Rangers' rescue

alcolm Amos won't eat rice anymore.

"They hardly fed us, and when they did, it was wormy, maggoty, moldy rice," the former prisoner of war said. "You had to eat it if you wanted to live."

Maggoty, moldy rice, occasional greens and a small piece of meat every few months kept Amos alive, but barely.

When he was captured by the Japanese, he weighed 180 pounds. When he was rescued three years later, he weighed 97.

And what a rescue it was.

A group of 125 from the U.S. Army Sixth Ranger Infantry Battalion, with the inside help of about 200 Philippine guerillas, sneaked into a Japanese prison camp, stunned the enemy and set 513 malnourished prisoners free.

Only two Rangers and two prisoners died in the raid. The prisoners died of natural causes.

Eight of those POWs, a Phillipino guerilla and 26 Rangers are part of a larger sixth battalion reunion that is occurring this weekend in Cape Girardeau.

Many of the Rangers who are attending the reunion, including reunion organizer Austin Bagby of Jackson, were not part of the raid. They carried out important World War II missions too -- they were known to take out communications and other strategic targets prior to invasions -- but the raid is the story that has inspired two novels and a movie that could be a blockbuster hit next summer. The movie is based upon, and could be named after, Hampton Sides' novel "Ghost Soldiers."

Sides, along with author Forrest Johnson who wrote "Hour of Redemption," and a PBS television crew that is working on a documentary, are all part of this weekend's reunion.

"The raid was such an incredible success, against such incredible odds," Sides said. "And it was so emotional."

Emotional, indeed.

Sides said the entire mission, which could not have been possible without the help of the Philippine guerillas, was based on emotion. There was no strategic need to go into the Cabanatuan Prison Camp and rescue those prisoners at the risk of losing 125 elite soldiers, Sides said. But, as Johnson put it, taking that risk to save fellow Americans is "the American way."

Wearing a G-string

In general, the POWs talk up the raid more than the Rangers.

John Cook, a POW, talked about wearing little more than a G-string during his three years because his 6-foot-2 frame was too big for Japanese clothing. He also remembers sleeping in hard beds with lice. When he was rescued, he was 120 pounds, 50 less than when he started.

James Hildebrand was 95 pounds when he was rescued.

Former Ranger J.T. Westmoreland of Lexington, Mo., said Cook is always saying they were angels sent from heaven.

"He must have told us that a thousand times," Westmoreland said. "It's hard for us to think like that."

Westmoreland speaks more of the execution of the mission than the valor of it.

He estimates he crawled on his belly for about a half mile before reaching his position at the camp. He said that belly crawl wore the buttons off his shirt. His shoes were filled with dirt. Later, he would carry one of the two fatally wounded Rangers from the scene.

Planes flew overhead, not to bomb, but to provide a distraction. As Japanese guards looked to the sky from their towers, Rangers took their positions.

When the Rangers moved, they moved swiftly.

At first, many of the prisoners were scared. Some thought the shooting was the mass execution of prisoners. Once the prisoners saw the Rangers, many didn't recognize the green uniforms. Uniforms before that were made of blue denim, Cook said.

"They looked so funny," Cook said. "They all wore green and had all these weapons. They had grenades hanging from their belts. They said they were Yanks but I told them no Yanks would dress that ugly."

Hildebrand still remembers the rush of energy he felt once the shooting stopped the night of Jan. 13, 1945.

"We got another life again," Hildebrand said.

Cook, Hildebrand and Amos were among the lucky ones who still had enough strength to walk. Others were carried away on carts, pulled by cattle.

After a 30-mile walk, the prisoners were taken away on military trucks to be fed.

"At the field kitchen, they had a three-day supply of food," Amos said. "We ate three days of rations that night."

And former Ranger Bagby is sure that none of the rations included rice.

bmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127