Coordinates: 15°30′34″N 121°02′40″E / 15.50944°N 121.04444°E
| Raid at Cabanatuan | |||||||
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| Part of World War II, Pacific theater | |||||||
 Former Cabanatuan POWs in celebration, January 30, 1945 |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States Philippine Commonwealth |
 Empire of Japan |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Henry Mucci Robert Prince Juan Pajota Eduardo Joson |
 Tomoyuki Yamashita |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 133 U.S. Rangers 6th Battalion and Alamo scouts 250 Filipino guerrillas |
est. 700 Japanese guards est. 8,000 Japanese around camp |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| United States: 2 killed 4 wounded 1 prisoner died Philippine Commonwealth: 20 wounded |
530 killed | ||||||
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The Raid at Cabanatuan was a rescue mission near Cabanatuan, Philippines on January 30, 1945 by United States Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas that resulted in the liberation of 516 prisoners of war (POWs) from a Japanese POW camp during World War II. After the surrender of tens of thousands of American troops during the battle for Bataan, many prisoners were sent to the Cabanatuan prisoner camp after the Bataan Death March. As the Japanese removed the majority of the prisoners from the camp to other areas, just over 500 American and other Allied POWs remained.
Facing brutal conditions, including disease, torture, and malnourishment, the prisoners feared they would all be executed as General Douglas MacArthur and his American forces returned to Bataan. In late January 1945, a plan was developed by Sixth Army leaders and Filipino guerrillas to send in a small force to rescue the prisoners. A group of over a hundred Rangers and Scouts and several hundred guerillas traveled 30 miles (48 km) behind Japanese lines to reach the camp. In a nighttime raid, while using the cover of darkness and a distraction by a P-61 Black Widow, the group was able to surprise the Japanese forces both inside and outside the camp. In a thirty-minute coordinated attack, hundreds of Japanese troops were killed as the Americans suffered minimal casualties in rescuing the prisoners from the camp.
The Rangers, Scouts, and guerillas escorted the POWs back to American lines. The rescue allowed the prisoners to tell of the death march and prison camp atrocities, which sparked a new rush of resolve for the war against Japan. The rescuers were awarded commendations by MacArthur, and eventually were also recognized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A memorial now sits at the location of the camp, and the events of the raid have been depicted in several films.
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After the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese forces, it entered World War II to join the Allied forces to fight the Axis powers. American forces led by General Douglas MacArthur, already stationed in the Philippines as a deterrent against Japanese aggression in the Pacific, were also attacked by the Japanese in the Philippines hours after Pearl Harbor. On March 12, 1942, General MacArthur and a few select officers, on orders of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, left the American forces, promising to return with reinforcements. However, Roosevelt decided to move the majority of the available troops to the Western Front against Hitler's forces. The 72,000 American and Filipino soldiers, fighting with outdated weapons, lacking supplies, and stricken with disease and malnourishment, eventually surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942.[1]
The Japanese had initially planned for only 10,000-25,000 American and Filipino POWs. Although they had organized two hospitals, ample food, and guards for this estimate, they were overwhelmed with over 70,000 prisoners.[1] By the end of the 60-mile (97-km) march, only 54,000 prisoners reached Camp O'Donnell, as an estimated 10,000 had died from illness, hunger, torture, or murder.[2][3] Some prisoners were then diverted to the Cabanatuan prison camp to join the POWs from the battle of Corregidor.
