Evening star., 1942-11-11
Philippine Escape
Native Boys, Supremacy Confident.
Aid in Maintaining Wuverinq Morale

| raced at our lines, and using our
bayonets and pistols in the almost
nightly hand-to- hand fighting which
ragged increasingly during all the
weeks OF the Bataan campaign. 4
Finally, with all our communica-
tions with higher headquarters
severed by Jap patrols, which had
been at work behind our advanced
positions, the ragged remnants of
our troops were pulled back to take
up another defensive position on the
Guitol Trail. Col. Young was in
command.
Only One Way Out.
1t was short defense. Almost
Immediately, our line of supply was
cut so that every man engaged in
holding back the Japanese attackers
was without food or water for three
days while the Japs were steadily
encircling us on three sides. The
only way out was through the
jungles and across the mountains
to the east coast of Bataan. Our
orders and our fate were up to Col.
Young-again there was no COM
munication with general headquar-
ters.
Finally, on the third night, our
plight was so desperate and the
physical condition of our men was
SO low that move, as costly as it
might possibly become, had to be
made. Orders to withdraw imme-
diately came just few minutes be-
fore midnight. It was almost terri
flying country-there were seemingly
millions of mosquitoes and dozens
OF natural hazards. In addition, all
of us were pitifully weak.
Disorganized and tired, with many
of us suffering from fever, we some-
how pulled out of those mountains
where death hid behind every
tangled hillock. We were immedi-
ately ordered to take up new posi-
tions at the base of the Guitol Trail,
with orders to stall any attempted
japanese move until our other units
had withdrawn to prepared lines,
and then to retreat ourselves. Under
cover of darkness we withdrew to
supposedly previous prepared posi-
tions south of the Paliar Pagac road.
All front line units that were in
Bataan were ordered to this defen-
sive position, move made neces-
sary by the Jap break through in the
west sector. We were in the new
lines about Is hours when we we're
hit again by strong enemy forces.
The work of the Philippine troops
during the defenses of our new posi-
tions was brilliant and should earn
them place in the military history
of America. Attack after attack
was repulsed while the Jap big guns
hammered at our lines and enemy
patrols crept through the matted
underbrush in attempts to surprise
our most forward units.
Horrifying Living Conditions.
Living conditions were the worst
imaginable. We slept by day and
by night-at times when we could
in hastily constructed trenches and
foxholes. Our food was anything
We could pick up. Cooking for the
Americans was done in tin cans over
individual fires and all water came
from the stream that ran along
the front lines. Our troops used the
water from this stream for bathing,
for washing and for drinking. An
other sanitary hazard we're the Jap
anese corpses in front of our most
advanced lines, which we were un-
able to bury. To ,this,was. added
the decayir1g carcasses of earibaos
and mules which had been kflied by
shrapnel. We were unable to burn
or bury these because we were
under the constant bombing and
artillery fire of the Japs.
In addition to all this we were
becoming low indeed on ammunition