The Raid on Los Baños ( Filipino: ''Pagsalakay sa Los Baños'') in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, early Friday morning on 23 February 1945, was executed by a combined

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

and Filipino guerrilla task force, resulting in the liberation of 2,147 Allied civilian and military internees from an agricultural school campus turned Japanese

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

. The 250 Japanese in the garrison were killed. It has been celebrated as one of the most successful rescue operations in modern military history. It was the second precisely-executed raid by combined U.S.-Filipino forces within a month, following on the heels of the

Raid at Cabanatuan The Raid at Cabanatuan ( fil, Pagsalakay sa Cabanatuan), also known as the Great Raid ( fil, Ang Dakilang Pagsalakay, link=no), was a rescue of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Ph ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

on 30 January, in which 522 Allied military POWs had been rescued.Rottman, G.L., 2010, The Los Banos Prison Camp Raid, Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd., The air/sea/land raid was the subject of a 2015 nonfiction book, ''Rescue at Los Baños: The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid of World War II'', by

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

bestselling author

Bruce Henderson Bruce Doolin Henderson (April 30, 1915 – July 20, 1992) was an American businessman and management expert. He founded Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts and headed the firm as the president and CEO until 1980. He c ...

.Henderson, Bruce, 2015, Rescue at Los Baños: The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid of World War II, New York: William Morrow,

Background

Since the landings of the U.S. Sixth Army at Lingayen Gulf and the U.S. Eighth Army at

Nasugbu Nasugbu, officially the Municipality of Nasugbu ( tgl, Bayan ng Nasugbu), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 136,524 people. Several bus services provide ...

Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( tl, Lalawigan ng Batangas ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Its capital is the city of Batangas, and is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and L ...

on 9 January 1945 and 31 January 1945 respectively, to retake Luzon, the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

was being repeatedly pushed back and was increasingly becoming desperate. Soon news was filtering down to Allied commanders that the Japanese were killing innocent civilians and

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

while falling back. General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

was deeply alarmed about the plight of thousands of prisoners who had been interned in various camps on Luzon, since the early days of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

. There was concern that, with deliverance so near, they might be killed. Earlier, some daring raids were carried out to rescue POWs, including one at

Cabanatuan Cabanatuan, officially the City of Cabanatuan ( fil, Lungsod ng Cabanatuan; ilo, Siudad ti Cabanatuan), is a 1st class component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 327,325 p ...

and at the University of

Santo Tomas Internment Camp Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp, was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II. The campus of the University of Santo ...

and Bilibid Prison at the height of the Battle for

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

Los Baños Internment Camp

In Los Baños, Laguna, at the UP College of Agriculture and UP College of Forestry, now the

University of the Philippines Los Baños The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB; fil, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Los Baños), also referred to as UP Los Baños or colloquially as Elbi (), is a public research university primarily located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay i ...

, which was located on a site, was the POW and civilian concentration camp, wedged between the foothills of

Mount Makiling Mount Makiling (also known as Mount Maquiling), is an inactive stratovolcano located in the provinces of Laguna and Batangas on the island of Luzon, Philippines. The mountain rises to an elevation of above mean sea level and is the highest fe ...

and the northern shore of Los Baños facing

Laguna de Bay Laguna de Bay ( Spanish for "Lagoon/Lake of Bay"; tl, Lawa ng Bay, ), also known as Laguna Lake, is the largest lake in the Philippines. It is located southeast of Metro Manila, between the provinces of Laguna to the south and Rizal to the ...

. The camp was being constructed next to Baker Hall, by the first group of 800 men who arrived in May 1943. In December 1943, an additional 200 inmates arrived from the University of Santo Tomas Internment Camp, followed by 500 in April 1944, and 150 in December. Surrounded by barbed wire fences in clusters of thatched huts were Americans, British, Australians, Dutch, Norwegians, Poles, Italians, and Canadians. Aside from eleven navy nurses under the command of Chief Nurse Laura M. Cobb and a few servicemen, almost all of the inmates were civilian businessmen, teachers, bankers, and missionaries caught by the Japanese during the course of the war and incarcerated in various POW camps in the country. While incarcerated, the POWs had formed an Executive Committee to deal with the guards for self-governing purposes and to obtain whatever marginal freedom or concessions they could obtain from the Japanese prison authorities. Nonetheless, the internees were made to get by on dwindling rations, limited clothing, poor housing and non-existent sanitation and endure the sadistic tendencies of the camp guards. By early 1945, the conditions in the camp turned hellish, with enforced limited rations and mounting abuse, courtesy of the camp's second-in-command, Warrant Officer Sadaaki Konishi.

