This is one of t/o Official Signal Corps Histories on the Luzon operations. Tin etory of communications on Luzon it told in SIGNAL ACHIJ3/Erja® - UJ?JV NEWS& PICTORIAL STv GHQ PUBLIC Ki LvTlO.-. /UPQ S00,San Francisco, C
fc <*& •*#• . ,.-. . « / :• PUNCLASSIFIED BtFOSUHS UNDER FIHE An Official History of Signal Corps Fhotography in the LuioH ^CpeJjaticcs gfcpK.^v:- " ;' •'••;. ' -••'t " - o ~) : jjifttfe . V v Vi &*»•# Prepared by United States Array Signal Corps, Southwest Pacific Area 25 April 1945 a i t to '^ G.H.Q. NEWS ft PICTORIAL SECTION ^ 13 o QHQ PUM.IC KKI.XTIO.NS n*K'- UNCLASS! AFO W0» Fr*oci»co, -ui'i- V > S.W.AA.J?/ <L*y_# AJo P O /U~>
# L*13DINGS Of all the diversified Signal Corps troops doing their jobs under trying conditions on Luzon Island in the iliilippines—of all t£ie troops of any am or service, for that 'latter---none had a greater variety of combat experiences than the Men cf the Signal Corps Photographic Service. '„ They t/erc in the midst of almost every battle, they were in the heart of the great Ilanila fire, they stood, and fell, on the targets of the Japanese artillery* they ski:i.acd over the fighting in planes and jumped with the paratroops, they penetrated the ener.iy lines with the raidors, they rent into battle v.ith the Navy, and they were conspicuous at every historic ceremony and event of the liberation. . To accomplish the Signal Corps mission of Making a photographic record of the war, 14 combat assignment units, two newsreel assignment units, two nohile laboratories and one photo repair section were sent into Luzon with the invading forces, and two More combat assignment units veve scattered anong ships of the Navy, approximately 22 officers and 38 enlisted r.ien, ir all. Virtually all personnel was fro:\ Detachment One (Photographic) of the 332nd Signal Service Ee.ttalion, and the l6lst Signal Photographic Ccn.any. Host of the unite cc le in on the D-days of the vcrious Luzon landing oper tions, .nd of these, the largest percentage landed on the beaches of Lingcycn Gulf. Scattered as they were through the different convoys, they pictured many ene:jy attacks on the ships, and suffered their first casualty on S Minus two..*. Technician Fifth Grade ^rl G. Bates, taking still pictures of an air raid fraa the bo;, of an 1ST, was shot through the leg by a bullet frca a strafing 1-Tip plane. In the high surf at the Lingayen Beaches, several photographers were knocked down as they struggled ashore, and their cameras vxro i:x.;ersed in the sea. In previous operations, this would have put the photographer out of acti. But, for the first time, . Mobile shop cf tho Camera Repair Section • came in with ccsmbat reinforcement troops. They landed on S plus four and set up in tents at langaldan. Cc lcros imMobilized by salt water were pratptly restored to service. The Repair Section was unable, however, to repair one cf the pieces of equipment carried in on its own truck, a 16 millimeter Bell Sc Howell projector that bounced off the weapons carrier and was run over by the truck be.iind it as the vehicles were racing for safety through one.iy fire. another truck, carrying the fil:i reserve of one of the combat units, received a direct hit fro:.: a art.r shell and burned. The unit had to be resupplied. 1_ . Li.ifi-.J-C., lciiiit fictc V..-.3 Imc-n ns s-Dg^& p|CTf,„|AL ?r,.r,r,N 4g.H.q. f OHQ • ' '... n i'-:„ '•: p M ' AHO oau I. \^S.VV.P.A t cV
If the landing was rough, the £Oing, once ashore, was often rougher, for tl e photo units felt obliged to.push through to tve perimeters without delay. T e Officer-in-Cvarge of Unit B accompanied an lp-^ar patrol scouting San Jacinto, first dry's objective of the Zj?rd Division, They ran into a Japanese defense position of 2^0 men at t>-e river just out of town and in the ensuing fire fight lost eight killed anc5 fi"e wounded. Ti-e Photo Officer r'&s one cf t1* e six survivors. ViP-en the town was captured the next da-**, Unit B's jeep v/ c s t r e r irst vehicle to enter. The ordered confusion of a landing s^ene was compounded by the -ia£nituae o:f t1 is one. Photographers, following: the battrlions to ^Mch they were assigned, lost all contact with their ^hoto uivts. Some of them even lost Vrezr tactical units, and one, busily taking pictures, T^ande^ed far into ene-y territory alone and wasn't snare he had become separated until he r.et cm advance patrol on the way back. Di f f i cu l t i e s cn the beach did not end on S Day . ICe* sreel Un i t G came into . .7hite Beach on the evening of S plus four, in tl e midst of an artillery 'duel between warships in the harbor and Japanese 12-inch guns at Demortis# With the sudden fall of tropical darkness carte an alert and blackout. Jap shells were pounding the beaches and the air was filled with the freighttrain rustle of other missiles as the unit set out for Dagupan. leaving in and out among piles of supplies and prone troops, the vehicles ground through the trackless sands of a beach already churned by artillery fire and countless vehicles. It became impossible to get through. The photographers made camp in the bedlam t^at was the beach. The First Battalion of the l5°th Regimental Combat Team set out the next day to silence the Jap guns at Damortis. rfith them went ""hoto Unit 10. The Photo Unit Officer was with C Company. As ti~ey were crossing an open rice paddy just before noon, all the surrounding hills suddenly spouted Japanese artillery fire. The center of C Company was wiped outf instantaneously. A motion picture cameraman and a still photographer were with A Company. This Company got it late in the afternoon. The Japs had waited until tv ey reached a point where t^ere was no cover. The Company was fast being obliterated as a withdrawal began over a 'elf ^ile of open country under continuing enemy artillery fire. Fadios, mortars, packs, ammunition, Qead and even - curded had to be abandoned. The photographers kept shooting pictures, and managed, between tv e two of them, to get one wounded Infantryman to safety. G.H.Q. , f cWS & PICTORIAL SECTION HO rrc . ' , i ' . ; : - ' "- -L\TION > ' i « i - GHQ PI I. . Fraiiciscv\
