Monthly Archives: March 2022
Entering Luzon | 31 January 1945
Notice arrow for the 11th A/B at the bottom. Click to enlarge.
I have to continue here on January 31, 1945, as this is where the actions of Smitty and the 11th Airborne Division become quite confusing. While the 221st medical is attached to the 187th, the 187th itself is split and send in alternate directions. Up until now, the division has been maintained fairly well in secret from the Japanese, but it is here that Gen. Eichelberger not only wants to allow the enemy knowledge of their existence, he wants to (in his words) pull a “monumental bluff” and splash the landing across the newspapers.
The men hit the beach with only their necessities on their backs; their personal items would not be seen for two months. The Eichelberger/Swing strategy began at dawn with the convoy’s arrival at the shore. 0700 hours – eighteen A-20’s and nine P-38s strafed the beaches.
0715 hours – the navy began to shell the landing area with rockets from the LCIs and shells from the destroyers.
0815 – cease fire, beach party lands
0822 – no opposition from enemy reported; first wave of 8 LCVPs lands, men head toward Nasugbu only 1500 yards away.
0945 – the 188th was through Wawa, Nasugbu and the airstrip.
1030 – the 187th begins landing and immediately joined up with the others to head up to Tagatay Ridge. One unit of the 187th remains to defend Nasugbu, one battery of the 674th assists. The 102d AAA AW Battalion and the 152d AA-AT Battalion set up antiaircraft defense on the beach.
1300 – the beach was clear – Eichelberger and Swing head down Highway 17
“We were very fortunate in capturing a bunch of bridges on Highway 17 before the Japs had a chance to blow them up. I saw a number of big packages of explosives which they never set off.” __ Gen. Eichelberger
Palico Bridge
1400 – Gen. Swing notified Admiral Fechteler that all the men were ashore and he would resume command. Little did the 11th know that for a few brief hours, they were under the command of a naval admiral!
1430 – all key elements were 8 miles from the beach and at the Palico Bridge. It was saved just as a squad of Japanese were about to blow the steel and wood structure.
1600 – the 188th set up a CP in the Palico barracks.
All companies continued to moved forward. Artillery, rifle and machine gun fire erupted shortly afterward.
Japanese artillery, Nasugbu, Luzon
The monumental bluff was created by: a flying boatload of correspondents that blasted the news that the “Eighth Army had landed on Luzon,” and Eichelberger ordered Swing to have the 187th and 188th move as quickly as possible, fire as much artillery and weapons and create as much dust as possible. All vehicles raced down the dirt roads, guns blazing and air strikes thrown in made the division appear to not only be of immense size, but that they also had an armored unit with them.
They would now be coming up on the infamous Genko Line; a stretch of blockhouses and pillboxes that contained guns from Japanese warships, 20mm, 6 inch, etc. The enemy had dug massive octopus traps called takotsubo. All this needed to be destroyed before liberation of Manila and elimination of the 20,000 soldiers waiting for them within the city limits. For this action, the 11th would be granted the Presidential Unit Citation.
The 187th went down the steep southern slope of Tagatay and progressed to the north shore of Lake Taal where they were ordered to take Tanauan. The 127th Engineers carved out a road on the vertical cliffs for them.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Vaughan Albrecht – Grant City, MI, US Women’s Army Air Corps
Wilfred Anderson (104) – N. Vancouver, CAN; British Columbia Dragoons, WWII
Pearl F. Barrow – Wichita, KS; US Army, WWII, ETO, Pvt. # 37731632, Co F/12/4th Infantry Division, Bromze Star, KIA (Hürtgen, GER)
Gerald Blevins (100) – Pueblo West, CO; US Army, WWII, ETO
Lillian Campbell – Roseville, MI; US Navy WAVE, WWII
Frank DeVita – Brooklyn, NY; US Coast Guard, WWII, ETO, USS Samuel Chase (APA-26)
Hampton Folse Jr. – Raceland, LA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Laffey (DD-724)
Albert S. Frost – Tauranga, NZ; RNZ Army # 442456, WWII
Donald Guay – Hartford, CT; US Army, medic, 101st Airborne Division
Joseph Talarchek – Wilkes-Barre, PA; US Air Force, Korea & Vietnam, SSgt.
Leroy W. “Swede” Svendsen Jr. – Chicago, IL; US Navy, WWII, aerial gunner / US Air Force, Korea & Vietnam, fighter pilot / Pentagon, MGeneral (Ret. 34 y.)
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A tribute to my parents on their 79th wedding anniversary if they are here today
From fellow blogger, Rosalinda Morgan, we receive a first hand account of when Smitty was on Luzon…
With the war going on in Ukraine, I thought of the war in the Philippines when I was a baby. War is a terrible thing, and in memory of my parent’s 79th wedding anniversary, I’m reposting this story of how Dad’s decision saved our lives from the massacre. Otherwise, my three brothers and I won’t be here today. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! Love you both and miss you every day!
I sent this story four years ago to a fellow blogger, GPCox, who blogs about WWII in the Pacific at https://PacificParatrooper.wordpress.com. It is an excerpt from my book, BAHALA NA, Come What May. If you’re a fan of WWII Pacific Theatre, go and visit Pacific Paratrooper and say hello to GP.
