FREEDOM AT DAWN
(How the Hunters lived and died rescuing POWS in Los Baņos)
By: Colonel Frank B. Quesada, USA, Ret.

The American Solder, 1945


This is a true story of how Filipino guerrillas, in a joint liberation campaign with the US 11th Airborne Division rescued all the 2,146 American and allied POWs safely on February 23, 1945 in Los Baņos, Laguna [Luzon], that earned the commendation of Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

It was a unique air-sea-land assault-rescue operation likened to a story book saga of an almost perfect rescue. Its intricate success, has been the object of continuing studies by different armies in the world, according to Gen C. Powell, former Joint Chief of Staff, US Army.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1
Unconventional-Irregular Warfare
Life of Privation and Peril
War Must be Won at all Costs
Freedom at Dawn for American POWs
Units that Participated
Other Participants
The US Army Contingent
The Lightning Raid

PART 2
First, A Brief History
Historical Background
Philippine Defense Repulsed
Organized Retreat
Wretched Pawns
The Battling Bastards
Fall of Bataan and Corregidor
Beacon of Hope
The Bataan Death March
Thousands of Dead Men Walking
Weeping Dead

PART 3
Post War Conflicting National Interests
The USAFFE Martyrdom
Resistance Movements
Veritable Testimonials
American and Allied POWs
The Assault - Rescue
Pre-Rescue Preparations
Vital Logistical Support

PART 4
Pre-Landing Preparation
Joint Liberation Effort
8th Army's Landing in Nasugbu
6th Army Landing in Lingayen
Hunter's Quest - Los Baņos POWs
Intelligence Preceding Rescue
Master Plan Conceived
Local Operatives
Col. Ingles - Overall Coordinator
The 11th Airborne Expertise
POWs Escapees Joined Ingles
Hunter's Guerrillas Exploits
Jittery Enemy POW Guards
Precise Intelligence Uncovered

PART 5
The Joint Guerrilla-US Army Assault
Clockwork Raid Operation
Precision Planning and Execution
The Lethal Onslaught
Combat Assault Units
No Atheists in the Foxholes
Couldn't Wait to go into Action
Enemy's Weak Point

PART 6
Hunters Assault Units
The Unexpected Episode
Hand-to-Hand Skirmish
Assault of the Main Gate Entry
At the Paradrop Zone
Historical Banner Taken to the US
Mrs. Jean MacArthur's Attendance
Amphitheater of Ovation
Emancipation Day at Last
Constraints of Evacuation
Mood of Vacillation
Sentimental Journey
Immediate Evacuation Critical
Enemy Snipers versus US Artillery

PART 7
Living POW's Testimonials
US Army Official Dispatch
Enemy's Revenge
Puzzling Aftermath
The Defiant were the Victims
Lessons of War and Peace
Post-War Hunters
Hunters in Politics and Government

About the Author


Online Links:

Deliverance - It has Come: http://www.geocities.com/ithascome/

11th Airborne Divsion Association:  http://members.aol.com/dickhoyt/

The 11th Airborne Division Page- http://www.campbell.army.mil/3187/bn11ABNPG.HTM

11th Airborne Division Hell's Angels- http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/7443/

Liberating Los Baņos (Sam McGowan)- http://www.militaryhistory.com/WorldWarII/articles/1999/01992_text.htm

History of the 11th Airborne Division (Leo Kocher)- http://www.thedropzone.org/units/11th.html

History of the 11th Airborne Division (The Angels)- http://www.grunts.net/army/11abn.html

History of the 511th Airborne Regiment (by Leo Kocher)- http://www.thedropzone.org/units/511thHISTORY.html

The Provisional Recon. Platoon- Spearhead of the Los Baņos raid (Terry Santos)- http://www.thedropzone.org/pacific/santos.html

Recollections of LT Dorothy Still Danner, NC, USN- http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq87-3f.htm

John Hash, 1995-2000: American Hero (Charles Culberston)- http://www.jmu.edu/mediarel/contacts/culbertson/nvcolumns/hash.htm

Rescue in the Philippines (Capt. Kevin Dougherty)- http://www.dtic.mil/soldiers/feb95/p52.html

The Los Baņos Raid (John M. Ringler)- http://www.thedropzone.org/pacific/Ringler.html

Through the Eyes of the Pilot (Capt. Herbert J. Parker)- http://www.thedropzone.org/pacific/piloteyes.html

US Army Forces Far East (USAFFE)- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/PI/USA-P-PI-2.html

United States Army in World War II (Louis Morton)- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-PI.html#III


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