f r The motion picture cameraman got a bullet hole in hia centccn, but thoy wero otherwise untouched, although tho Battalion had loot noorly half its men. Tnot battle continued until 28 Jauuary when Rosario fell to the Americana, Tho weakened 158th stopped there for a rest* Unit 10 started south in search of further combat to photograph. •Amor^s the Photo units was one consistii£ of hand-picked men that had volunteered for the most dangerous assignments since their arrival in the theater. On Luzon, this unit, Unit F, was assigned to the Sixth Ranger Battalion, and when two Ranger companies landed in rubber boats, launched from PT boats, to &cout Bolineo, and islands off Bolinao Cape* the Photo Unit Officcr wont with them. The landing was mode at night, but he shot pictures of tho preparations—-loading the rubber boats and the Rangers darkening their faces——and of tho securing of the Island of Santiago. The one-by-ono annihilation of the Japs stubbornly entrenched in tho Cabaruan Hills was given closeup coverage by Aiwy photographers, showing tho enemy being routed out with small aims, flame throwers, dynamito and cans of gasoline. During the Cabaruan operations, a jeep carrying photographers was following tanks into battle when intensified enemy fire suddenly forced the tanks to withdraw momentarily. They swung around in their tracks and,, before the photographers could turn their jeep, a tank was upon it. The occupants jumped free, but all of the jeep that was salvagable was a single tire.. A Photo lieutenant in these operations reached for his canteen to get a drink of water durit^ combat, but couldn't pry it loose from its holder. Duzlng a respite he discovered the reason—a bullet had passed through the holder and canteen. One photographer crawled back to the medics with an Infantryman whose hand had been blown off, then returned to resume his camera work. Tho lieutenant of Unit B and a .1/5 motion picture cameraman, in the Unit jeep convoyed by a captured Japanese staff car full of guerillas, bypassed enemy forces to photograph guerilla activities in tho town of Guimba, 10 miles within the Jap lines. The townspeople gave a banquet and victory ball in their honor as the first invading .Americans to enter the town. The mayor and leading citizens made speeches of welcome, with the Japs on all four sides of the city. Next day the guerillas escorted than safely back to the American lines. Two Unit J photographers entered Tarlac the day before it fell without even rcalizit£ that our forces had not captured the city until after they had left. The town was virtually deserted, even the natives having flod« Unit 8's lieutenant and a movie cameraman,. coveiii^; the 37th Divi MiWS & P'CTORIAL SECTION / - 3 "GHQ 'M' ' !. , P > i i;;F[CF APO »00, oan Francisco, vwaiif. \
advance, wore on the tpot at Camiling when a body of 50 Japanese walked straight down a road into a newly-installed American road block* Unit I»s lieutenant and an enlisted man entered Bamban with an eightman patrol two miles ahead of the main body. Japanese opened fire on them dnd the patrol was scattered. The two photographers Made their v;ay back alone. Next day they were caught in a regimental CP when Japanese artillery zoroed it in, but they oscaped again. Then they went on to Clarlc Field where photographers received a .•oncentratcd dosu of fire. Tt;o of them were pinned down on the south side of the field. Two more were riding in a tank destroyer with the Commanding General of the 37th Division. The tank destroyer just ahead of it struck a mine and was demobilized. They demolished it with their own fire to keep it from falling into the hands- of the enemy. Americans were in one hangar of the field, the Japs in another, slugging it out. With the entrenchod Americans was another photo unit# The tank destroyer with the General and the -two photographers crept up almost botv.een the two hangars, remaining there several minutes. V.hen thu photo unit in the hangar.left, Jap artillery shells chased their jeep along the field, splashing geysers of earth just behind the careening vehicle all the way. On a hill in the Fort Stotsonburg area, a Signal Corps motion picture camera w:s set up in plain view of Jap dugouts 400 yards away. Six 40th Division men were killed by snipers on that hill the day the camera was operating, r.nd while the Photo Officer of Unit £ was shooting pictures, one soldier was killed only 10 feet from him. In the srjae area, Unit 8 was pinned dovn on the crest of a small knoll for nearly an hour by Japanese sniper fire and a few hours later was under direct machine gun and rifle fire during an enemy infiltration of our lines. Unit A landed with the 38th Division on the western side of Bataon in Zambales Province, 29 January, and outran the Infantry to the town of San Marcelino so that they might photograph the triuiftphal entry. After first resistance in this operation was met near Subic Bay, the Photo Unit pushed up the road with the 34th Regimental Combat Team and ontcrod the town of Olongapo behind the first tank, capturing a Japanese garrison flag. The following two weoks, these photographers recorded the bloody battlo of Zig-Zag Pass. It was hero thct General MacArthur had fought his rear guard action to cover the withdrawal into Bataan. One of the cameramen photographed the mission of a regiment that was guided across the hills by a tribe of Negritos to encircle the Japs in the pass. For more than n week these troops were supplied only by air drops. Members of the bottle-toughened Unit F accoupanied the Ranger r NEWS St PICTORIAL SECTION " * "GHQ PUKi.k.: 1. OFFICE M'O SJII Francisco, Cuiif.
