When the Philippines fell to the Japanese, thousands of American prisoners made the Bataan Death March to prison camps. Many died along the way due to mistreatment. Arrival at the camps did not improve things much. They faced hardships like diseases, malnutrition, and brutal treatment by the guards. Chances of surviving were much lower than those of American prisoners held in Germany. Prisoners were executed if they tried to escape. The Japanese initiated a policy of killing ten prisoners for every escapee in order to discourage escapes. One of the worst camps was a camp near the city of Cabanatuan. By the time MacArthur’s army invaded, the camp that held up to 8,000 prisoners at one time, was down to about 530 emaciated prisoners. The others had either died or been sent to other Japanese conquests as slave labor.
Soon after the American army landed on Luzon, word reached American intelligence that prisoners of war were being liquidated by Japanese soldiers. On Dec. 14, 1944, about 150 prisoners at another camp were forced into bomb raid shelters. They were doused with gasoline and set afire. A survivor lived to tell the tale. MacArthur realized that when American forces neared camps, the prisoners would probably be killed. He ordered an attempt to rescue prisoners before they would be executed. The camp at Cabanatuan was selected for liberation. The mission was assigned to Col. Henry Mucci and his 6th Ranger battalion. 120 Rangers were tabbed for the mission. They were aided by Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas led by Juan Pajota. The Filipinos were given the job of neutralizing a Japanese force of 1,000 that were encamped about a mile away from the camp. On Jan. 28, the force began the 25-mile trek behind enemy lines.
When the Rangers arrived near the camp, it was discovered that they would have to crawl 700 yards across an open field that had no cover to get to the camp. Pajota suggested a distraction by an American plane. Mucci radioed for help and a P-61 Black Widow night fighter was assigned to distract the Japanese guards. On the night of Jan. 30, the plane arrived and began to buzz the camp. The pilot would cut one of his engines to fake having trouble. The plane was bad-ass looking and the guards and prisoners were mesmerized by the performance. Meanwhile, Capt. Bob Prince led the crawlers to a ditch in front of the camp. Upon his signal, the Rangers unleashed hell on the camp. Machine gun and rifle fire decimated the guards and soldiers who were temporarily in the camp. The Rangers stormed through the front gate and barged into barracks to kill dazed Japanese. A bazooka team took out two truckloads of Japanese. The prisoners were awakened by the tumult and thought they were going to be executed. It took a while to convince them they were being rescued. Meanwhile, Pajota’s force opened fire on the Japanese encampment. A hole was blown in a bridge that had to be crossed for the Japanese to get to the POW camp. Japanese attempting to cross the bridge were slaughtered. A bazooka took out four Japanese tanks.
In about 30 minutes the gunfire tapered off. 73 guards and about 150 soldiers were killed. American casualties were amazingly low. Unfortunately, a Japanese soldier had been able to fire off a few mortar rounds. One of them mortally wounded the units doctor Capt. James Fisher. Corporal Roy Sweezy was killed by friendly fire. The 522 prisoners were loaded onto carts pulled by water buffalo. The trip back to American lines was uneventful. When they arrived, most of the Rangers had only had 5-6 hours of sleep in the last three days. Benzadrine was used to keep them awake. The mission was a great success and it has been called the greatest raid in American History.
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/great-raid-on-cabanatuan/
https://coffeeordie.com/raid-at-cabanatuan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_at_Cabanatuan
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