- 7 minutes ago
Jose Calugas was a mess sergeant, not a gunner, until a Japanese bombardment silenced his battery’s 75mm piece and he ran 1,000 yards under fire to save it. In the Battle of Bataan, the Filipino American soldier gathered volunteers, hauled the gun back into action, and kept firing until the Japanese advance was stopped. What began as a kitchen-duty moment became one of the most remarkable acts of courage in World War II history.
This military history story follows Calugas from the Philippine Scouts and Fort Sill training to the brutal fighting on Bataan, where artillery crews were being lost and every gun mattered. After the battle, he survived the Bataan Death March, Camp O’Donnell, forced labor, and later joined the Philippine resistance as a guerrilla fighter. His life is a powerful World War 2 documentary-style narrative about artillery, survival, heroism, and the first Filipino American Medal of Honor recipient in WWII.
Created for listeners searching for WW2 stories, military history narration, Filipino American hero stories, Bataan battle history, Medal of Honor stories, and historical storytelling with real wartime detail. A strong pick for history fans, war story listeners, and anyone looking for compelling battlefield narration and forgotten World War II history.
This military history story follows Calugas from the Philippine Scouts and Fort Sill training to the brutal fighting on Bataan, where artillery crews were being lost and every gun mattered. After the battle, he survived the Bataan Death March, Camp O’Donnell, forced labor, and later joined the Philippine resistance as a guerrilla fighter. His life is a powerful World War 2 documentary-style narrative about artillery, survival, heroism, and the first Filipino American Medal of Honor recipient in WWII.
Created for listeners searching for WW2 stories, military history narration, Filipino American hero stories, Bataan battle history, Medal of Honor stories, and historical storytelling with real wartime detail. A strong pick for history fans, war story listeners, and anyone looking for compelling battlefield narration and forgotten World War II history.
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LearningTranscript
00:00At 1,400 hours on January 16, 1942, Sergeant Jose Calugas scrubbed rice pots beside his field kitchen near Koulis,
00:09Bataan Province,
00:10when the battery B-75mm gun position 1,000 yards north fell silent during a Japanese artillery bombardment.
00:19Calugas was 34 years old, with 12 years in the Philippine Scouts, but he was a mess sergeant, not a
00:25gunner.
00:25The Scouts had lost 11 artillery crews in the previous nine days.
00:30Every gun position that went silent stayed silent.
00:33The Battle of Bataan had begun 10 days earlier, when American and Filipino forces completed their withdrawal to the Bataan
00:40Peninsula.
00:4180,000 troops and 26,000 civilians were now trapped on a jungle peninsula 60 miles long and 20 miles
00:49wide.
00:50The Japanese 14th Army controlled everything north of Bataan.
00:54General Masaharu Homa had ordered his forces to take Bataan in 50 days.
00:59His artillery and aircraft had been pounding American positions since January 7th.
01:04Calugas had joined the Philippine Scouts in 1930 at age 23.
01:08He completed basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, then artillery school.
01:13The Scouts assigned him to the 24th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Stotzenberg in the Philippines.
01:18He married, started a family.
01:21By 1941, he had transferred to the 88th Field Artillery Regiment as a mess sergeant.
01:27His job was feeding soldiers, not fighting them.
01:30The Philippine Scouts were the elite Filipino units of the United States Army.
01:34They had been fighting since 1901.
01:37Professional soldiers, American officers, Filipino enlisted men.
01:41But Bataan was destroying them.
01:43By mid-January, Scout artillery batteries were operating at half strength.
01:48The Japanese had air superiority.
01:50Every gun position was mapped.
01:52Crews died faster than replacements arrived.
01:55The Scouts kept firing anyway.
01:59On the morning of January 16th, Calugas had served lunch to the Battery B gun crews.
02:04Rice, canned salmon, whatever supplies remained.
02:08The Scouts were already on half rations.
02:11No resupply was coming.
02:12Everyone knew it.
02:14After lunch, Calugas and his mess crew cleaned equipment near their kitchen position.
02:18The 88th Field Artillery Guns were emplaced in the woods 1,000 yards north.
02:24The crews had been firing all morning at a Japanese infantry column advancing toward the American defensive line.
02:30Then, the Japanese artillery found them.
02:33Calugas heard the enemy shells hitting the gun position.
02:36Explosions.
02:37Then silence.
02:38No return fire.
02:40He waited.
02:41Still nothing.
02:42The Japanese column would reach the American infantry in minutes without artillery support.
02:47Calugas knew what a silenced gun meant.
02:49Dead crew.
02:50Destroyed equipment.
02:52Or both.
02:53The Japanese were pushing hard.
02:55They needed to break through before American reinforcements arrived.
02:58Every gun that stopped firing made their job easier.
03:01Did Calugas' decision save the line?
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03:08Back to Bataan.
03:09Calugas grabbed 16 volunteers from his mess crew and nearby positions.
03:13They would cross 1,000 yards of open ground to reach the gun.
03:19Rice paddies.
03:20No cover.
03:21Japanese aircraft were strafing the area.
03:24Their artillery was still firing.
03:26Every man knew the odds.
03:28Most crews caught in the open died before reaching safety.
03:31But the gun had to get back in action.
