Difference between revisions 119738289 and 119738291 on dewiki

{{Coord|15|30|34|N|121|02|40|E|region:PH_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Raid at Cabanatuan
|image=[[File:POWs celebrate.jpg|300px|alt=A couple hundred men are all facing the camera, smiling and cheering. Many have their hands raised. The men are wearing uniforms, t-shirts, and shorts. Huts and trees can be seen in the background.]]
|caption=Former Cabanatuan POWs in celebration, January 30, 1945
|partof=[[World War II]], [[Pacific War|Pacific theater]]
(contracted; show full)ack routes.<ref name="Sides 169">{{harvnb|Sides|2001|p=169}}</ref><ref name="Breuer 4">{{harvnb|Breuer|1994|p=4}}</ref> Shortly thereafter they were joined by three&nbsp;other Scouts, whom Nellist tasked to deliver the report to Mucci.<ref name="Sides 172">{{harvnb|Sides|2001|p=172}}</ref> Nellist and Vaquilar remained in the shack until the start of the raid.<ref name="Sides 225">{{harvnb|Sides|2001|p=225}}</ref>


[[File:Robert Prince.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Black-and-white image of a standing man in military attire facing forward and smiling. His left hand is resting on his belt.|Captain Robert Prince]]⏎
Mucci had already given Nellist's January&nbsp;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.<ref name="Sides 174">{{harvnb|Sides|2001|p=174}}</ref> He proposed that the Rangers would be split in(contracted; show full)nce 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&nbsp;miles (2.4&nbsp;km) north of the camp where 150&nbsp;guerrillas would be ready with carabao-pulled carts to transport the POWS.<ref name="Breuer 164"/> 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.The Japanese had kept the terrain's vegetation clear to ensure that approaching guerrilla attacks could be seen as well as to spot prisoner escapes.<ref name="Rottman 25"/> Prince knew his Rangers would have to crawl through a long, open field on their bellies, right under the eyes of the Japanese guards. There would only be just over an hour of full darkness, as the sun set below the horizon and the moon rose.<ref name="Rottman 25"/> This would still present the possibility of the Japanese guards noticing their movement, especially with a nearly full moon. If the Rangers were discovered, the only planned response was for everyone to immediately stand up and rush the camp.<ref name="Sides 226">{{harvnb|Sides|2001|p=226}}</ref><ref name="Shoot3533">{{Cite episode|title=WWII: Raid on the Bataan Death Camp|series=Shootout!|serieslink=Shootout|network=[[History (TV channel)|History Channel]]|airdate=December&nbsp;1, 2006|season=2|number=5|minutes=35:33}}</ref> The Rangers were unaware that the Japanese did not have any searchlights that could be used to patrol the perimeter.<ref name="Rottman 27">{{harvnb|Rottman|2009|p=27}}</ref> 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 plane to fly over the camp while the men made their way across the field.<ref name="Sides 17980">{{harvnb|Sides|2001|p=179–180}}</ref> In preparation for any possible injuries or wounds received during the encounter with the Japanese, the battalion surgeon, Cpt. Jimmy Fisher, developed a makeshift hospital in the Platero schoolhouse.<ref name="Rottman 38">{{harvnb|Rottman|2009|p=38}}</ref>

[[File:Capt. Fisher.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Two men in military uniforms are at the center of the image talking and smiling. Several other men as well as trees and a hut can be seen in the background.|Captain James Fisher with Robert Prince]]⏎
By dawn on January&nbsp;30, the road in front of the camp was clear of traveling Japanese troops.<ref name="Sides 168">{{harvnb|Sides|2001|p=168}}</ref> Mucci made plans to protect the POWs once they were freed from the camp. Two groups of guerrillas of the [[Robert Lapham|Luzon Guerrilla Armed Forces]], one under Capt. Pajota and another under Capt. Eduardo Joson,<ref name="Hunt 198">{{harvnb|Hunt|1986|p=198}}</ref> would be sent in opposite directions to hol(contracted; show full)name="Breuer 191">{{harvnb|Breuer|1994|p=191}}</ref> Despite the convenience of transporting the prisoners in the carts, the carabao traveled at a sluggish pace, only 2&nbsp;mph (3.2&nbsp;km/h), which greatly reduced the speed of the return trip.<ref name="Breuer 187"/> By the time the group reached American lines, 106&nbsp;carts were being used.<ref name="Breuer 196">{{harvnb|Breuer|1994|p=196}}</ref>

In addition to the tired POWs, the 
Rangers had also had onlymajority of the Rangers had only slept for 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."<ref name="Sides 3067">{{harvnb|Sides|2001|p=306–307}}</ref>

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&nbsp;miles (22.5&nbsp;km) from Plateros that the group would later travel on.<ref name="Breuer 18890"/> 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."<ref name="Breuer 1945">{{harvnb|Breuer|1994|p=194–195}}</ref>

[[File:Route map of Raid at Cabanatuan.svg|thumb|right|alt=Map of the Philippines, indicating the path taken from Guimba to the prisoner camp, as well as the path to return to Guimba. The map details roads, rivers, towns, and Japanese positions.|Map detailingDifferent routes were used for the infiltration and extraction routes usedbehind Japanese lines]]
During one leg of the return trip, the men were stopped by the [[Hukbalahap]], Filipino Communist guerrillas that hated both Americans and the 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 throug(contracted; show full)[[Category:Japanese POW and internment camps]]
[[Category:Bataan Death March]]
[[Category:Battles involving Japan]]
[[Category:Battles involving the United States]]

[[es:El gran rescate]]
[[vi:Cuộc đột kích Cabanatuan]]
[[zh:卡巴那图营救]]