Evening star., 1942-11-11

II
OSBORNE and CAPT. DAMON
CAUSE.
As Told to LEE VAN Alta.
Ninth Installment OF Fourteen.)
I'm the preceding chapters
Capt. Damon Cause told OF the
eDents that led up to his meet
ing iDith Capt. William Lloyd
Osborne. In today's installn,e1t
Capt. Osborne tells OF the ordeals.
he and his men suffered prior to
the tall OF Bataan)
My battalion reached Bataan
probably because of an unsung hero
named Corpl. Lloyd Myers. On De-
cember rs, when we were ordered to
withdraw from Batangas and to
fight delaying actions to cover other
units until we reached the Bataan
Peninsula. it was Corpl. Myers who
Communicated commercial vehicles
to effect the withdrawal and it was
Corpl. Myers who, astride dilapi-
dated motorcycle, raced up and
down the crowded, constantly
bombed road to repair the tempera-
mental trucks and cars we used.
For more than two weeks prior to
our withdrawal, our regiment and
my battalion had been defending
beach positions at Batangas. With
the exception Of Corpl. Myers, 1t.
William McClure-my second in
command-and my self, we were
the only three American officers in
the battalion-a Filipino unit mobi-
lized only few months before the
outbreak of the war.
When withdrawal was finally
ordered, our instructions read, we
were to act as the protecting cover
age for the Southern Luzon forces
as they retreated to the Bataan
Peninsula. It was herculean task
and a tremendous strain on the
stamina and morale of both Ameri-
can and Filipino troops.
The troops-untrained, undisci-
plined and educated only in the
barest fundamentals of warfare
stood firm, alone and unsupported
against tremendous Japanese on
slaught in the Papanga River sector
at Calumpit. Gen. Douglas MacAr-
thur later awarded our regiment a
citation for its operations in pro-
tecting the rear flank of the arriv-
ing Southern Luzon forces. My
battalion was the last American unit
to cross the river at Calumpit, with
the enemy hot on our heels. We
were under an unceasing lombard
ment Of high explosives and daisy
cutting bombs while Japanese loss
and IT'S hammered at our retreat
ing lines mercilessly.
During those days of retreat 1t.
Mcclure and I were increasingly
worried that the morale of our
hard-pressed troops would crack. We
reckoned without Joe and Bonafa-
clio. Joe and Bonafacio were two
truly great Filipino characters. Joe
was 13 and Bonacio was IL; they
were our houseboys at Batangas and
they refused to leave us when we
left for Bataan. The two faithful
boys trailed right along with us on
Bataan even when the Jap shells
were riddling our foxholes and the
dive bombers were screaming down
at us hour after hour.
Juvenile Heroes.
Joe and Bonafacio were our sole
entertainment unit, our prize come
dians-truly, they were godsends.
Joe had an aged, cracked harmonica
and Bonafacio had dragged his an
tiquated guitar along with him
wherever we went. In the midst of
our biggest air attacks we could
hear them soueaking away in fox
hole 80 feet from us, completely un-
rufned by the explosions which
rocked our positions.
= Both boys had great, toothy smiles
and they were both devoted to
Mcclure and myself. Their psychol-
ogy of war was wonderful and they
were so convinced that the Ameri-
cans were going to whip the. Japs
that nothing could change their
minds. During the lulls in enemy
fire I can remember seeing the
heads of Joe and Bonafacio popping
up from out of their foxholes and
sending reverberating Bronx cheers
in the direction of the Japs.
Their contribution to the regi-
ment, and especially to my bat
talon, was nothing short OF Won
derful BY their example, hundreds
of grown Filipino men learned tc
fight and to hate in the same care
free spirit of Joe and Bonafacio
When we were finally with oul
backs to the wall, sent the two
boys back to a civilian refugee
camp-they were too young to face
what was in store for our forces ir
the weeks to come.
From Papanga we were sent to
defensive position near Abacy Haci'
enda. with Col. Loren Stewart a!
our regimental commander. GU
front covered a broad area In {
mountainous jungle region, and i
was almost impossible to protec
adequately the entire line. Our frs
ENGAGEMENTS with the enemy wer'
with small groups who worked int
our sector under the cover OF th'
dense brush and trees.
Night Attacks Tell.
For several days skirmishes wer'
taking place along the whole line
with the Japs utilizing their typica
Jungle strategy Of night attack, de
ceptiveness and camouf1age.xsAs tn
days wore on, it became increas
ingly apparent that the Japs wer
heavily reinforced and were deter
mined to overcome our defenses a
any cost.
japanese troops had broker
through our main line Of resistance
isolating many individual units, an
had 1anked the regimental lint
breaking it before reinforcement
arrived. It was during these action
that an American colonel and Fill
pino captain were killed while gal
iantly leading their men in bril-
liant counter-attack which succeed
ed in freeing many Of the isolate
groups that had been cut of.
was an heroic sacrifice, typical 9
many that were made by America
officers on Bataan-officers who's
deeds will not be fully recorded fc