) party that penetrated Japanese territory on the daring delivery of American prisoners of war in Cabanatuan Prison. T/i;. Frank J. Gootzheiner, one of the smallest men in the Photo Service, volunteered to accompany the Ranger who shot the lock off the prison gate so that the raiders might pour in on the evening of 30 January. Then, with tho first r.icn to penetrate the place, he ran through the prisoner's quarters hording tho bewildered inmates out the gale, taking zestful advantage of the opportunity for a T/4 to push around bewildered field grade officers. One of the liberated Americans was a major who had been photoyra hie officer on the staff of the Chief Signal Officer v hen tho Jape invaded the Philippines. Previous critiques of this Photo Unit's operations x.ere not without a suggestion of difficulty over the personnel's propensity to forget pictures for a more aggressive part in tho fighting, but this timo they v. ere able to abandon their cameras with ir.ipunity, for 1,10st of the action took place after sunset. All of them.helped to carry out sick or wounded. Photographers v ore included when all officers participating in this raid wore awarded tho Silver Star and enlisted men Bronze Stars. Captain.Grover C. Uieocyer and Sergeant Irving M. Vagen of Signal photographic volunteered to acconpany the 11th Airborne Division on its perilous probing mission into the anumy^rear in southern Luzon. The landing was made at Nusugbu Bay on 3* January. when Cavite was c^-pturcd by the 11th Airborne, the eleventh and twelfth men into the naval base were the two photographers, but as the officer expressed it, "there were no Japs around anyway, so what?" This two-man photo Unit, on the night of 21 February, boarded one of three sailing bancas with an officer and 30 the Recon Flatoor. 011 an adventure that was to culminate as the second spectacular prison delivery of Luzon* night they sailed to a point 40 miles behind the Jap linos. The next day they hid in a small town on the south shore of Laguna de Bay. That night, with 200 guerillas, they sailed north -;nd west to a point about 11 miles frcca their objective, the internment camp at Los Banos, which was two hours away. Tho raiders walkod through rice paddies to the edge of canp. At 0645» six American Soldiers and 30 Filipinos stormed the gate. With than were the two photographers. The rest of the party followed* At 0655» Q reinforced Pare troop Company cane down 500 yards frcti camp. - 5 - * See Official Signal Corps History, SY/PA, SIGNAL ^CllliVUM72 - LUZp&J^8S Prisoner of War Cn^ptor. NEWS& PICTORIAL SF-noN 4 G.H.Q GHQ rui/-.i. • •• \ i"!>.•i;-'FiCK !p I ' ) o APQ iUO, San Francisco, Caiif. SAV.PVA
•"•t 0710, 53 aili&ators full of fighting nen cane in on schedule fran the bcaclu The raid was accomplished by 225 !Vien i*1 iVeryone was needed for c0 1 at security on this tense nissioru Captain Nic icycr led a ;uchiiiu gun sauad in v.ith hi:1. Both photographers helped get prisoners out. . They shot pictures of tho weak and sickly iinatos carrying their :ieager belongings past burning buildings and they "were never kissed so :.xuch in our lives". Coverage was curtt iled by n shutter jaming on their Speed Graphic and "by the swiftness of the raid, swift because the Jcps reached the carp in force as cxpected, an hour after the raiders left with their 2,146 liberated inrates. Both photographers were awarded the 3ronze otar.* iWS & PTCTOmL : /4r G-H-Q- *- l ) o GHQ r;i;v.i • v.!.. APO SOU, Fiaaci&cu, - 6 - • Awards by authority of bee II, GCL 39» Hq, llrh <«irfcoj no Div, dtd 9 I»Iar 45*
I17T0 IIAITILA Aa the 11th ..irborne Division was landing in the south, photo tcaras in tho Control Luzon Valley were racing not to keep up with, but to get ahead of, tho astault troops so they could photograph tho entry into Ilanila. One T/5 was with an advance gurrd of 50 Inf'ntrynen that dug in for a night at a cross ro:.d three i.iiles south of IJavcliches. When 20 trucks approached thou frcrn the east' they thought their iaain body, lai;t known to bo north of thorn, hc.d cai:ght up by a different route. But a challenge to the convoy evoked a stream of Japanese- expletives# iis if at a signal, every Eian in the- position began firing with mortars and light amis# "I was seared stiff,' said the cawcraiuan# "It was so dark you couldn't toll '..ho wes shooting# l.'c stopped tho Japs, but beccusc- of the strength of tho cneny, the officcr-in-ch;.rge dccided to withdraw before they coulu regroup# The r.ien in front boo.an falling back on us, and it was terrifying bec.uso we couldn't tell vhether they v.ere Japs or .'uxricans# I had to leave all my hervy equipment, including c~xieras, under a nearby house# «c walked all ni^ht tljrough the rico peddies and in the corning we cane out only about a mile north of where we had started, just in tiuw to sec the American troops approaching# I climbed onto the fifth tank in line to ride into Ilanila# Eneuy fire bccamo so heavy as we progressed, however, that I had to get inside the tank#" Another T/5 photographer, riding inside an M-7 tank, took over the #50 calibre i.iachine gun and kept it in operation when the .gunner alongside him was wounded. A Photographic sergeant, caught in a sharp encounter with a Jep patrol just above Ilanila on k February, was lying in a ditch alongside a ro'd when throe Japs stepped out of a hedge nearby. Dusk and heavy foliage precluded pictures, so the sergeant air.od his gun insterd of his conera at the J-ps, who had started running. He brought down one and a BAR uan felled the other two. Sone photographers didn't wait for the JLngineers to build bridges across the rivers. They nede rafts for their vehicles, or begged rides on Oiiitracks. Refused priority on a ferry, the Unit I weapons carrier led o convoy of heavier photo vehicles a mile upstreon to a ford. In the dark, the weapons carrier had to winch each of the other trucks across, then it took thca four hours to get through the rice pacldies back to the road on the other side, during which tiae each truck got stuck at least twico. Other Photo vehicles had to wait. The hesvy repair van of the Photo Repair Scction, for instance, after drivir.g day and night, found itself stapped by a blown-up bridge of the last stubborn river north of ilanila. However, it squirmed through the traffic jam to the front part of the column, ingratiated itself by serving coftfee to the waiting troops through the night, and w. s the first vehicle of ifts size to cross the bridge the next uorning. 7NEWS & PTCTOML SFTT'ON /> G.H.Q. GHQ W ' . V . i >s > niTi; P \ \ O APO *00, fret
Two enlisted photographers obtained pejsnission to try to ontor Manila as oarly as 1 February, tvo days before the first troops, with a bond of guerillas who pronisod to got them through# Tlxoy started, but tho guorillas wcrcn't able to keep their promiso and they hud to rejoin their units* Of the first five vehicles to reach the BBB Brorrery whoro tho 37th Division established its CP on the outskirts of Itonilc, ono was tho jeop of Photo Unit B, another belonged to photo Unit £.* From thoro the photographers pushed on afoot* •graphic description of the -struggle of tho Photo Units to boat tho invaders into lianila, and of thoir early activities in tho city, is contained in a report by the Officer^in-Charge of Combat Assignment Unit £• •••The 37th Division Mobile Rocon Unit was there (San Fernando) ready to start for Manila ahead of the troops# Our jeop went along* Wo got held up at Calumpit for a while but managed to be ahead of the main body of tho troops* I can't remember tho datos anymore but wo got to Bigaa about 1700 one Evening (two days boforc wo roachcd Manila)* Both bridges across the Bigaa River v;oro out, naturally, so tho captain, CO of tho Rocon Unit, several of his men and I got to work on the railroad bridgo* which was partly submerged, and by 2100 had it in shape onough to start moving somo vohiclos across* Y«c worked like slaves. By 0100 wo ferriod 16 jeeps, practically inched them through. By 0300 wo managed 12 37 mm guns* Ono of them slid off tho planks and wo had a holl of a time getting it bock on the bridge* For tho next two hours I led by hand every single man of an Infantry Rogimont. I don't know who they were, I was too tired and sleopy to care* Thoy couldn't balance themselves with their heavy packs, so, since by this tine I know ovcry hole in the bridge, I had to tako than* V/hat got my goat was that at tho end I couldn't get priority for my own jeep* JLt liarilao we had the same problem* This time I had to go on my own* I met a guerilla colonel on a beautiful whito iiors'o who gave me about a dozen men to help mo. V3o colloctod several bancas (native boats) 1 nd constructed a ferry. I got my jeep across but had a holl of a time to sell tho idea to other units. 3ut it didn* t take long after I left. They put priority on it and I t?as told later that General MacArthur used it. I alnost got killed at Iieycauayan. I drove into cross firo between Ja:s and our machine guns near tho railroad station. My jeop wa3 the first vehicle to get to this point* There was a big crater on tho main road so I made a detour through the town. I still had plenty of daylight so again I engaged the guerillas and began to construct a bancc ferry across tho river running through the center of the town* Early next morning I got my jeop across* A couple more followed but I couldn't got any moro - 8 NEWS & PTCTOT?T \L SECTION GHQ OFFICE|p 1 v) APO SOU, iwii Fra tosco, Cauf.