03:34The Japanese column was still advancing.
03:36American infantry was waiting for artillery support that had stopped coming.
03:42The volunteers started running.
03:44Japanese fighters spotted them immediately.
03:47Machine gun fire tore across the rice paddies.
03:50Artillery shells began falling.
03:52Men went down.
03:54Some stopped.
03:55Turned back.
03:56Calugas kept running.
03:57A few stayed with him.
03:59The distance closed.
04:00900 yards.
04:02800.
04:03700.
04:04The Japanese artillery intensified.
04:06They knew Americans were moving toward the gun position.
04:09More volunteers fell.
04:11Calugas ran harder.
04:12He reached the gun position alone.
04:14The other volunteers were gone.
04:16Dead, wounded, or driven back.
04:19The 75mm gun sat in a bomb crater next to its emplacement.
04:24The crew was scattered.
04:25Some dead.
04:26Some wounded.
04:27One gunner was still alive.
04:29And Calugas, a cook, was now the only man standing who could fire the weapon.
04:33The Japanese column was 300 yards away and closing fast.
04:38Calugas dropped into the crater.
04:40The 75mm gun had been blown sideways by the bomb blast.
04:44The breach mechanism was intact.
04:46The barrel looked straight.
04:48The recoil system showed no visible damage.
04:50But the gun sat at the wrong angle.
04:53Useless.
04:54He needed to upright it and get it back into the emplacement.
04:57One man could not move a 1,500-pound artillery piece.
05:01He needed help.
05:02The wounded gunner was conscious.
05:04A private from the regular crew.
05:06Hit in the shoulder, but mobile.
05:08Calugas found two more gunners from adjacent positions.
05:11They had seen him running across the paddies.
05:13Followed him in.
05:15Four men total.
05:16Enough to move the gun if they worked fast.
05:19The Japanese artillery was still falling.
05:21Shells hit 50 yards away.
05:2340 yards.
05:24The enemy had observers watching this position.
05:27They knew Americans were here.
05:31Calugas had trained on these guns at Fort Sill in 1930, 12 years ago.
05:36But artillery crews drilled the same procedures until they became automatic.
05:40He knew every step.
05:42The men grabbed the gun trails.
05:44Lifted.
05:45The gun moved 6 inches.
05:47They set it down.
05:48Adjusted their grip.
05:49Lifted again.
05:50Another 6 inches.
05:52Japanese machine gun fire raked the position from the north.
05:55The column was closer now.
05:57250 yards.
05:58Still advancing.
05:59They got the gun upright.
06:01Calugas directed them to roll it back onto the firing platform.
06:04The private with the shoulder wound operated the trail spade while the other two gunners
06:08manhandled the carriage.
06:10Calugas checked the elevation wheel.
06:12The traversing mechanism.
06:14Both functional.
06:15He opened the breach.
06:17Clear.
06:17The ammunition stores had not been hit.
06:20Armor piercing rounds.
06:21High explosive.
06:23Everything they needed was still there.
06:25Calugas loaded an armor piercing round.
06:27The Japanese column was crossing a wooden footbridge over a creek 200 yards north.
06:33Infantry.
06:34Trucks.
06:35Horse-drawn artillery caissons.
06:37They were bunched up at the bridge.
06:39Perfect target.
06:40He aimed.
06:41The wounded private steadied the trail.
06:44Calugas fired.
06:45The round hit the bridge dead center.
06:47Wood exploded.
06:49The lead truck tilted sideways into the creek.
06:52Japanese soldiers scattered.
06:53He loaded again.
06:55High explosive this time.
06:56Aimed at the vehicle stacked up behind the destroyed bridge.
07:00Fired.
07:01The shell detonated among three trucks.
07:04Ammunition aboard one vehicle cooked off.
07:07Secondary explosions ripped through the column.
07:09The Japanese advance stopped.
07:11Troops dove for cover.
07:13Their officers were shouting orders Calugas could not hear.
07:16But he could see the result.
07:18The column was trapped.
07:20Bridge gone.
07:21Vehicles burning.
07:23No way forward.
07:26Calugas kept firing.
07:28The other gunners loaded rounds and adjusted the trail as he called corrections.
07:32High explosive into the infantry concentrations.
07:35Armor piercing into the remaining vehicles.
07:37The Japanese tried to ford the creek.
07:40He dropped shells into the water.
07:42Men went down in the explosions.
07:44The column started pulling back.
07:46Away from the bridge.
07:48Away from the creek.
07:49Away from the American line they had been pushing toward.
07:52The Japanese artillery shifted fire.
07:55Shells began landing directly on Calugas' position.
07:58The enemy observers had pinpointed his gun.
08:00Every Japanese battery in range was now targeting this single 75-millimeter piece that had stopped their advance.
08:08The bombardment intensified.
08:10Shells hit 30 yards out.
08:1120 yards.
08:1315.
08:14Calugas and his improvised crew kept firing.
08:17But the odds had just changed.
08:19The Japanese were not going to let this gun keep shooting.
08:22They were going to destroy it.
08:23Calugas had fired 18 rounds in 12 minutes.
08:26He had stopped the Japanese column.
08:29Killed dozens of soldiers.