Mission

The U.S. 11th Airborne Division under

Major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Joseph Swing arrived in the southwest Pacific in mid-1944. Prior to taking part in the invasion of Leyte in October, the division had undergone theater combat training in

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. Together with the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team, these were the only U.S. Army airborne forces in the Pacific theater of operations. After Leyte, the 188th

Glider Infantry Glider infantry (also referred to as airlanding infantry esp. in British usage) was a type of airborne infantry in which soldiers and their equipment were inserted into enemy-controlled territory via military glider. Initially developed in the l ...

Regiment spearheaded the landings at

with the

U.S. Eighth Army The Eighth Army is a U.S. field army which is the commanding formation of all United States Army forces in South Korea. It commands U.S. and South Korean units and is headquartered at the Camp Humphreys,511th Parachute Infantry Regiment parachuted into

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Ridge on 3 February. That same day, 3 February 1945, Swing was tasked with a rescue mission to rescue the internees at the Los Baños camp, some behind the Japanese lines. However, with the 11th Airborne committed to a series of pitched battles south of Manila and the resolute Japanese defense at

Nichols Field Nichols Field was a U.S. military airfield located south of Manila in Pasay and Parañaque, Metro Manila, Luzon, the Philippines. The complex is located at Andrews Avenue by the north, Domestic Road by the west, NAIA Road and Ninoy Aquino Avenu ...

and

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, immediate deployment was out of the question. As an interim measure, Swing ordered his subordinates to develop a plan that could be implemented at the earliest possible moment, a task that was headed by his G-2 Colonel Henry Muller. Then on 18 February, the 1st Battalion, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, under Major Henry Burgess, the main unit assigned to carry out the mission, was pulled out from its battlefield position on the so-called Genko Line, a fortified system of interlocking pillboxes and anti-tank fortifications running along the southern Manila district of

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and proceeded to

Parañaque Parañaque, officially the City of Parañaque ( fil, Lungsod ng Parañaque, ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 689,992 people. It is ...

district to rest and regroup. By 20 February 1945, the conditions on Luzon turned favorable, such that the various elements could be withdrawn from combat and apprised of their mission. They were ordered to their staging posts and readied to go, with the raid scheduled for 07:00 on 23 February. For the jump phase of the assault plan, the 511th regimental commander, Lt. Col. Edward Lahti appointed Company B, 1st Battalion, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division under 1st Lt. John Ringler together with the Headquarters Company Light Machine Gun Platoon of 2nd Lt. Walter Hettinger. The 188th Glider Infantry Regiment of Colonel Robert Soule had perhaps the most daunting task; trying to stave off a counterattack from the main highway. Bivouacked across the San Juan River were some 8,000–10,000 Japanese troops of the 8th "Tiger" Division, commanded by Lieutenant general

Shizuo Yokoyama was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, who is noted for his role in the Battle of Manila during the final days of World War II. Biography Yokoyama was born in Fukuoka Prefecture as the eldest son of a village ma ...

Guerrilla connection

The various Filipino guerrilla groups operating in the vicinity of Los Baños played a key role that led to the successful liberation of the camp. Earlier, in the partisan war against the Japanese, a combined guerrilla command was formed to bring some order to the effort by the defunct USAFFE command, which was in charge of unconventional forces in the Philippines, and renamed as the General Guerrilla Command (GGC) of Luzon under Major Jay D. Vanderpool of the U.S. Army whom the 11th Airborne soldiers affectionately called, "The Little Corporal". Under the GGC, the Hunters ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) guerrillas, made up originally of former cadets of the

Philippine Military Academy The Philippine Military Academy ( fil, Akademiyang Militar ng Pilipinas / es, Academia Militar de Filipinas) also referred to by its acronym PMA is the premier military academy for Filipinos aspiring for a commission as a military officer of ...

along with some former ROTC and college students under the command of Colonel Frank Quesada were one of the most active groups. Other formations included President Quezon's Own Guerrillas (PQOG) under Colonel Fil Avanceña, Red Lion's Unit, the Filipino-Chinese 48th Squadron and the Villegas group of the Hukbalahaps were tasked by the GGC to coordinate operations related to Los Baños. Among the members of Hunters-ROTC guerillas who participated in the raid was the future Filipino film star

Mario Montenegro Mario Montenegro (born Roger Collin Macalalag; July 25, 1928 – August 27, 1988) was a Filipino film actor best known for his heroic leading roles. Early life Montenegro was born in Pagsanjan, LagunaCCP Encyclopedia, p. 279 Montenegro was a ...

, then only sixteen years old.

