Reconnaissance Heroes of the Raid on the Cabanatuan POW Camp

 

To conduct reconnaissance and raider missions in the Southwest Pacific theater, U.S. Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger, commanding general of the Sixth Army, organized the Alamo Scouts in November 1943. The Scouts took their name from Krueger’s affiliation with San Antonio, Texas, home of the Alamo. In the Scouts’ performance of 106 missions deep in enemy territory over 1,482 days of sustained combat, not one lost his life or was captured. The Scouts liberated 197 Allied prisoners on New Guinea and 511 on Luzon and took 84 Japanese prisoners of war (POWs).

 

The Alamo Scouts trained on Fergusson Island, New Guinea. Krueger envisioned the Scouts as small teams operating behind enemy lines to gather intelligence and tactical reconnaissance in advance of Sixth Army operations. An Alamo Scout had to have problem-solving skills and the ability to think quickly. Scouts had to be able to withstand the rigors of long marches and missions. And they had to have keen observation skills, know how to navigate land, and how to cover and conceal themselves. After six weeks of intense training, 700 trainees narrowed to 138, who formed 6- and 7-man fire teams. They had no prescribed uniforms and little regard to rank. Alamo Scouts could move 30 or 40 miles in a day with little rest or food. From their beginnings on New Guinea, the Alamo Scouts grew into a sophisticated intel-gathering and guerilla operations group on Leyte and Luzon in the Philippines.

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Their most famous accomplishment involved providing recon and support for the 6th Army Rangers during the raid of the Cabanatuan POW Camp in the Philippines in 1945. Many in the camp had survived the Bataan Death March. To get the most accurate information, the Alamo Scouts approached to within 100 yards of the camp’s fence dressed as Filipino rice farmers.

Two teams of Scouts, led by Lieutenants Bill Nellist and Tom Rounsaville worked the mission, which took shape in the end of January 1945.  They gathered information on Japanese movements in the camp’s vicinity, confirming work by Filipino guerrilla leader Juan Pajota, whose unit teamed with the Rangers. Gaining more information proved difficult, however, because the fields surrounding the camp were flat, providing no cover. 

Nellist, an outdoorsman from rural northern California, hatched a plan. He spotted an abandoned shack that would give them a higher vantage point from which to gather intel. He and a fellow Scout, a Filipino-American named Rufo Vaquilar, dressed up as local villagers and got into the shack. The view from the shack allowed the Scouts to see right into the camp. For two hours, they took notes, detailing the major features of the camp and the best routes for the Rangers. As they performed their work, three more Alamo Scouts crawled on their bellies toward the shack and reached it, approaching from the rear. Nellist gave them his report and ordered them to get it to the Ranger’s commander, Lt. Col. Henry Mucci, on the double.

Impressed and relieved by the quality of the intel provided by the Scouts, Mucci ordered his Rangers to march toward the camp. As the Rangers began raiding the camp, the Scouts helped evacuate prisoners and provided cover fire for wounded men and stragglers. They stayed behind, helping with casualties and surveying the area for any retaliatory movements. The Scouts also buried two Rangers who had been killed, recovered documents, and returned the next day to evacuate a prisoner who had been inadvertently left behind.

 

By February 2, they made their way back to base camp. According to the diary of Alamo Scout Gilbert Cox, they found themselves “enjoying life and waiting for the next job.” Both the Rangers and the Alamo Scouts received Silver and Bronze stars for their heroic efforts at Cabanatuan.

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In 1988, the Alamo Scouts were added to the U.S. Army’s Special Forces lineage and its veterans were acknowledged with the Special Forces tab, a service school qualification tab awarded to any soldier completing the U.S. Special Forces Qualification Course.