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WWII PHILIPPINES MINDANAO GUERRILLA Grouping - POW WHO ESCAPED JAPANESE


KASTAUFFER
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Here are a couple of extremelly rare certificates from the AMERICAN GUERRILLAS of MINDANAO veterans group . He was member # 67 . There were less than 200 members, making this a very exclusive group.

 

Here is a list of known American Guerrillas

 

http://www.west-point.org/family/japanese-...las/MinGuer.htm

 

Oscar Brown was captured on Bataan and was transferred to POW Camp # 2 at Davao on Mindanao . This is the camp Commander Melvin H. McCoy, USN, and

Lieutenant Colonel S.M. Mellnik, USA escaped from that the book TEN ESCAPED FROM TOJO was based on. A few months after Mellnik and McCoy escaped, Oscar Brown escaped.

 

Oscar joined up with the Mindanao Guerrillas until he was badly injured in a fall. He was transported out of the Philippines in January 1945 and faced a long recovery from which he never fully did.

 

There is much more about him and photos of other items from his group here. Once on the page, click on the red headers to see more pages,

 

http://www.philippinephilatelist.net/Colle...%20Brown.1.html

 

 

 

MVC_099L.JPG

 

MVC_100L.JPG

 

MVC_102L.JPG

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These guys who did this guerilla duty went through some hard times.

 

You have quite the collection and it's like opening a gift every time you post something.

 

I for one am glad you are so willing to share.

 

M

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Yet another superb piece, Kurt! Congrats! American guerrillas definitely faced a tough time during Japanese Occupation. Glad he evaded a recapture.

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pathfinder505

Austin C. Shofner is on the list. He lived here and I was able to interview him just before he passed away. He autographed several books for me.

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These guys who did this guerilla duty went through some hard times.

 

You have quite the collection and it's like opening a gift every time you post something.

 

I for one am glad you are so willing to share.

 

M

 

I can only imagine the material you have that you have not posted yet! I feel the same way when I open your threads. I like your groups because they came right out of the woodwork and have not been " collector enhanced".

 

Kurt

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Austin C. Shofner is on the list. He lived here and I was able to interview him just before he passed away. He autographed several books for me.

 

Im reading the book " Escape from Davao" right now and Mr. Shofner is in the book.

 

Those men are forgotton heroes.

 

Kurt

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pathfinder505
Im reading the book " Escape from Davao" right now and Mr. Shofner is in the book.

 

Those men are forgotton heroes.

 

Kurt

 

 

Kurt, Very true and I just got the book, "Escape from Davao" and just started reading it yesterday.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Kurt, Very true and I just got the book, "Escape from Davao" and just started reading it yesterday.

 

 

The book flew by when I read it. Best account of the escape I have read.

 

Kurt

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  • 3 months later...
  • 4 months later...
Gruntgunner0331

Hello All ,

 

I wasn't quite sure where to post this inquiry , please excuse me if I got it wrong.

 

I just returned from Mindanao on the 17th. I travelled to Davao City with the intention of meeting a woman I am interested in , and treating her to shopping , nice dinners , dating her and sampling the nightlife etc. Upon my arrival , I learned that she had just lost a close relative , and was headed back to the province for the funeral. I felt obliged to go as well , and support her in her difficult time.

 

She is from a tiny fishing village on the Eastern coast of Mindanao with <6k people. The one road in is still under construction , and most access is by banca boat. The cemetery there is overgrown and still very much in disarray only 4 months after the devastating typhoon " Pablo ". After her relative was laid to rest in this cemetery , I was told that there was an American buried here as well.

I am a history nut , and was very surprised to hear it. I was told that I was one of only a handful of Westerners to ever enter the village.

 

I immediately asked who he was , and how he came to be here. I was told that he was an American guerrilla fighter from the war.

At some point , the Japanese entered the village , and his fellow Filipino fighters wanted to carry him off to safety, but he was either sick or wounded , and refused to be moved. The Japanese found him , killed him , and buried him in the village I think. Later the Filipinos re-buried him in the village graveyard. Time constraints prevented me from exploring the cemetery to look for his marker, but I have a contact who I am asking to provide more info.

 

The Japanese eventually built a small HQ there and manned it with about 30 - 40 soldiers. The Officer in charge there was known to make forays to another village up the coast because he had a " paramour " there.

 

Anyway , I hope to gain more info about this soon. Until then , are there any experts on the matter that I can consult , or any online resources that I can explore to find out who he is ? Given the remoteness of this village , and the fact that most of the people there are not at all fluent in English , I think that there is a fair chance that this is a story that hasn't been told yet.

 

Thanks in advance

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  • 2 months later...

Certificates are one way to recognize guerrillas. Remember the military has a procedure to recognize such veterans with awards and decorations. Unfortumately, only a few were full recognized towards their combat seervice before and during combat service as a guerrilla.

 

Below are identified two of recipients of the Combat Infantryman badge (CIB) ehtitling the Bronze Star Medal.

 

Ref: http://en.ww2awards.com/person/42771

 

Ref: http://en.wikipedia..../Wendell_Fertig

 

Robert

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