Plan

Long before the arrival of the U.S. liberation forces, the guerrillas conducted intelligence operations that gathered precise inside information about the POWs in Los Baños and their guards. Many prisoners were long-time friends of partisan families before the war. With Lieutenant colonel Gustavo Inglés designated as overall guerrilla coordinator with the 11th Airborne Division, information was shared with Swing's Command Staff, including Colonel Henry Muller (G-2), and Colonel Douglas Quandt (G-3), as well as other top planners, who fine-tuned the final strategy. On 12 February, Freddy Zervoulakos, a 19-year-old Greek-Filipino, slipped out of the camp and made contact with the guerrillas. He was sent back into the camp with the promise that the internees would be rescued. But the internee committee decided that it would be best for the prisoners to do nothing. A week later, another escapee from the camp, a civilian engineer named Pete Miles, gave further valuable information to the 11th A/B Division planners, including the daily routine in the camp, details of troop positions and the exact location of the internees. This proved a great asset to the planners and enabled them to finalize the four-phase plan that was timed to coincide with the guards' exercise period, which was conducted by the Japanese troops without clothing, equipment, or weapons, thereby minimizing the risk of harm to the internees during the rescue. Meanwhile, two lieutenants made a reconnaissance of the drop zone with the guerrillas and the two internees. The Joint U.S. Army-Guerrilla Assault Plan was as follows: *Phase 1 would begin when the 11th Airborne's Provisional Reconnaissance Platoon, under the command of 1Lt. George Skau, together with some twenty Filipino guerrilla guides, would travel behind enemy lines by bancas (local fishing boats) across Laguna Lake two nights before the raid, where they would wait. Four assault teams under Sergeants Martin Squires, Terry Santos (4th class graduate of the

Alamo Scouts Training Center Training camp and headquarters of the U.S. Sixth Army Special Reconnaissance Unit, known as the Alamo Scouts. They served in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. Formed as a top secret ad hoc unit by the lieutenant general command ...

), Cliff Town and Robert Angus would assault the camp gate from different angles. At 07:00 on 23 February they were charged with marking the Drop Zones, Landing Zones and for the neutralizing of the camp gate guards, simultaneous with an attack from the remaining directions by the guerrillas' 45th Hunter Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Inglés, who would also surround the entire camp perimeter prior to the signaled hour. *In Phase 2, B Company, 1st Battalion, 511th PIR led by Lieutenant John Ringler, with the support of Lieutenant Walter Hettinger's Machine Gun Platoon, would parachute into a small drop zone next to the camp, rendezvous with a Hukbalahap guerrilla unit, neutralize the remaining camp guards and secure the internees. *In Phase 3, the remainder of 1st Battalion would board 54 LVT(4) tracked amphibious assault vehicles of the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion commanded by Lieutenant colonel Joseph W. Gibbs at 04:00 and slip into Laguna de Bay and head for Mayondon Point, near San Antonio, some two miles from the camp. A Recon Platoon squad under Sergeant Leonard Hahn would mark and guide them to their landing point. Here they would travel overland and make their way to the camp, scheduling to arrive shortly after 07:00. They would then carry the internees back to Mayondon Point and make good their escape to Mamatid village. *Phase 4 involved the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment (minus its 2nd Battalion) and Company C of the 637th Tank Destroyer Battalion together with elements of the 472nd and 675th Field Artillery Battalions, under Colonel Robert H. Soule. The force would move down Highway 1 to act as a diversionary force and to engage the Japanese 8th Division, if necessary, so as to protect the flank. Other guerrilla units such as Marking's Fil-American troops and the 48th Chinese Squadron were to set up road blocks in the towns of Calauan, Bay and Pila to delay possible Japanese reinforcements. The Hunters-ROTC 47th Regiment under Lieutenant colonel Emmanuel de Ocampo would do the same in the Calamba-Pansol area. The backup 11th A/B pack

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

s in Calamba, Laguna, area was to bombard the road towards Los Baños. All the surrounding approaches and to the main camp would be secured. The townspeople were briefed and asked to vacate Los Baños by the local PQOG home-guard units.

