HI ALL,

I am researching and writing on a documentary book about MacArthur's Flying Column to Manila. The working title is the Flying Column Writing Project. It is a documentary about the lives of the men of the Flying Column, and those who assisted them. The Flying Column Writing Project is also a triumvirate. We share a large portion of our research with other authors, documentary film producers, researchers, and those searching for family history. If you have questions, ask, we may have the answer. If you know any member of the Flying Column, or know someone who does, I am interested in the member's life story - please contact me.

On a personal level, I search for my parents' military histories. I am interested in the 41st Inf Div, the 8th Cav Reg / 1st Cav Div, and the US Army Nurses who were held POW at Santo Tomas in Manila.

Hello Rainbow,

I was with the 41st, as well as the 1st Cav, spent some time with
Philippine guerrillas too. The 8th Cav landed sometime after us at
Los Negros, seems to me they were at Manus when I was there,
must have been later on in March of '44.

__________________
All the Best
Jack

welcome . rbt
a fine place here someone may be ablt to help you out with your search
cheers krieg

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for thow . will be ours someday.we shall have it all
... und mear.......

Welcome Rainbow, you came to the right place!

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Thank you for the kind welcomes.

These are the 4AM questions - the personal ones and Jack - I want to talk to you, please.

You have the experiences and knowledge I keep hoping to find and I have the questions - and these a are not the "real" questions. These are the personal ones.

I have many BC photos with quite a few of the guys from the 186th that were taken near Prince George and along the Frasier River in 1941, before the war. Do you know if the 41st went on maneuvers in BC?

You could have known my dad, Francis Jerrett from Dilley, OR. He had been logger and also worked as a pony sawyer. His older brother was Deane - who the Army renamed David and he was with an anti tank unit in the 186th.

In the time of the first battles in New Guinea, my dad was with his best friend's unit . That friend was Harold Fisk. Dad saw Lt Lt Fisk's body beheaded and that gave him at least one horrible nightmare that took time to recover from. It was only recently that I put it together with a story he had told me years before, of other men finding body parts of American soldiers cut up, wrapped in leaves, and set aside for food. I was very young when I asked him if he knew who the dead Americans were and he said, "Yes." He told me that was that incident that caused the soldiers in the 41st to decide to kill the enemy and take no prisoners.

In Oz, Dad was at Rockhampton, also in Yippon.
Did you go through OCS in Brisbane in late 1943? If so, I have a "class photo" to share.
Did you go into the Cav in January 1944?
What troop and Regiment?
Were you part of the Flying Column?
Which guerrilla units did you deal with? Any Huks?
What was your job with them?
By any chance, did you ever meet a guerrilla named Jesus Franco (he was a Colonel from Spain who had been on the Death March and escaped and joined up with the guerrillas. He helped guide the Americans from Lingayen to Manila (and he met and remembered met my mom, the nurse who took care of him at Sat Catalina, after he was wounded by the grenade that fatally wounded Capt Manuel Colayco.),
Capt / Major Antonio Garcia of Pagasinan, who with two of his sergeants, dressed in their uniforms that had been hidden away for this day, and with their American flag up high on a make shift mast, rowed a leaky banca out to the Currituck during the sheling of (4AM brain won't work) _______ (the town)) and told them hem to cease fire, the Japanese were gone and the fleet was firing on and killing Filipinos) The firing was immediatey halted.
Lt / Capt Tommy Cabangbang (USAFFE, who after being captured on Corregidor, escaped his placement in the Constabulary and made his way -with Villamore's help, to Macarthur in Australia where he became Macarthur's man to go by guerrilla sub - to set up the radio network - to get the guerrillas to cooperate rather than fight each other - all in the 6 months before Macarthur's return);
Capt Manuel Colayco (head of the Manila AIB)
American guerrillas like Ramsey, Lapham, Anderson, Chick Parsons (SPYRON) who Macarthur described as the bravest man he had ever known - later, Admiral Chick Parsons), or Diosdado (Dading) Guytingco?

Somewhere, I will post Rene Saguisag's "Love or War Story" of Dading's 60 year search for a wounded American he saw on liberation night), and a famous photo of my mom tending a wounded Japanese.

Did you know Walter Landry, a captain in the First Cav? He is one of my two writing partners.

A few of Dad's friends whose stories he told me when I was young.
Lt. Doc Roach, Lt Pansons, Gerry La Haie, Bob ___, Percy Hines, Frank Valoshin, Ove Lund, Sgts Van de Reit, a Pete who was killed on Oz, Chuck Holliman, __ Church, _Whaley, ___Koski, the pro ball player from Texas (his name slips my mind), ___ Byens, Brooks Taylor, ___ Avilla, ____Foot, Sgts Benier and Fix , Slim Mulvey (from Dilley, Oregon (in the Seabees, met up with the 1st Cav Div in the Admiralties) Sgt John Gallagher, Lt Clark Irving (his dad was Cavalry Jack Irving) and more once I get the 4AM brain awakened.

