During the early battles in the southwestern Pacific, most of the defenders against Japanese aggressions were Filipino. Among the graves and the Walls of the Missing, you will find many of their names. In this post, some of the stories of the Philippine Scouts, a truly unique unit of the American Army, come forward.
MEN OF THE USAFFE
Three basic units made up the of USAFFE – US Armed Forces Far East – command in the Philippines at the start of the war. American units brought in from either the Regular Army – the 31st Infantry Regiment, for example – or the National Guard – New Mexicans from the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment. Also included in that category would be the aviation units – B-17’s and P-40’s of Clark and other airfields scattered about the islands. Many in the quartermaster and the few armored units were also American.
Second, and by far the most numerous, the Philippine Commonwealth Army consisting of ten very untrained infantry divisions lacking equipment in most categories. For the most part, these soldiers are not buried here or recorded on the Walls of the Missing unless they have another connection to the Regular American Army. A good example here, several Filipinos graduated from one of the military academies – West Point or Annapolis. Returning to the islands, many would join the Commonwealth Army to help train and then lead their students to war.
Then, there was the third component.
PHILIPPINE SCOUTS
The Philippine Scouts – graves and names on the Walls notated with “PS” – were considered the best of the defensive troops available on Bataan. They would all surrender in early April – Bataan – or May – Corregidor – having to take part in the Death March. The incarceration that followed at Camp O’Donnell would prove to be even worse. Eventually, paroled by their Japanese captors. For some, war finished, but others melted into the countryside to begin a war long resistance.
ORIGINS
Originally organized 8 October 1901, fifty companies of a hundred men recruited from Filipino men throughout the islands. Each unit was led by officers serving in the regular US army in the Philippines or from men selected from the enlisted ranks for direct commission. Each company recruited from within the same province giving a unit ethnically and linguistically homogenous. The men serving in the same province where recruited from, knew the terrain expertly. The language differences muted by 1908 except for Moro and Igorot units. Also, in 1904 Scout companies became grouped into four-company battalions stationed in regions where the insurrection still acted out.
The Philippine Scouts played a major role pacifying the Moros on Mindanao and in the Jolo Archipelago, operations reaching from 19092 until 1913. They were active in suppressing the Pulajanes on Cebu and Samar as well as bandits and die-hard insurrectos. By 1915, the Scouts lost 108 dead and 174 wounded with two members – one a Filipino private, Jose Nisperos, and one American officer, Second Lieutenant Louis C. Mosher – awarded Medals of Honor for their actions.
THE CARABAO DIVISION
After World War 1, the permanent garrison for the islands became one infantry division, one cavalry regiment and two coastal artillery regiments. Four Regular Army regiments came from the US without their enlisted men – the 43rd, 45th, 57th and 62nd. The Philippine Scout companies then filled in the ranks of the new regiments officered by Regular Army officers, former Scout soldiers and Filipino graduates of West Point and Annapolis.
In 1922, the yellow carabao on a red-shield insignia became the symbol of the Philippine Division. The 43rd and 62nd deactivated because of cost-conscious budgets of the 1920’s left the division with two remaining infantry regiments. The 31st Infantry Regiment joined the division after serving in Siberia helping to guard sections of the Trans-Siberian railroad. The regiment gained the nickname “the Polar Bears” for their Siberian exploits. This was the only regiment in the division fielding a totally US cadre.
Joining the infantry in the division were the 23rd and 24th Field Artillery, the 14th Engineer, 12th Medical and 12th Quartermaster Regiments – (PS).
The mission of the Scouts designated by War Plan Orange set the Cavalry to delay enemy approaches to Manila. At the same time, the Philippine Division and Coast Artillery secured Bataan and Manila Bay. They would hold out until the Pacific Fleet could come across the ocean in relief.
CLOUDS OF WAR GATHER
1935 saw commonwealth status given to the islands with independence set for 1946. A Philippine army of ten 7,500 divisions planned for using the Scouts in key roles to train and help with mobilization. Training became very difficult due to severe shortages in equipment, a situation all to common in the interwar period.