# customers. I had a whole army of.civilian voluntoors to opcrato the ferry. Tho troops wero using the railroad bridge down below. I ran into a Brigadier General (can't recall his name, he v/as with tho 37th Division) who was mr.d becruse tho troops wore not getting across fast enough. I told hira about my barge. He was elated and immediately issued ordors for units to use it. I took off for Manila. I and everybody elso was getting ahead of inc. I rccchcd Iianila walking beside General B—-- almost botwoon the first two scouts. Mo stopped at the EBB Browery. Well, tho entire Division stopped there for two reasons. First, of course, was the beer which was being passed out, but second was that dirty yellow river-anfl Uliw 'MiPimttybwidge.. If jw disregard tho Fi'i'U1* 11 Cavalry which entered Manila night before us (3 February), then I would be the first G.I. to get in. I got a couple of boards which I tied together with a wire, placed my camera, film and other things on top and with the help of a boy, waded across. Soon other men began to follow. I organized some civilians to help mo round up some empty gas drums for a bridge but 1hen an Engineer captain showod up, I joinod tho Infantry and we startod for tho town. The Unit I walked in with was £ Company, 2nd Battalion, 148th Roginont. Wo walked down the Avenida Rizal, mado a detour to the railroad station in Tondo, which was burning. I stopped for a while to make some shots of the fire. The Japs left stacks of anno there which were about to blon as I was shooting. I took off from thero fast and just in time. It hit tho clouds when I was about a block away. Of course I lost the Company and had a hell of a tiroo finding them in ono of tho narrow stroots near tho .Canal. They ran into some of tho snipers and wero working on them in ernest when I got thoro. S——- (T/5 still photographer) was with tho Company. It was getting dark by this timo so we sat down on tho curb to take a rest since we couldn't take pictures any more. A few moments later tho Japs across the Canal threw a knee mortar at us. It blew up about 12 feet away from us and that is whore S — got it in tho log. V/'o pulled out of there fast. Wo had no aid men so a civilian doctor took core of S-——...... I spent thu first night in Llenila working pretty hard. Tho Cceipany was forced to move back several blocks from tho Canal. It lost contact with the Battalion CP and the Battalion didn't know where tho Company was. In short, we were lost and without help if something happened. \7e also had several wounded who had to bo taken to the Modics. Since I couldn't take pictures, I decided to do that work. I found a Chinese driver with a truck, loaded it with the wounded and about half a dozen Jap prisoners wo pickod upt and started out through tho dark streets looking for a hospital. I think it was the San Lazaro we found. There wore some G.I.s with more Japs and they didn't know what to do with them, so I here1^ ~ 9 " NEWS & PTCTORIAL SECTION GHQ PUBLIC Rf.L \TIO>i~ OFFICE APO 500, ban Francisco, Laiif.
then all (18) into tho truck and wont on looking for the Battalion. I finally found the CP at Bilibid Prison* Nobody wanted the dsunned Japs at the CP so I tried to get them inside where the American civilians were. I went around to the main gate just when the Jape were coming up the street with tanks. All hell broke loose there and 1 really don't remember how 1 got out of there. The Battalion CP lenew now where Company £ was but the Company still was in the dark. I had to get back and tell them,' but I only had the frightened Chinese driver and that wasn't good. The Battalion asked me to stretch- a phone wire oU my way back but they didn't have enough of it to take it the way I came. A Signal sergeant came along with ma and we got the wire through the Jap streets. It really felt good to stretch out on a soft bed finally. Next day, after noon, I went across the Canal and joined the K and L Companies of the 1st Battalion. S——— (T/5 motion picture oameraman) was with me for a while until he ran out of film..... Several blazes started and we shot these while the troops were pushing on cleaning out snipers. We kept going east block by block very slowly. All this time the fire v;hich we passed was spreading and closing up behind us. S~— pulled out of there just in tiuo bccause soon we realized that we were cut off. We got across Dasnarinas Street under fire but luckily no one got hit there. V/e were herded in a narrow alley and the Japs wore closing in on us. They had a machine gun pointing dov;n every alley we had to cross going either north or south. To top it all, wo hac about 200 panic-stricken civilians in a building. I pleaded with then to make a break for it and get out but they vera like sheep. They vere ell either blown up with the building or burned alive later. The fire was getting very close. Other side of the street v;as burning and our side was beginning to smoulder. Japs placed explosives everywhere and as tho heat reached than entire buildings would fall apart. V.'c had to [tot out of there. Mo decided to run south through the fire. I dampened my clothes with wator from my canteen and ran through with the first squad hoping the terrific heat wouldn't blow „ uy the filn I was carrying. We got only as far as tho next block. The first man to reach the next alley got hit just as ho stepped off tho curb. I don't believe ho was over taken back because at that very i.ioncnt a Jap threw a grenade around tho corner of the building. It rolled down the sidewalk toward me. It gave me just about enough tiue to reach half way down to the ground before it blow up, not more than six f^et froi.1 me. Several men wore hit. From the photo standpoint, the bust things wear only to follow but I quit here. I had to help carry the wounded and give the men with rifles a chanco to shoot. My shooting wasn't important any more. !7o ran back to our original position and now we had no alternative - wo had to make a break to tho north across the Canal bridge which we knew was i;lined, '.';o expected tho Japs to blow it up as soon as wo got to it. The strongest Jap concentration was in the iicacock Building where they built strong cement "'. alls with gun slits in 10 NEWS & PICTORIAL SRC'ION GHQ !•! ,>. OFFICK , AFO 400, oau Francisco,
