|
 t least Hollywood if not Washington remembers
some of the valuable and well as heroic contributions of Filipino fighting men
and women during World War II.
The new Hollywood movie out in theaters early this August from Miramax
films is about a little-known Army Rangers rescue mission in Cabanatuan,
Philippines. With the help of Filipino guerillas led by
Captain Juan Pajota (Filipino actor Cesar Montano plays Capt. Pajota in
the film), Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci and his men forged deep
inside enemy territory to rescue 500 survivors of the Bataan Death
March, from the infamous Cabanatuan Japanese POW Camp.
The film is based
in part on the novel by author Hampton Sides, titled Ghost Soldiers.
In this
well-researched and fascinating book Sides describes in riveting
 detail
how a group of brash Army Rangers risked their lives to rescue the last
remaining soldiers of the Bataan Death March from the Japanese POW camp. The
rescue mission, which was made up of approximately 200 American
Rangers and 150 Filipino Guerillas, is sadly just one of the many
shining moments of courage and valor that has been, for the most part,
forgotten by both Filipinos and Americans alike.
 In
one of the many glowing reviews of Side's book, reviewer Alissa
Cunningham notes that "heroes can be found everywhere" from Colonel
Mucci, who lead the operation, to Filipina "Clara Fuentes, who risked
her life to smuggle information, food, and items to the prisoners"
inside the camp.
The movie and the
book should provide a boost to our collective "Pinoy self-esteem" that
of late has been hammered by all sorts of unpleasant events back home.
|