08:30Destroyed multiple vehicles.
08:32But now, every enemy gun within 3 miles was aimed at his position.
08:37The next salvo was already in the air.
08:39He had seconds to decide.
08:41Stay and die?
08:42Or move the gun and survive to fight again?
08:45The American infantry line was still waiting for artillery support.
08:49The Japanese would attack again as soon as this gun went silent.
08:53Calugas made the decision in 3 seconds.
08:55He would not abandon the gun.
08:57But he would not stay in the crater either.
09:00The woods were 30 yards west.
09:02Dense jungle.
09:03The Japanese observers could not see through that canopy.
09:06He could fire from the crater.
09:07Then move the gun into the trees before the counter-battery fire arrived.
09:11Shoot and hide.
09:13Again and again.
09:14The Japanese would waste shells on empty positions while he kept hitting their column.
09:19He and the 3 gunners manhandled the gun out of the crater.
09:22Rolled it across open ground to the tree line.
09:25Japanese shells landed where they had been standing 10 seconds earlier.
09:29Dirt and shrapnel flew.
09:31The men dove into the jungle.
09:33Waited.
09:34The bombardment continued for 2 minutes.
09:3740 rounds at least.
09:38All hitting the abandoned crater.
09:40When the firing stopped,
09:42Calubas moved the gun back to the crater's edge.
09:45Loaded.
09:46Aimed at the Japanese column regrouping north of the destroyed bridge.
09:49He fired 3 rounds.
09:51High explosive.
09:52The shells landed among the troops trying to reorganize.
09:55Then, he and the crew hauled the gun back into the woods.
09:5920 seconds later, Japanese artillery saturated the crater again.
10:03The enemy was firing blind now.
10:06They knew the general area, but could not pinpoint the gun.
10:10Calugas had turned their own artillery doctrine against them.
10:13Observers called corrections.
10:15Batteries fired.
10:16But by the time the shells landed, the American gun was gone.
10:20For the next 6 hours, Calugas repeated the pattern.
10:24Move gun to firing position.
10:25Fire 3 to 5 rounds.
10:27Move gun back into jungle.
10:29Wait for Japanese counter-battery fire.
10:32Move gun to new position.
10:34Fire again.
10:35The Japanese artillery crews grew frustrated.
10:38They fired hundreds of rounds trying to silence one American gun.
10:41They hit nothing but empty ground and trees.
10:44Meanwhile, Calugas kept destroying their vehicles and killing their troops.
10:50By 1600 hours, Calugas had fired 47 rounds.
10:54The Japanese column had completely halted its advance.
10:57Dead and wounded littered the area north of the creek.
11:01Burning vehicles blocked the road.
11:03The enemy infantry had dug in.
11:05They were not moving forward anymore.
11:08The American defensive line held.
11:10Other 88th Field Artillery batteries had withdrawn to new positions during the fighting.
11:15But this one gun, operated by a mess sergeant and three volunteers, had given them time to
11:21displace without Japanese pressure.
11:23The ammunition supply was running low.
11:25Calugas counted the remaining rounds.
11:2813 armor-piercing.
11:298 high-explosive.
11:3121 total.
11:32Enough for maybe 4 more fire missions.
11:35The sun was setting.
11:36The Japanese artillery had slowed.
11:39Their observers could not see in the fading light.
11:42This would be his last chance to inflict damage before darkness stopped the fighting.
11:46He positioned the gun at the crater edge one more time.
11:49Calugas aimed at the Japanese positions north of the creek.
11:53They had established a command post near a large tree.
11:56He could see officers moving around it.
11:58Radio antennas.
11:59Map tables.
12:00He loaded armor-piercing.
12:02Fired.
12:03The round went high.
12:05Exploded in the tree canopy.
12:07He adjusted elevation.
12:08Fired again.
12:09Direct hit.
12:10The command post disappeared in the explosion.
12:13Japanese soldiers scattered.
12:15Their communications were disrupted.
12:17Their coordination broken.
12:18He fired the remaining 19 rounds over 30 minutes.
12:22Methodical.
12:23Precise.
12:24Each shell placed exactly where it would cause maximum disruption.
12:28When the last round was gone, Caluga surveyed the battlefield.
12:32The Japanese advance had been stopped.
12:34The American line held.
12:36The 88th Field Artillery had successfully withdrawn.
12:40His mission was complete.
12:41But he still had two problems.
12:43The gun needed to be evacuated before the Japanese attacked at dawn.
12:47And his field kitchen was still sitting 1,000 yards south with all his equipment.
12:54Caluga's found two trucks from a retreating supply column.
12:57The drivers had been ordered to abandon anything that could not move fast.
13:01He explained the situation.
13:03Showed them the gun.
13:04Told them about the kitchen.
13:05The drivers agreed to help.
13:07They would take the gun first.
13:09Then the kitchen.
13:10Both had to be evacuated before sunrise.
13:13Or the Japanese would capture them.
13:15Caluga's and the three gunners loaded the 75mm onto the first truck.
13:19But moving the gun had created a new problem.
13:22The Japanese now knew it was being evacuated.
13:24Their artillery opened fire again.
13:26And this time, the trucks were visible targets.
