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Post by okla on Sept 21, 2012 0:08:23 GMT 8
Hey John....Good stuff, as per usual. The Aviation Engineer Battalions that I was referring to, back in the '50s, were Independent Battalions (no Regimental affiliation), called SCARWAF (Special Category Army With Air Force) thus the Battalion numeral located in the upper portion of the Guidon. We were sending these units all over the World, to Guam, Korea, Germany, Greenland,etc, involved in building AF related projects and also to"Down Range" in the South Atlantic, constructing the locales for tracking missiles to be fired from the, then under construction, Cape Canaveral launching site. I would imagine that there are all types of "special" Guidons out there to "blow" our minds. This kind of stuff is what makes this Forum so addictive. Who would think that some long ago Constabulary Company in the far off Philippines would be keeping me up in the wee hours of the night???. I appreciate your "digging" up these always interesting "goodies" to soothe my boggled mind. Cheers.
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Post by JohnEakin on Sept 21, 2012 2:30:37 GMT 8
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Post by okla on Sept 21, 2012 3:25:01 GMT 8
Hey John....I will be quick to acknowledge the prowess,etc of the USMC. I know that I always slept very soundly while in Korea, knowing that the Reds had to go thru the First USMC Division to get to Seoul and my airstrip at Suwon, just south of the ROK Capitol. They be tough hombres, well trained and certainly well indoctrinated. Pertaining to the last attribute, my Bro-in-law served only six months active duty with the Corps, never leaving the confines of Camp Pendleton, California and if I didn't know otherwise, I would have thought he was tougher than "Manila John" Basillone" (sp???). Postscript...That USMC unit certainly rates having a "2nd Guidon". No doubt about that.
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Post by JohnEakin on Sept 21, 2012 7:08:54 GMT 8
I read a little further and apparently the PC was organized in to regiments so my guess is that the guidion is for Co. K of the 1st Regiment, PC.
[From Wikipedia] In May 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed a state of emergency in the continental United States and in all her protectorates, including the Philippines. With the organization of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) in July, the Philippine Commonwealth Army and the Constabulary prepared their combat units. The PC was inducted to the USAFFE and was organized into three infantry regiments for participation in the defense of the country. On October 15, the 1st PC Regt. was inducted into the USAFFE by Brig, Gen. George M. Parker in Camp Crame, after which it was moved to the Balara cantonment area in Quezon City, where the men were trained as a combat team on the regimental level.
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Post by okla on Sept 21, 2012 9:41:37 GMT 8
Hey John....Regarding the original soldier....Being a former policeman almost cinched him being assigned to this type unit. His experience was evidently put to good use. My weak eyes could never discern Sgt/Staff Sgt chevrons in the photo, but if they are there I can see where his former occupation would warrant this man being made an NCO early on in his hitch. I hope we have helped, at least in small measure, his present day relative in the search for pertinent poop. Cheers.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2012 16:42:18 GMT 8
Thank you for all your help sirs. I would say that John's guess is plausible, he could be in the 1st Regiment PC. Wiki mentioned that all first 3 PC regiments were moved to Bataan by December of 1941 and were under the command of Gen. George M. Parker, II Corps at the Eastern sector. I am imagining that his unit might be in any of the Philippine Army Divisions mentioned...11th, 21st, 41st and 51st. A lot of bloody battles happened in multiple defense lines that you guys mentioned and some of you actually visited the sites as i reckoned in the threads.
I wish to dig deeper of his disposition during that time until his last breath. Probably then I will be visiting Bataan, Tarlac (old O'Donnell) and Manila (Camp Crame or Aguinaldo and the Cemetery). Incidentally, I came to find a certain Standard Form 115 (Request for Records Disposition Authority) by General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Service, Washington DC in the internet. It has a page that mentions about List of Items in the Schedule and in the listed numbers 10, 11 and 12 could be a great treasure to look into wherein it has the titles of Rosters and Lists of Filipino POWs, Filipino POW Sick Lists and Death Lists of Filipino POWs respectively. I lost the link but I have the pdf file and I can't upload it over here. How I wish to have the opportunity to visit your libraries and do a serious research. Anyway, I'll keep looking other sources here in my country and thank you so much for your support. Till then sirs.
Jon
Jon
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Post by JohnEakin on Sept 21, 2012 20:16:15 GMT 8
Jon - Have you visited the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society web site? www.philippine-scouts.orgLots of information on other than PS on that site. There's not a lot of traffic so it can be slow getting a response, but they are very helpful. Let us know what you learn. John
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2012 17:59:23 GMT 8
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Post by JohnEakin on Oct 21, 2012 23:44:28 GMT 8
Thanks for the photos, jon. I'm glad you found your Uncle's name on the wall.
Good luck with the next phase of your search.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2012 13:51:46 GMT 8
Thank you John, appreciate your acknowledgement. Perhaps, when i can get hold of his records in Camp Aguinaldo I can move on making another step finding his place before he was POW. I have some sort of lead with a certain book below that I hope to find in this good forum. Would any of you sirs and mams who happens to be near Subic has the book "Surviving Bataan and Beyond: Colonel Irvin Alexander's Odyssey As A Japanese Prisoner of War. Stackpole Books, 342pp. ISBN 0811732487, 9780811732482"? I wish to loan one if possible. It is in this book that I find a sampler page in the internet mentioning the possible involvement of 1st Regiment Philippine Constabulary and specifically with the 3rd Battalion. Surprisingly, its the battalion unit that was with 20th and 21st Pursuit Squadrons held as reserve during the Battle of Quinauan Point. I am a bit unsure if my uncle was with the battalion but my guess is his company "K" fits into how PC batallions were organized as quoted from www.bataandiary.com which it says "each regiment had 3 battalions, consisting 3 rifle companies and 1 machine gun company". It could be A,B,C rifle companies + D machine gun company = 1st Battalion; E,F,G rifle companies + H mg company = 2nd Battalion; I,J,K rifle companies + L mg company = 3rd Battalion. It further mentioned that "3rd Battalion, 1st PC Regiment was commanded by Capt. Apolinar Fajardo together with Alexander's (23rd Jan.) running into dug-in enemy at 1000 yd long Quinauan Point. Alexander was assisting the reserve unit, the 1st Battalion, 1st PC Regiment when he was wounded". The event was cited in Quirino, Filipinos at War, 211 and Young, The Battle of Bataan, 101. These cited references makes me more interested and finding them should lead me more details. jon
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