then pointing in ell directions. V/c triod to blast them out but couldn't do it so we throw smoke bombs at than to covcr us up# I carried a litter with three other men and by sane miraclo wo got ccross bat I sav: .xn behind me fall. Host of them got it in tho 1 and stonach. I believe tho count was six killeel, two missing tucl about 20 rounded. One lieutenant blew himself up with a Thw thing was faulty and when ho had no place to throw it bec-uee of the men and tho civilians, ho held it to his stanaoh. I had his name in the captions but I can't recall it nor;. I shot my last hundred foot on the north or the safe side of tho Canal# Tho rounded t;ere being carried across tho bridgo under Jap fire. Unit 10, which left the ,.;eakcnod 158th Regimental Combat Team at Hcaario to south in search of further combe.t, found it in Iianila. Unit 10 teamed up 'v.ith Unit 3 and ontcred the city the day after Unit E's adventurous arrival. The narrative of these two units* experiences is also best told in tho words of one who expericncod it, the Officc.r-in-Chr.rgo of Unit 10. As we drove down Avenida Rizal, the people flockcd to tho aidercll;s, doors, windows and roof-tops. Tho reception wo roccivcd is beyond description. Applause, shouting, hand clapping, crios of •Victory5', maic it sound like Broad;.ay on New Year's iSvo. But when the people saw "Iaabuhay*, the name of our unit jeop, thoy wont v/ild. Mabuhay is a Tagalog word of cheer and greeting. Thoy threw flowers to us, the women rushed out with hot tea and coffoo in their best China cups, tho mon with fistfuls of cigars and cigarettes and with bottles of liquor (brandy, nun, whisky, gin — many imported brands). It was impossible to rcfuso. Some of the more aggressive maidens kissed us soundly as wo rolled by. It was more than a conqueror's or liberator's reception; it was a hero's v/elcome. The whole bunch of us wer^ a.little ashamed, a great doal cmbcrrrsscd. The ovation seemed directed at us as individuals, and we didn't fe«Jl wo deserved it alone. Y/o couldn't help but think of the boy.i who paved the way for us with thoir bodies. '.7c continue1 workiDg south, in tho general direction or Jonoa Bridget which civilians told us had been destroyed. By now wo wore- meeting tir*sts of sniper firo, and mined intersections or Jap pill boxes jedo an occasional detour necessary, .around 1000 wo were held up by considerable opposition, which soon developed into strcot c.nd house-to-house fighting. Wo t.ore in Binondo, Manila1s Chinatown, so we drove the jeep tip on tho sidewalk in the shelter of a sclid building, and covered the rest of the way on foot. The jec-i \iade a good headquarters for film and food supply, enabling us to travel much lighter. *,88* A. " n"NEWS& PICTORIAL SECTION AsT G H-Q GHQ PURUw L VP- »\s OFFICE'p- 13 APO 5u0, isan i<raucii>co, cuaf. S.V'.'.P.'
• % It turned out that a Jap r;oodpocker (machino gun) in Binondo church tov;or was holding up our advance, so tho AT (anti-tank) boys brought up their 37 mu guns, tho nearest thing wo had to artillery# It was not until a couplo days later that the*Engineers got bridges in boliind us th; t would support artillery or tanks or largo supply trucks. Vo v;oro consequently short on food and anmo« I followod ono of our BAB men upstairs in an old Chinese houso, looking for a shot at the Jap positions. Wo drou firo instead, end splinters from tho lattice-framed windons stuck in our fatigues. I docidod it was too dark for picturos thore. It was, too. I reached the street just after a Jap mortar hit in tho intersection where our 37 on gun had been firing a fev; minutes before. The gun wasn't hurt, but tho sholl had clipped a couplo of our men, and killod a Chinese bystander. Until then it had all been a show to the civilians. Try as wo would, wo couldn't make then take cover. They v/ere so glad to see us, and wantod to watch. It was difforont, now. They kept their doors open, however, for us to duck into when necessary. They also brought us information as to the location of Jap snipers. £>omo of our troops were preparing to cross tho river at tho Ongpin Street Bridge, 30 I joined them. They were agpin held up by Jap machine gun firo from Binondo Church and from bam's Gtudio, across the street from it. The bridge was about 60 fcot fron us, with a berriende of \7ood and sheet metal, protected by barbed wiro entanglements and mines. T.'o would hnve to clear o passage beforo wo could cross, and tho Jap machine guns were covering the bridge barricado with a withering fire. I couldn't get any pictures from where I was, so I dashed across Ongpin struct, crouched low, and pulled up in the foyer ct tho Rox Theater. We were using tho roof for a raortar CP, a.d it raado ah ideal vantago point for pictures, although tho „'aps constantly whippod it with tiackino gun firo. I crawled out on tho torrcce and shot a ccuple of picturos. You could soo all over the entire city. Just as.I COLIC dc.vn a lieutenant with a pair of wire cutters and a lot of guts, crt'7lcd up to fclic bridge, rippod part of the barricade aside, and passed through. Two or threo soldiers slipped through tho oponing behind him. 1"he Jap ranc-iine gun opened up again as I started to follow, so 31 ducked into a little holo in the wall and found icyeelf in a barber shop. There wore several Chinese mui and boys inside, chatftering and sweating out 110 war. There wero also a half dozen Chinese girls osf about 18 or 21, ~ "NEWS St PICTORIAL SECTION ^ GHQ PUBLIC K';L \TIONS OFFICE >S.W.P-A.^ *PO SOO. Francisco, Calif.