The Cabanatuan prison camp, also known as Camp Pangatian, was named after the nearby town of 50,000 people.[4][5] The rectangular-shaped camp had dimensions of 800 yards (732 m) deep by 600 yards (549 m) across.[6][7] The camp was divided by a road that ran through its center. One side of the camp housed Japanese guards, while the other included bamboo barracks for all of the prisoners as well as a section for a hospital. Eight-foot (2.4-m) high barbed wire fences surrounded the camp.[8]
At its peak, the camp held 8,000 American soldiers (along with small numbers of other nationalities including British, Norwegian, and Dutch), making it the largest POW camp in the Philippines.[9] This number dropped significantly as able-bodied soldiers were shipped to other areas in the Philippines, Japan, Formosa, and Manchuria to work in slave labor camps. Geneva Convention provisions were ignored as the transported POWs were forced to work in factories to build Japanese weaponry, unload ships, and fix airfields.[10]
In one prisoner escape attempt, four soldiers were recaptured by the Japanese. The guards forced all of the prisoners to watch as the four soldiers were beat, dug their own graves, and then were executed.[11] Shortly after, the guards put up signs declaring that if any other escape attempts were made, ten prisoners would be executed for every escapee.[11] Prisoners' living quarters were then divided into groups of ten, which motivated the prisoners to keep a close eye on others to prevent them from making an escape attempt.[11][12] One week later, after two Americans attempted to escape but were recaptured, guards collected 18 other soldiers and lined them up against a fence. The 20 men were executed as the other prisoners watched.[13]
During Japanese-approved trips to Cabanatuan, prisoners were able to smuggle food and supplies into the camp. Soldiers hid food and killed mice in their underwear and bribed guards to get items such as cooking oil.[14] The Filipino underground collected thousands of quinine tablets to smuggle into the camp to treat malaria, which was attributed to saving hundreds of lives.[15][16] When the Japanese had an American radio technician fix their radios, he would steal parts, allowing the prisoners to have several radios to listen to newscasts of the war efforts outside the camp.[17] One group of Corregidor prisoners, when first entering the camp, had each hidden one piece of a radio under their clothing, and were able to build a functioning radio.[18] The radios were able to pick up a San Francisco-based radio station, allowing the POWs to hear about the status of war outside the gates of the prison.[19] Prisoners had also constructed weapons and smuggled ammunition into the camp for the possibility of securing a weapon.[20]
Local guerrilla leaders, Major Bob Lapham and Juan Pajota, had considered freeing the prisoners within the camp,[21] but feared logistical issues with hiding and caring for the prisoners.[22] An earlier plan had been proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Anderson, leader of the guerrillas near the camp. He suggested that the guerrillas would secure the prisoners, escort them 50 miles (80 km) to Debut Bay and transport them using 30 submarines. The plan was denied approval as MacArthur feared the Japanese would catch up with the fleeing prisoners and kill them all. In addition, the Navy did not have 30 extra submarines, especially with MacArthur's upcoming invasion of Luzon.[21] As American forces continued to near Luzon, the Japanese Imperial High Command ordered that all able-bodied POWs be transported to Japan. From the Cabanatuan camp, over 1,600 soldiers were removed in October 1944, leaving 511 sick, weak, or disabled POWs.[23][24][25]
On January 6, 1945, all of the guards withdrew from the Cabanatuan camp, leaving the POWs by themselves.[26] The guards had previously told prisoner leaders that they should not attempt to escape, or they would all be killed.[27] When the guards left, the prisoners heeded the threat, fearing that the Japanese were waiting within proximity of the camp and would use the attempted escape as an excuse to execute them all.[27] Instead, the prisoners went to the guards' side of the camp and ransacked the Japanese buildings for supplies and large amounts of food.[26] The prisoners were alone for several weeks, except for retreating Japanese forces which would periodically stay in the camp. The soldiers mainly ignored the POWs, except to ask for food. The prisoners, although aware of the consequences, sent a small group outside of the prison's gates to bring two carabaos to slaughter. The meat from the animals, along with the food secured from the Japanese side of the camp, helped many of the POWs to regain their strength, weight, and stamina.[28][29] By mid-January, a large group of Japanese troops entered the camp and returned the prisoners to their side of the camp.[30]
On October 20, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur's forces landed on Leyte, paving the way for the liberation of the Philippines. Several months later, as the Americans consolidated their forces to prepare for the main invasion of Luzon, nearly 150 Americans were executed by their Japanese captors on December 14, 1944 in a POW camp at the island of Palawan. These Americans were herded into air raid shelters, sealed in, doused with gasoline, and burned alive.[31] One of the escaped survivors, PFC Eugene Nielsen, recounted his tale to U.S. Army Intelligence on January 7, 1945.[32] Two days later, MacArthur's forces landed on Luzon and began a rapid advance towards the capital, Manila.[33]
