Arthur Wermuth

[bulikiti2]

Did you notice the picture of Jock? He looks like his carrying a revolver in his holster but is wearing an m1911 magazine pouch. Click on the link. The picture is reversed but much clearer.

[26th]

Bulikiti

They guy carrying the revolver is not Jock but a Scout. His right hand is sitting on the 1911 holster and he seems just to be carrying an extra weapon. This one could be the 45 acp model so same ammo for both weapons, including that machine gun.

[bulikiti2]

The 1st picture says Capt. Arthur "one man army" Wermuth and his scout aid somewhere in Bataan. Following the link posted by Veevee at http//www.homeofheroes.com......shows the same picture but in reverse and it says Sgt. Crispin Jock Jacob and Capt. Arthur Wermuth. I'm a little bit confused.

[oklahoma]

hey all....after mulling over these differing views,etc on the "one man army of bataan" i am wondering if that maybe the public info folks might have made more out of capt wermuth than he actually was. he was obviously brave to the point of recklessness, but in other areas he kinda seemed to be lacking. the report of colonel olsen, if true, casts a cloud over the good captain's earlier exploits. we gotta remember that this was a period of time when the people back stateside were hungry for heroes out in the philippines and the powers that be grabbed on to anything, event or person that could be elevated to hero or heroic status for morale's sake. remember, initially, captain colin kelly, us army air corps, was credited with plunging his damaged B-17 into the battleship haruna off northern luzon. some people, if still alive, believe that this actually happened. in reality, kelly still a hero, never did any such thing, but stayed at the controls of his badly shot up bomber while his crew all bailed out safely near mount arayat, in the clark field area. he certainly deserved the medal (DSC???) that he received after his death. maybe, captain wermuth's credentials have been somewhat inflated in the same manner. these things happen in all wars, i suppose, especially when there is a need for heroes. genl macarthur was the only soldier of that stature that we had at the moment and he was almost Godlike. what was needed was somebody more on the level with the people at home. doers of great military deeds that could be indentified with, not somebody standing on mount Olympus ala douglas macarthur. skinny wainwright began to fill that role (and justifiable so) after macarthur was removed to australia. just my humble opinion and what do i know??

[stenotholus]

I had the pleasure of spending part of the holidays with a dear friend, a 91st CA veteran, who shared a couple of unsolicited recollections of the "One Man Army."

He first noticed Wermuth in Cabanatuan in late 1942 when Wermuth was walking up and down the barracks selling tins of PET milk for $10 each. His second recollection, also of Cabanatuan, was a time when Wermuth anxiously approached and then sat down next to a group of enlisted men, "I've just got to talk to someone. None of the officers will talk to me anymore." My friend added, "the officers could see right through him."

Happy New Year to all.

[oklahoma]

Hey Sten...Very interesting stuff. It doesn't add much to the heroic legend of the good Captain, does it?? Might our hero had feet of clay??

[johnbryan]

Jun 9, 2009 5:35:51 GMT -5 bulikiti2 said:

Johnbryan,
Did you get an answer to your query regarding what happened to "Jock"? I am curious too.

Sgt. Crispin Jock Jacob was MIA on 30 June, 1942.

[oklahoma]

Hey John....I have a question. I am not understanding the MIA date. Since this was almost two months after the surrender of Corregidor and 3 months after Bataan's capitulation, what were the circumstances of Sgt Crispin"s going MIA after hostilities supposedly were over. Was he involved in guerilla activities or did he go over the wire after being confined to the prison pens and disappear in the bush?? Help me out as this old mind of mine is confused. As you must know, these minute details bug me big time. Thanks.

[johnbryan]

Hi Oklahoma!

The information came from a US Government web site on missing soldiers. That's all there was. My guess is that once the Filippino-American troops were in their pow camps, some attempt was made to compile an official list of those killed, wounded, or missing in action from the fighting.