Rainbow -- Welcome, and many thanks for at least a couple of powerful posts in the early going! I hope Jack will be able to help you out!

Cheers!

Welcome Rainbow!
I'll be following this closely!

__________________
Scott

Rainbow,

Oh my...there is much for me to tell you, I as well have a score of questions. My typing has slowed some these months past, so let me start with Capt. Walter Landry, and Slim Mulvey.

Does Walt remember filling out authorization for a 1st Lt. to marry an Australian bride? Was Slim at Momote airfield the dawn of Feb. 29 '44?

I joined the 1st Cav. in mid or late Jan. '44 after promotion to 1st Lt. I led a machine gun platoon on Los Negros.

Your reference to the flying column, would that be prior to our move to take Manila late Jan. '45?

Take a look at the Hollandia thread, as well as Hello to All!.

I'm going to step back for a bit, emotions get to be a problem from time to time.

Take care
Jack

__________________
All the Best
Jack

Thread stickied.

I am going to move thread to Information Request Forum.

http://www.ww2f.com/information-requests/

__________________
Best Regards,
JW

Hi Jack, I made several posts in 2004, searching for Slim from Dilley, and discovering his last name was Mulvey. A Stewar t Mulvey who is mis 90s lives in Oregon, but I do not know it it is he. Please let me know about any corrections.

wanted: "Slim" of Dilley in the Depression, logging trees w/Francis - Washington - Family History & Genealogy Message Board - Ancestry.com

Found - RE wanted:"Slim" of Dilley in the Depression, logging trees w/Francis - Washington - Family History & Genealogy Message Board - Ancestry.com

Re: wanted:"Slim" of Dilley in the Depression, logging trees w/Francis - Washington - Family History & Genealogy Message Board - Ancestry.com

- Rainbow Trout -
Sue

Sue,

I can not be certain I knew the man, if it were not for the CB's at Los Negros, I would not be here today.

The Walter I remember was my age or a bit older.

__________________
All the Best
Jack

Jack,
Feb 29, 1944, was my dad's 28th birthday, I don't know where Slim was.

I am still waiting on a reply from Richard who goes to talk with Walter. We are on opposite coasts.

This is the first web page I wrote for my mom. www.cnac.org/emilscott/lewey01.htm I am waiting for Tom to finish his move and get his computer set up again so the new web page is up. It is much better that the first.

Once I figure how to get a photo up, I will post a nice one of the 41st to your Hollandia pages.

I must be off, my son is begging for the computer.
Sue

Thank you Sue,

I'd like to see that OCS photo, and any of the 41st, I'll see if I can recall a name or two.

Take care
Jack

__________________
All the Best
Jack

OK
I will see how I can get them posted on one of those web photo places.
Sue

Sue,

I imagine good old Jeff could lend you a hand on posting them here.

__________________
All the Best
Jack

He certainly would, if not him, any of us would be obliged and honored to help.

__________________

Let me, or one of the other mods, know how we can assist you, Sue.

__________________
Best Regards,
JW

Hi All and rbt,

I have been searching for information about a US soldier which seems relevant to this post.
I received a letter written by a US soldier with the first name of Leonard penned on the 17th of August, 1944 sent from New Guinea to his love in Australia. The soldier was my grandfather who had met my grandmother in Brisbane, Australia towards the end of 1943.

I only know his first name from the letter as my grandmother took all details with her when she passed. I would love to find out any info which may lead me to discovering his last name so the search may continue into the man my grandmother loved so much.

Any advice of were to look or knowledge you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, infoseeker

Do you have any other information?

__________________
Best Regards,
JW

Brisbane, 1943: sun and beach and girls. An Army parade. An Army Rodeo - 141 competitors, 60,000 attendees. February 1944, Oro Bay, New Guinea, start of the Admiralty Islands campaign.

Hmm. Parameters: my choice.
1) One large knitting needle in a hay stack (not a tiny quilting needle)
2) One dairy herd-size, in-barn, hay stack, freshly tossed down onto the barn floor.
3) You will feed the cows and check that hay as you fork it over ... look for birth certificate, relatives with family stories, news paper gossip, anything in a memory book or box.
4) inspect the reduced hay stack on the barn floor. Ask your Grandmother's friends,find them in her funeral guest book, address book, and bible, too.
5) improve our chances: describe the knitting needle
a) What was your grandmother's name?
b) What was the birth date, and the sex of the offspring?
c) What was / is your parent's full name and any nick-names your parent?
d) Was / is your parent's name unique, or almost the only one with that name, in your family?
e) What is the text of the letter? Is there an envelope?
f) birth certificate?

Aug 1944? HQ, X Corps, Finschhafen, New Guinea, is my first leap into the hay stack.

0h yeah, I forgot to tell you this, the hay is the cow's food we are jumping into - and dirty hay stacks can rile some family members.