On January 26, 1945, Major Bob Lapham, the American USAFFE senior guerrilla chief, traveled from his location near the prisoner camp to Sixth Army headquarters, 30 miles away.[34] He proposed to Lieutenant general Walter Krueger's intelligence chief Colonel Horton White that a rescue attempt be made to rescue the estimated 500 POWs at the Cabanatuan prison camp before the Japanese possibly killed them all.[34] Lapham estimated Japanese forces to include 100-300 soldiers within the camp, 1,000 across the Cabu River northeast of the camp, and possibly around 5,000 within Cabanatuan.[34] Pictures of the camp were also available, as several planes had taken surveillance images, even as recently as January 19.[35] White reported the details to Krueger, and the lieutenant general gave the order for the rescue attempt.[34]
White gathered Lt. Col. Henry Mucci, leader of the 6th Ranger Battalion, and three lieutenants from the Alamo Scouts—the special reconnaissance unit attached to his Sixth Army—for a briefing on the mission to raid Cabanatuan and rescue the POWs.[34] The group developed a plan to rescue the prisoners. First, 14 Scouts, made up of two teams, would leave 24 hours ahead of the main force to survey the camp.[36] The main force would consist of 90 Rangers from C Company and 30 from F Company who would march 30 miles (48 km) behind Japanese lines, surround the camp and kill the guards, and rescue and escort the prisoners back to American lines.[34][37] The Americans would join up with 80 Filipino guerrillas which would serve as guides and help in the rescue attempt.[38] The agreed on plan figured the attack would commence at 17:30 on January 29.[39]
On the evening of January 27, the Rangers studied air reconnaissance photos and listened to guerrilla intel on the prisoner camp.[40] The two five-man teams of Alamo Scouts, led by 1st Lts. William Nellist and Thomas Rounsaville, left Guimba at 19:00 and infiltrated behind enemy lines for the long trek to attempt a reconnaissance of the prison camp.[41][42][43] The Scouts were all armed with a .45 pistol, three hand grenades, a rifle or carbine, a knife, and extra ammunition.[40] The next morning, the Scouts linked up with several Filipino guerrilla units at the village of Platero, two miles (3 km) north of the camp.
The Rangers were armed with assorted Thompson submachine guns, BARs, M1 Garand rifles, pistols, grenades, knives, extra ammunition, as well as a few bazookas.[44][45] Four combat photographers from the 832nd Signal Service volunteered to accompany the Scouts and Rangers to record the rescue after Mucci suggested the idea of documenting the raid.[46] Each photographer was armed with a pistol.[47] Despite Geneva Convention restrictions on armed medical personnel, surgeon Captain Jimmy Fisher and his medics each carried pistols and carbines.[44][45] To keep a link between the raiding group and Army Command, a radio set was based outside of Guimba. The force had two radios, and their use was only approved in asking for aircraft support if they ran into large Japanese forces or if there were any last-minute changes to the raid.[44][36]
Shortly after 05:00 on January 28, Mucci and a reinforced company of 121 Rangers[46][48][49] under Capt. Robert Prince drove 60 miles to Guimba, before slipping through Japanese lines at just after 14:00.[44][50] Guided by Filipino guerrillas, the Rangers hiked through open grasslands to avoid enemy patrols.[34] The group narrowly avoided a Japanese tank on the national highway by following a ravine that ran under the road.[51][52]
The group reached Balincarin, a barrio five miles (8 km) north of the camp, the following morning.[53] Mucci linked up with Scouts Nellist and Rounsaville to go over the camp recon from the previous night. The Scouts revealed that the terrain all around the camp was flat, which would leave the force exposed before the raid.[53] Mucci also met with USAFFE guerrilla Captain Juan Pajota and his 200 men, whose intimate knowledge of enemy activity, the locals, and the terrain proved crucial.[54] Upon learning that Mucci wanted to push through with the attack that evening, Pajota resisted, insisting that it would be suicide. He revealed that the guerrillas had been watching an estimated 1,000 Japanese soldiers camped out across the Cabu River just several hundred yards from the prisoner camp.[55] Pajota also confirmed reports that as many as 7,000 enemy troops were deployed around the Cabanatuan town located several miles away.[56] In addition, a Japanese division was traveling north on a road right by the camp.[57] Pajota recommended waiting for the division to pass so that the force would face minimal opposition. After consolidating information from Pajota and the Alamo Scouts about heavy enemy activity in the camp area, Mucci agreed to postpone the raid for 24 hours.[57] He alerted the 6th Army Headquarters to the development by radio.[58] He directed the Scouts to return to the camp and gain additional intel, especially on the strength of the guards and the exact location of the prisoners. The Rangers withdrew to Platero, a barrio 2.5 miles (4 km) south of Balincarin.[57]
"We couldn't rehearse this. Anything of this nature, you'd ordinarily want to practice it over and over for weeks in advance. Get more information, build models, and discuss all of the contingencies. Work out all of the kinks. We didn't have time for any of that. It was now, or not."
