Smyrna times., 1945-07-12
DRIBBLES
FROM
Our Boys and Girls
in the Service
BY,

David C. Harrison Post, No. Ia,
American Legion, and Unit of the
American Legion Auxiliary.
Mindanao, Philippines
Editor of Dribbles
Smyrna, Times
Smyrna, Delaware
Dear Sir:
My father has been spending me
The Smyrna Times regularly since
I arrived oerseas. Your column
has been interesting to me, as 1 am
sure it is to all men in the Service
from Smyrna and vicinity. Ee-
pecially interesting to me was the
letter written recently by "Jack"
Gooding. AS you know, Jack and
have been close friends for many
years. Jack has certainly had
some interesting and spectacular
experiences. AS for me, have
had very little of the type exper-
iences he has had.
We had recent changes in CEN
sorship regulations which now per-
mits us, in the Philippines to dis
close the island on which we are
located. Our unit is now on one
of the most interesting islands OF
the Philippine group, Mindanao
with it's Moros, is an island which
should be visited by all those who
come to the Philippines.
In order for you to understand
my position, perhaps I should cx-
plain what we do in civil affairs
Several Philippine Civil Affairs
Units have been organized to care
for the civilian population of the
Philippines. 1t is our job to re.
turn the natives of these islands tc
the way of peaceful living as
quickly as possible. We care fol
the sick, give relief where needed
and employ native labor so that
they may buy food and clothing
from us. Most of these people
have had no means to buy new
clothing since thte Jap occupation
in 1912. The labor which we OBJ
tain is used by the Army units
here to unload ships, build air
strips, repair roads, and do such
other similar jobs which will free
our fighting men for front-line
duty. We also establish Common
wealth Government in the provi-
dences in which we operate. Sc
you see, we are very closely assc-
ciated with the natives of the Phil
ippines.
AT present we are working with
the Moros and Christian Filipinos
of Mindanao. 1 will pass over the
Filipinos, stating only that they
are very friendly and live good
simple life. The Moros are very
colorful. Many of you probably
know something about the Moro
race. This race of people dates
back many centuries. Warriors
came here from Malay and inter.
married with the aborigines. Ant
so grew up the Moro race. Mo
hammedism, their religion, came
with the invaders. Naturally, the
Moros are good fighters. They art
raised to scorn fear and show M
emotion in times of injury.
The rulers among the Moros are
Sultans. Each Sultan has Datu
under him who rule smaller
groups. These leaders usually have
more wives than the ordinary
Moro. The more wives a Moro
has, the richer he is.
The individual Moro very seldom
knows how to speak much Eng
lish. We met some Moros wht
speak English well, but this is the
exception rather than the rule
The Moros respect American sold
iers, because, as all warriors do
they respect power. They do no
like Christians, and it's their belle.
that the more Christians they kill
the closer they will come to heav
en-. We are not Christians to then
because they feel that no Christian
could possibly fight as well as the
american soldier. The Moros hate