Antonio A. Nieva, a survivor of the Bataan Death March, remembers with fury and tenderness the battles fought by Filipino and American forces in the Philippines during World War II, from the time the USAFFE (United States Armed Forces in the Far East) recruited college boys from their ROTC units to the liberation of the Philippines by General Douglas MacArthur and his troops. Historical facts blend with personal vignettes, giving an intimate, moving, and sometimes humorous account of how the war affected soldiers and townfolk, housewives and society matrons, hustlers and gamblers, and the young and idealistic 20-year-olds who hied to the hills to fight a guerilla war against the Japanese. The Fall of Bataan was the largest defeat in history of the U.S. Army. Abandoned with only outmoded weapons and no supplies, the "Battling Bastards of Bataan" nevertheless held out for three months of fierce skirmishing, their victories delaying the Pacific advance of the Japanese Imperial forces. In the midst of the fighting, General MacArthur, Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon, and their families slipped away from Corregidor bound for Australia. America had decided to concentrate on the European war and it took three years for the General to fulfill his promise to return to the Philippines. "The last battle was not a battle. It was a rout," the author writes. "What is the death of an army like? There is no cohesive picture, just a series of disconnected rushes of a grade-B horror movie. Somewhere along a trail, Lt. Dima lay on his side, bent knees and arms enfolding his groin, crooning a death lullaby to himself: 'Patay na 'ko (I'm dead already, ' his last gasp between flickering life and recognition in the dimming eyes. By midnight the battalions had evaporated. In the Regimental Command Post, the Colonel to the assembled staff said: It's over. Save yourselves. Good luck." The author intersperses the horrors of the tortured, the dead, and dying during the Bataan Death March and the even more atrocious conditions at the POW Camp O'Donnell with stories of a failed escape attempt (not knowing what to do, the escapees returned to the March) and the procurement of chicken from a Japanese prison guard who didn't know the difference between five and ten peso bills. Malaria, dysentery, starvation, and war time cruelty killed more than 20,000 imprisoned Bataan soldiers. The Filipinos were released as part of Japan's strategy to unite Asians under a Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere free of western colonizers. They found Manila Japanized: Dewey Boulevard had become Heiwa, Taft Avenue Daitoa. Everyone had to learn Nippongo, and some of Manila's 400 collaborated with the new power. But did they? "Most of the double plays were so successful that soon the question became who was who?"' the author relates. Survival meant BSes (buyers and sellers and bullshitters), but still Manilenos managed to enjoy "everybody's parties" and "floating casinos" (floating from place to place). "Cadet, Soldier, Guerilla Fighter" also recalls how a future president, mistaken for a Japanese, narrowly eluded execution by friendly fire. In a future election that would cement martial law in the country, Ferdinand Marcos would face an opposition presidential candidate, Raul Manglapus, who, under the guise of a choir boy, planned a bloodless jailbreak from Muntinlupa prison with Fr. Jaime Neri and other guerilla fighters. As Captain Lancer with the Hunters-ROTC Guerillas, the author gives a first-hand account of the Los Banos Raid that freed nearly 2,000 American and Allied civilians as Japan's sun was descending into defeat. The Hunters, including its leaders Teddy Adevoso, Tabo Ingles, Frisco San Juan, and Tony Nieva, would remain colleagues in the fight for Filipino World War II veterans' rights, a battle that remains relevant to this day. This book is a celebration of the soul and spirit of the Philippines and its Bataan soldiers.
Antonio A. Nieva (Tony) was an ROTC officer at the Ateneo de Manila when he was recruited to join the American military's mobilization in preparation for the Pacific War. He served as intelligence officer of the 32nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, Philippine Army in Bataan. When Bataan fell on April 9, 1942, Tony was among the 75,000 Filipino and American soldiers who were forced to walk from Mariveles, Bataan to Capas, Tarlac in the infamous Death March. He was paroled on September 1942, but returned to fight, this time as a guerilla. He was a captain in one of the best-known guerilla groups, the Hunters-ROTC, which operated in several adjacent provinces on the island of Luzon. Known as Captain Lancer, he served with a Hunters intelligence unit in his father's province, Tayabas (now Quezon), during the campaign to free the POWs from the Los Baños camp. Several Nieva cousins from Quezon were also members of the Hunters. He remained life-long friends with his Hunters colleagues. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal of the U.S. Army for his "marked contribution to the defense of Bataan." During the repressive years of martial law in the Philippines, Tony fought for the rights of World War II veterans against the abuses of the government that eventually caused the collapse and closure of the Veterans Bank of the Philippines. His efforts played a significant role in laying the legal groundwork which led to the reopening of the bank in 1992. He also sought to trace the $32 million granted by the U.S. government for the benefit of Filipino World War II veterans. A lawyer by profession, Tony Nieva was a renaissance man and an artist at heart. All the sketches in this book are his original drawings. He consulted with clients from Laos, Iceland, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. Tony and his wife Teresa co-founded the Christian Family Movement and were involved in many civic and political causes. Tony returned to his Maker on May 25, 1992. "Cadet, Soldier, Guerilla Fighter" is edited by Tony's daughter Pepi Nieva, a writer, editor and public relations professional. She lives in Hawaii and Oregon, but has left her heart in the Philippines. The book commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Fall of Bataan and remembers the valiant World War II veterans who fought and died for honor, duty, and country.
