They volunteered to transfer to Los Baos to help the original two doctors with the hospital there. The camp covered roughly 60-acres and sits between the foothills of Mount Makiling and the northern shore of Laguna de Bay. Government Printing Office, 1950, pp. B Company is briefed on the rescue mission by Lt. Ringler while at Bilibid Prison following a breakfast of coffee, pancakes and bacon, luxuries the paratroopers had not known for months. Ringler noted that Swing emphasized to me that unless we were successful, we may have problems getting out of the area and would be engaged in heavy fighting.. The 1st Battalion (Abn), 511th Infantry was reflagged as the 2d Battalion (Abn), 8th Cavalry, while the 1st Battalion (Abn), 188th Infantry was reflagged as the 1st Battalion (Abn), 8th Cavalry, and the 1st Battalion (Abn), 187th Infantry, was reflagged as the 1st Battalion (Abn), 12th Cavalry, all units of the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. They assist in the destruction of an enemy machine gun emplacement (dropping 4 or 5 60mm mortars) and a bunker on the way. The majority of the 11th Airborne landed amphibiously at Nagsubu on Luzon and pushed inland through fierce enemy resistance outside Aga. Everyone else walks along the road carrying their meager possessions on their backs while the camp continues to burn behind them. Ringler noted, Everyone had the attitude, It not only can be done, it will be done. That attitude mellowed somewhat as the troopers learned the specifics of the mission, but no one doubted they could pull it off. The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment (511th PIR) was an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, first activated during World War II under Colonel Orin D. "Hard Rock" Haugen. The camp just kind of fell apart and the food situation began to deteriorate., 500 more internees are transferred to LosBaos, Japans Vice-minister of war LTG Kyoji (Yatsugu) Tominaga authorizes all POW and internee camp commanders to kill their prisoners if an uprising of large numbers cannot be suppressed without the use of firearms or when escapees from the camp may turn into a hostile fighting force. The method of killing could be mass bombing, poisonous smoke, poisons, drowning, decapitations, or what, dispose of them as the situation dictates In any case it is the aim not to allow the escape of a single one, to annihilate them all, and not to leave any traces.. The final operation of the Division was conducted on 23 June 1945, in conjunction with the advance of the 37th Division in northern Luzon. The total strength of1stBattalion (412 men and officers), plus the Recon Platoon (22 effective men and 1 officer) and D Battery/457th(about 20 men) was roughly 455 men and officers. Find 11th Airborne Division unit information, patches, operation history, veteran photos and more on TogetherWeServed.com. Swing then explains the mission to rescue the internees at Los Baos. The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment arrives at Dobodura, Papua New Guinea for additional theater training and are in reserve for continuing operations on the islands north which earns the regiment its first of three campaign streamers. During January 1945 the Division rested and staged for a landing on Luzon. 88th Glider Infantry Regiment Unit History 1941-1945 . This is Camp Freedom." With minimum artillery support, the Angels fought into the city and liberated Cavite, Fort McKinley, Nichols Field, and more. Cliff Town, Sgt. This information, at this time, comes mainly from Filipino guerillas and other local sources. The 11th Airborne's MG Joseph Swing (above, third from left) disagreed, as did Airborne Command, so Swing chaired The Swing Board, a group of officers that created the doctrine for large-scale airborne operations. Herbert J. Swing requests Amtracs to use in the raid from Gen. Erwin Griswold of XIV Corps. Their loyalty to each other, ability to endure combat's harsh realities and the emotional struggles they faced to help win the war has earned the 511th PIR the nickname, "The Band of Brothers of the Pacific.". Miller and Turner took one boat across the lake while Siemer and 45thHunter 1LT Carlos Charlie Chan took another. Lt. Ringler, however, believed he was in trouble and going to be relieved for some perceived failure. Recon Platoon members Leo Sapp and Bill Taylor marked B Companys drop zone with smoke grenades. Another crucial piece of information shared by Miles was that the Japanese guards did their daily calisthenics, without fail, from 0645 to 0715 at which time their personal weapons were secured