[corregidorborn40]

I believe Wermuth "the hero"was more myth, though he did have some who could attest to his deeds in combat. However, as a POW , his image darkens. POW officers who survived ,were warned after liberation, by the War Dept. that they would be prosecuted and incarcerated if they wrote or published anything critical about any other officer or the conduct of war in the PIs. Many diaries in the archives have the names of their authors missing, because of this what officers were also told while POWs. Only with handwriting samples from families can some be identified.. A lot of fictionalizing went on then at first but gradually reports surfaced about Wermuth as a "predator". In oral histories of POW officers, and in some of their diaries found at Cabanatuan postwar, and in the military archives, Arthur Wermuth was described as a bully at that camp,, who had a following of thugs, who stole food and brutalized other POWs. Aboard the 3 ships of the Oyroko Maru, survivors reported he and his gang took over the area below the hatches where water was sometimes passed to the holds, beating other weaker POWs for clothing or sugar sacks for warmth. When the Brazil Maru, the last ship arrived in Moji, Jap medics were said to be shocked at the condition of the POWs, and performed triage . Wermuth who was in better condition than most,was assigned to the "Hospital Group" the hopeless group, at a YMCA that served pre-war Merchant sailors,, which is where the "least likely to survive", of the 7 wk. voyage, were sent. A POW officer who was there , and who survived for many years after, told historians that Wermuth carried other comotose men piggyback, taking them to the food line, taking two bowls of food, and eating both. He also intimidated the Christian Japanese who worked at the YMCA order to survive at the expense of others.

Is there truth to the story that Wermuth was in the Brig in Manila when the war broke out ? That story goes that he was accused of many gangster type crimes ,extortion,, theft, pimping, black market sales,assault and was on his way to being court marshaled, but with War, instead was sent to the unit he served with.
A story has been circulated that his career as sheriff, (in Golden County Colorado?)
was ended when he was indicted for stealing prisoner's possessions. Is it true he died in prison in Colorado?

[corregidorborn40]

RE MIA designation of American and Filipino soldiers, all were designated as MIA in 1942 and for a long time until the International Red Cross could
confirm those who were alive. In the camps, officers tried to keep track of those who died over the years . The Japs kept records too.

[oklahoma]

Hey Corregidor40....It does seem that our "hero", indeed, had feet of clay. I was a kid of 9, going on 10, when the heroic deeds of "the hero of Bataan" were blasted across the front pages of stateside newspapers. This country was starving for good news and needed to grab on to some hero types. Capt Colin Kelly, indeed a hero, was credited with diving his crippled B-17 into a Japanese battleship,etc.(although it never happened. He did bomb and damage an enemy ship and was killed when his bomber was shot down near Clark Field. He stayed at the controls, enabling his crew to parachute to safety, giving his life in this act) There are probably other incidents that were magnified as well, Weymuth evidently falling into this category. Colin Kelly, whose actual actions were later clarified, still falls into the hero category. The press, at the time, just got carried away (making a good story that much better), but Arthur Weymuth's story seems to reek from start to finish. He may have been a "tiger" in actual combat, although maybe foolhardy on many occasions, but his day to day conduct in the POW pens and prison ships leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. I have never heard how his stint as a Colorado sheriff culminated. Does anybody reading these Weymuth items actually know his final story??

[dimasalang]

Feb 24, 2010 13:33:49 GMT -5 oklahoma said:

I have never heard how his stint as a Colorado sheriff culminated. Does anybody reading these Weymuth items actually know his final story??

www.jeffco.us/jeffco/sheriff_uploads/11_turbulent_sixties_1960_69.pdf

[oklahoma]

Hey Dimasalang....Thanks for posting. With hindsight it would appear that our "One man army of Bataan" was a corrupt individual from head to toe. It appears that this is the case even if only half the stories about him and his actions throughout the military, POW and law enforcement phases of his life. I still have my "wonders" about his final years though. One wonders, if his POW transgressions were substantially proven, that the good Captain was not court martialed upon his return to the states. Other ex-POWs faced this discipline for far lesser offenses.

[Steve Pruskauer]

My uncle, Maj Irving Mandelson was pictured with Wermuth in a Chicago paper in 1942. I was wondering if anyone has run across my uncles name in their search. He was killed on the Oryoko Maru.
[e-mail]

[VeeVee]

Oct 6, 2014 15:29:31 GMT -5 Steve Pruskauer said:

My uncle, Maj Irving Mandelson was pictured with Wermuth in a Chicago paper in 1942. I was wondering if anyone has run across my uncles name in their search. He was killed on the Oryoko Maru.
[e-mail]

You probably have seen this but just in case not:

NARA link

[VeeVee]

Borrowing images from ebay...


This is strange stuff. Never heard of this side story related to Wermuth...

[VeeVee]

Some more about Olivia Oswald

From ebay listing:
www.ebay.com/itm/391009067340?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649

[HistoryMan21]

Here is a listing of Jock on a site listing him as buried in Manila. I am not sure how accurate any of this is. War is chaotic at best for accurate info on individuals. I would think that they would have kept in touch in some way had he survived.

www.interment.net/data/philippines/manila-american/surnames-j.html