At 11:30 on January 30, Scouts Lt. Nellist and Pvt. Rufo Vaquilar, disguised as locals, managed to gain access to an abandoned shack 300 yards (274 m) from the camp.[41][60] Avoiding detection by the Japanese guards, they observed the camp from the shack and prepared a detailed report on the camp's major features including the main gate, Japanese troop strength, the location of telephone wires, and the best attack routes.[6][61] Shortly thereafter they were joined by three other Scouts, whom Nellist tasked to deliver the report to Mucci.[62] Nellist and Vaquilar remained in the shack until the start of the raid.[63]
Mucci had already given Nellist's January 29 afternoon report and forwarded it to Capt. Prince, whom he entrusted to figure out how to get the Rangers in and out of the compound quickly, with all the sickly prisoners and with as few casualties as possible. Price developed a plan, which was then modified with the new report from the abandoned shack recon received at 14:30.[64] He proposed that the Rangers would be split into two groups: about 90 Rangers of C Company led by Capt. Prince, would attack the main camp and escort the prisoners out, while 30 Rangers of a platoon from F Company, commanded by Lt. John Murphy, would signal the start of the attack by firing into various Japanese positions at the rear of the camp at 19:30.[65][66] Prince predicted that the raid would be accomplished in thirty minutes or less. Once Prince had ensured that all of the POWs were safely out of the camp, he would fire a red flare, indicating that all troops should fall back to a meetup at Pampanga River 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the camp where 150 guerrillas would be ready with carabao-pulled carts to transport the POWS.[67] This group would help to load the POWs and escort them back to American lines.
One of Prince's primary concerns was the flatness of the countryside. He knew his Rangers would have to crawl through a long, open field on their bellies, right under the eyes of the Japanese guards. This would still present the possibility of the Japanese guards noticing their movement. If the Rangers were discovered, the only planned response was for everyone to immediately stand up and rush the camp.[68][69] Pajota suggested that to distract the guards, an United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) airplane should buzz the camp to divert the guards' eyes to the sky. Mucci agreed with the idea and a radio request was sent to command to ask for a P-61 Black Widow to fly over the camp while the men made their way across the field.[70]
By dawn on January 30, the road in front of the camp was clear of traveling Japanese troops.[71] Mucci made plans to protect the POWs once they were freed from the camp. Two groups of guerrillas of the Luzon Guerrilla Armed Forces, one under Capt. Pajota and another under Capt. Eduardo Joson,[72] would be sent in opposite directions to hold the main road near the camp. Pajota and 200 guerrillas were to set up a roadblock next to the wooden bridge over the Cabu River.[73][67] This setup, northeast of the prisoner camp, would be the first line of defense against the Japanese forces camped across the river, which would be within earshot of the assault on the camp. Joson and his 75 guerrillas along with a Ranger bazooka team would set up a roadblock 800 yards (730 m) southwest of the prisoner camp to stop any Japanese forces that would arrive from Cabanatuan.[67] Both groups would each place 25 land mines in front of their positions and one guerrilla from each group was given a bazooka to take out any armored vehicles.[67] After all of the POWS and the remainder of the attacking force had reached the Pampaanga River meeting point, Prince would fire a second flare to indicate to the ambush sites to pull back (gradually, if they faced opposition) and head to Plateros.[66]
