Post by beirutvet on Mar 16, 2021 9:05:10 GMT 8
'Alamo Of The Pacific' The story of the famed "China Marines" on Bataan and Corregidor and what the did to the enemy as POWs. By Otis H King SGT. USMC.
Talk about "being there", this guy has quite a list of accomplishments. He engaged the enemy in 3 different battles before the surrender, a point, a pocket and Corregidor
Combat:
Battle of Longoskawayan Point 23-27 Jan, 1942
Battle of the Big Pocket 30 Jan - 1 Feb. 1942
Beach defense of Corregidor 9 April - 6 May 1942
Decorations:
Bronze Star with V (for valor), Purple heart with two Oak Leaf clusters, Naval Presidential Unit Citation, two Army Presidential Citations, POW medal, Marine corps Good Conduct Medal with one star, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Defense with 3 battle stars, K'ang Chan-nien Chang, (Chinese War Memorial Medal for Service in China). Asiatic Theater; China Service; American Defense; U.S. Combat and Victory Medals, The Armed Forces Expeditionary Ribbon and the American Campaign Ribbon. Sharpshooter for rifle and pistol.
About the time that Bataan fell, he and a close buddy swam the 2 1/2 miles in a weakened state just to get to Corregidor then assigned to "L" company 3rd. Battalion 4th Marine Regiment at age 17, the youngest member of the 4th Regiment. Wounded by enemy fire on 14 April, 1942. Shot down 1 enemy plane over Corregidor with .50 caliber machine gun. Prisoner of War, 6 May 1942 to 29 August 1945. Honorably discharged 27 March, 1947 with 80% disability. (Disability changed to 100% due to residual effects of POW experience)........But if that is not enough, which it certainly was, it was what he and his brother Marines did to the enemy as POWs that should stand alone, and that is what this book was about.
Not only did he himself have a distinguished career as a saboteur, but for this book he interviewed many China Marine POWs to tell the story of their sabotage. The result is a book that delighted this reader to find it was not just digging coal in a frozen wasteland for many of these guys.
He was originally assigned to an electrical shop in the Yokohama Shipyards. There their 'honcho' (Japanese in charge) was a lazy man who gave them a lot of lee way. He would send Otis to the supply warehouse by himself to get roles of very expensive electrical cables, usually 3 rolls at a time. The guys in the warehouse, equally as lazy would let him go get what he needed. Very soon he started taking 6 rolls at a time and 3 rolls would always end up in the harbor. He estimates that the number of precious lost resources to be in the hundreds of rolls.
While working on a nearly completed navy corvette, just as they were leaving they opened up the scuttle valves in the bilges and quickly left for the evening. When they returned the next day, the only thing visible was the mast and smoke stack.
The japs were understandably apoplectic about the current state of this brand new vessel but never once suspected the POWs. In the Japanese mind these prisoners had lost so much face that they were trying their best to recover from the shame and were genuinely believed by their captors to be diligent workers and wouldn't dream of causing intentional damage. When actually caught doing something they would be beaten for their stupidity and laziness. It never once crossed their minds that these were intentional acts of sabotage.
Those that worked riveting plates together on ships found ingenious ways to do harm in their riveting, They produced 23 ships in all their time there and 18 of them had to immediately come back to dry dock for repairs after their maiden voyage. One was considered a complete loss and had to be scrapped.
Another notable incident was in building a runway on Palawan, they intentionally did not hard pack the sand and just used other materials so when one of the first squadrons of Betty bombers arrived, one broke through the weakened soft spot and careened into 2 more parked Bettys. Scratch 3 bombers courtesy of the China Marines!
When loading ships in harbor, the guards were reluctant to get down in those stifling holds with the POWs so they had a free hand to not only scavenge and steal all they could get away with but also found many clever ways to contaminate food stuffs so they were inedible and break delicate instruments that needed special care.... and these Marines provided that "special care".
Even in the drudgery of a coal mine there were ways found to slow production to bare minimum. One way was to "repair" broken coal scuttles so that in just a few uses they would break down all over again.
At Clark Field there was a POW that worked in the kitchen that was the main Japanese mess hall. They were always closely watched to ensure they did not eat what was not theirs but when the guards back was turned this cook threw in a fresh bar of soap that he had found and vigorously stirred until the bar was dissolved. The next day there was a significant number of the crews that were missing and wondering about the strange malady that overcame so many sending them repeatedly to the bathroom.
Needless to say it was delightful reading how so many risked their lives even after capture to do what they could to slow down the enemy.
The inscription on this one was especially meaningful. It read: "To Mike Warmbier - In this book meet the battling Bastards of Bataan - the forgotten warriors of WWII". signed "Otis H. King" and dated "9 April, 01. (date of the fall of Bataan 1942)" Perhaps it was given at a commemorative reunion on the day of the fall.