Thank you.
My father told me this story of what happened…
View original post 1,017 more words
11th Airborne lands on Luzon
American Eighth Army soldiers debark from LCI(L)s [Landing Craft Infantry, Large] in Luzon. “File number: 259015.
Navy lands Eighth Army on West coast of Luzon–Troops of the U.S. 8th Army under command of Lieutenant General Robert L. Eichelberger, pour off Navy LCI’s (landing craft infantry) and wade ashore between San Narciso and San Antonio on the west coast of Luzon on January 29, 1945, in a brilliant move calculated to cut off Bataan Peninsula and to capture the naval base at Olongapo. Tactical surprise was achieved to such a dress that not a man, ship or plane was lost in the landing.” 29 January 1945.
Long before the American invasion began, General Yamashita divided his Luzon forces into three groups, each centered around a remote geographical region. The largest of these groups and under the direct command of Yamashita was Shobu Group, located in northern Luzon with about 152,000 troops.
Divisions of enemy troops on Luzon
A much smaller force, Kembu Group, with approximately 30,000 troops, occupied the Clark Air Field complex as well as the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor. The third major force, Shimbu Group, consisted of some 80,000 soldiers occupying the southern sections of Luzon, an area that included the island’s long Bicol Peninsula as well as the mountains immediately east of Manila. Most Shimbu units were in the latter area and controlled the vital reservoirs that provided most of the capital area’s water supply.
On 31 January, X-ray Day, two regiments of the 11th Airborne Division, under the command of Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing, landed unopposed. The paratroopers seized a nearby bridge before the surprised Japanese defenders had a chance to demolish it, and then the paratroopers turned toward Manila.
LST landing Jan. 1945
Originally the 11th Airborne Division, one of Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger’s Eighth Army units, had been slated to contain Japanese troops throughout southwestern Luzon. But acting on MacArthur’s orders, Eichelberger pushed the division north.
Once they were on land, they started down Highway 17 toward Tagatay. That journey consisted of approximately 30 miles of valleys, flat terrain of rice and cane fields, mountains and careful traversing along the crests of ridges.
The distance between Tagatay and Manila was about 37 miles, taking them passed Nichols Field before reaching Manila proper. This was the main supply area for the Japanese troops and the city’s port was a crucial stop-off for the enemy on other islands.
Reference: “Rakkasans” & “The Angels: The History of the 11th Airborne” by: Gen. E.M. Flanagan Jr.; YouTube.com; U.S. Army; Hyperwar.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Richard Adan – San Antonio, TX; US Army, Colonel (Ret.)
Oliver K. Burger – San Pedro, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Petty Officer 1st Class # 2952575, USS Oklahoma, KIA, (Pearl Harbor)
Bob Cardenas (102) – San Diego, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-29 pilot, BGeneral (Ret. 34 y.)
Over the horizon
Paul D. Church – Millington, MD; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-24 Navigator, 2nd Lt.
Jerry N. Hoblit – Conroe, TX; US Air Force, Vietnam, 3 Silver Stars, 3 DFC’s, Air Force Cross, West Point grad., Colonel (Ret. 28 y.)
Bernard Junge – Holgate, OH; US Navy, submarine service, USS Odax
Casimir P. Lobacz – Kenosha, WI; US Army, WWII, ETO, SSgt.# 36228207, Co E/11/5th Infantry Division, Bronze Star KIA (Fort Driant, FRA)
Newell F. Mills Jr. – Pinellas City, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, P-51D pilot #0-827247, 354 FS/355 FG, DFC, KIA (Bremen, GER)
Henry Muller (104) – Philadelphia, PA; US Army Air Corps, PTO, G-2 11th Airborne Division Intelligence / US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne, BGeneral, Bronze Star, Silver Star, Purple Heart
William White (106) – Long Beach, CA; USMC, WWII, PTO, Major, Purple Heart / Korea (Ret. 30 y.)
Michael Zezulak Sr. – Lombard, IL; US Army, medic, 82nd Airborne Division
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13 March – K-9 VETERANS DAY
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Lt. General Joseph May Swing
General Joseph Swing
It is only fitting that I introduce the man who lead the 11th Airborne Division before we continue on to Luzon. Many called him “Uncle Joe”, but on the back of this photograph, Smitty wrote “My General.”
“A hero is a man noted for his feats of courage or nobility of purpose—especially one who has risked his life; a person prominent in some field, period, or cause by reason of his special achievements or contributions; a person of distinguished valor or fortitude; and a central personage taking an admirable part in any remarkable action or event; hence, a person regarded as a model.”
Joseph May Swing was born on 28 February 1894 in Jersey City and went to the public schools there, graduating in 1911 and entered West Point Military Academy directly. He graduated 38th in the class of the star-studded class of 1915, famously known as “The Class the Stars Fell On.”
The 5-star generals were Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley. The four-star (“full”) Generals in the class of 1915 were James Van Fleet and Joseph T. McNarney. The three-star (Lieutenant Generals) Generals were Henry Aurand, Hubert R. Harmon, Stafford LeRoy Irwin, Thomas B. Larkin, John W. Leonard, George E. Stratemeyer, and Joseph M. Swing. This view was taken facing south around noon on May 3, 1915.
