literally, dying for payback. WEAPON. The US Army 240mm howitzer was used in action during the battle of Manila. Photo from Wikimedia Commons Armando Ang, in The Brutal Holocaust writes: "According to reliable evidence gathered from prisoners of war, military personnel, Philippine officials and civilians, and Japanese documents, the rape of Manila was not a random act of melee, mayhem and wanton destruction but an act of coldly planned atrocities by the Japanese high command from Tokyo." Even if this were true, it would have been physically impossible to carry out. The Japanese forces in Manila numbered 17,000. Approaching the city from north and south were 35,000 US troops supported by a few thousand Filipino guerillas. Knowing the impending battle they faced, the Japanese would have been intent on saving precious ammunition. Relentless attack Manual methods of execution like beheading, bayonetting and mass incineration were slow and inefficient. The battle took a month – from February 3 to March 3, 1945. Unlike in Nanking (which took place over 6 weeks) where the 50,000 Japanese troops had complete control of the city, in Manila they were under relentless attack by U S troops and Filipino guerillas. Parsons (2008) writes that “The Yanks were using portable howitzers, whereas the Japanese were using bigger guns from all land-based compass points around the city.” This is not accurate. The Americans had bigger guns and more of it. Portable, yes, but also much bigger. They trundled up their behemoth 240 mm howitzers, “the most powerful weapon deployed by US field artillery units during World War II,” versus the heaviest Japanese field piece ever deployed, the 150 mm Type 38, a 1905 design manufactured under license from Krupp. The latter were used in 1942 in the Bataan campaign but there is no record of their use in Manila. Furthermore, to deploy artillery pieces from “all points around the city” pointing inwards would render these guns vulnerable to piece-meal attacks by guerillas or US forces and such an artillery deployment would have been difficult to direct and control. One statistic that blunts the argument of Japanese responsibility is the low number of US deaths. In the Battle of Manila, “.. which culminated in a terrible bloodbath and total devastation of the city… was the scene of the worst urban fighting in the Pacific theater,” the Americans suffered their lowest casualty ratio ever – 1,010 killed out of a total force of 35,000, or less than 3%. Parsons argues further that the high casualty figures could have been part of a deliberate pre-negotiation ploy by the Japanese to discourage an American invasion of Japan, “that the invasion of Japan could … [Read more...]