Guy Fort

Guy O. Fort (January 1, 1879 – November 11, 1942) was a brigadier general in the Philippine Army under the control of the United States Army Forces in the Far East. Fort led the 81st Division (Philippines) during the initial Battle of the Philippines and the Japanese invasion of Malabang. After fighting a last-ditch stand, Fort was ordered by his higher command to surrender and be taken prisoner by Japanese forces."The Philippines Never Surrendered" by Edward M. Kuder and Pete Martin, ''The Saturday Evening Post'', March 10, 1945, Vol. 217, Issue 37, pages 9-10. His captors demanded Fort help persuade his former soldiers engaged in guerrilla warfare to stop resisting the occupation. Fort refused and was executed by firing squad. Fort is the only American-born general officer to be executed by enemy forces.''Fallen in Battle: American General Officer Combat Fatalities from 1775'' by Russell K. Brown, Greenwood Press, 1988, pages 40–41."Entry for Fort, Guy O." in ''Biographical Dictionary of World War II Generals and Flag Officers'' by R. Manning Ancell with Christine M. Miller, Greenwood Press, 1996.Families of World War II MIAs sue to identify remains
by Meg Jones, ''USA Today'', May 27, 2017.

Life

Guy Osborne Fort was born in 1879 to Jacob Marvin Fort and Lena Fulkerson in Kellerville, Michigan, in an area now known as Traverse City. The family later moved to Gloversville, New York,"Soldier's story a little-known tale of bravery" by Stephen Williams, The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, New York), March 19, 2011, page B1. where Fort enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1899.

Fort settled in the Philippines with his first wife, Marguerite Eugine Fort, who died in 1927 shortly after giving birth to their second son. He later married again, with his second wife Mary Angeles Adams dying at the start of World War II. His great-granddaughter was Filipina child actress, singer and model Julie Vega.

Fort regularly wrote home to family in Gloversville, and during the 1930s said he considered retiring and returning to the United States. However, he lacked a copy of his birth certificate and was unsure if he'd be allowed back, or if he could find a job during the Great Depression. His last letter home was in April 1939.

Military and constabulary career

Fort served for three years in the 4th U.S. Cavalry in the Philippines before being discharged in 1902. Two years later he was commissioned as a 3rd Lieutenant in the Philippine Constabulary, a gendarmerie-style police force under American control. As a member of the constabulary, he helped suppress the Moro Rebellion.

Aside from a stint as a plantation manager from 1917 to 1922, Fort remained with the constabulary until World War II, advancing to the rank of Colonel. Stationed mainly in Mindanao, Fort was noted for both studying and observing the rituals and customs of the people he served among and for convincing outlaw bands to lay down their arms. In particular, Fort was known among the Americans as an expert on the Moro people. While in the constabulary, he also served briefly as the interim governor of the province of Agusan.

World War II

In November 1941, facing the pending Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the constabulary became part of the Philippine Army under the control of the United States Army Forces in the Far East. That month Fort was sent to Bohol to take command of the 81st Division (Philippines). On December 20, 1941, Fort was promoted to brigadier general.

Fort took his division to Lanao province in Mindanao where he organized and outfitted several battalions of Moro soldiers and planned a defense in depth for his sector. Foreseeing defeat,War Hero’s Family Suing in Its Decades-Long Fight to Identify Remains
by Dave Phillipps, ''The New York Times'', May 29, 2017. he also prepared his division to wage guerrilla warfare against the Japanese."The Mindanao Death March: Establishing a Historical Fact through Online Research" by Robert John A. Donesaa, ''International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change'' volume 11, issue 7, 2020, page 771.

Fort's 81st Division began fighting on April 29, 1942, against the better organized and equipped Japanese army. For the next few weeks Fort's Lanao force engaged in continual fighting, resulting in heavy Japanese casualties.United States Army in World War 2, War in the Pacific, Fall of the Philippines
by Louis Morton, Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1953, re-released in 1998, re-released in electronic edition by Pickle Partners Publishing in 2014, page 515. However, the Japanese also continually pushed the defenders back.

The division fought longer than other army groups before surrendering and made use of demolitions to close one of the main roads through the island.

Surrender and execution

After making a last-ditch stand against the Japanese on Mindanao, Fort received orders to surrender from his higher command. While Fort protested these orders, he ultimately obeyed them and surrendered his forces on May 27, 1942. Fort's surrender was fiercely opposed by the Maranao and other Moro people in Mindanao. However, despite surrendering Fort let the Maranaos claim the U.S. Army's rifles and equipment, which they would then use in guerrilla warfare.

Along with Fort, 46 Americans and some 300 Filipinos under his command also surrendered, with the Americans ordered by their overall commander William F. Sharp not to flee into the hills or face court martial. After Fort's surrender he was shipped north on the small freighter ''Maru San'' alongside other captive generals, including his direct commander Sharp plus Joseph P. Vachon and Manuel Roxas. After the war Roxas would become the first president of the Philippines. Fort was then escorted by the Kempeitai to Manila,United States of America Vs. Yoshinari Tanaka
" Headquarters Eight Army, United States Army, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Yokohama, Japan, November 22, 1948, page 3. where he remained for several months. In November 1942 the Japanese sought Fort's help in talking to the Moro people, who had started a new rebellion against the occupying forces. Specifically, Fort was supposed to tell the Moro that since the U.S. Army had surrendered they must also surrender. Fort was brought from Manila back to Marawi (then known as Dansalan) on Mindanao to tell the Moro to surrender. However, Fort refused to cooperate.

Fort was then paraded through the city of Dansalan and executed by a firing squad under the order of Lt. Colonel Yoshinari Tanaka. Reportedly, Fort's last words were "You may get me but you will never get the United States of America."Identification of World war II Deceased
" American Graves Registration Service, X-618, March 27, 1950. An Allied war crimes tribunal later sentenced Tanaka to death by hanging for the executions of Fort and three other Americans, and he was executed at Sugamo Prison on April 9, 1949. After Fort's execution Moro guerrilla groups staged revenge attacks against Japanese forces.

Fort is the only American-born general officer to be executed by enemy forces. However, he is not the only American general officer to die at enemy hands.

There is controversy over what happened to Fort's body. According to the U.S. government, Fort's body was never recovered, resulting in his name being engraved on the tablets of the missing at the Manila American Cemetery. However, a former prisoner of war and later provincial governor named Ignacio S. Cruz said he located Fort's remains and turned them over to the American Graves Registration Service. In 2017 Fort's granddaughterWisconsin man among families suing government to identify remains of unknown soldiers
by Jessica Arp, WISC-TV, May 26, 2017. and six other families of missing soldiers filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. The families are seeking an order to exhume the bodies of Fort and others and do DNA tests to identify the remains.

Military awards

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort, Guy
1879 births
1942 deaths
American military personnel of the Philippine–American War
American expatriates in the Philippines
American people in the American Philippines
People from Traverse City, Michigan
People from Gloversville, New York
Philippine Army generals of World War II
United States Army personnel killed in World War II
Military personnel from Michigan
History of the Philippines (1898–1946)
Military history of the Philippines during World War II
Philippines in World War II
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)
United States Army generals of World War II
United States Army generals
Executed military leaders
People executed in the Philippines during World War II
People executed by Japanese occupation forces
People executed by Japan by firing squad
Philippine Constabulary personnel
World War II prisoners of war held by Japan
American people imprisoned in Japan