Jose Calugas

Jose Cabalfin Calugas (December 29, 1907 – January 18, 1998) was a member of the Philippine Scouts during World War II.

He received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of Bataan.

At the age of 23, Calugas joined the Philippine Scouts of the United States Army and completed training as an artilleryman and served with different artillery batteries of the Philippine Scouts until his unit was mobilized to fight in World War II.

After noticing one of his unit's gun batteries had been put out of commission and its crew killed, he gathered several members of his unit together, dug in and attempted to defend the line.

He was captured along with other members of his unit and forced to march to a distant enemy prison camp, where he was held as a prisoner of war.

Calugas was born in Barrio Tagsing, Leon, Iloilo, Philippines, December 29, 1907.

His mother died when he was ten, and he later left high school in order to work and support his family.

He noticed that one of his unit's 75 mm M1917 field gun had been silenced, and its crew killed.

Without orders, he ran the 1000 yd across the shell-swept area to the inactive gun position.

Once there, he organized a squad of volunteers who returned Japanese artillery fire.

The position remained under constant and heavy fire for the rest of the afternoon.

While Calugas and his squad maintained a steady fire on the enemy positions, other soldiers had time to dig in and defend the line.

As the day ended and combat subsided, he returned to KP.

For his actions on that day, his superiors recommended Calugas for the United States military's highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor.

Before he could receive it, however, all American forces on Bataan surrendered to Japanese forces.

Arguably, the Battle of Bataan represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan's invasion of the Philippines during World War II.

During the final stage of the Battle of Bataan and after repeated assaults and artillery fire by Japanese forces, the communications and defenses of the allies on Bataan peninsula had been almost completely destroyed.

On the last two days, the entire Allied defense collapsed, clogging all roads with refugees and fleeing troops.

By April 8, the senior U.S. commander on Bataan, Major General Edward "Ned" P. King, Jr., recognized the futility of further resistance, and explored proposals for capitulation.

Upon completion, he received additional training as an artilleryman, and was then assigned to the 24th Artillery Regiment of the Philippine Scouts at Fort Stotsenburg, Pampanga.

While stationed at Fort Stotsenburg, he married and began to raise a family.

In 1930, he enlisted in the United States Army and received his basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

He was a Sergeant with Battery B when the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth, declared war with Japan in 1941.

His unit was mobilized for duty and sent to Bataan in December 1941.

On January 16, 1942, his unit was covering the withdrawal of a portion of the U.S. Army Forces Far East (USAFFE), with the 26th Cavalry Regiment of the Philippine Scouts and the 31st Infantry Regiment.

Calugas was working as a mess sergeant in charge of a group of soldiers who were preparing the day's meals, known as KP duty.

On April 9, 1942, approximately 76,000 Filipino and American troops surrendered to a Japanese army of 54,000 men under Lt. General Masaharu Homma.

This was the single largest surrender of one of its military forces in American history.

After the surrender, Calugas and the other prisoners marched from Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, a prison camp in the province of Tarlac.

The Japanese, having expected the fighting to continue, anticipated about 25,000 prisoners of war and were inadequately prepared or unwilling to transport a group of prisoners three times the size.

The majority of the prisoners of war were immediately relieved of their belongings and endured a 61-mile (98 km) march in deep dust, over vehicle-broken macadam roads, and crammed into rail cars for the portion of the journey from San Fernando to Capas.

En route, over 21,000 men and women died from disease, starvation, dehydration, heat prostration, untreated wounds, and wanton execution.

The deaths of Filipinos to Americans was disproportionately high: approximately 5,000–10,000 Filipino and 600–650 American prisoners of war died on the Bataan Death March.

When he was released in 1943, he was secretly assigned to a guerrilla unit in the Philippines where he fought for the liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese.

After World War II Calugas received a direct commission and became a United States citizen.

Retiring from the Army, he settled in Tacoma, Washington.

Calugas remained a prisoner at Camp O'Donnell until January 1943, when he was released to work for the Japanese.

His release placed him as a laborer in a Japanese rice mill, and while assigned there he secretly joined a guerrilla unit, #227 Old Bronco.

As an officer of the guerrilla unit, he participated in the attack on the Japanese garrison at Karangalan.

His next unit was the 88th Field Artillery Regiment of the Philippine Scouts.