in white, and rearing Red Cross armbands. One,brought me a cup of tea, and told me they were volunteer nurses* They were very pretty* and spoke excellent linglish, so I settled down to spend a pleasant few minutes. * One of the Chinese boys thought I oould get a picture from upstairs, so with him as guide, I got my introduction to the mysteries of an old Chinese house* It was dark and the flickering flame of the candle was very inadequate as 1 stumbled along* First, we wriggled through a hole in the back of the shop into the building next door, then up a stairway with trap doors, down dim passages, up more stairs, and finally out on a roof garden, whoro 1 could almost look down on the bridge wc wore trying to cross* I took a picture, and was noarly blinded by flying concrete, chipped off into my oyes by Jap eechine gun bullets* Apparently my position was more or loss exposed* - Lod by my Chinese guido, I again reached street level, this time as tho Infantry boys onco more started to cross the bridgo* Ono by ono, covered by tho others, wo rushed through tho bridge barricade and into tho oovor of doorways beyond* Lt* S— — (OIC of Photo Unit 8)showed up behind me. Our mortars, trying to knock out tho Jap positions in front of us, sot firo to Sam's Studio at the cornor of Ongpin and Rosario.. This seemed to bo tho signal for the Japs to fire tho city, and pillars of blacl: smoke spiralod up to aim the sun* Our crashing the bridge barricade opened up an a-'enue of occapo to the trapped Chinese civilians in this section. Wo soon outflanked tho Japs who had comtaandod the bridge, so that except for the mines, tho bridge was comparatively s&fe» V*ith the aid of scrao Chinose volunteer civilian police, the best organized and most helpful roaistanco unit wo rcn into in Ilanila, tho mined section was quickly roped off, and the line of evacuating civilians began. Here re first sai." the rosults of war on civilians, tho shattered bodies of men, women and children hit by shrapnel and bullets. Here also wo saw tho first atrocity cases, a proview of what was to follow. Children with heads cut off, motiiors with breasts cut off, men bayoneted and hacked, or shot. . By now the fires had taken hold, and began to threaten tho entire section* Jap machine guns still at strategic intersections prevented our use of the streets. Again wc were held up* It v;as slow, bitter, house-to-house fightLng from then on* - 13 - NEWS&PTCTORTAL SECTION GHQ PUKLIw f-'TL \TiO;<o OFFICE APO 500. i*"1 Francisco, Calif.
Lt. S-—— and I tagged after an Infantry lieutenant who set out to locate one of tlic^e positions for the mortars# • There began a housetop reconnaissanoo patrol that I wouldn't wish to go through again, yet wouldn't have missod not; that it is over* Covering each other with rifle, carbine, pistol and tommy gun, v;o inchod our way over Manila roof-tops, toward the sound of Jap maciiino guns» I.e wore partially cornouflagod by the dense srnoko from the raging fire. It was getting hotter as we advanced, and wo were finally stopped short,of our mark by the fire itself# Tho lieutenant lobbed a couplc grenades, prob; bly b-viily ineffective, at the still hidden pill box boforo we returned# As v;e jumped tho last gap between buildings, wri drew rifle fire, but no one was hit, so we left the lieutenant to direct his mortars# Vo could now see that the fire would swoop the entiro Binondo scction....» It was a iragic, pitiable sight, but made terrific pictures for us. Tho streots were clogged with pushcarts, wheelbarrows, horso carts, and a mass of humanity with bamboo carrying po)es over shoulders, and impossible loads balanced on their heads, all heading to safety. The Chinese, rushing f..om their burning homes, wero paying the price of freedom. It wasn't just a war between scldiersj it was a war in which the civilians pay. Many of us had tears in our eyes, and hatred in our hearts, becauso that day wo saw tho Japanese policy, "If we can't have it, no one shall." What muny of us had referred to as the "enemy" that day changed to "the dirty little murdering yellow bastards." Lto 5 — and J were both <->ut of film and tho lire t.ts forcing car soldiers back, so we pulled out fcu- the ji op. i3y now the entire skyline south of us was burning. The black smoke, which wo later learned was from the drums of gasoline planted in all the major buildings by the Jap demolition squads, reached up over the entire city, with only t'.e sun burning a red hole through the occasionally thinning mask. That evening and all night long the explosions and fire continued. Our troops were forced to withdraw, by the heat of the fire, as far north as .izcarraga Avenue, where it finally stopped. There was enough light to read a newspaper in any part of the city that night. It was not until the next afternoon (6 February) that the ashes had cooled enough to again advancc. It wa: difficult for us to find our way, because the landmarks of tho day before were lovelea to the ground. For blocks and blocks, each v.ay, the city was in ashos and smoking rubble. The houses, where hospitable Chinese had offered us tea, or native fruits, had disappeared. The roof-tops over which I load crawled and clambered were gone also. _ 14 - NEWS& PICTORIAL SECTION GHQ PUBUC vTIOSr, OFFICE APO 5U0, ban Francisco, Calif.