War clouds gathering, in 1941 some new equipment came in along with the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment and two tank battalions – the 192nd and 194th Tank Battalions. These improvements gave MacArthur false hope, and he changed the plan from War Plan Orange to defending on the beaches 3 December 1941. Far too ambitious with troops poorly trained and still poorly equipped, MacArthur quickly backtracked to War Plan Orange as the Japanese easily landed at Lingayen Gul 22 December and Lamon Bay 24 December.
BACK TO BATAAN
During a delaying action at the Culo River on the northern part of the Bataan Peninsula 6 January, one of the gun positions helping defend became knocked out by Japanese fire. Mess Sergeant Jose Calugas ran a thousand yards across shell-swept terrain to put the gun back into action effectively even under heavy enemy pressure. He would earn the Medal of Honor.
The Philippine Division was a major force for the US during the battles on Bataan, defending and counterattacking. Two other Medals of Honor earned for the division – 12 January First Lieutenant Alexander R. Nininger, Jr. and 3 February First Lieutenant Willibald C. Bianchi.
Stopped on the peninsula, the Japanese regrouped bringing in fresh infantry, heavy artillery and more bombers. The American fleet, stymied at Pearl Harbor, was unable to supply the dwindling supplies of the men on Bataan.
THE END OF THE BEGINNING
The beginning of the end came with a breakthrough near Mount Samat on 5 April. Each attempt at forming a line after that met with failure and the American and Filipino units on Bataan surrendered on 9 April. 75,000 surviving defenders – 16,000 Americans 54,000 Filipinos – marched off to horrible ordeals, staring with the Bataan Death March in which over 10,000 men died.
Some 1,200 Scouts made up part of the garrison on Corregidor, but they surrendered with the other 9,800 men on 6 May. The last action of the Scouts took place a day later on Mindanao before they too received the order to surrender.
When American forces returned to the Philippines October 1944, many of the surviving Scouts reported for duty. The old division became the 12th Infantry Division. With independence, the division inactivated in 1947 and the Scouts no more. Pre-war Scouts given the right to enlist in the Regular US Army and apply for US citizenship.
GRAVES OF THE PHILIPPINE SCOUTS
Grave of Pvt Juan Baradi of the 24th Field Artillery – PS
He died 13 January 1942 during action on the Abucay Line on Bataan.
570 graves at Manila ABMC are those of Philippine Scouts. The families given the right to bury their loved ones here since the soldiers served in the Regular US Army. The much more numerous Philippine Army soldiers lie in another cemetery – Libinang ng mga Bajani or Cemetery of Heroes – just a little to the south of Manila ABMC. Look at the dates on the graves. Those from before May 1942 died during the Bataan-Corregidor campaigns. Many Scouts died later in 1942 from the awful conditions of the POW camps.
NAMES ON THE WALLS OF THE MISSING
Large numbers appear on the Walls of names of Philippine Scouts whose remains never recovered. The Scouts were a primary force in the USAFFE Army fighting on Bataan. The jungles and the nature of the combat left many of the men behind, dead or dying. Those surviving faced similar challenges as did all others during the Bataan Death March and subsequent incarceration as POWs at Camp O’Donnell.
Those Scouts that survived, gradually gained parole and release. However, during the eight months of Camp O’Donnell’s existence, 26,000 of the 50,000 Filipino prisoners died. Many of those men whose remains never recovered stand remembered only with names inscribed on the Walls of the Missing.
PHILIPPINE SCOUTS MEDALS OF HONOR ON THE WALLS
FIRST LIEUTENANT ALEXANDER R. NININGER, JR.
The winter of 1942 was difficult for the home front in America. Pearl Harbor bombed, the Philippines invaded, Nazi submarines at work in the Atlantic. A hero needed. Alexander Nininger, Jr. became selected by General Douglas MacArthur to serve as one in death.
Nininger served with the 57th Infantry Regiment – Philippine Scouts. Filipinos made up the enlisted ranks of Scout Regiments – four Scout regiments plus the US 31st Regiment made up the infantry portion of the Philippine Division, the US 31st. Officers for the regiment were predominantly American. One of those officers was Alexander Nininger.
Alexander Nininger Jr remembered on the Walls of the Missing.
Identification possible in the near future.
He had just graduated from West Point in 1941 before heading out to the islands. The regiment involved in intense fighting 12 January 1942 near Abucay on the eastern edge of the Bataan Peninsula. Nininger was constantly attacking and leading in the melee. Wounded three times, he continued before finding death.