13:29The first truck carrying the 75mm gun pulled away from the tree line at 1830 hours.
13:35Japanese artillery shells began landing immediately.
13:39The enemy had maintained observation on the area, despite the darkness.
13:43They knew something was moving.
13:45The driver accelerated.
13:47Caluga's and the three gunners rode on the truck bed,
13:50steadying the gun as the vehicle bounced over the rough road.
13:54Shells hit 50 yards behind them.
13:56Then 40 yards.
13:57The Japanese were walking their fire along the road.
14:01The truck reached the 88th Field Artillery's new position,
14:04three miles south, at 1900 hours.
14:07The gun was intact.
14:08The crew was alive.
14:10Caluga's reported to the battery commander.
14:12Explained what had happened.
14:14The commander listened.
14:16Said nothing.
14:17Sent Caluga's back north for the kitchen equipment.
14:19The second truck was waiting where they had left it.
14:22The Japanese were still shelling the area, but less intensely now.
14:25Darkness had reduced their accuracy.
14:28Caluga's and two volunteers loaded the field kitchen onto the truck.
14:32Pots.
14:33Pans.
14:34Rice bags.
14:35Canned goods.
14:36Everything that could be salvaged.
14:38The mess sergeant's job did not stop because he had spent the afternoon firing artillery.
14:43Men still needed to eat.
14:44The truck made the return trip without incident.
14:47The Japanese had shifted their artillery to other targets.
14:51By 2100 hours, Caluga's was back with Battery B.
14:55He set up the kitchen.
14:56Cooked beans and rice.
14:58Served the meal to the gun crews who had been fighting all day.
15:01Then he cleaned the equipment and prepared for the next morning.
15:06The battery commander filed a report that night.
15:09Sent it up the chain of command.
15:10By January 18th, the report had reached General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters on Corregidor Island.
15:17MacArthur read it personally.
15:19A mess sergeant had run 1,000 yards under fire without orders.
15:23Operated a gun alone for six hours.
15:26Stopped a Japanese advance.
15:28Evacuated the weapon.
15:29And returned to cooking duties.
15:31MacArthur had seen many acts of courage in 40 years of military service.
15:36This one stood out.
15:37He recommended Calugas for the Medal of Honor.
15:39The paperwork moved fast by military standards.
15:43The War Department approved the recommendation on February 24th, 1942.
15:48General Order No. 10 announced the award.
15:51Sergeant Jose Calugas would receive the Medal of Honor for his actions on January 16th.
15:56He was the first Filipino-American to earn the medal in World War II.
16:00But there was a problem.
16:03Calugas could not receive the medal yet.
16:05The fighting on Bataan was getting worse.
16:07Much worse.
16:08By late January, the American and Filipino forces were running out of everything.
16:13Food.
16:14Medicine.
16:15Ammunition.
16:16The half-rations became quarter-rations.
16:19Then one-eighth rations.
16:21Disease spread through the units.
16:23Malaria.
16:24Dysentery.
16:25Dengue fever.
16:26Men could barely walk.
16:27But they kept fighting.
16:28The Japanese had been reinforced.
16:31Fresh divisions.
16:32New artillery.
16:34More aircraft.
16:35General Homa was under pressure from Tokyo.
16:38Bataan should have fallen by mid-February.
16:40It was now late February, and the Americans still held the peninsula.
16:44Calugas continued serving as mess sergeant for Battery B.
16:47He cooked whatever food remained.
16:49Rice.
16:50Occasionally fish.
16:51Sometimes just broth made from grass and bark.
16:54The gun crews needed calories to operate the weapons.
16:57But the food supply was nearly gone.
17:00The scouts were eating their horses, their pack mules, anything to stay alive.
17:05The Japanese knew the Americans were starving.
17:07They just had to wait.
17:09Time was on their side.
17:12In early March, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to evacuate to Australia.
17:18The general did not want to leave.
17:20But orders were orders.
17:22He departed Corregidor on March 11th.
17:25Left General Jonathan Wainwright in command of all forces in the Philippines.
17:29Wainwright knew the truth.
17:31No reinforcements were coming.
17:33No resupply.
17:35No rescue.
17:36The Philippines had been written off.
17:38They would fight until they could not fight anymore.
17:41Then they would surrender.
17:43It was only a question of when.
17:45By early April, the Japanese launched their final offensive.
17:49Fresh troops.
17:50Heavy artillery.
17:51Constant air attacks.
17:53The American and Filipino lines began collapsing.
17:56Units retreated.
17:58Reformed.
17:59Retreated again.
18:00The scouts fought harder than anyone.
18:02But they were starving.
18:04Sick.
18:04Exhausted.
18:05On April 8th, Major General Edward King, commander of forces on Bataan, made the decision.
18:12He would surrender.
18:13Approximately 76,000 American and Filipino troops would become prisoners of war.
18:19It was the largest surrender in American military history.
18:22And Jose Caluga's Medal of Honor recipient was about to become a prisoner of the Japanese army.
18:28The surrender came at noon on April 9th, 1942.
18:32General King sent officers under a white flag to meet Japanese commanders.
18:37The terms were simple.
18:39Unconditional surrender.
18:40All troops would lay down their weapons immediately.