****
Recommended.
Talk about "being there", this guy has quite a list of accomplishments. He engaged the enemy in 3 different battles before the surrender, a point, a pocket and Corregidor
Combat:
Battle of Longoskawayan Point 23-27 Jan, 1942
Battle of the Big Pocket 30 Jan - 1 Feb. 1942
Beach defense of Corregidor 9 April - 6 May 1942
Decorations:
Bronze Star with V (for valor), Purple heart with two Oak Leaf clusters, Naval Presidential Unit Citation, two Army Presidential Citations, POW medal, Marine corps Good Conduct Medal with one star, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Philippine Defense with 3 battle stars, K'ang Chan-nien Chang, (Chinese War Memorial Medal for Service in China). Asiatic Theater; China Service; American Defense; U.S. Combat and Victory Medals, The Armed Forces Expeditionary Ribbon and the American Campaign Ribbon. Sharpshooter for rifle and pistol.
About the time that Bataan fell, he and a close buddy swam the 2 1/2 miles in a weakened state just to get to Corregidor then assigned to "L" company 3rd. Battalion 4th Marine Regiment at age 17, the youngest member of the 4th Regiment. Wounded by enemy fire on 14 April, 1942. Shot down 1 enemy plane over Corregidor with .50 caliber machine gun. Prisoner of War, 6 May 1942 to 29 August 1945. Honorably discharged 27 March, 1947 with 80% disability. (Disability changed to 100% due to residual effects of POW experience)........But if that is not enough, which it certainly was, it was what he and his brother Marines did to the enemy as POWs that should stand alone, and that is what this book was about.
Not only did he himself have a distinguished career as a saboteur, but for this book he interviewed many China Marine POWs to tell the story of their sabotage. The result is a book that delighted this reader to find it was not just digging coal in a frozen wasteland for many of these guys.
He was originally assigned to an electrical shop in the Yokohama Shipyards. There their 'honcho' (Japanese in charge) was a lazy man who gave them a lot of lee way. He would send Otis to the supply warehouse by himself to get roles of very expensive electrical cables, usually 3 rolls at a time. The guys in the warehouse, equally as lazy would let him go get what he needed. Very soon he started taking 6 rolls at a time and 3 rolls would always end up in the harbor. He estimates that the number of precious lost resources to be in the hundreds of rolls.
While working on a nearly completed navy corvette, just as they were leaving they opened up the scuttle valves in the bilges and quickly left for the evening. When they returned the next day, the only thing visible was the mast and smoke stack.
The japs were understandably apoplectic about the current state of this brand new vessel but never once suspected the POWs. In the Japanese mind these prisoners had lost so much face that they were trying their best to recover from the shame and were genuinely believed by their captors to be diligent workers and wouldn't dream of causing intentional damage. When actually caught doing something they would be beaten for their stupidity and laziness. It never once crossed their minds that these were intentional acts of sabotage.
Those that worked riveting plates together on ships found ingenious ways to do harm in their riveting, They produced 23 ships in all their time there and 18 of them had to immediately come back to dry dock for repairs after their maiden voyage. One was considered a complete loss and had to be scrapped.
Another notable incident was in building a runway on Palawan, they intentionally did not hard pack the sand and just used other materials so when one of the first squadrons of Betty bombers arrived, one broke through the weakened soft spot and careened into 2 more parked Bettys. Scratch 3 bombers courtesy of the China Marines!
When loading ships in harbor, the guards were reluctant to get down in those stifling holds with the POWs so they had a free hand to not only scavenge and steal all they could get away with but also found many clever ways to contaminate food stuffs so they were inedible and break delicate instruments that needed special care.... and these Marines provided that "special care".
Even in the drudgery of a coal mine there were ways found to slow production to bare minimum. One way was to "repair" broken coal scuttles so that in just a few uses they would break down all over again.
At Clark Field there was a POW that worked in the kitchen that was the main Japanese mess hall. They were always closely watched to ensure they did not eat what was not theirs but when the guards back was turned this cook threw in a fresh bar of soap that he had found and vigorously stirred until the bar was dissolved. The next day there was a significant number of the crews that were missing and wondering about the strange malady that overcame so many sending them repeatedly to the bathroom.
Needless to say it was delightful reading how so many risked their lives even after capture to do what they could to slow down the enemy.
The inscription on this one was especially meaningful. It read: "To Mike Warmbier - In this book meet the battling Bastards of Bataan - the forgotten warriors of WWII". signed "Otis H. King" and dated "9 April, 01. (date of the fall of Bataan 1942)" Perhaps it was given at a commemorative reunion on the day of the fall.
****
Recommended.