| On January 30, 1945, members of the U.S. | | | | following day. The soldiers retreated into |
| Military special forces and Filipino | | | | the local village, where they were greeted |
| guerrilla warriors pulled off the most | | | | with joy by the Filipinos. |
| stunning and successful prison camp bust in | | | | |
| recorded history. These brave soldiers | | | | The next day, all was ready for the attack. |
| rescued over 500 POWs and dealt a heavy blow | | | | The soldiers waited until evening, at which |
| to the Japanese army left in the Philippines. | | | | time they crept up to right outside the walls |
| If that weren't enough, they did it with only | | | | of the prison compound. At 1945, or 7:45 PM, |
| two casualties! | | | | the Rangers and Alamo scouts opened up on the |
| | | | camp with all of the small arms they had - |
| The soldiers involved in the Cabanatuan | | | | rifles, carbines, hand grenades, Thompson |
| operation came from several separate | | | | sub-machine guns, and Browning Automatic |
| locations and groups. | | | | Rifles. A few seconds later, they charged |
| | | | into the camp and a bazooka gunner destroyed |
| The first group was the Alamo Scouts. This | | | | the tanks and trucks in the camp. |
| was a group of highly trained, highly capable | | | | |
| special forces, who were expert at | | | | In less than a minute, the Japanese |
| reconnaissance and scouting work. At this | | | | resistance was effectively destroyed. The |
| point in the war, the Alamo Scouts had an | | | | only serious casualties were one man dead and |
| impressive record of tough assignments that | | | | another mortally wounded. The Rangers now |
| they had successfully accomplished - and they | | | | began to evacuate the POWS, who were |
| had never lost a man. There were 13 Alamo | | | | generally confused and surprised by their |
| Scouts involved in the operation. | | | | sudden turn of events. |
| | | | |
| The second group of soldiers involved in the | | | | While the Rangers and Alamo Scouts were thus |
| Cabanatuan raid were U.S. Army Rangers. The | | | | engaged, the Filipino guerrillas were far |
| Rangers were a newly created group of special | | | | from idle. They had set up a road block at |
| forces, created by Gen. Walter Krueger for | | | | the bridge just a little ways up the main |
| behind lines operations, hit and run | | | | road from the camp. As soon as the Rangers |
| operations, and pretty much any operation | | | | attacked the camp, the guerrillas blew up the |
| that required a larger force of special ops | | | | bridge over the river and began firing on the |
| soldiers. The Rangers were the bulk of the | | | | battalion of Japanese soldiers on the other |
| U.S. forces. | | | | side of the river. The guerrillas attack was |
| | | | highly effective - they had setup their |
| The third group of soldiers that participated | | | | machine guns, soldiers, and bazookas to give |
| in the raid were Filipino guerrillas, mainly | | | | them a powerful interlocking field of fire |
| under the command of Juan Capt. Pajota. The | | | | over the river. Wave after wave of Japanese |
| Filipino guerrillas had been fighting a | | | | soldiers charged, only to be mowed down by |
| highly effective under cover war against the | | | | the guns of the Filipinos. When was all said |
| Japanese for years, but now they came out | | | | and done, the guerrillas had killed or |
| from cover to help the invading Americans | | | | wounded somewhere between 500 and 1,000 |
| retake the islands. Hundreds of these | | | | Japanese soldiers, without losing a single |
| guerrillas participated in this operation. | | | | man themselves! |
| | | | |
| The Alamo Scouts went in first, and spent | | | | After they finished destroying the Japanese |
| hours and hours night and day scouting out | | | | unit, the guerrillas fell back and provided a |
| the area. When the Rangers and guerrillas | | | | cover for the retreating group of Rangers, |
| arrived, the news was not good - a large body | | | | POWs, and Alamo Scouts. The entire company |
| of Japanese soldiers were traveling along the | | | | reached the advancing 6th Army without |
| highway right next to the POW camp. Col. | | | | mishap, ending what remains to this day the |
| Mucci, the brilliant commander of the | | | | most successful prison camp break in history. |
| Rangers, postponed the raid until the | | | | |