18:43All equipment would be turned over intact.
18:45The Japanese would provide food and medical care for prisoners.
18:49That last promise was a lie.
18:50What followed was one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare.
18:54Caluga's was with Battery B when the order came.
18:57The scouts were told to destroy their guns before surrendering.
19:00The men used sledgehammers on the breach mechanisms, poured sand into the barrels, made the weapons useless.
19:07Then they waited for the Japanese to arrive.
19:10Caluga's had one problem the other soldiers did not have.
19:12He was a Medal of Honor recipient.
19:15The Japanese High Command knew about the medal.
19:18They monitored American communications.
19:20If they discovered Caluga's had earned the award, they would execute him immediately or subject him to special torture.
19:27He needed to hide any evidence.
19:29The general order announcing his Medal of Honor was a piece of paper in his field pack.
19:34Caluga's found a shovel.
19:36Dug a hole.
19:37Buried the order deep in the ground, near a tree he hoped to remember.
19:41Then he told every scout in Battery B to forget about the medal.
19:45Never mention it.
19:47If the Japanese asked questions, he was just a cook.
19:51Nothing more.
19:52The men agreed.
19:53They understood what would happen if the secret came out.
19:56The march began on April 10th.
19:58The Japanese called it a transfer to prisoner of war camps.
20:02The Americans and Filipinos would walk from Bataan to Camp O'Donnell, near Capus, Tarlac Province.
20:0965 miles.
20:11The Japanese said it would take four days.
20:13They provided no food, no water, no medical supplies.
20:18Men who could not walk would be left behind.
20:20That was the official policy.
20:22The reality was worse.
20:24Men who fell were beaten, shot, beheaded.
20:28The Japanese soldiers treated prisoners like animals, sometimes worse than animals.
20:34Kaluba started walking with 76,000 other prisoners.
20:38Filipinos and Americans mixed together.
20:40The first day was bearable.
20:42Men were weak from months of starvation, but most could still move.
20:46The second day was harder.
20:47The tropical heat was brutal.
20:49No shade.
20:50No water.
20:51Men began collapsing.
20:53The Japanese guards bayoneted anyone who stopped, left the bodies on the road.
20:58Other prisoners had to step over the corpses and keep walking.
21:01Anyone who tried to help the fallen was beaten or killed.
21:05On the third day, Kalugas contracted malaria.
21:09Fever.
21:10Chills.
21:11Delirium.
21:12Many men with malaria died during the march.
21:15The disease combined with dehydration and starvation was lethal.
21:19But Kalugas realized the fever gave him an advantage.
21:23The Japanese guards avoided sick prisoners.
21:26They did not want to catch diseases.
21:28If Kalugas looked sick enough, they might leave him alone.
21:32He exaggerated the symptoms.
21:34Shook harder than necessary.
21:36Wrapped himself in burlap sacks he found along the road.
21:39Trembled visibly whenever guards inspected the column.
21:42The strategy worked.
21:44Guards saw him shaking.
21:45Assumed he was dying.
21:47Moved on to harass other prisoners.
21:49Kalugas kept walking.
21:51The malaria was real.
21:53The performance made it look worse.
21:55He stayed in the middle of the column.
21:57Never at the front where strong prisoners were.
22:00Never at the back where weak prisoners were executed.
22:03Middle was safest.
22:05Anonymous.
22:06Invisible.
22:07Just another sick Filipino soldier in a river of 76,000 dying men.
22:12By the fourth day, the death toll was catastrophic.
22:16Bodies lined the road every few hundred yards.
22:19The tropical sun accelerated decomposition.
22:22The smell was overwhelming.
22:25Men who had survived four months of combat on Bataan were dying on a road march.
22:30No enemy fire.
22:31No heroic last stands.
22:33Just heat, disease, and Japanese brutality.
22:38Kaluga saw friends from Battery B collapse.
22:40He could not help them.
22:42Helping meant dying.
22:44He kept walking.
22:46The prisoners reached San Fernando Pampanga on the fifth day.
22:50The Japanese loaded them into metal freight cars.
22:54100 men per car designed for 30.
22:56No ventilation.
22:57No water.
22:58The heat inside the cars was 120 degrees or higher.
23:02Men died standing up.
23:04Their bodies held upright by the press of other prisoners.
23:08The train ride to Capas took four hours.
23:11When the doors opened, dozens of corpses fell out of each car.
23:15The survivors stumbled onto the platform.
23:17Then they walked the final eight miles to Camp O'Donnell.
23:21Kalugas was still alive.
23:23But the real test was just beginning.
23:25Camp O'Donnell was a death camp in everything but name.
23:28The Japanese had built it to hold 10,000 prisoners.
23:31By mid-April 1942, it held 50,000.
23:35No sanitation.
23:37One water spigot for the entire camp.
23:39Prisoners stood in line for 12 hours to fill a canteen.
23:43Dysentery killed hundreds every day.
23:45The bodies were stacked outside the barracks
23:47until burial details could drag them to mass graves.
23:50Men who had survived the death march died within weeks at O'Donnell.
23:54Kalugas arrived at the camp on April 14th.
23:57The guards searched prisoners at the gate.
23:59Took anything valuable.
24:01Watches, rings, money.