Raid

Under cover of darkness on 21 February 1945, Skau and his 31-man

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...

left the west shore of Laguna de Bay and headed across the lake in three bancas. Skau and six men led the way while the separate assault team of 23 men followed soon after. Avoiding Japanese patrol craft on the lake, they landed near Nanhaya and met with local guerrillas and some camp escapees at the local schoolhouse. Included in the group were Freddy Zervoulakos and Benjamin Edwards, another young escapee, who sketched the layout of the camp on the schoolhouse blackboard. Skau decided to split his group into six teams, assigning a number of guerrillas to each team. Edwards and Zervoulakos each accompanied one team. On the night of 22 February, they journeyed through the jungle and rice paddies to their starting points. At 04:00 on 23 February 1945 the 1st Battalion 511PIR (less B Company) boarded 54 LVT-4s, slipped into Laguna de Bay, and headed for Mayondon Point. They also managed to reach their destination without alerting any Japanese defenders and headed off for the remaining overland journey to the camp, aiming to arrive just after 07:00. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Ringler's B Company, 511th PIR together with the Light Machine Gun Platoon, had spent the moonless night of 22 February waiting at Nichols Field where, in the early dawn, they donned their parachutes, put on their equipment, and loaded onto nine

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

s of the 65th Troop Carrier Squadron, under the command of Major Don Anderson, for the short flight. Flying unopposed by Japanese aircraft or antiaircraft fire, they soon arrived at their destination, which was clearly marked with green smoke by the Reconnaissance Platoon. The Recon Platoon teams led by Skau and Sergeants. Angus, Call and Town took out the guard posts on the north and west side of the camp. The Hunters ROTC guerrillas chased after and killed the Japanese guards. At 07:00, coming in at the planned jump altitude and in three "V"s of three aircraft, Ringler's paratroopers dropped from their aircraft. B Company charged the camp 15–20 minutes after the attack was launched, entering through openings cut by the scouts. The firefight was short and intense, and with the Japanese defeated, the internees freed. The LVT-4s came ashore in nine columns of six vehicles after green smoke grenades were popped on San Antonio beach, by Sergeant Hahn and Marking's guerrillas, at 0658. Led by Burgess, the amtracs reached the camp, knocking out a pillbox and crashed through the camp gate.

Evacuation

Former internees of Los Banos with 11th Airborne troopers, 1945

Mindful of the need for speed, Ringler's men rounded up the internees as rapidly as they could. Some prisoners refused to leave, so Hettlinger's men burned the camp's remaining huts to encourage the internees to load into the LVTs. At first, the disabled, along with the women and children, were loaded onto the waiting vehicles, while the more able internees formed a walking column and headed for the beach and freedom. In the distance, across the lake, intense fire was heard. That sound was from the Soule Task Force. Early that morning, the diversionary force of the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment and Company C of the 637th Tank Destroyer Battalion, together with elements of the 472nd and 675th Field Artillery Battalions under Soule, rolled out into Highway 1 and attacked across the San Juan River. They ran into Japanese opposition near the Lechería Hills where casualties were taken, but by mid-morning they had cleared the area and were marching towards Los Baños and cutting off the road between the Japanese 8th Tiger Division and Los Baños. From an elevated position, Soule could see, in the distance, the Amtracs on the beach heading back to Mamatid, so he ordered his force to conduct a defensive withdrawal and to re-establish its bridgehead across the San Juan River. Finally, after two trips, the last of the LVTs departed at 15:00 for Mamatid. The internees included a three-day-old baby girl, Lois Kathleen McCoy.

Frank Buckles Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901February 27, 2011) was a United States Army corporal and the last surviving American military veteran of World War I. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 at the age of 16 and served wi ...

, who would become the last surviving American veteran of World War I, was also among the prisoners; he had been captured as a civilian in Manila.

Aftermath

Two of Sgt. Santos's Recon Platoon members and four Filipino guerrillas were wounded. Two 188th Glider Infantry Regiment soldiers, John T. Doiron and Vernal Ray McMurtrey, were killed at the Lecheria Hills engagement. The hand-to-hand skirmish was not without casualties. A handful of guards were able to muster a makeshift defense, killing two young Hunter guerrillas, Pfc. Atanacio Castillo and Pfc. Anselmo Soler. Their bodies were recovered and buried beside the College chapel. Firsthand accounts include that of former internee, Lewis Thomas Watty, vice president of the POW committee, who said:

The ensuing fight went on for very long minutes without letup, enemy defenders caught by total surprise were pinned and cut down mercilessly by liberator's fire. The Hunter experience through the years in irregular warfare paid off handsomely. It was also true of the paratroopers who were veterans of the South Pacific before they landed in Luzon.

A few days after the rescue, the Japanese in full force, led by the escaped Sadaaki Konishi, returned to Los Baños. Upon seeing that there were no POWs in sight, the Japanese turned their wrath on the remaining civilians in town who had failed to heed the warning from the guerrillas to leave. With the help of the pro-Japanese

Makapili The Makabayang Katipunan ng mga Pilipino (''Patriotic Association of Filipinos''), better known as the Makapili, was a militant group formed in the Philippines in December 8 1944 during World War II to give military aid to the Imperial Japanese Ar ...