As the POWs had no knowledge of the upcoming assault, they went through their normal routine that night. They were wary of the Japanese guards, figuring that anytime in the next few days they could be massacred for any reason. The POWs figured that the Japanese would not want the prisoners to be rescued by advancing American forces, regain their strength, and return to fight the Japanese again. In addition, the Japanese could kill the prisoners to prevent them from telling of the atrocities of the Bataan Death March or the conditions in the camp.[74] With the limited Japanese guard, several prisoners had previously decided that they would make an escape attempt around 20:00.[75][76]
A few hours after Mucci approved Prince's plan, the Rangers departed from Platero at 17:00. They crossed the Pampanga River and then Cpt. Prince and Lt. Murphy's men parted ways at 17:45 to surround the camp.[65][75] Cpts. Pajota and Joson and their guerrilla forces each headed to their ambush sites. The Rangers under Prince, made their way to the main gate and stopped about 700 yards (640 m) from the camp to wait for nightfall and the P-61 distraction.[75]
Meanwhile, a P-61 from the 547th Night Fighter Squadron had taken off at 18:00, piloted by Kenneth Schrieber and Bonnie Rucks.[77] About 45 minutes before the attack, Capt Schrieber cut the left engine at 1,500 feet (450 m) over the camp. He restarted it, creating a loud backfire, and repeated the procedure twice more, losing altitude to 200 feet (60 m). Pretending to be a crippled plane, Schrieber headed toward low hills, clearing them by a mere 30 feet (10 m). To the Japanese observers, it seemed the plane had crashed and they watched, waiting for a fiery explosion. Schrieber repeated this several times while also performing various aerobatic maneuvers. The ruse continued for twenty minutes, creating a much-needed diversion for the Rangers inching their way toward the camp on their bellies.[77][78] Prince later commended the pilots' actions: "The idea of an aerial decoy was a little unusual and honestly, I didn't think it would work, not in a million years. But the pilot's maneuvers were so skillful and deceptive that the diversion was complete. I don't know where we would have been without it."[77] As the plane buzzed the camp, Lt. Carlos Tombo and his guerrillas along with several Rangers cut the camp's telephone lines to prevent communication with the large force stationed in Cabanatuan.[66]
At 19:40, the whole prison compound erupted into small arms fire after Murphy and his men fired on the guard towers and barracks.[79] Within the first fifteen seconds, all of the camp's guard towers and pillboxes were targeted and destroyed.[80] Sgt. Ted Richardson rushed to shoot a padlock off of the main gate using his .45 pistol.[80][81] The Rangers at the main gate maneuvered to bring the guard barracks and officer quarters under fire, while the ones at the rear eliminated the enemy near the prisoners' huts and then proceeded with the evacuation. A bazooka team from F Company ran up the main road to a tin shack which the Scouts had told Mucci held tanks. Though two trucks attempted to escape with Japanese soldiers, the team was able to destroy the trucks and then the shack.[82][83]
At the beginning of the gunfire, many of the prisoners thought that it was the Japanese beginning to kill all of the prisoners.[84] One prisoner stated that the attack sounded like "whistling slugs, Roman candles, and flaming meteors sailing over our heads."[85] Prisoners immediately hid in their shacks, latrines, and irrigation ditches.[85] When the Rangers yelled to the POW's to come out and be rescued, many of the POWs feared that it might be a trap so the Japanese could mow them down.[86] Also, a substantial number of the POWs resisted because the Rangers' weapons and uniforms looked nothing like those from a few years prior.[87][88] The Rangers were challenged by the POWs and asked who they were and where they were from. Many Rangers had to resort to physical force to remove the prisoners, throwing or kicking them out.[89] Some of the POWs weighed so little due to illness and malnourishment that some Rangers carried two men on their backs.[90] Once out of the barracks, they were told by the Rangers to proceed to the main, or front gate. Prisoners were disoriented because the 'main gate' meant the entrance to the American side of the camp.[91] Many of the POWs collided with each other in the confusion but were eventually led out by the Rangers.