Along with several other young lieutenants, Nininger lay in the Abucay local cemetery. His regimental commander, Colonel George S. Clarke, erroneously put their burial at the Abucay church which is nearby. The Army after the war split on whether they have found his remains or not. The family, along with others, involved in lawsuits regarding his remains for several years. One day, a rosette placed may go up next to his name on the Walls of the Missing.
CAPTAIN WILLIBALD C. BIANCHI
Another officer serving with the Philippine Scouts, Willibald Bianchi earned his Medal of Honor on Bataan, as well.
He grew up in New Ulm, Minnesota, working on a family poultry farm as he grew. At twenty-one, Bianchi enrolled at South Dakota State University majoring in animal science, playing football for the school graduating in 1940. He actively served in the ROTC program at school gaining a commission as a second lieutenant on graduation. Requesting foreign service, he went to the Philippines.
A member of the 57th Regiment, he won his Medal of Honor 3 February 1942 leading a rifle platoon against two machine gun nests. Hit in the left hand early in the engagement, he continued pushing his men forward using his pistol. With grenades he silenced one of the nests. After two more bullets to the chest, he mounted an American tank. Using its anti-aircraft gun, he fired into the enemy position until blown off the top by a grenade blast. His efforts allowed his men to persevere capturing the position.
prisoner of war
Bianchi fell into the huge prisoner haul 9 April when Bataan finally surrendered. He survived the Death March helping others as they struggled. Transferred to several camps including Cabanatuan, before transferring to Bilibid prison in Manila 16 October 1944. With the American return to the Philippines in full swing, the Japanese decided to send many American prisoners as slave laborers in unmarked ships to Japan and Korea. 12 December, Bianchi found himself among the prisoners put aboard the prison ship Orokyo Maru. The ship sunk of the Ligayen Gulf after bombing. He survived, again.
Placed on another prison ship, the Enoura Maru which ship sailed north. On 9 January 1945, the ship anchored at Takao, Formosa, suffered a 1,000-pound bomb killing Bianchi instantly. From a mass grave of 483 bodies, he became one of only a few bodies identified from the ship. He lies buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. His name appears on the Walls with a gold rosette by his name. There must be a story behind how his name ended on the Walls if his body actually lies in Honolulu.
OTHER SCOUTS ON THE WALLS AND BEYOND
FILIPINO WEST POINTERS
BRIGADIER GENERAL VICENTE LIM
Another man who served at Bataan who did not receive the Medal of Honor, but may have deserved one – Vicente Lim. Lim served as commander of the 41st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army part of the US Army Forces in the Far East – USAFFE – at the start of World War 2. The first Filipino to enter West Point, Lim graduated four years later as part of the Class of 1914.
Filipinos were limited in the choice of which branch to serve in after graduation – Philippine Scouts. A couple of assignments and he was teaching at the Academy for Officers of the Philippine Constabulary in Baguio – today’s Philippine Military Academy. After World War 2, Lim came back to the US. First, he attended the Infantry School at Fort Benning. Next, he completed the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth and the Army War College in D.C. The last two schools made Lim the only Filipino technically qualified to command a division.
a new army
He returned to the Philippines in 1929 to teach military science. Then, in 1936, Lim retired from the US Army in 1936 as a lieutenant colonel. He exchanged one army for another becaming a brigadier general in the new Army of the Philippines. Lim was first appointed chief of the War Plans Division of the Central General Staff. He next became the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army of the Philippines in 1939. In that role, he disagreed with MacArthur on how to build up the Philippine Army. Cheap and convenient (making the police the nucleus of the new force – MacArthur) or start from the ground up to develop a new force untainted by the past.
The Philippine Army mobilized 1 September 1941. A month later Lim stepped from the General Staff to command the 41st Division. His recruits very untrained as they arrived from the countryside. Facilities and equipment simply not available. The pace of mobilization also slow. Only two-thirds of the division called up by 1 December 1941. This just a few days before Japanese initiated war with the US and Britain.
change of plans
MacArthur wanted to stop the Japanese on the beaches as opposed to the original War Plan Orange calling for an immediate withdrawal to the Bataan Peninsula. The 41st Division went to defend the coastline south of Manila along the Batangas coastline. As the war reached the Philippines, USAFFE ordered War Plan Orange back into effect meaning a hurried withdrawal to Bataan. The hurried nature ensured many vital supplies never moved with the men to the peninsula in time.
