Amy Mroz

Social Studies 8^th

Struggle in the Philippines: Corporal Cohen Thomas Roland’s part in World War II

Cohen Thomas Roland was born on December 8, 1922 in North Carolina. His parents owned and ran a tobacco farm near Fuquay at this time, so that’s where he was raised. Cohen spent the first 17 years of his life on the farm helping out with various jobs, but mostly working the plough. Most people wish to leave their homes and go off to see the world when they turn 18; Cohen was one of these people. At the age of 18, Mr. Roland left home to join the army. He told the people in charge of placing new recruits that he didn’t care where he was stationed. It was decided on that the Philippines would become his new home, and his new family would be the members of the 31^st Infantry Regiment.

It was a soldier’s paradise! Before the war, there was no need for an assembled army, so the members of it had much free time on their hands. Their schedule was light. First, they had to wake up at about six in the morning to take care of their hygiene, including getting dressed, making their beds, brushing their hair and teeth, and the remainder of what needed to be done. After that was out of the way, it was routine for them to assemble for drills, which lasted until about noon. They then had the rest of the day off to do as they pleased, as long as they were back by curfew. Life was good.

On December 8, 1941, the men got word of Pearl Harbor. This could mean only one thing, and that was war. At about ten in the morning, the 31^st infantry, among others, was called out to the barracks for a briefing. As they were moving out, Japanese bombers started to bomb the docks and villages around them. Nobody was prepared for these

attacks, and many lives, as well as homes, were lost. War was coming sooner that they had hoped.

Being led by General Masaharu, the Japanese threw the United States Armed Forces in the Far East, the USAFFE, and their leader, General Douglas MacArthur back and retreat to Bataan became inevitable. They evacuated Manila Bay on December 24, and it was declared to be an open city. On the peninsula, following War Plan Orange-3, the remainder of the USAFFE regrouped in order to put up one last fight.

Several divisions of the USAFFE bravely fought several battles to allow the retreat to Bataan, "the bloodiest of which was fought by the 11^th and 21^st Divisions on the Porac-Guagua line" (5). Protecting the west flank of the 21^st was the 26^th Calvary Regiment. Massive enemy aerial and artillery bombardment, banzai charges, and concentrated tank attacks haunted the men from January 1^st, 1942 to January 5^th. The next day, when this was coming to an end, the American 31^st Infantry Regiment -of which Cohen served-, the 71^st Division, and the 26^th Calvary heroically fought off the Japanese in the first defensive in Bataan. This was on the Hermosa-Dinalupihan line.

War Plan Orange-3 was created to delay Japanese lines until the US Navy could reassemble the Pacific Fleet and let loose on the advancing enemy. It was originally meant to protect Manila Bay, so the Japanese couldn’t take it and turn it into a military base. The plan was obviously a failure because the majority of the Pacific Fleet was resting in peace at the bottom of Pearl Harbor.

Even though it was a failure, the men, trapped on the Bataan peninsula, still fought to save it. Since they were in the jungles, many diseases were carried to them.

Such diseases were milaria, beriberi, dysentery, scurvy, and many diseases that nobody had ever heard of. However, these did not stop them from fighting.

The Abucay-Morong line, the USAFFE’s main battle position, on its eastern flank, was attacked on January 9. Fortunately for them though, the 57^th Infantry of the 21^st Division, reinforcing the 5^th Regimental Combat Team was there to help put the assault down. Five days later, another Japanese attack came, where the Japanese attacked the 41^st and the 51^st Divisions, on their border. On the right flank of the 51^st Division, was the 51^st Infantry, who withdrew. This created a gap in the lines, an advantage that the enemy grabbed at and used to advance to the Salain River. It was blind luck that a patrol of the 21^st Division discovered the enemy’s position, and that luck was quite welcome. Immediately, pieces of the Division were hurried off to the river to let loose on the Japanese. After a brutal fight, the US and Filipino boys managed to defeat them.

The 53^rd Infantry was later surprised and defeated by the enemy further to the west. They then penetrated deeper to behind the main battle position, on the Abo-Abo River. Fortunately, we were able to detain them with the "combined elements of the 21^st Division of the II reserve, the 31^st and the 51^st Divisions of the Bani-Guirol forest area" (5). The American 31^st Infantry and the 45^th Infantry partially succeeded in restoring the 51^st’s abandoned line. However, it was not without blood shed and fear that they did this.

While he was fighting, Corporal Roland was very scared for his life and was mad at the Japanese for what they were doing.