in their barracks. Defense Department inspectors also made sure they had all their shots and dental work done, so the young Angels gladly packed up to board the train on April 20. Nickname: The Angels. Nurse Dorothy Still said, By March 1944, the whole spirit at Los Baos changed. He also decides that the drop formation should fly three Vs-in-trail of three planes each because of the small DZ. 800 male internees arrive are taken by train from the Santo Tomas internment camp to the Los Baos internment camp located on the grounds of the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture and UP College of Forestry (now the University of the Philippines Los Baos). Col. Lahti later wrote, It was my belief that any company in my regiment could have done a great job at whatever task they were assigned. Wayne H. Milton Pvt. The head of the marching column reaches the beach outside San Antonio and about 1,500 internees are loaded into the Amtracs, women, children with the sick being prioritized. Moving inland, the division relieved the 7th Infantry Division before heading up into Leyte's mountains to destroy the island's main Japanese supply line. (2,381 names) from the 1943 Yearbook 1946 Yearbook 511th PIR 1st Battalion Roster (396 names) in Hanamaki-Onsen, Japan from their 1946 Yearbook 1947- 48 Rosters 511th PIR Regt. When the Jeep slammed to halt three feet from the edge of a deep gorge whose bridge had been blown, Swings temper blew as well. From Camp Toccoa to Tokyo, and the training grounds of Camp Mackall and New Guinea to the nightmarish combat of the Leyte and Luzon campaigns, When Angels Falls is a masterful narrative by a former journalist and historian who here tells the full story of a group of Americas heroes, the elite paratroopers Angels in World War II. Utilizing firsthand experiences and interviews with members of the 511th PIR, including his grandfather 1st Lieutenant Andrew Carrico of Company D, Jeremy tells the full story of this historic regiment. as of October 1948, are reproduced from The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. The second serial jumped at 1215 and the paratroopers then spearhead the Divisions push north into southern Manilla, though the Divisions Reconnaissance Platoon spent that evening patrolling towards the city. The 511th crossed the Paranaque River 5 February, and reached Manila, meeting fierce Japanese resistance. The DZ was small, only 1,500 feet by 3,200 feet, and bordered by high-voltage lines, trees and railroad tracks (some records say Col. Quandt picked the DZ, but Burgess and Ringler state Ringler did). At 0700 the squad under Town (consisting of BAR man Bob Carroll, Medic Gerald (Bud) Schum, Radioman Loren Brown, Mike Gulywase, and escaped Los Baos civilian Jack Conners, along with several Filipino guerrillas) assault several guardhouses and enemy positions before eliminating an attacking enemy squad then continue into camp. Col. Lahti knew Johnny well and fully believed he was qualified to get the job done. 511th Parachute Infantry Regt, 11th Airborne Division: Rank: First Lieutenant U.S. Army: Entered Service From: California : Date of Death: November 27 1944: Status: Missing In Action: Memorialized: Walls of the Missing. The 511 Parachute Infantry Regiment - When Angels Fall, Click here to view the original camp notice posted at Santo Tomas regarding the transfer to Los Banos, WHEN ANGELS FALL: From Toccoa to Tokyo, The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II by visiting our online store. This includes Companies A, C and Battalion Headquarters of the 511thPIR, plus a Firing Section of D Battery of the 457thParachute Field Artillery Battalion. While at Camp Stoneman, the 511th PIR (which had to remove all their jump boots, wings and unit insignia for secrecy) trained for boarding and disembarking from naval vessels and broke the post's prior twelve-mile march record by forty-five minutes. Marcelino Tan ordered his men to open fire. history and see preview clips of upcoming programs follow us at c-spanhistory. The machine gun stopped firing but the (Amtrac) was dipping from side to side and taking on water with each dip. On 6 December 1944 the paratroopers of the 11th found themselves fighting Japanese parachutists who had landed near the San Pablo airstrip. In the fighting, the 11th Airborne earned 2 Medals of Honor, 9 Distinguished Service Crosses, 1 Distinguished Service Medal, 10 Legion of Merit medals, 326 Silver Stars, 1,126 Bronze Stars, 27 Air Medals and 884 Purple Hearts. Joining the group are "The Sacred Eleven", eleven US Navy nurses who had been stationed at the Cavite