Bataan Uncensored

[VeeVee]

Bataan Uncensored
by Col. E.B. Miller

www.amazon.com/Bataan-Uncensored-Col-E-Miller/dp/0963164201/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229655092&sr=8-1



I found an original 1949 edition of this book that happened to be signed by the author who was a Bataan veteran. I haven't read the whole thing yet but it looks very meaty in terms of anecdotes and information. It's not like the big print editions that you could finish in one afternoon.

Col. Miller was the one who said:
"I have never seen, nor do I ever expect to see, any better or braver soldiers than the Scouts. They were truly an inspiration."

[oklahoma]

hey vic...i referred to this book often way back in 1958 while preparing a term paper in college. as i remember it dealt heavily into the national guard armored units and their part in the philippine campaign. i remember it being a really good read for anybody interested in those long ago days when those isolated american-filipino troops were in their death struggle with the japanese.

[VeeVee]

I'm maybe a chapter or two into it. I'm liking it a lot. I'll alternate reading this and The Regulars.

[oklahoma]

hey vic...i am a proud owner of the book, "the regulars" also. corregidor must have been a great place to pull a peace time tour of duty. while in high school i had a neighbor who served on "the rock" during the mid 1920s. he told me that he was an old tennessee farm boy who ran away from home at 18 and joined the army, asking for foreign duty. well, he got it. about as far away from the farm as a kid could get in those days (i guess china would be farther, in fact). his duty station was primarily on one of the "disappearing batteries". said they would drill for hours, starting in the cooler morning hours, before knocking off after the noon mess call. i gathered that even the military took a siesta in the hotter months. duty there, in those days, doesnt sound too bad to me. rank for enlisted and officers as well, was slow to achieve. he went over a buck private recruit and returned three years later as a private. still, he always said, duty in the PI far surpassed life plowing around rocks down on a tennessee farm.

[VeeVee]

I'm about halfway through this book, up to the part where MacArthur left for Australia. I have a newfound respect for the 194th Tank Battalion. I've always known the key role they played in the campaign but I've never read a detailed blow by blow account of their trials and tribulations. This account is extremely well-written and very insightful. It has the meaty substance of an account made by a commanding officer saddled with responsibilty yet in touch and down and dirty with the troops on the tactical level.

Col. Miller was surprisingly gracious and uncondemning of the Philippine Army who had abandoned them many times without any infantry support. It didn't seem for the purpose of political correctness but out of acceptance of the fact that most of them were untrained. He even commented that the Air Corp provisional battalions could not be turned into infantrymen overnight anymore than infantrymen be taught to fly planes and be effective overnight. He appreciated the kind gesture by a PA soldier of giving him a cut of his sugarcane during the retreat from the Abucay line.

His scathing comments were directed toward the army establishment in general for its red tape, bureaucracy, short-sighted logistics, ignorance about many things, conflicting egos, "siesta-tis", and to Gen. Weaver (Tank Group commander) for many many instances of incompetence, stubborness, -- for issuing incoherent, unreasonable, and uninformed orders. Not only were the tankers fighting the Japanese but they were also fighting and dealing with headquarters and higher echelons and a lot of pettiness that went on.

Good book.

[VeeVee]

"I love them and I'm not ashamed of it!"

Some excerpts from the book, what Col. Miller had to say about the Scouts:

------------------
The Philippine Scouts were doing the best they could. Jap mortar fire was heavy. The Scouts had to take it with none to throw back. During the day, I had the opportunity - and honor - of witnessing the mettle of these Scouts.

After the battle had opened in the morning, Colonel Doyle had sent a patrol of Scouts, out to the west, to make contact with our forces. This patrol never returned. All in all, five patrols were sent out in that direction during the day. When the first patrol failed to return, everyone knew what had happened.

As each succeeding group was called up to receive instructions and orders for patrol duty. every last man took his orders with no trace of reluctance or fear whatsoever. There was only explicit obedience in the job they had to perform. They knew the seriousness of the situation which confronted them, and I marveled at their soldierly qualities. They knew that death undoubtedly awaited them, but the last patrol went just as eagerly as the first.

All during this day, many wounded Scouts were brought to the rear. Not once did I hear one whimper of pain or an utterance of complaint.


<Later in the chapter>
----------------

Two tanks were placed at the head of the column. Scouts were sent out in front, on foot, to act as "feelers." The 45th had marched a long distance the day before over mountainous terrain, had fought all this day, and now were on a mission that would have been rough, even for fresh troops. Once again the mettle of these superb soldiers came to the front. During that night, and the events which followed, I never heard one word of complaint, only extreme attention to duty!

<after an ambush>
...Meanwhile, the Scouts had formed a line to our rear and fired blindly in the direction of the Japs to cover our withdrawal. That is the only thing that saved us. Their actions that night would have been more than a credit to the best trained and bravest soldiers in the world.

...Under cover of the fire being delivered by the Scouts, we turned the vehicles, which had accompanied us, to the west. The general withdrawal of the column was covered by our one tank.

...By now, the physical condition of the Scouts we had with us, was near complete exhaustion. On the return march, we saw quite a number of Philippine Army soldiers who had thrown away their rifles and were evacuating to the rear. The Scouts were different. Often one would drop in his tracks. It was only by shame that we could get their exhausted bodies to stumble on. We would look at them and say: "Are you Philippine Army or are you Scout?" Without exception, they would stand as erect as possible - and then plod on. I love them and I'm not ashamed of it!

[jimmay]

Thanks for some of the details on the book VeeVee; probably consider getting the book while some are around on amazon

[VeeVee]

It should be readily available. I think the ones they have in Amazon are recent edition circa 1991. It's just that the picture I posted of the book is the edition from 1949 that Col. Miller happened to have signed.

[rickthelibrarian]

I also have a copy of the book, which I haven't read (I know, BAD!!) but Miller's book is mentioned in almost every bibliography of books on Bataan and the Philippines.