The 41st Division played a strong role in holding the Abucay line in January 1942. This caused a pause in the Japanese attacks to build up their forces. Disease, hunger and a replenished enemy led to the surrender of Bataan 9 April 1942.
post-bataan
After the Bataan Death March to Camp O’Donnell, Lim got a release to live with his brother-in-law’s family in Manila. The Japanese installed government tried to convince Lim to become the head of the Constabulary, but he listed as “sick” on the connivance of his doctors. As he regained his health, he funded and directed intelligence operations against the Japanese eventually bringing him to notice of the Kempeitai – Japanese military police.
He tried to rejoin MacArthur in June 1944, but with his boat intercepted by the Japanese off the Batangas coast, Lim became a prisoner once again. This time, after torture, he along with another 50 guerillas, moved to a trench in the Chinese Cemetery. Here, all prisoners knelt before beheading. The bodies thrown in the trench, forgotten.
remembrance
Vicente Lim is remembered on the Filipino 1,000 peso note with two other Filipino heroes from World War 2 – Jose Abad Santos (Chief Justice and acting President after Quezon left with MacArthur) and Losefa Llanes Escoda (female suffragette and guerilla supporter). All three executed by the Japanese who left no trace of bodies behind.
Medals of Honor are reserved to those serving in the forces of the United States. With Lim’s transfer to the Philippine Army, he was not eligible any longer regardless of a West Point education. Curiously, Lim was not awarded the Philippine equivalent, the Medal of Valor. The peso note seems be a correction for the oversight.
ALEJANDRO D. GARCIA
Alejandro Garcia graduated with the Class of 1923. At Bataan, he served as a Major with the 24th Field Artillery – PS. Involved with the guerrilla movement after released from captivity, he was executed 31 December 1944.
EUSTAQUIO S. BACLIG
Graduating in 1918, Estaquio Baclig was chief of staff with the 101st Division – PA with a rank of Brigadier General – PA. He served under Colonel Joseph Vachon on Mindanao. Earlier, he had served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 26th Cavalry Regiment – PS before switching over to the Philippine Army. Serving with guerillas, Baclig was arrested and executed by the Japanese in November 1944.
fidel segundo
The second Filipino graduate of West Point, Fidel Segundo – Class 1917 – went to the Philippine Scouts on graduation. After a period at Fort Stotsenburg – Clark Field – “Smoke” (his nicknamed at the Point) returned to the US to attend the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill in 1925. The following year, he was at the Cavalry School at Fort Riley. Now, a captain, he returned to the Philippines as an instructor of military Science and Tactics at the University of the Philippines.
1936 saw Segundo promoted to Major in the US Army and given a rank of colonel in the new Commonwealth Army. Here, he took charge of the formation of the Field Artillery within the new Philippine force as it slowly took form.
In 1940, Segundo became a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army though still seconded to the Philippine. He was Superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio at the outbreak of World War 2.
After evacuating the cadets and officers, he took command of the 1st Regular Division in the Commonwealth Army as a brigadier General. This division was not allocated arms, equipment or supplies by USAFFE since there were no previous plans to muster the division. They have been noted as the least prepared division within the Commonwealth Army for action in December 1941, which says something.
After an initial start with the South Luzon Force, the division did account for itself on the western end of the Bataan peninsula.
Segundo survived surrender, the Death March and incarceration at Camp O’Donnell. Upon his release, he was active in the underground. 19 December 1944, captured by the Kempetai, both Segundo and his son were tortured and then executed on orders of General Yamashita.
ALFREDO D. PECKSON
Alfredo Peckson attended another American military academy graduating from the Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1933. Returning to the Philippines, Peckson worked at the Manila Observatory initially before accepting a commission as a Third Lieutenant in the new Philippine Army in March 1936. Quickly promoted to Second Lieutenant, he became an instructor for the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City. A period of schooling with the US Army Signal Corps school in New Jersey in 1937, followed by another promotion to First Lieutenant in June 1938.