A lone Japanese soldier was able to fire off three mortar rounds toward the main gate. Although members of F Company quickly located the soldier and killed him, several Rangers, Scouts, and POWs were wounded in the attack.[92][93] Battalion surgeon Capt. James Fisher was mortally injured in the stomach, and was carried to the nearby village of Balincari.[94] Scout Alfred Alfonso had a shrapnel wound to his abdomen.[95][96] Scout Lt. Tom Rounsaville and Ranger Pvt. 1st Class Jack Peters were also wounded from the barrage.[95]
A few seconds after Pajota and his men heard Murphy fire the first shot, they fired on the alerted Japanese contingent situated across the Cabu River.[97][98] Pajota had earlier sent a demolitions expert to set charges on the unguarded bridge to go off at 19:45.[73][99] The bomb detonated at the designated time, and although it did not destroy the bridge, it formed a large hole over which tanks and other vehicles could not pass.[100][101] Waves of Japanese troops rushed the bridge, and the V-shaped choke point created by the Filipino guerrillas repulsed all attacks. One guerrilla, who had been trained to use the bazooka only a few hours earlier by the Rangers, destroyed or disabled four tanks which were hiding behind a clump of trees.[102] A group of Japanese soldiers made an effort to flank the ambush position by crossing the river away from the bridge, but the guerrillas spotted and eliminated them.[102]
At 20:15, the camp was secured from the Japanese and Capt. Prince fired his flare to signal the end of the assault.[103] No gunfire had occurred for the last fifteen minutes.[104] However, as the Rangers headed towards the meetup, Cpl. Roy Sweezy was shot twice by friendly fire, and later died.[105] The Rangers and the weary, frail and disease-ridden POWs made their way to the appointed Pampanga River rendezvous where a caravan of 26 carabao carts waited to transport them to Plateros, driven by local villagers organized by Pajota.[106] At 20:40, once Prince determined that everyone had crossed the Pampanga River, he fired his second flare to indicate to Pajota and Joson's men to withdraw.[107] The Scouts stayed behind at the meetup to survey the area for enemy retaliatory movements.[108] Meanwhile, Pajota's men continued to resist the attacking enemy until they finally could withdraw at 21:30 when the Japanese forces stopped charging the bridge.[109] Captain Joson and his men met no opposition, and they returned to help escort the POWs.[110]
Although the combat photographers were able to shoot images of the trek to and from the camp, they were unable to use their cameras during the night-time raid as the flashes would indicate their positions to the Japanese.[111] One of the photographers reflected on the nighttime hindrance: "We felt like an eager soldier who had carried his rifle for long distances into one of the war's most crucial battles, then never got a chance to fire it."[66] The Signal Corps photographers instead assisted with escorting the POWs out of the camp.[111]
"I made the Death March from Bataan, so I can certainly make this one!"
By 22:00, the Rangers and POWs arrived at Plateros, where they rested for half an hour.[108][110][112] After a headcount, it was discovered that POW Edwin Rose, a deaf British soldier, was missing.[113] Mucci dictated that none of the Rangers could be spared to search for him, so he sent several guerrillas to search for him in the morning.[113] It was later learned that Rose had fallen asleep in the latrine prior to the attack.[100] Rose woke early the next morning realizing the prisoners were gone and that he was left behind. Nevertheless, he took the time to shave and put on his best clothes that he had been saving for the day he would be rescued. He walked out of the prison camp, thinking that he would soon be found and be led to freedom. Sure enough, Rose was found by passing guerrillas.[114][115] Arrangements were made for a tank destroyer unit to pick him up and transport him to a hospital.[116]
In a makeshift hospital at Plateros, Scout Alfonso and Ranger Fisher were quickly put into surgery. The shrapnel was removed from Alfonso's abdomen, and was expected to recover if returned to American lines. Fisher's shrapnel was also removed, but with limited supplies and widespread damage to both his stomach and intestines, it was decided more extensive surgery would need to be completed in an American hospital.[109][117] Mucci ordered that an airstrip be built in a field next to Plateros so that a plane could airlift him to American lines. Several Scouts and POWs stayed behind to construct the airstrip.
