by Mike Baños
US Vet’s kin makes nostalgic trip tracing the Liberation of Eastern Mindanao in 1945
Harry Balser and his wife Mary recently undertook a nostalgia trip to retrace the journey taken by his Uncle Macy’s unit during the liberation of Eastern Mindanao eight decades ago.
Balser’s Uncle Macy Carneal served as an infantry man with the 155th Regiment of the US Army’s 31st Infantry “Dixie” Division. Since he had no children, he would often regale his favorite nephew Harry with tales of the war in the Pacific in their hamlet at Phoebus, Virginia which created an interest in the young boy about the Second World War.
“The Philippines was a big part of my uncle’s life, and that also made me curious to see what the fighting was all about and how his campaign was conducted. We didn’t have maps of Mindanao like we have now, but Gen. Robert Eichelberger’s memoir, Our Jungle Road to Tokyo, provided me very good documentation on the path of the campaign, and fairly good documentation on what transpired along the ‘roads’ through Mindanao. So, this was my starting point along with my uncle’s book of Division history,” Balser explained.
After consulting Dr. Richard B. Meixsel, assistant professor of history at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia (who has written books about the US military in the Philippines during World War II), the Balsers contacted Gina Cuerdo-Amador, a tour guide based in Bukidnon, to arrange their trip and finally made it in September, 2024.
The couple linked up with their guide in Davao City on September 15, and after a tour of World War II sites in the city, proceeded to Fort Pikit and Kabacan in Cotabato via Digos City, where Carneal started his Mindanao campaign wading ashore in Parang, in April 22, 1945 with the 31st Division.
Uncle Macy
Balser’s uncle was a sports fisherman/hunter, very comfortable in the woods. skilled woodsman, able to live off the land, read signs on the forest trail, find his bearings by the stars, which served him very well as infantry, and was often the point man of his unit’s jungle patrols.
Somewhere between Kabacan and Bukidnon, he got too far ahead of his column, and had to hide behind a farmer’s chicken coop until could rejoin his column. From that point on he loved the Philippines because they saved his life.
From Cotabato, the Balsers traveled to Valencia City, Bukidnon with a stop at Lake Pinamaloy in Bukidnon, site of the Battle of Colgan Woods (a.k.a. The Battle of Pinamaloy) which was the deadliest battle encountered by the 31st Division during World War II, when its 124th Regiment battled the Japanese 2nd Battalion, 74th Regiment, under the command of Major Hotta.
Next, the party toured the historic Cinchona Forest Reserve in Barangay Ka-atoan in Malaybalay (now a part of Lantapan) which provided much needed quinine to the USAFFE in Bataan which was flown there by the little Bamboo Fleet, and which delayed Bataan’s surrender longer than the Japanese Imperial Forces had planned, upsetting their timetable for the conquest of the Southwest Pacific which enabled the Allied to rally and eventually push them back and defeat them.
Also in Malaybalay was Camp Casisang, a National Historical Landmark where the remnants of the USAFFE’s Mindanao Force were interred along with their commander Maj. Gen. William F. Sharp and Gen. Manuel A. Roxas, who at the time was the titular head of the Philippine Commonwealth Government, and later became the first president of thee Philippine Republic in 1946.
Moving further north, the party next toured the Del Monte Lodge where Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his family stayed on March 13-17, and the Gen. MacArthur Memorial Marker at Del Monte Airfield No. 1 in Bgy. Dicklum from which MacArthur and party took off in two B-17E bombers on the final leg of their breakout to Australia.
The tour concluded with a tour of historic sites in Cagayan de Oro City, including Gaston Park where the Battle of Cagayan between the Mindanao Battalon under Gen. Nicolas Capistrano was repulsed by the US 40th Volunteers under Colonel Edward A. Godwin on April 7, 1900;, and the MacArthur Memorial Marker in Bgy. Puntod where Gen. MacArthur and party landed on March 13, 1942 after their successful breakout from the Japanese blockade of Corregidor.
Future Plans
“Of course, our trip focused on more than just military history. We took in the scenic beauty of the Philippines, met the people, and enjoyed experiences that delighted visitors. I am sure those kinds of things are an everyday part of working in the tourist industry,” Balser noted.
He plans to write an account of their journey for their travel club newsletter, and report to Prof Meixsel what he experienced during his trip.
“I would really like to see Mindanao and the people of Mindanao remember more vividly what happened and make the history come alive for themselves, I really think it’s a great attraction for visitors. People in Mindanao are missing a piece of history by not having a more tangible experience and feeling of it, because obviously the freedom that the Philippines has, was paid for and it should be appreciated.”
Cuerdo-Amador agrees. In most significant sites there were no monuments, and local guides were unaware of what happened there during World War II.
“It was ironic that in Davao City, my guide colleague found no information at all about the Second World War. Fortunately, Digos City had much more data, and a very enthusiastic historian to boot in Vice Mayor Johari Bana who showed us around!”
Despite this, she still plans to create specific WWII-themed tours for Mindanao focusing on significant battles and other sites. At present, she only tours guests to nearby monuments and battle sites in the immediate areas they requested.