Back on the Abucay-Morong line, on January 15, the Japanese detained the 1st Regular Division by putting them under extreme bombardment. The line held out,

however. A huge gap in the Silangan-Natib area was broken through by the enemy just a few days after the bombardment. They established their goal by cutting the 1^st Regular Division off from the others by means of a roadblock. "Gravely threatened, elements of the 71^st and 91^st Divisions and the 2^nd Regiment repeatedly attacked the roadblock but failed to dislodge the enemy" (5). They were now using techniques to kill the Japanese that were not taught by the army, such as sneaking up on someone and strangling them with wire, or decapitating them.

The I Corps was then groundless, although, in the Salain River battle, the II Corps Sector had stopped a previously attempted roadblock, similar to this one. The men abandoned the Abucay-Morong line. On the 26^th of January, two days later, another line was established, the Orion-Bagac line. The Japanese became desperate, and in another attempt to outflank the I Corps, they flew in their best units on the southwestern coast of Bataan. Their aim, to completely "isolate the frontline units from headquarters and supplies" (5).

From the 23^rd to the 29^th of January there was a ferocious battle in the Iapiay-Longoskawayan Points area. Then from the 23^rd of January to the 8^th of February in the Quinawan-Aglaloma Points area was there another battle. A third battle was fought from the 27^th of January to the 13^th of February. All three battles were ferocious, and of the 2,000 enemy troops coming at the Americans, only 34 solitary, wounded soldiers returned.

Somehow, the Japanese had found their way behind three of the USAFFE’s major troops, and were discovered on the 27^th of January. They were behind the Orion-Bagac

line, the 11^th Regular Division, who were in front of the Tuol River Valley, and they were behind the 1^st Regular division, in front of the Gogo-Cotar River valley. The following series of actions to delete these Japanese were later known as the Battle of the Pockets. It was fought from January 27^th till February 17^th. Another 2,000 enemy troops had been sent to annihilate the USAFFE, and out of these troops, only 377 escaped.

The fighting went on as such until April 9, 1942, at 12:30pm exactly four months and one day from the day of the briefing, when they were forced to surrender. It was for this that they are now called the Alamo of WWII. The supply line had been cut, so the men had run out of food, medicine, ammunition, and fresh troops. They had been eating anything they could find, including snakes and rabbits. Severe malnutrition had swept over the men, and they had nothing left to give to the war. This was the day that Corporal Roland and the 75,000⁺ men still alive from the fighting and diseases were being started on their long journey to Camp O’Donnell.

The Bataan Death March began nearly as soon as they surrendered. It lasted 100 Kilometers (55 miles), from Mariveles (on the southern end of the peninsula) to San Fernando. If anybody fell, officer or not, they were beaten and clubbed, sometimes bayoneted, or shot. Falling usually meant death. The men, being weak from the diseases, malnutrition, and the fighting, usually didn’t last very long. At first, many people would count the bodies that they saw on the side of the road, however, there came to be too many to count, so this form of "entertainment" was discarded as quickly as it had come.

Along the sides of the road, there were artesian wells, with fresh water in them too, but the moment someone went to get water from one, he was shot dead. It was very

hot and very humid because they were walking through the jungles. Everybody, save the guards, was dehydrated. Eventually though, there was one guard nice enough to let the men get some water, however, not from the wells. They were forced to drink from the polluted ponds and rivers, some of which even had dead bodies floating in them! Now they could also die from poisoning from the water, as well as the diseases and the brutality. The rations for the prisoners were just enough to keep them alive, not even near enough to get rid of the malnutrition, the scurvy, or the beriberi.

On several occasions, there would be a guard who was upset because of the rank’s dishonor, so he would let loose all of his anger on a random prisoner, and if anybody tried to help the poor soul being beaten to death, they would be killed immediately. If an American or a Filipino soldier had anything that was made in Japan or any Japanese currency, then he would be killed. One man was found to have a shaving mirror made in Japan, so the guard clubbed him to death.

On the latter part of the March, there would be Filipinos waiting by the roadside with trucks. In these trucks were food and water for the prisoners. Some of the guards would let them distribute it, and others would not. The guards that would not allow this would send them home, but the Filipinos just said that they were having a problem with the engine and said that they couldn’t fix it. Then, behind the guard’s back, they would hand out all the food that they could. The prisoners regretted ever calling these gentile souls Flips or any other rotten nickname assigned to the Filipino people.