As the group left Plateros at 22:30 to trek back towards American lines, Pajota and his guerrillas continually sought out local villagers to provide additional carabao carts to transport the weakened prisoners.[106] The majority of the prisoners had little or no clothing and shoes, and it became increasingly difficult for them to walk.[118] When the group reached Balincarin, they had accumulated nearly 50 carts.[119] Despite the convenience of transporting the prisoners in the carts, the carabao traveled at a sluggish pace, only 2 mph (3.2 km/h), which greatly reduced the speed of the return trip.[108] By the time the group reached American lines, 106 carts were being used.[120]
In addition to the tired POWs, the Rangers had also had only five to six hours of sleep over the past three days. The soldiers frequently had hallucinations or fell asleep as they marched. Benzedrine was distributed by the medics to keep the Rangers active during the long march. One Ranger commented on the effect of the drug: "It felt like your eyes were popped open. You couldn't have closed them if you wanted to. One pill was all I ever took—it was all I ever needed."[121]
P-61 Black Widows again helped the American forces by patrolling the path the group would take on its way back to American lines. At 21:00, one of the aircraft destroyed five Japanese trucks and a tank located on a road 14 miles (22.5 km) from Plateros that the group would later travel on.[109] The group was also met with hovering P-51 Mustangs that guarded them as they neared American lines. POW George Steiner stated that the prisoners were "... jubilant over the appearance of our airplanes, and the sound of their strafing was music to our ears."[114]
During one leg of the return trip, the men were stopped by the Hukbalahap, a Filipino group that hated both American and Japanese. They were also rivals to Pajota's men. One of Pajota's lieutenants conferred with the Hukbalahap and came back and told Mucci that they were not allowed to pass through the village. Angered by the message, Mucci sent the lieutenant back to insist that pursuing Japanese forces would be coming. The lieutenant came back and told Mucci that only Americans could pass, and Pajota's men had to stay. The agitated Mucci told the lieutenant that both Rangers and guerrillas were passing through, or he would call in an artillery barrage and level the whole village (actually, Mucci's radio was not working at that point).[122] They agreed to let both groups through.
At 08:00 on January 31, Mucci's radioman was able to finally contact Sixth Army headquarters. Mucci was directed to go to Talavera, a town captured by the Sixth Army eleven miles (17.7 km) from Mucci's current position.[120] At Talavera, the POWs boarded trucks and ambulances for the last leg of their journey home.[123] The POWS were deloused, and given hot showers and new clothes.[124] The Scouts and the remaining POWs who had stayed behind to get James Fisher onto a plane, also encountered resistance by the Hukbalahap.[125] After threatening the communist band, the Scouts and POWs were granted safe passage and they reached Talavera on February 1.[125]
A few days after the raid, Sixth Army troops inspected the camp. The return resulted in the collection of a large number of death certificates and cemetery layouts.[116] Other items collected included diaries, poems, and sketchbooks.[115] The American soldiers also paid each of the caraboa cart drivers who had helped to evacuate the POWs five pesos.[116][126]
"No incident of the campaign in the Pacific has given me such satisfaction as the release of the POWs at Cabanatuan. The mission was brilliantly successful."