•••••On 7February 1945» the 148th infantry, whose CP was then in Ilalacafran Palace, crossed the Pasig River near the CP in assault boats and alligators. It was a ho* tine, with Japanese machine guns splashing lei-d and water in the faces of our soldiers. One alligator wa3 sunk (a photographer frora another unit tool: pictures of this) and on another, a couv'.e of ;junnero were killed by bullets passing through the- gj.n shields. H — (T/4 motion picture ::hote,<raoher) and p — (T/5 still photographer) covered the- crossing. As far a.3 I know, H was the only photographer who made the crossing tmt day. V/hen the first assault bouts were in the middle, they discovered the Japs had Machine gu:»s firing fro:?. our ."ide c.r- well as the Jap-held side of the river, »S-- (pfc still photographer) and I were holed up in the ban Iliguel Brewery, a fev; doors from Malacanan Palace, the afternoon of the crossing* The Japs were vigorously shelling the place, becausc of a 37 gun we had on the brewery .? to covcr the river crossing a couple hundred yarJ-J up-stream. The bravery had thick wa.lls and made an iceal bonb shelter. It waa a good place to spend tho afternoon, but wo didn't get many pictures. 3-—— made close friends with the pjont manager, and staggered when wo i'-ft t'.v:.s evening. All ever Manila, Army cameramen were ;.stc.bljshing a rccord foj- the Photographic Scrvico as tho moot thinly spread, widely dispersed organization in the cccibat area, A Photo lieutenant am enlisted man by themselves disarmed a band of so-called guerillas who were terrorising one neighborhood. Reports cone in of other photo personnel routing lootei-s, scootiocs at gun point, all over term. Tho Photographic Co-ordinutor (a first lieutenant) and tho Si::th Army Photographic Liaison Officer (a capto.in) v rested a spy of the Japanese away frai a mob of Filipinos bent on lynching him, end turned him over for questioning. Immediately afterward, while they were still standing in the street with drawn automatics, tbo Chief Signal. Officer accostod then anO. piled them into his already-overcrowded jeop to take then to Santo Tonics University where sane of the most spect..cular pictures of tho Luzon campaign were waiting® Two members of Unit J obtained camera covcrago of a Jap in civilian clothing boing soverly beaten by Filipinos. The same two photographers were themselves s-ved from, a native mob, o/.iy th.. nob was menacing thom with adulation and not malice, and their rescue was inadvertantly affected by a Jap sniper. They had penetrated a side street that other soldiers had not reached, Tho grateful Filipinos, seeing their firat Yan'-s, plied then with liquor and cigars. The cheering croc.d quickly grew to uncontrollable proportions and began snatching at the photographers' uniforms in quest of souvenirs. The men were trying to protoct their cameras. The situation was growing almost desperate v.hon a Jap sniper opened up on the mob* That dispersed them and tho photographers were able to make their gotaway. Still more extraordinary was the story told by the Photo Coordinator, a story given crodcnco by the fact that a largo percentage of tho nines - 15 NEWS & PICTORIAL SECTION ^ <»HQ PUHI.kJ t'l-'L \TIO.\S OFFICE P l-l O APO 500, San Francisco, Calif.
plantod by the Japs proved to be dudsi "As I was driving along a IJanilo. street," ho reported, •I started to skirt an Engineers1 excavation. To xny astonisInvent, the Ln&ineors dropped their tools and fledt shouting as thoy ran. I couldn't understand their warnings, but nevertheless I jammed on the brakes aid quickly reversed the jerp. "*rhen the Engineers returned cautiously to the scene they told me I hr.d run over a I°.nd n;/no, stopped, then backed up over it a socond tinv rithout exploding it.* Ncw3i*eol Unit G headed straight for Bilibic"1 Prison on entering the city| $ February. Two blocks* away from the Prison, they had to abandon their jeep and run a field of Japanene machine gun fire to tae gate. The scone inside was more hectic than all their cameras coula picture -—freed prisoners of the Jaj:inesef Tapanose prisoners of the Americans, internees, evacuees, and swei ring soldiers, milling around aimlessly and on a iiH.1titud3 of missions, *mong the dead and wounded of both sides. While they w^re shooting these scenes, nii^j captured Japanese were ordered taken to the rear* Ahead of them noved a r/5 m-v.Le ecwierama-*), his eyes to the finder of his whirring .ameru; backing ou*. the' C^te OPTO the street* The din of battle had teccne so commonplace ho didn* t* not.ic?- he v is stepping into the midst of a f.'.re fight outside until a soldier along':ide nin fell shot. Then he was so unnervoj that the Officer- Ln-Cliu:\$e of *;he IJ-it, a first lieutanant, tool: ~>ver bis camera arc* foliov^ed t ie prisoners* Howeverf he found that he couldn't crouch anc run Through flyiu;. bullets aiiu. dioot pictures, too, and the prisoners1 guards weren't waiting for photographers, so after a chase o* tv:c and a half blocks he gave up* Another T/jsfrom Unit 7t was injured in taa Bxlibid area ~.;hile jeek.mg sholier from Jap n\?rtar fire» Every unit in JIanila shot copious pictures of tho confj.iA^ration and accompanying flashes of land -nine explosions from every ang^o. The fire was bright enough for a fajr pho4:;{irapln c ima^e on Super Pan Supreme film au l/100th of a second with an F 4.5 stop opening Unit T retir^cd i::on covering the fire to find that in its absence the ineighborhood \/ner< -;hey wv\re living had been under Japanese shell fire and shrapnel had pierced Lho v:a lis of thoir temporary home, wrecked a tripod in. their room and lc-,r all ever taeir beds, tlany rescues v;ero made by ploto&ra^hers durir^ the i*. oe. A Y/ar Depaitment radiogram notified "the theater that the firs'; six Signal Corps photos on Manila received top play in American newspapers thr; day after they vere sent from the Philippines by radio-telophoto® " 16 " NEWS & PICTORIAL SECTION ^ GH>QGHQ Piir'.'j': \'\ APO 500, ruu Krauo i* > v**V "
SANTO TQfcMS The greatest concentration of photo personnel in Manila was at the Santo Tomas internment camp, a focal point of human interest, where tho Pnotographic SorVjco established headquarters# When tho deadly barrage of Japaneso artillery fire was spreading death throughout the University buildings and grounds, the Chief Signal Officer, tho Photogrcphic Co-ordinator and staff, the Photo Repair Section, the Sixth Army Photo Liaison Officer and staff, Mobile Lob personnel, one Newsreol unit, and several photo combat units wore there. Photographers who were veterans of many bear.h heads described tho shriek and blast of the well-aimed shells and the helpless wait in between them as one of the roost harrowing experiences of the war# Possibly it was because of the large number of women, children and aged civilians who fell casualties* The internees themselves remained remarkably calm. The photographers saw so many things impossible for their earners to catch that thero was a feeling of disappointment among than despite the ,jccat volume of coverage# Ono of than, a private, told how ho t as watching ~n •Amorican waaan, about 55 years old, start from the shelter of a building toward a shack where her family