When they reached San Fernando, the remaining prisoners were loaded into boxcars and were taken by way of train to Capas. In the boxcars, there was no room to

move at all, one just stood there and tried to breathe. Many men took a sigh of relief when they could finally breathe fresh air again after being unloaded. Although, this did not last long. From where they arrived in Capas, they walked another ten Kilometers (eight miles) to their final destination, Camp O’Donnell. Only about 54 thousand reached the camp alive. Few men had escaped into the jungles, and the ones that had been caught trying, were shot on sight. One man, Abie Abraham, had succeeded in escaping only to be caught at a later time and to be returned to the March.

Nobody is sure what day or time the men arrived at Camp O’Donnell. Everybody was sick with something, whether it was a disease that was recognizable, or not. There was no medicine for the prisoners. The water was disgusting, and the food was scarce and just as sanitary as the water. The Japanese did not care, however, and immediately began to separate the men for work detail. Most of the soldiers didn’t understand the ruthless Japanese, who were shouting orders at them. Of course, none of the Japanese understood English, so they would point, push, and shove their prisoners to do what they wanted them to do.

If a soldier didn’t look like he could work, he was killed if he was lucky, or he

was sent to a cabin, where it was almost just as crowded as the cattle cars. There were

priests there too. At first, the priests only prayed to those who were dying, because the

men were not allowed to have meetings of any sort. Eventually, the men came up with a plan. Everybody who wanted to attend a mass would go into a cabin, and lie down, as if they were severely wounded or too sick to work. Then the priest would conduct mass, looking like he was praying to the dying. Corporal Roland would attend many of these masses. Of course there was a guard selected among the prisoners to watch for the Japanese. This chosen man would give warning to the men inside that there was one of them coming, and they would prepare for it.

One water hole serviced the entire camp. Some of the men, the nice ones that is, would finally be able to get water after standing in the outstandingly long lines, and they would share it with their sick and injured comrades. In order to get the water, the POWs strung together some canteens on a stick or hollowed out bamboo in order to make water carriers. Most men would have to wait for 18 hours before they could get to the water, and several died before they got close to the water.

During the first six weeks of imprisonment, about 23,000 men died and were laid to rest eternally at Camp O’Donnell. Some of the men, more specifically those who angered the Japanese guards, had to dig their own graves, literally working themselves to death, because as soon as they were done, they were ordered to climb in. At that moment, they were then shot. The guards then chose another prisoner to cover the dead body.

The Japanese took the terms "crime" and "punishment" way too seriously. If one

did anything out of line, they were severely punished. Most of the time, the punishment

was death. Corporal Roland knew a man who stole a rotten radish, just one. He was

caught by a near by guard. That man died a slow painful death by starvation as a reward for his efforts.

All of the prisoners, save 500 of them who were being held back for burial detail, were moved to Camp Cabanatuan. It was on June 6, 1942 that this took place. They all then were marched again, but this time to a new place. Corporal Roland was among the men who were moving. The men used old rice bags sewn together to carry their stuff. Mended clothing -usually mended with wood, leather, and string, - and other small tokens became priceless to the men. At this camp, they did pretty much the same things that they did at Camp O’Donnell. There is now a memorial to the people who died there where the camp used to be.

One man named Frank Hewlett wrote a poem about the POWs from Bataan:

1. Abraham, Abie. Oh, God, Where Are You?. New York: Vantage Press, 1997

This book, aside from Cohen, gave me the most information about the camps, the battle, and the march, all in one. An excellent source.

2. "Bataan Death March, The" http://www.neta.com/~1stbooks/bataan.htm.

©1996-98 This source gave me some numbers about the March, and a location. It’s an okay source.

3. "Ben Steele – Prisoner of War Chronicles – Bataan to Hiroshima"

http://www.artmontana.com/Article/steele/Index.html. This article gave me an insight of how the Japanese treated the soldiers. It’s okay. The links at the bottom helped me more than the article itself.

4. Cervone, John P. "Remembering the Bataan Death March"

http://www.thehistorynet.com/MilitaryHistory/articles/1999/1200_text.htm. This source also gave me numbers a bit of information, however, I didn’t use the entire source, so it may be a good one.

5. "How the Battle went in Bataan"

5. 6. "POW 3" http://www.jacksonville.net/~rgrokett/POW/POW3.htm. This
6. source gave me only the poem I used on page 9. Not a very good source.

1. Roland, Cohen Thomas. Interview. He gave me enough information to build