The raid was very successful—516 POWs were liberated.[128] The total included 489 Americans, 23 British (this number also includes the later-rescued Edwin Rose), two Norwegians, one Dutch, and one Filipino.[126][129][130] The rescue allowed the prisoners to tell of the Bataan and Corregidor atrocities, which sparked a new rush of resolve for the war against Japan.[129][131] Prince gives a great deal of credit for the success of the raid to others: “Any success we had was due not only to our efforts but to the Alamo Scouts and Air Force. The pilots (Capt. Kenneth R. Schrieber and Lt. Bonnie B. Rucks) of the plane that flew so low over the camp were incredibly brave men.” Some of the Rangers and Scouts went on bond drive tours around the United States and also met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[126][129] In 1948, Congress created legislation that provided $1 ($9 in 2010 USD) for each day the POWs had been held in a prisoner camp, including Cabanatuan.[132] Two years later, Congress again approved an additional $1.50 per day ($14 in 2010 USD).[132]
Estimates figure that 530 to a high of 1,000 Japanese soldiers were killed from the assault.[124][129] The estimates include those killed within the camp as well as those killed by Pajota's men attempting to cross the Cabu River. Several Americans died during and after the raid. A prisoner weakened from illness died of a heart attack as a Ranger carried him from the barracks to the main gate.[133][134] The Ranger that carried him out later recalled, "The excitement had been too much for him, I guess. It was really sad. He was only a hundred feet from the freedom he had not known for nearly three years."[133] Another prisoner died of illness just as the group had reached Talavera.[135] Although Mucci had ordered that an airstrip be built in a field next to Plateros so that a plane could evacuate Battalion surgeon Captain James Fisher to get medical attention, a plane was never dispatched and Fisher died the next day.[136] His last words were "Did we get all the prisoners out?"[136] The other Ranger killed during the raid was Corporal Roy Sweezy, the BAR man for 2nd Platoon, F Company. He was struck in the back by two rounds from friendly fire. Both Captain Fisher and Corporal Sweezy are buried at Manila National Cemetery. Twenty of Pajota's guerrillas were injured as were two Scouts and two Rangers.[124][129]
The American prisoners were quickly returned to the United States, usually by plane. Those that were still sick or weakened remained at American hospitals to continue to recuperate. On February 11, 1945, 280 POWs left Leyte aboard the transport USS General A.E. Anderson bound for San Francisco via Hollandia, New Guinea.[137] The Japanese were dealt a great propaganda blow, and their radio announcer Tokyo Rose announced that Japanese submarines, ships and planes were hunting the ship.[138] The threats proved to be a bluff, and the General Anderson safely arrived in San Francisco Bay on March 8, 1945.[139]
This feat was celebrated by MacArthur's soldiers, Allied correspondents, and the American public, for the raid had touched an emotional chord among Americans concerned about the fate of the defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. Family members of the POWs were contacted by telegram that they had been rescued.[140] News of the raid was broadcast on numerous radio outlets and newspaper front pages.[141] It was later overshadowed by other Pacific events, including the battle for Iwo Jima and the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[131][142] The raid, coupled with the equally successful raid at Los Baños on February 23 (2,147 rescued), marked the high point of cooperation between American ground and air units and Filipino guerrillas.
"People everywhere try to thank us. I think the thanks should go the other way. I'll be grateful for the rest of my life that I had a chance to do something in this war that was not destructive. Nothing for me can ever compare with the satisfaction I got from helping to free our prisoners."
General Douglas MacArthur presented the awards to the soldiers who participated in the raid on March 3, 1945. Although Lt. Col. Mucci was nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor, he and Capt. Prince both received Distinguished Service Crosses. Mucci was promoted to colonel and was given command of the 1st Regiment of the 6th Infantry Division.[132] All other American officers and selected enlisted received Silver Stars.[144] The remaining American enlisted men and the Filipino guerrilla officers were all awarded Bronze Stars.[144] Lts. William Nellist and Thomas Rounsaville and the other twelve Scouts received Presidential Unit Citations.[145]
In late 1945, the graves of the American troops who died at the camp were exhumed and moved to be buried at other cemeteries.[146] Land was donated in the late 1990s by the Filipinos to create a memorial site. The site of the Cabanatuan camp is now a park that includes a memorial wall listing the 2,656 American prisoners who died there.[147] The memorial was financed by former American POWs and veterans.[146]
Several films have focused on the raid, while also including archival footage of the POWs.[148] Edward Dmytryk's 1945 film Back to Bataan starring John Wayne opens by retelling the story of the raid on the Cabanatuan POW camp. Based on the novels, The Great Raid and Ghost Soldiers, the 2005 John Dahl film The Great Raid focused on the raid intertwined with a love story. Prince served as a consultant on the film and believed it depicted the raid accurately.[149][150] Marty Katz, conveyed his interest in producing the film: "This [rescue] was a massive operation that had very little chance of success. It's like a Hollywood movie—it couldn't really happen, but it did. That was why we were attracted to the material.[151]
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