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-8-

By the time I was released from the hospital the 503rd had returned to Mindoro where replacements were waiting to fill in the many slots which had been vacated by casualties on Corregidor.

From Mindoro the Combat Team was sent to Negros where they remained, fighting the Japanese there who had been bypassed by the advance from Leyte to Luzon and Corregidor. This fight continued until the Japanese Empire collapsed in August. After the end of the war it took several days for the local Japanese to believe it was all over. When they surrendered a total of 7,500 came in and laid down their arms. At its peak strength, the 503rd had about 2,700 Officers and men.

I was given orders for rotation back to the States in October and was sent to Leyte to await a ship. With many people being released, shipping was at a great premium and it took six weeks before the Admiral Hugh Rodman came into Tacloban harbor. This troop ship looked like a modern cruise ship. It was only its second cruise.

Unlike many of my friends, I opted to get out of the service immediately and was separated at Fort Lewis, returning to my home in Portland, Oregon.

The 503rd was disbanded in November 1945 so there was no continuing organization to fall back on. As the years went by I had no contact with anyone I had known in the service. Over the years I often thought of the people I had served with and the fantastic battle which had been fought on Corregidor. In 1967 I read the book Corregidor, the Saga of a Fortress, written by the Belote brothers, William and James. The Belotes had done an outstanding research job and told the story of Corregidor from its earlier days, during the siege by the Japanese and its liberation by the Rock Force in 1945.

Regardless of my interests in Corregidor, I did nothing about it until after I retired from business. In 1984 my wife and I traveled to Australia and visited our old campsite outside Cairns, North Queensland. There the people told me of the 503rd Parachute RCT, WW II Association and gave me the addresses and phone numbers of people to contact. Upon return to the States I contacted the Association and have been active in it ever since.

 

 

Don Abbott

 

   

 

 

 © 2003 Don Abbott
(Pages 1-4) Images courtesy of Jim Mullaney, "H" Co., 503d PRCT - © 2005 -  503d PRCT Heritage Bn - See this Archive
(Pages 5-8)   Images courtesy of Chet Nycum, "G" Co., 503d PRCT - © 2008 -  503d PRCT Heritage Bn - See this Archive