In 1916 Lt. Swing was part of the punitive expedition to Mexico against Francisco Villa under the leadership of General John J. Pershing. In 1917, shortly after the US entered the war in Europe, Major Swing joined the artillery of the 1st Division in France. When he returned to the US in 1918, he became an aide-de-camp to the Army’s Chief of Staff, General Peyton C. March. On 8 July 1918, he married Josephine Mary March, the daughter of Gen. March. Later that year, he joined the 19th Field Artillery at Fort Myer, Virginia, and in 1921 sailed for Hawaii to command the 1st Battalion of the 11th Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks.
In 1925, he returned to the States and assumed command of the 9th Field Artillery at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated with honors from the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, and in 1927 he graduated from the Command and Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. For the next four years, he was on duty in the Office of the Chief of Field Artillery in Washington, DC, and in 1933 he became chief of its war plans section. In 1935, he graduated from the Army War College in Washington and then joined the 6th Field Artillery at Fort Hoyle, Maryland.
Next, he went to Fort Sam Houston where he was the chief of staff of the 2d Division from 1938 to 1940. Later, he commanded the 82d Horse Artillery Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Bliss, Texas and then commanded its division artillery. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1941 and at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, organized the division artillery of the 82d Division, a move which was to project him into the brand new field of “airborne.” In Camp Claiborne, General Omar Bradley was the 82d Division commander. General Ridgway was the assistant division commander, and Colonel Maxwell D. Taylor was the chief of staff.
In February of 1943, as a newly promoted major general, Swing was assigned the task of activating the 11th Airborne Division at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, the Army’s third airborne division. Thus began for General Swing a tenure of service which was unique then and still remains a record: division commander of one division for five years, during which he activated the division, trained it, and commanded it in combat and during its subsequent occupation of Japan. During this period, General Swing and the 11th Airborne Division became synonymous; the man was the division and the division was the man.
General Swing made his mark on the Army and on the thousands of men who passed through the 11th Airborne Division in a way which those of us who were fortunate enough to serve with and have known him will never forget. His subordinates and superiors have described General Swing with numerous adjectives: forceful, energetic, courageous, self-disciplined, purposeful, farsighted, innovative, just, sentimental, short-tempered, forgiving, sincere, considerate, demanding—and with it all, handsome, erect, prematurely gray, with a lean, tanned face from which steely-blue eyes focused with incredible sharpness either to find a mistake or an accomplishment of a subordinate. General Swing fitted all of those descriptive adjectives to one degree or another; illustrations to exemplify each trait abound, particularly in the lore of the 11th Airborne Division. And as the years go by and as the men of the 11th gather at reunions, the stories about the “old man” increase and take on a sharper and more pungent flavor.
Gen. Swing
There is no doubt that General Swing was demanding in training, insisting on excellence, and setting and requiring the highest of standards for the 11th Airborne Division so that when it entered combat, after months of grueling training in Camp MacKall, Camp Polk, and New Guinea, the division was ready to take on the Japanese in the mud and rain across the uncharted central mountains of Leyte. Early in its combat career, it was ready to thwart a Japanese parachute attack on the division command post and nearby San Pablo airfield at Burauen, Leyte.
General Swing demonstrated his courage and vitality on that occasion by personally leading a Civil War-like attack across the airstrip with engineers, supply troops, and a glider field artillery battalion armed with carbines and rifles against the dug-in Japanese paratroopers who had had the audacity to attack the 11th Airborne from the air. In short order, the Japanese paratroopers, the elite Katori Shimpei of the Japanese forces, were routed, and the San Pablo airfield was back in the hands of the 11th Airborne Division.
_____ Condensed from a biographical article written by Edward Michael Flanagan, Jr., Lt.General, Retired
also, “The Gettysburg Daily, Wikipedia and Smitty’s scrapbook.
You will be hearing often of General Swing as we continue on. You might even get to admire him almost as much as Smitty did.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor –
How tanks are described.
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Farewell Salutes –
William Ahern – Setauket, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII / US Air Force, Korea, 1st LT.
Nick Baldino – OR; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS California
Frederick T. Barrett – Arlington, VA; US Army, Korea & Vietnam, Bronze Star, Colonel (Ret. 33 y.)
Cloyd “Joe” Conroy – Shelton, NE; US Navy, WWII, PTO, SeaBees
John B. Etheridge – Meadville, PA; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
Henry L. Kipler – Diamondhead, MS; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO / US Air Force, Korea
Walter “P.K.” Knudsen – Bronson, IA; US Army, WWII
Harry C. Nivens (100) – Pineville, NC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, I Co/101st Airborne Division
Steven Ovian – Whitinsville, MA; US Navy, WWII, Korea
Eugene P. Shauvin – Spokane, WA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 2nd Lt., C-47 Skytrain pilot # 0-756333, 95th Sq./440 Transport Carrier Group, KIA (Retie, BEL)
James Simmons – Hanover, NH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Cpl., 11th Airborne Division
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Pacific Paratrooper 