24:03They beat prisoners randomly.
24:05No reason.
24:06Just because they could.
24:08Kalugas still had his malaria.
24:09The real symptoms, mixed with his exaggerated performance,
24:13kept the guards away.
24:14They shoved him toward the barracks.
24:16Told him to find a space.
24:17He walked into a building designed for 200 men.
24:21800 prisoners were crammed inside.
24:23No beds.
24:24No blankets.
24:25Just wooden floors and the smell of death.
24:27The Japanese provided almost no food.
24:29Rice once a day.
24:31Maybe.
24:32A handful per prisoner.
24:34Sometimes nothing.
24:36Men were dying at a rate of 30 to 50 per day.
24:39The guards did not care.
24:40They considered prisoners subhuman.
24:43Unworthy of decent treatment.
24:45The Geneva Convention meant nothing here.
24:47Camp O'Donnell operated by one rule.
24:50The strong might survive.
24:51The weak would definitely die.
24:53Kalugas was determined to be in the first category.
24:57He noticed patterns.
25:00Guards beat prisoners who made eye contact.
25:02Prisoners who walked too slowly.
25:04Prisoners who walked too fast.
25:06The safe zone was middle speed.
25:08Eyes down.
25:09No distinctive behavior.
25:11Invisible.
25:12He applied the same strategy from the death march.
25:15Blend in.
25:16Look sick but not dying.
25:18Avoid attention.
25:19When burial details were called, he volunteered.
25:22The work was horrific, but it kept him moving.
25:25Movement meant circulation.
25:27Circulation fought disease better than lying still in the barracks.
25:30The months crawled by.
25:32May.
25:33June.
25:35July.
25:36August.
25:37The death rate at Camp O'Donnell was so high, the Japanese transferred some prisoners
25:42to other camps.
25:43Kalugas stayed.
25:45His malaria came and went.
25:47Each time the fever spiked, he exaggerated it.
25:51Guards continued avoiding him.
25:53By September, he had survived five months.
25:56Many of the men who arrived with him were dead.
25:58The survivors were skeletal, malnourished, diseased, but alive.
26:05The Americans and Filipinos had formed networks, shared food, shared information, shared hope
26:11that liberation might come.
26:13In January 1943, a Filipino official from Pampanga province petitioned for Kalugas' release.
26:20The Japanese sometimes released Filipino prisoners for agricultural work.
26:24They needed laborers for farms and mills.
26:26The official claimed Kalugas was needed for rice production.
26:30The petition was approved.
26:32On January 15, 1943, exactly one year and one day after his Medal of Honor action, Kalugas
26:39walked out of Camp O'Donnell.
26:41He had survived nine months in hell, lost 40 pounds, suffered repeated beatings, watched
26:47thousands die.
26:48But he was alive and free.
26:50Sort of.
26:51The Japanese assigned him to a rice mill in Pampanga.
26:54The work was hard.
26:5612-hour days, minimal food.
26:58But it was better than the camp.
27:00No random beatings, no mass death.
27:03Kalugas operated milling equipment, processed rice for Japanese supply convoys.
27:08The overseers watched constantly.
27:10Any sign of sabotage meant execution.
27:13But they could not watch everything.
27:15And they definitely could not watch thoughts.
27:17Kalugas began planning his next move.
27:21Filipino guerrilla units were operating throughout Luzon.
27:25Resistance fighters who had escaped the surrender.
27:28Former soldiers who melted into the jungle.
27:30Civilians who refused Japanese occupation.
27:33They raided supply convoys.
27:35Ambushed patrols.
27:37Gathered intelligence for MacArthur's headquarters in Australia.
27:40The guerrillas needed men with military experience.
27:43Kalugas had 12 years in the Philippine scouts.
27:46Artillery training.
27:47Combat experience.
27:48He was exactly what they needed.
27:51But first he had to make contact without the Japanese discovering his plan.
27:55A resistance member approached him in March 1943.
27:59Quiet conversation near the mill.
28:01The guerrillas knew about Kalugas.
28:03Knew about his Medal of Honor.
28:05Wanted him to join.
28:06But leaving immediately would be suspicious.
28:09The Japanese would hunt down escapees.
28:11Execute anyone who helped them.
28:14Kalugas needed to be patient.
28:15Gather information first.
28:17Spy on Japanese operations at the mill.
28:20Pass intelligence to the resistance.
28:22Prove his value.
28:24Then escape when the time was right.
28:25He agreed.
28:27By April, Sergeant Jose Kalugas, Medal of Honor recipient and prisoner of war survivor,
28:33had become a spy for the Philippine resistance.
28:35The Japanese had no idea the cook they had captured was about to become one of their most dangerous enemies.
28:41Kalugas spent six months as a spy at the rice mill.
28:45He memorized Japanese patrol schedules, counted supply trucks that arrived each week,
28:50noted which roads were guarded and which were not.
28:53The information passed to resistance contacts who visited the mill disguised as farmers selling vegetables.
28:59The guerrillas used the intelligence to plan ambushes.
29:03They knew when convoys would be lightly guarded,
29:06when patrols would be away from their bases,
29:08when the Japanese were vulnerable.
29:11Kalugas never saw the results of his information.