, the Japanese massacred some 1,500 men, women and children, and burned their homes, as well as those in the adjacent towns suspected of collaborating with the liberators. Konishi was tried for his war crimes after the war and hanged.

Historical significance

The outstanding success of the Los Baños raid incorporated many facets that revolutionized generations of future special military operations. Thorough planning, reliable intelligence, stealth, speed and surprise, superior firepower, cooperation by friendly forces, and support of the populace gave the planners and forces implementing the raid an advantage that resulted in few casualties.

Historical commemoration

11th Airborne Division Association Commemoration

The regional chapters of the 11th Airborne Division Association celebrate the raid and rescue with a Los Baños Commemoration Dinner on or about 23 February every year. The Hunters-ROTC Filipino guerrillas and other partisan units, who supported the 11th Airborne Division also commemorate the freeing of the prison camp.

Los Baños Liberation Memorial Scholarship Foundation

To help keep the memory and meaning of the Los Baños rescue alive, a small group of civilian ex-prisoners of war established The Los Baños Liberation Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Inc., a non-profit, tax-exempt California corporation, organized and operated exclusively for educational purposes within the meaning of U.S. Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). Through tax-deductible contributions, the Foundation is creating a permanent endowment fund. The purpose of the Foundation is to grant scholarship awards to students of Filipino citizenship enrolled at The Rural High School of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, to encourage and enable them to complete the Rural High School program. In 2010 twelve students from low-income families were receiving scholarships in the amount of $250 each per year, enabling them to pay required fees and stay in school until graduation if they perform well. As part of their curriculum, these scholars do historical research or creative arts on the subject of Los Banos during World War II, including the actions of the 11th Airborne Division and the Hunters ROTC Guerrillas and the murder of many of the citizens of Los Banos at the hands of the vengeful Japanese troops and the Makapili collaborators.

U.S. Congress Joint Resolution 18

On 16 February 2005, House Joint Resolution 18, sponsored by U.S. Representative

Trent Franks Trent Franks (born June 19, 1957) is a former American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2017 (numbered as the 2nd district from 2003 to 2013). He is a member of the Republican Party. During his ...

was passed by the House. This resolution commemorated the raid and reaffirmed the nation's commitment to a full accounting of prisoners of war and those missing in action.

The truly heroic acts at Los Baños serve not only as examples of the humanitarian compassion of American servicemen and women, but also as an example of our nation’s long-standing commitment to leave no soldier, living or dead, in enemy hands. As we have military personnel spread throughout the world today, many of whom are daily risking capture and torture at the hands of brutal terrorists, it is more important than ever to recognize and honor the heroism and willing sacrifice of those soldiers who risk their own safety not to take a strategic objective, but simply to bring a comrade home. Throughout history, American servicemen have made a habit of putting themselves squarely in evil’s way. They have done so secure in the knowledge that if they fall into the hands of the enemy, they will not be forgotten. Indeed, every effort possible will be undertaken to bring them home. In this, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of over 2,000 prisoners from the camp at Los Baños – and at a time when our military is deployed in harm’s way far around the globe, let us recognize those individuals who sacrificed to bring their brothers and sisters home. And let’s honor the heroic actions of the past by officially reaffirming our nation’s commitment to leave no fighting man or woman in enemy hands, at any time, now or in the future.

(Remarks made on the floor of the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

by Representative Franks.)

60th Anniversary Commemoration at Los Baños and Beyond

On 23 February 2005, the 60th anniversary of the raid was commemorated with the unveiling of a historical marker at the former internment camp ( Baker Hall,

). The ceremony was attended by several government officials from national, provincial and municipal levels, university officials as well as the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines. On 22 February 2016, the 71st anniversary of the raid of Los Baños was held at Baker Hall, University of the Philippines Los Baños. Part of the day's celebration included the film showing of the documentary
Unsurrendered 2
by Director Bani Logroño, Spyron-AV Manila.

References

External links

The 511th Parachute Infantry - The Los Baños Raid Full Timeline

Modern Military History’s Greatest Rescue Operation Happened Here In The Philippines by Marcelle Villegas

Rescue at Los Baños: The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid of World War II by Bruce Henderson

* ttp://www.paete.org/literary/freedom/ Freedom At Dawn
HistoryNet.Com/World War II: Liberating Los Baños Internment Camp by Sam McGowan

Rescue at Dawn: The Los Banos Raid (2004) (TV)

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

production,

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listing
Video clip: Historic footage of liberation and evacuation of internees from Los Baños by US and Filipino forces
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