Rescue at Los Banos by Bruce Henderson

Author:Bruce Henderson
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: World War II, 20th Century, General, United States, Military, History
ISBN: 9780062325082
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Hunters ROTC officer Gustavo Ingles. Courtesy Ingles family.

Ingles’s extended journey of punishment and torture began in a dank basement with a burly Japanese guard asking: “Geriray ka?” (Are you a guerrilla?)

“No,” Ingles answered.

When a hard slap landed on his cheek, Ingles lost his balance. Falling to the floor, he bowled the guard over with him. The soldier jumped up and landed fists and kicks on the sprawled Ingles. In between blows to his face and other parts of his body, Ingles denied being a guerrilla.

Ordered to strip, he was subjected to the dreaded “water cure.” While bound in a prone position, water was forced through his mouth and nostrils into his lungs and stomach. Feeling as if he were drowning, he soon lost consciousness. He was revived, and the process was repeated. Then came the beatings with mangrove firewood and being strung up by the thumbs with his feet barely touching the floor until he passed out.

After several days of torture and interrogation, Ingles admitted only to being an “errand boy” for the guerrillas. Then came field trips to several locations, during which he was ordered to identify people and places connected to the guerrillas. When he had nothing to say for two weeks, he was taken to Fort Santiago, a sixteenth-century bastion built by Spanish conquistadors that had been turned into a torture prison run by the Kempei, the feared military police arm of the Japanese Army.

More questioning and torture followed—electric shocks that caused his body to lift off the ground and bamboo slivers inserted beneath his fingernails. Finally the Japanese gave up on prying anything useful from him and transferred him to New Bilibid Prison, twenty miles south of Manila, to serve a thirteen-year sentence.

On June 24, 1944, after a year in captivity, Ingles and fifty other guerrillas were broken out of prison during a nighttime raid by Hunters ROTC. Tabo’s resolve had not been weakened; his determination stronger than ever, he rejoined the effort to drive the Japanese from his homeland.

Now, after leaving 11th Airborne headquarters at Parañaque, Ingles had reached Binan, on the western shore of Laguna de Bay, where a small boat and crew waited to take him across the lake. Upon landing at Nanghaya, a small barrio on the southern shore, he was met by a local guerrilla leader who took them to his camp. Runners were sent out inviting the commanders of different guerrilla units operating in the area to an informal conference. The Huks, Chinese Nationalists, Markings Fil-Americans, and the Hunters ROTC all sent representatives.

Everyone was in favor of attacking the Japanese guards at Los Baños and freeing the prisoners. But having adequate arms and ammunition for a major operation was always a challenge for many of the groups. Also, with the camp being so far behind enemy lines, it could not be held for long if the Japanese launched a strong counterattack. They had also not devised a way to evacuate the internees to a safe location. After discussing various scenarios, Ingles agreed to another meeting with the guerrilla commanders on his way back from Los Baños.

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