29:13But Japanese casualties in Pampanga province increased through the summer of 1943.
29:19By October, the resistance decided Kalugas was more valuable in the jungle than at the mill.
29:24They had enough spies.
29:25They needed experienced soldiers.
29:27A guerrilla unit called Squadron 227 Old Bronco was operating in Nueva Ecija province
29:33under Major Robert Lapham and Captain Harry Mackenzie.
29:37Both were American officers who had escaped the Bataan's surrender.
29:41They commanded roughly 300 Filipino fighters,
29:44former soldiers, farmers, students,
29:47anyone willing to fight the Japanese occupation.
29:50The squadron needed an artillery specialist.
29:53Kalugas fit perfectly.
29:54The escape was planned for October 23rd.
29:57Kalugas would leave the mill during his lunch break,
30:00walk into the jungle, and never return.
30:02The resistance had prepared a route through areas without Japanese patrols.
30:06Local farmers would provide shelter and food along the way.
30:10By October 25th, he had reached the Old Bronco headquarters deep in the mountains of Nueva Ecija.
30:16Major Lapham interviewed him personally, verified his identity,
30:20confirmed his Medal of Honor citation,
30:23then promoted him to second lieutenant and gave him command of a weapons platoon.
30:27Kalugas was back in the war.
30:29But this war was different from Bataan.
30:31No front lines, no artillery support,
30:34no supply chain.
30:36Guerrilla warfare meant hit-and-run attacks, ambushes, sabotage.
30:41The Japanese controlled the cities and major roads.
30:44The guerrillas controlled everything else.
30:46They moved at night,
30:47struck fast,
30:49disappeared before Japanese reinforcements arrived.
30:51The tactics were effective, but dangerous.
30:54Captured guerrillas were tortured and executed.
30:57Civilians suspected of helping guerrillas were massacred.
30:59The stakes were higher than conventional combat.
31:03The weapons platoon under Kalugas specialized in raids on Japanese supply depots.
31:09They would scout a target for weeks,
31:11learn the guard patterns,
31:13identify weak points,
31:15then attack at the most vulnerable moment,
31:18steal weapons,
31:19ammunition,
31:20and food.
31:21Destroy what they could not carry.
31:23Vanish into the jungle before the garrison could respond.
31:26By early 1944,
31:29Kalugas had led 17 successful raids.
31:31Zero casualties among his men.
31:34The Japanese put a price on his head.
31:36They did not know he was the Medal of Honor recipient from Bataan.
31:39They just knew a guerrilla officer was causing serious problems in Nueva Ecija.
31:44In June 1944,
31:46Allied forces invaded Normandy and Europe.
31:48The war was turning against Japan on all fronts.
31:52MacArthur was pushing north through New Guinea toward the Philippines.
31:55The guerrillas intensified operations to prepare for his return.
31:58Squadron 227 Old Bronco received orders to attack the Japanese garrison at Karangalan.
32:05The target was a fortified position with 200 enemy troops, machine gun nests, mortar pits, barbed wire.
32:13Taking it would require coordination between multiple guerrilla units.
32:16Kalugas would lead the assault element.
32:18The attack came on August 7, 1944.
32:22Three guerrilla companies, 450 men total, surrounded the garrison at 0300 hours.
32:28Kalugas' weapons platoon hit the main gate with concentrated rifle fire and grenades.
32:33The Japanese responded with machine guns and mortars.
32:36The firefight lasted four hours.
32:39Guerrillas used captured Japanese weapons.
32:41Ammunition was limited.
32:42Every shot had to count.
32:44By 0700 hours, the garrison commander surrendered.
32:48The guerrillas had taken Karangalan with 23 casualties.
32:51The Japanese lost 117 killed and 83 captured.
32:56The victory was significant, but temporary.
32:59Japanese reinforcements would retake Karangalan within days.
33:03The guerrillas could not hold fixed positions.
33:05They looted the garrison, took all weapons and supplies,
33:09released Filipino prisoners the Japanese had been holding,
33:12then burned the buildings and withdrew into the mountains.
33:16The pattern repeated throughout Luzon.
33:18Attack, win, withdraw.
33:21The guerrillas were preparing the islands for MacArthur's return,
33:24and in January 1945, he finally came back.
33:29American forces landed on Luzon on January 9, 1945.
33:34The liberation had begun.
33:37Squadron 227 Old Bronco intensified attacks to support the American advance.
33:43Kalugas led raids on Japanese communication lines,
33:46destroyed bridges, ambushed retreating enemy units.
33:49The fighting was fierce, but the outcome was inevitable.
33:53The Japanese were being pushed back.
33:55By April, most of Luzon was under American control.
33:59The Philippine scouts who had survived the war stepped forward,
34:03rejoined the United States Army.
34:05Kalugas was among them,
34:07and finally, after three years,
34:09he would receive the medal he had earned on January 16, 1942.
34:14The Medal of Honor ceremony took place on April 30, 1945,
34:18at Camp Olivas in Pampanga Province.
34:21Major General Richard Marshall,
34:23Chief of Staff to General MacArthur,
34:25conducted the presentation.
34:26Kalugas stood in formation with other Philippine scouts
34:29who had survived the war.