Returning again to the islands in September, Peckson was called to command the new Philippine Off-Shore Patrol working from Cavite. This precursor to today’s Philippine Navy used five PT boats in supplemented US Naval assets. He only served for one year before reassignment to the Army becoming an instructor as a captain.
to war
With the war, Peckson commanded the 11th Signal Company of the 11th Division with new commander BG William Brougher, formerly commander of the 57th Infantry Regiment – Philippine Scouts. On 24 December 1941, while planning the division’s retreat from Urdaneta, Pangasinan, it was reported Peckson was ambushed and killed. Searches failed to locate his remains, and nothing further ever discovered after the war.
Peckson is one of two other Naval Academy graduates involved with the Scouts. Colonel Jose E. Olivares – 1923 – and Lieutenant Colonel Bienvenido M. Alba both were with the 92nd Coast Artillery Regiment – PS.
VICENTE EBOL GEPTE
Vicente Gepte graduated from West Point on the eve of war with the Class of 1940. Returning to the Philippines, he served as Vicente Lim’s executive officer with the 41st Division – PA. Surviving the aftereffects of Bataan and as a POW, he was active with the guerillas before being arrested and beheaded on 30 August 1944. His remains lie at the Manila North Cemetery.
PASTOR C. MARTELLINO
With the Class of 1920, Pastor Martellino graduated before returning to the Philippines. Switching to the new Philippine Army from the Scouts, he served as the first Filipino Superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy at Baguio in 1936. With the war, Martellino commanded the 31st Infantry Division – PA. Surviving Bataan and subsequent capture, he involved himself with the Resistance. Arrested, he was hanged January 1945.
AMERICAN SCOUTS ON THE WALLS
Americans also served with the Scouts. The entire 31st Infantry Regiment consisted of US personnel. Many to most of the officers with the other Scout regiments also came from the US. Some died during the Bataan campaign, but many more died in the subsequent march and camps. A good percentage were killed on unmarked prisoner ships torpedoed or bombed by American craft late in the war. Many of the bodies lost at sea or buried in mass graves. The following is not meant to be inclusive, just some of the names I found in my pictures.
45TH INFANTRY REGIMENT
The regiment can trace its history back to 1899 with personnel from the 1st Philippine Infantry Regiment (Provisional) – which included the 2nd Company of Macabebe Scouts – transferring into the new regiment at the end of 1917. At Bataan, the regiment fought long and hard earning one Medal of Honor (Bianchi) six Distinguished Service Crosses, twenty-seven Silver Stars and eleven Bronze Stars to go along with three Distinguished Unit Citations and one Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. The unit surrendered 9 April 1942. Reorganized in 1946, the regiment was inactivated two years later and disbanded completely in 1951.
ARTHUR NOBLE
Arthur K. Noble graduated from West Point in 1929. He was a company commander with the 45th during the Bataan campaign. Escaping from the surrender of 9 April 1942, he served with the guerillas in the mountains north of Baguio. After attacks on the Japanese in October 1942 Noble was captured 3 June 1943 and executed at La Loma Cemetery in Manila 8 October. Posthumously awarded the DSC, Silver Star, Legion of Merit and Purple Heart, Noble’s remains were never recovered.
ZURICK AND ZWASKA
Major Charles J. Zurick came to the Philippines in December of 1941. Serving with the 45th, he fell in the last battles on Bataan as executive officer 9 April 1942. Awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and a place on the Wall of the Missing.
Major Andrew Zwaska graduated from Wisconsin University. He went with the 45th into captivity spending time at Cabantuan before being shunted onto the Brazil Maru for transport to Japan at the end of 1944. The Brazil Maru and the Enoura Maru were enlisted after another ship, the Oryoku Maru, also transporting prisoners, had been sunk by US forces at Subic Bay. The Enoura Maru was hit by another American air raid at Takao, Formosa 9 January 1945. Survivors were put aboard the Brazil and departed for Japan on 29 January. Zwaska died 27 January, just before the voyage. Another 500 would die on the way to Japan.
