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Post by Bob Hudson on Dec 26, 2012 16:42:21 GMT 8
Spoke with a gentleman today who owns a farm on the slopes of Mt. Mariveles. He has the dog tags of 13 Filipino Soldiers. They will be listed below. Anyone want to take a stab at what unit they were in and where they were from. The gentleman would like to see the families get their dog tag. Prudencio Nacionales SN# 10303000 Edilberto K Delos Reyes SN# 10302023 Melecio M Magboo SN# 10303610 Godofredo C Sasil SN# 10302226 R. Acuesta SN# 10302130 Francisco Respicio SN# 10301645 Simplicio (Langan?) SN# 10303707 Might be wrong name...hard to read Julio Abasola SN# 10302738 Felecisimo Apumillo SN# 10301960 The only dog tag that said USA on it. Also stamped on tag was P.S. Philippine Scout
Gonzalo Montevengin SN# 10303218 Victor Natividad SN# 10301574 Porferio Jabagat SN# 10304251 Emiliand P Escarlan SN# 10302539
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Post by okla on Dec 26, 2012 21:46:52 GMT 8
Hey Bob....I don't remember when the US Army/AirCorps began using the eight digit Serial Number, but when they did, the first digit signified whether the soldier was a "Regular' (1), Reserve/Natl Guard (2), or Draftee (3). The second digit signified the area of the US that the particular individual entered the Military. In my own case the number was (8) which meant Okla, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, (NewMex? ). Maybe the (0) denotes US Territories of that time, Philippines, Hawaii, Alaska,etc. I am wondering, since one of these tags denoted Philippine Scouts, if this whole group were Scouts. They might have ditched their tags for fear of Japanese reprisals against them for being "regular" US Army troops and therefore "traitors" to their Asian "Brothers", the Japanese. As Chad would say, this is certainly a legit SWAG. If the newly formed Philippine Army was using an entirely different Serial Number setup than what was in use by their American advisers, then, this crack pot theory of mine is down the toilet. Cheers.
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Post by Bob Hudson on Dec 27, 2012 4:41:11 GMT 8
Okla,
This is what I've been able to discern thus far. All these serial numbers were Philippine scout numbers.
All these men were in the 14th Engineers, Philippine Scouts.
The 14th Engineers were involved in the last battle against the Japanese on the southeastern slopes of Mt. Mariveles near Cabcaben and took heavy losses. They were fighting fresh Japanese troops and tanks.
Julio Abasola died July 5th, 1942 in Camp O'Donnell. Felecisino Apumillo died June 26, 1942 in O'Donnell. Por ferio Jabagat died as a Guerrila in 1945 most likely around Manila.
Still researching the others but need to find NOK's or hometowns.
I could kill to own a metal detector here on Bataan. Perhaps I can find one somewhere in Manila.
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Post by okla on Dec 27, 2012 5:13:55 GMT 8
Hey Bob....Do knou know if Scout POWs were held by the Japanese for a longer period of time than were Philippine Army (PA) prisoners??? Seems to me that this topic was covered on this site or, maybe, Vic Varano's Philippine Scout website, but my failing memory doesn't remember the answer. It would seem that the Emperor's legions would view Scout POWs with a more critical eye then they would PA troops since Philippine Scouts were Volunteers in the US Army, whereas PA Troopers were "call ups", etc. Just my humble.
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Post by Bob Hudson on Dec 27, 2012 13:13:20 GMT 8
No, all Filipinos were released in September/October 1942 except for a few that were considered to have ties to guerrilla groups, but it wasn't many. It was impossible for the Japanese to know who was P.S. and who wasn't. That's there are so many dog tags found here. All P.S. serial #'s started with 1030.
Even the U.S. pow's never gave their units. When I look through pow records recovered from the Japs, it's amazing to see how many U.S. soldiers were cooks, truck drivers, mechanics ans orderlies...not many combat grunts among them. Didn't want to admit you held the crosshairs on their brethren.
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