had spent their internment# "Suddenly," ho related, "a shell burst nearby." I saw shrapnel slice off both her arms just below the shoulders. She looicod at her left side and exclaimed in a surprised tones 'Oh, look, I have no arml* •Before I could reach her she discovered both her arms v;ere gone, and she collapsed# I got a doctor for her#". The Photo Co-ordinator and Sixth Army Liaison Officer were observing the sholling from a tower of the Administration Building. They camo down and started across tho grounds as another series of litter cases wore being brought in, but they stopped short when they discovered, Oil one of tho litters. First Lioutenant Charles Schuman, the Officer-in-Chargo of Combat Assignment Unit 3* Porsonnol of this unit had been the first Signal Corps troopa into. Manila. Tho unit dividod itsolf betwocn tho two spearheads of tho First Cavalry Division that incised thomselves into the city ahead of all other troops on 3 Fobruary# Lt# Schuman, with a T/5 photographer* accompanied the element of tho 8th Cavalry Rogimont that ponetratod direct to Malacanan palace. The 5^h Cavalry Regiment elements that shot their way through to Santo Tomas, fought tho Japs through tho University campus and fresed tho internees there, wero accompanied by. the throe other members of Unit 3, o T/3t a T/5 and a Pfc# "" 17" NEWS&PICTORIAL SECTION ^ G.H.O. £ GHO Ptmr.f..: «?-. '• T!-)\ OFFICE ?. '.1 O ^ •) >U0, w>.hi Krri. Co. w.! , • > /y CO
The tvo penetrations took all day and when they reached their objectives it TJGS too ARRIV for action pictures. About 150 8th Cavalry troops reached Malaoonau at 1^00 hours. Tho 5^h Cavalry dot- chuent was stopped for two hours by a Japanese road* block at Far Eastern University before it broke through entvrec Santo Tav.as at about 2100 hours. Flash bulb pictures of the liberate intoraees welcoming the Americans '..ere made through the night. The »<y?t <aay» Lt* Schunan and the enlisted photographer at Lialacaiian had excellent fcoub&t. pieturc rac.t-.rial, especially when American I.I-ij. tanks that had COCK* \ith thoa fele^stcv »Tap brr&os on the Fasig River running past the Palace. 411 the t4m» Jap heavy artillory '. as battering at the Palace. .»s hc was shooting pictures» Lt. Sclnunan was felled by a shell fragment. Both th<u 8th and 5^h Cavalry elements v;cre bottled up by the Japs. Few of the men in ifolacallan thought they would get out alive# After 36 hours, they were still cut off, but reinforcements had reached Santo Toi-Jas. 3osides the Photographic Officer, three other men were now seriously wounded. It was decided to risk running tho wounded through to Santo Toxins. Lieutenant Schuman had boon lying in the quaking Falace grounds for 19 hours. A convoy of five trnks and one ambulance was formed. The enlisted photographer joined it in a jeep. He planned to take pictures of what was expected to be a running fight and, at the same timci evccuatc the film already exposed. The dash for Santo Torms lived up to expectations as a hazardous one. Japs--oponod fire on the convoy. A carbine in the photographer's jeep '..as struck by a bullet. A wounded man in a litter above the photo officer's had a toe shot off in the ambulance. Lieutenant Schunan was conscious when brought into the improvised hospital at the University. He asked one of the Photographic officers to explain to his wife that the wound was trivial. It va.-: not, although lie survived it; tho shrapnel had lodged between the ribs next to the lung and ho was later evacuated with it still in his body. This wan the second wound Lioutenant Schunan had sustained in the Pacific. He v.as first awarded tho Purple Heart in the Northern Solomons campaign. Ileantime, the bombardment of Santo Tornas was increasing in intensity. Risks without number were run by tho photographers, but one T/5 distinguished himself by taking up .a standing position, completely unprotected, in the opon space50 foot in front of the Administration Building to get motion pictures with the shells bursting all around. At one point lie braced his back against tho front tire of a truck for an angle shot» thai lie ran into tho building to got pictures looking out on tho scene, and when he returned to the truck he found shrapnel had ripped open the tire against which ho had boon loaning* V/hilc in the building his camera was focused on an ambulance ~ "NEWS& PICTORIAL SECTION ,^ GH-QGHQ POB'.U" tfi'L\TH< U'TICF ' p > APO S00, ban Francisco, C'.IL.I. \"_> Y/.p.a. • V/>v
just drivon to the door when o shell, burst in front of the vehicle. A Medic, . standing aearby, was wounded end the cencro captured the scene of his being taken to safety. V/nj.le *ho anno photographer wes making additional picturo3 from the tower, tv;o diroit h.Vts pioroced it, but both shells were duds. One, however, broke sane bottlos :f chemicals in a tower laboratory and tho funes forced the photographer .nd four artillery observors to evacueto. Photographic vehicles wore struck by shrapnel* A tiro on the Ropair Section weapon? carrier was torn and equipment inside daneged. As the £>ecti»n personnel wes c'.^n^'.n^ the tire, two nore shells struck 30 ond 50 feet away, further deneginf tho vehicle# The tiro chenging was temporarily abandoned. Tho ScctlonAs vc i couldn't clear the gate and had to be left outside until i'jnericcn tanks knocked a hole in the wall through which it could be driven. One repairman hn.: to be evacuated with conbac fatigue, but he returned to duty before the Manila fighting ended. Direct hits began striking the Gynnasiun Building, which was filled with invalided old men, mostly suffering frcn beri ber.i., Sc-vorcl had just been wounded. A nurse asked for aid in evacuating than and the Sixth Army Photo Officer organized the photographers for the job. Shells were striking the building and the majority of soldj.ors cad civilians had taken cover as the caneranen brought out the patients., Many of then proved difficult to handle. One of those who refused to leave told a Photo sergeant, "I '.vas a na jor under Toady Roosevelt in Cuba and 1 never ran fron any enery then end I won't nov/i* •Sorry, najor, but you aren't running this tine, either," tho sergeant replied. "You're being carried I" lire broke out in the building. The photographers organized therisclves into a buckot brigade and extirguished it. During the height of tho bombardment tho Chief Signal Officer directed tho disposition of nany of the sick and wounded* As the shelling of the University continued, Nowsrcel Ifoit G shot the longest sound story, frcn point of tine, it had ever undertaken, .ft was a sories of live sound interviews with freed internees. The story in j fcct.lt' wes not overlopg, but the rustle and blast of artillery, the pianos overhead and the noise of bottle, node only c bout 15 ninutes of every hour usable, Light conditions permitted only morning shooting and the job required five days to complete. The cast for the story was lined up on 7 February. On 8 February th& XJhit found three-fourths of those selected had been killed, and a new casx had to bo rounded up. - 19 NEWS & PICTORIAL SECTION G H Q P U B L I C K ' O F F I C E APO 500, San Francisco, Calif.
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