CABANATUAN POW CAMP MEMORIAL, the Philippines --
Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. troops paid their respects to the World War II fallen warriors of Cabanatuan prison camp during a wreath laying ceremony March 18 at Cabanatuan POW Camp Memorial.
The memorial, 85 miles north of Manila, was built at the site of the Japanese prison camp in which an estimated 3,000 died from executions, starvation, beatings and disease within a few months of their arrival to the camp in late 1942, according to Forrest Bryant Johnson’s book “Hour of Redemption.”
Some 2,000 of the stronger prisoners of war were sent to slave labor camps in 1943, many perishing during the journey in unmarked ships sunk by American aircraft and submarines, Johnson said in his book.
On Jan. 30 1945, about 100 U.S. Army rangers with 6th Ranger Battalion traveled 27 miles behind enemy lines to rescue the about 500 remaining American and Allied POWs in a mission now remembered as the great raid.
Filipino guerillas had scouted the camp in the days before the raid, providing intelligence to U.S. forces and were instrumental in holding off enemy reinforcements during the raid, said AFP Brig. Gen. Restituto L. Aguilar, assistant division commander for 7th Infantry Division.
The rescue could not have been done without the combined efforts of both the Filipino guerillas blocking enemy reinforcements and the American troops rescuing the weakened POWs, Aguilar said.
During the ceremony, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Donald Goldhorn and AFP Rear Adm. Ramon P. Espera Jr. watched as a wreath was placed at the base of one of the monuments at the Cabanatuan memorial. Goldhorn is the adjutant general for the Guam National Guard. Espera is the Republic of the Philippines exercise director for Balikatan 2010 and Sagip 2010.
Balikatan 2010 is an annual bilateral training exercise with the Philippines and the United States. Balikatan means “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog which is the intent of the exercise - to strengthen the Mutual Defense Treaty relationship between Philippine and U.S. forces established in 1951.
It is a Government of the Republic of the Philippines-approved and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff-directed exercise with AFP personnel, select experts from Philippine civil defense agencies and U.S. military.
During the ceremony, Sgt. Matthew R. Biggs, with Combat Logistics Regiment 3, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Okinawa, was part of the AFP and U.S. military detail escorting the wreath. He said this was a momentous occasion for him as his grandfather, Tech. Sgt. Edward L. Biggs, had been part of the raid.
“It was a surprise. It was an honor to be here,” said Biggs who learned of his grandfather’s participation when he helped cleanup the memorial as part of Balikatan 2010 and saw his grandfather’s name in one of the inscriptions. Biggs knows of his grandfather only through stories told by his family.
AFP and U.S. troops have conducted cleanups at the memorial as part of the Balikatan exercises for many years, said Hubert O. Caloud, assistant superintendent at the Manila American Cemetery and a retired Marine sergeant major.
But, this was only the second year for Balikatan participants to present a wreath here, Caloud said.
“It was a perfect end to Balikatan 2010. This is what Balikatan is all about,” said Brig. Gen. William M. Faulkner, U.S. exercise director for Balikatan 2010 and Sagip 2010 and commanding general for 3rd MLG. “The forces that came in here to rescue those POWs – it was shoulder to shoulder.”
The first bonds of the relationship between the Philippines and the U.S. began during the 1945 rescue at the prison camp, Faulkner added.
“They did it for real, and we are just building on that relationship that started back then,” he said.