FIELD ARTILLERY
Two Field Artillery regiments were attached to the Philippine Division, the 23rd and 24th. Lieutenant Colonel James R. Lindsay Jr. was with the 23rd Field Artillery Regiment – PS. The 23rd was armed with obsolete 2.95 inch mountain guns as of the summer of 1941 before gaining some 75 mm guns. They fought long and hard during Bataan. Following the surrender, Death March and captivity in Cabanatuan, Lindsay also survived the sinking of the Oryoku Maru. Put aboard the Enoura Maru he died in Formosa 28 January 1945.
The fellow 24th Field Artillery used World War 1 75 mm guns as Bataan opened up. They helped to support the 57th Regiment along the line at Abucay and along the west coast during the Battle of the Points in late January 1942. Their coat of arms includes a mule denoting a mountain gun history. Second lieutenant Robert L. Saxton served the guns until the surrender of 9 April. He survived until the Enoura Maru. He lies with others in a communal grave transferred from Formosa to the National Cemetery of the Pacific at the Punchbowl in Honolulu. Here, at Manila ABMC, he is listed on the Wall of the Missing.
OTHERS
Miller P. “Boots” Warren Jr. graduated with the Class of 1933 from West Point. In the Philippines, he served with the 57th Infantry Regiment. A company commander until July 1941, he spent time as an assistant to the Senior Instructor of the 21st Division – PA.
Surrendering with the rest of the 57th Regiment 9 April 1942, Warren survived the Death March and a couple years at Cabanatuan before being put aboard the Enoura Maru – after surviving the Oryoku Maru sinking. Like James Lindsay, he died during the bombing in Takao, Formosa and was buried in one of the mass graves on Formosa, subsequently transferred to the Punchbowl at Honolulu.
AMERICAN OFFICERS SERVING WITH PHILIPPINE COMMONWEALTH ARMY – PA
At the end of 1935, the Philippine Commonwealth Army was established in anticipation of the country’s independence set for 1946. General Douglas MacArthur was enticed by President Manuel Quezon to organize the new force. Development was hampered by lack of funds. The first group of 20,000 men were not called up until 1 January 1937. Philippine Scouts and other US Army officers were called on to inspect, instruct and administer the new army. By the end of 1939, 104,000 men and 4,800 officers made up the reserves, though little training still given. With war, two regular and ten reserve divisions of the Philippine Army came forward under the guidance of USAFFE and their old commander, General MacArthur.
Normal soldiers of the Philippine Army do not show up for the most part at Manila ABMC except in cases with American connections. We have already seen that with some of the Filipino officers, graduates of American military academies. Many of the Philippine Army divisions had Americans in commanding roles. Several names are here on the Walls of the Missing.
howard hinman
Howard W. Hinman commanded the 1st Provisional Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment – PA. In the Battle of the Pockets on Bataan – 30 January to 8 February 1942 – he personally led his men forward to destroy the enemy infiltration earning a DSC. He died 16 April during the Death March with his remains scattered along the roads.
father and son
Thomas Nimmons Powell Sr and Jr were serving in the south, as well. Powell Sr was a Lieutenant Colonel with the 61st Division on Panay while his son, Powell Jr, a Major, was with General Sharp at the headquarters of the Visayan-Mindanao Force. They surrendered with Sharp 10 May 1942. Both father and son are recorded as dying 15 December 1944 which would make them victims of the sinking of the Oryoku Maru.
allen thayer
We have already seen General Guy Fort of the 81st Division in Lamao, Mindanao. Lieutenant Colonel Allen Thayer, another West Pointer from 1928, commanded the 62nd Regiment of the 61st Division – PA. The 61st Division was part of the Viasayan-Mindanao Force under Colonel William F. Sharp. A key sector to defend was the airfield at Del Monte in the north central section of Mindanao.
While the bulk of the 61st stayed to defend Panay, the 62nd Regiment went south to Mindanao in response to a Japanese landing 2 May 1942. The ill-trained men retreated in front of the Japanese. Sharp surrendered his forces 10 May after Corregidor fell – Sharp surrendered in fear those on Bataan and Corregidor would suffer execution if he failed. Three American, seven Filipino officers and 162 Filipino enlisted men surrendered. The rest took off into the hills.
One of the Americans was Thayer. He survived two prison ships sinking – Orokyu Naru and Enoura Maru before dying on Formosa shortly after the latter attack – 22 January 1945.
NOTE
For more information on the Philippine Scouts, the Scout website is a great place to start.