Uncovering the Heroic Legacy of Russell W. Volckmann: An American Guerrilla Story

J. Martin: A largely unsung hero of the Philippines campaign. Major Volckman escaped from the Bataan death march into the country side and eventually made it to a heavily concealed outpost. He endured many injuries, disease and starvation during this time. He gathered other escaped allies and enlisted Philippine fighters and soldiers to engage in gorilla activity against the Japanese invaders and occupiers. He insured that his forces were provisioned, fed and armed. He was instrumental in the return of McArther to the Philippines providing valuable intelligence and information regarding the Japanese enemy positions, resources, manpower and weapons. He personally led gorilla forces in advance and in support of McArthers invasion forces. He was asked by McArther to attend the surrender of Japan. In after action reports, he documented the fundamentals of gorilla warfare used by the military from the Korean War onward. Very interesting for those interested in the war in the Pacific. The book was largely based on a diary that he kept during the occupation.

United States on Apr 22, 2022

fitzalling: I have the Kindle version, which may be the only version of this book. Since I speculate that the US may encounter some volatile times both externally and internally in the near future, I thought it would be interesting to see how Captain, ultimately Brigadier General, Volckmann lived through a volatile time.

First, let me commend the author for his effort in presenting Captain Volckmann' s story. I found the book well-written and the author possessed of a fair-minded view of his topic. His story moves along well.

I recommend the book. Captain Volckmann was stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese overran it in 1942 and remained there until the Americans and allied forces retook it in 1945. The book deals with later aspects of Captain Volckmann's career, but it was the 1942-45 period in which I was interested.

My takeaways are as follows. (1) think differently - gee, we're going to Bataan? Why don't I go to the mountains of North Luzon. (2) stay alive - battle fatigue, sickness and stress, but stay alive. (3) accept help from wherever you can find it. (4) once you think you can fight, be circumspect, you can't chew very very much so don't bite off more...

United States on Apr 03, 2022

Kindle Customer: I greatly enjoyed this book; I already knew a bit about the Philippines in WW2, but this book opened my eyes to many facts about Filipino society and citizenry. Learning about the tribes on Luzon was fascinating, and the variety of experiences that Volckmann and Blackburn, as well as many other Americans, lived through during the war was remarkable for the way they made the absolute most out of the many Filipinos who were eager to work against the Japanese. The depth of Mr. Guardia's research is vividly displayed by the lengths he went to to locate primary sources -- and I was pleased to see that the families of the brave American soldiers on Luzon during the war had kept their complete documentation for the benefit of future historians. Clearly, Volckmann's family valued his remarkable efforts to organize a disparate and varied, but highly effective, guerilla force, and then after the war to codify many of the special forces' actions and bases of action for the benefit of future soldiers. Altogether an impressive man, who fought remarkably well under difficult circumstances and provided a huge benefit to the American Army's efforts to recapture the Philippines from the Japanese....

United States on Dec 11, 2020

Michael Farrell: Zero action

Canada on Nov 09, 2020