July 1945 from Gen. Eichelberger

Ge. Robert Eichelberger

On 7 July 1945, General Robert Eichelberger left San Jose, Mindoro, P.I. in a C-47:

Generals Griswold and Byers and a number of other officers were with me.  We came down at Bagabag in 6th Div. territory.  Gen. Hurdis met us and we jeeped to the command post of the 63rd Infantry in the mountains NW on the road to Bontoc.

Luzon airfield

Col. Everett Yon was full of fight and the situation looked good: Yon’s forward elements were withing 200 yards of the hills overlooking a Japanese stronghold at Kiangan, and he expected to take it within a few hours.

There I had my first glimpse of almost naked savages, armed only with spears, who were fighting side by side with our troops.  These were the Ifugaos.  The tribesmen had come down from their villages and thrown in their lot with us.  They were tall, broad-shouldered, splendidly muscled, and despite the cold climate, wore only G-strings.  They carried deerskin packs.

Ifugao Warrior

The first one I met indicated by sign language that he wanted a cigarette.  Since I don’t smoke I couldn’t oblige him.  Col. Yon told me that the Ifugaos were excellent fighters; they were also the best of our native scouts.

My next port of call was the HQ of the 37th Div. at Tuguegarao, where my friend Gen. Bob Beighler met me.  We proceeded to the CP of the 148th Infantry where i had a talk with Col. Delbert Schultz.  The 37th controlled the upper section of the Cagayan Valley and in conjunction with the 11th Airborne, which made a landing at the seaport of Aparri, had seized control of Hwy No. 5 shortly before the 8th Army took over.

Northern Luzon

The job of the 37th was to eliminate by-passed Japanese units, a discouraging job indeed.  This meant going into sections altogether without roads.  The enemy was incapable of offensive action, but the heavy rains aggravated the problem and made it sheer drudgery.

During the next several days, I continued to inspect the troops in the field.  The HQ of the 38th Div., which had been assigned the job of cleaning up central Luzon, was on a ridge only about an hour’s ride east of Manila.  MGen. William Chase met me at Bielson Field and we made the inspection trip to the front together.

Napalm bombing near Ipo Dam

From a high hill, Chase and Gen. Bill Spence pointed out to me the Ipo Dam area and other battlefields of the 38th.  Although the tempo of the fighting was now slowed, 259 Japanese were killed between dawn and dusk and 29 captured.

That evening I wrote gen. MacArthur that I found morale on Luzon very high.  My own morale was high.  I was convinced that the back of the Japanese opposition was broken.  (I might not have been so optimistic if I had known that when IJA Gen. Yamashita finally came out of the mountains, he brought 40,000 of his men with him.)

( This is an example of “mopping-up”)

37th Div. dug-in @ Baguio Cemetery

Click on images to enlarge.

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Military Humor – 

“That can’t be no combat man. HE’S looking for a fight!!”

Courtesy of Chris @ Muscleheaded

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Norman Christiansen – Des Moines, IA; US Army, WWII, ETO, 3rd Army, combat Engineer

Henry Gerhart Jr. – Reading, PA; US Navy, WWII, PTO

Travis Houser – Hampton, VA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division

James Lansdale – Orlando, FL; Civilian, WWII Historian

Charles McDaniel Sr. – Greenwood, IN; US Army, WWII / Korea, 1st Cavalry Div., medic-Chaplin, MSgt, KIA

Richard Murray – Kansas City, KS; US Navy, WWII

DeWitt Parsons – Battle Creek, MI; US Navy, Korea, navigator

William A. Reilly – Broad Channel, NY; US Army, WWII

Joseph Ryan – Boston, MA; USMC, WWII, PTO

Frederick Segrest (aka Eddie Hart) – Phenix City, AL; USMC, WWII, PTO

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