The Wilmington morning star., 1945-07-04
Carabao Only Capable
Of Navigating Talomo
Trail In Mid Mindano
BY RICHARD C. BERGHOIz

| With The 3lSt DIVISION ON
MINDANAO-(P)-On some mil,
tary maps you can find som,
chicken scratches extending from
Kibawe in central Mindanao IA
Talmoe at the head OF Dava,
gulf. This Identifies what is know,
as the "Talomo trail"
The story is tina after the jam.
nese had invaded and Won strata.
| gic control of Mindanao earlv !,
the war they started work on IN.
Talmo trail as an alternate rout.
from central Mindanao to Davao
gulf, paralleling to some exten,
the Sayre highway which had
been built by the Filipinos befor.
the war.
It's fortunate the Talomo trail
wasn't marked as a highway b.,
cause even the designation "trsilp
is enough of an exaggeration. act.
ually the Talomo trail is nothi,,
more than a route from one placs
to another, a route based on tne
least strenuous means of strur.
Cling through wild, UNEMPLOYED
mountains.
You would have to see the hor.
rible natural obstacles facin,
these veteran doughboys Of the
Dixie division to appreciate WIN
it's called "heartbreak trail'
around these parts. And even the
word trail is concession ia
military Technology and print.
able English.
At no time are foot-sloggin-
dpughboys less than dnkle-deeS
in mud; most of the advances are
made after struggling through mud
up to the waist
That's why it's Understandable
why the key man in the entire
operations is 1t. Albert H. Todd
IF Lincoln, Neb. What makes him
SO all-important is that he i. the
man in charge of the only sure
means of getting food and supplies
to the men-a fleet" of II water
buffaloes.
These sluggish, painfully SLOW
animals can make about four and
one-half miles a day through Mire
impossible to any kind of wheeled
or tracked vehicles. Each waite,
buffalo Commonly known as cara.
boa) carried from 100 to $50 pounds
Of supplies, including precious
cans of gasoline for the field
Kitchen stoves.
AS this is being written, Todd's
feet is making a 20-mile round
trip and SO it's not hard to see
how precarious a thing this supply
problem is. OF course, air drops,
both free drops and by parachute,
help UNNECESSARILY but the mat.
ter of reaching and rounding Up
the dropped supplies, regardless
of the pilots accuracy, depends
on Todd's carabao fleet.
The incessant mud and rain
plus the heartbreaking terrain
make the doughboy's job bad
enough. The Japanese simply adj
to the misery. In this country enc.
my ambushes breed along the
trail like mosquitoes and although
there aren't an awful lot of strong
ly held well prepared defenses,
these constantly harassing am.
bushes can be equally tough 10
deal with.
One veteran New England squad
leader stood up we'll when he
learned he had lost two brothers
in Europe, but went completely
out of his mind when repeated am.
bushes cost him two Of his scouts.
Another veteran, Staff Sgt. Ed
ward Pietrzyk of Chicago, ILL.,, said
there were only two men in my
squad left on their feet when we
came out. It's a denloralizing
place"
Two other Staff sergeants,
William B. Grant of Greensboro
Ala, and Roy Draper of Eutaw,
Ala, were way up forward when
they learned they were going home
under the point system. 1t took
item two hours Of tough jungle
lighting to get out of the line.
But the whole thing is doubly
tough on the hopelessly trapped
japanese. They haven't the benefit
OF Todd's slow but effective cara
bao fleet nor of medical care. And
despite their advantage of ambush,
tney can't stop the relentless
Americans.