34:31He wore a new uniform,
34:32the first clean uniform he had worn in three years.
34:36The citation was read aloud.
34:38The action near Kulis, Bataan Province,
34:41on January 16, 1942,
34:44running 1,000 yards under fire without orders,
34:47organizing volunteers,
34:49operating the gun for six hours,
34:51stopping the Japanese advance.
34:53General Marshall placed the Medal of Honor around Kalugas' neck.
34:57The ribbon felt strange after everything he had been through.
35:00The Bataan Death March,
35:02nine months at Camp O'Donnell,
35:04spying at the rice mill,
35:06two years fighting with the guerrillas.
35:08The medal represented one day,
35:11one action.
35:12But that action had saved the defensive line,
35:15given other units time to withdraw,
35:17held the Japanese advance for six critical hours.
35:20The medal was earned, no question.
35:23But Kalugas knew the truth.
35:25Thousands of Filipino and American soldiers
35:27had fought just as bravely.
35:29Most were dead.
35:31Many had no medals,
35:32no recognition,
35:34just unmarked graves scattered across Bataan and Luzon.
35:37After the ceremony,
35:39the Army offered Kalugas United States citizenship.
35:42He accepted immediately.
35:44Then they offered him a commission
35:46as a second lieutenant in the regular United States Army.
35:48He accepted that, too.
35:51His service with the Philippine scouts was over.
35:53The scouts would be disbanded after the war ended.
35:56But Kalugas would continue serving.
35:58He was assigned to the 44th Infantry Regiment
36:01for occupation duty in Okinawa.
36:03The war in the Pacific officially ended on September 2, 1945,
36:08when Japan signed the surrender documents aboard USS Missouri.
36:13Kalugas remained in the Army after the war.
36:15He served in Okinawa, then the Ryukyu Islands,
36:19Fort Sill, Oklahoma,
36:21back to the Philippines for the 10th anniversary
36:23of the Battle of Bataan in 1952,
36:26Fort Lewis, Washington in 1953,
36:28with the 2nd Infantry Division.
36:30He slowly brought his family from the Philippines
36:33to the United States.
36:34His wife, four children,
36:36all became American citizens.
36:39Kalugas earned his high school equivalency diploma
36:41at age 47, retired from the Army in 1957
36:45with the rank of Captain after 27 years of service.
36:48Civilian life was an adjustment.
36:50Kalugas enrolled at the University of Puget Sound
36:53in Tacoma, Washington,
36:54studied business administration,
36:56graduated in 1962 at age 55.
36:59His son later said earning that degree
37:01was his father's most cherished achievement.
37:03After graduation,
37:05Kalugas worked for Boeing Company until 1972.
37:08Then he farmed a small plot of land outside Tacoma,
37:11grew vegetables,
37:12raised chickens,
37:13lived quietly.
37:14The Medal of Honor recipient,
37:16who had killed dozens of Japanese soldiers
37:18and survived the worst atrocities of the Pacific War,
37:21spent his final decades in peace.
37:23Kalugas organized
37:24the Bataan Corregidor Survivors Association,
37:27worked for 15 years
37:29helping other veterans connect,
37:31share stories,
37:32process trauma.
37:34Many survivors never talked about
37:36what they experienced.
37:37The death march was too painful,
37:39Camp O'Donnell too horrific.
37:41But the association gave them a place to speak
37:44if they wanted,
37:45or just be around others who understood.
37:48Kalugas attended reunions,
37:50gave occasional interviews,
37:52but he never sought attention.
37:54His son remembered him saying
37:56the Medal of Honor belonged
37:57to all the men who died in the Philippines.
38:00He was just the one wearing it.
38:02Jose Cabalfin Kalugas
38:03died on January 18, 1998,
38:07in Tacoma, Washington.
38:08He was 90 years old,
38:10survived by his wife and four children,
38:14buried at Mountain View Memorial Park.
38:16His Medal of Honor is displayed
38:18at the Fort Sill Museum in Oklahoma.
38:20A relief sculpture commemorating his action
38:23stands on Mount Samat
38:24in the Philippines
38:25at the National Memorial
38:26to the Battle of Bataan.
38:28The sculpture shows Kalugas
38:30running across open ground
38:31toward the gun position.
38:33The moment a cook
38:35became a one-man army.
38:38The Japanese mocked soldiers
38:40wearing kitchen aprons
38:41thought cooks were not real fighters.
38:43On January 16, 1942,
38:47Sergeant Jose Kalugas
38:48proved them catastrophically wrong.
38:51One man,
38:52one gun,
38:541,000 yards under fire.
38:55He stopped an entire enemy column,
38:58saved the defensive line,
39:00earned the Medal of Honor,
39:01survived the death march,
39:03fought as a guerrilla,
39:04lived to see liberation,
39:06then spent 50 years
39:08as an American citizen
39:09and veteran advocate.
39:10His story deserves to be remembered.
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39:28Stories about cooks
39:29who became one-man armies.
39:31Stories about Filipino scouts
39:32who held the line
39:33when everything collapsed.
39:34Stories about men
39:36who survived death marches
39:37and came back to fight
39:38as guerrillas.
39:40Real people.
39:41Real heroism.
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