Naval Yards and helped the wounded during the invasion of Manila in 1941. The team led by Santos consisted of Lawrence Botkin, Vinson Call, McFadden and 12 Filipino guerrillas. The remaining men depart separately in two additional bancas. Griswold approves and the Amtracs are approved by US Sixth Army (who never asked what the Amtracs were for until Thursday, February 22). Rod Serling served as a U.S. Army paratrooper and demolition specialist with the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific Theater in World War II from January 1943 to January 1945. duty. Rev. Manila American Cemetery . Ringler selects the drop zone from aerial recon photos and elects to drop from a height of 400-500 feet. She will be 3 days old on the day of liberation and is carried out of the camp in a helmet liner. The Amtracs return to Mayondon from Mamatid and Maj. Burgess has the last internees load first, then the gun crews of the 457th PFAB and finally his own paratroopers just as several hundred of the enemy arrived around 1500. Internee Freddy Zervoulakas, a 19-year old Greek-Filipino, escapes the camp and contacts Filipino guerillas outside the camp (his brother Tony is actually with the 45thHunters, 44th Division, Hunters-ROTC). 1943 World War 2 U.S. 511th Parachute Infantry Camp Mackall, NC Yearbook. It was cold, rainy and the post's armored units clashed with the paratroopers who knew they were the superior soldiers. Leonard W. Hahn Pfc. Gen. After almost a year training in ground and Airborne tactics, the division was tested for overseas movement and in May 1944, sailed Subscribe to 511th Parachute Infantry Regt, 11th Airborne Division Footer menu. Activated 25 February 1943 at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. They then boarded ships for a 2,100 mile journey to Leyte. At 0645 one of the guerrillas is attacked by a villagers dog. The company was inactivated in November 1995 and the pathfinder mission discontinued, along with the Air Assault course for which the company provided instructors, due to budget and manpower ceiling cuts. After crashing through the gate, Maj. Burgess sends C Company, 511thPIR under Capt. Here the battalion hides all day and the men are fully briefed on the operation and are allowed to study maps and aerial photographs of the camp and surrounding area. Gen. Robert Eichelberger sends word to Gen. Joseph Swing that he wants the 11th Airborne Division to rescue the 2,100+ internees held captive at Los Baos. It would be an advantage, however, for the chosen company to have the greatest strength of company men as possible. (Note: this was the first anyone in the 11th AB apart from the small planning committee had heard of Los Baos). Publications: Angels; by Maj. Edward M. Flanagan, Jr., Unit Historian; The Infantry Journal, Washington 6, D. C.: 1948. The driver pointed a .45 pistol back at us and said, Anyone loading that thing again gets a bullet in the head.. Sgts. Additional jumpers included 3 Filipino guerilla aides of B Company (one per platoon, their names were Jing, Oscar and 1LT Carlos Charlie Chan, a member of the 45thHunters Regiment), plus Bob Fletcher, another 45thHunter, and 9 engineers under 1LT Alan Chenevert and SSG William Potoka from 3rd Platoon (-), C Co, 127th Airborne Engineers. Leonard Hahn with their attached Marking's guerillas. It was a very emotional moment. James M. Bruce T/Sgt. 11th AIRBORNE DIVISION 511th A.I.R YEARBOOK FOR SALE THE BLANK PAGE IS MISSING FROM BOOK AND THERE IS ALSO 1 PAGE THAT IS TORN AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE from 882334083 . Included are maps, documents, letters, reports, and other unique 511th PIR historical items. Constituted 12 November 1942 as the 11th Airborne Division. Much of the intel comes from Col. Vanderpools guerilla forces and aerial reconnaissance. Hahn, Squires, and Santos and three of the civilians, were wondering where the rest of the platoon was. 2. Civilians in the barrio of Los Baos are cautioned by the guerrillas to remain safely in their homes during the raid or evacuate to safer areas, because the Japanese might retaliate against them as suspects of being accomplices. 13th Airborne Division Unit Histories of Organic Elements 1941-1944 . At the end of June 1965 the personnel and equipment of the 11th AAD(T) and the 2d Infantry Division were merged to become the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). He drew his pistol and shot the animal, causing the entire team to stop, awaiting the response of the Japanese. The lightly opposed landings were spearheaded by the 188th GIR under LTC Ernest H. LaFlamme. Men and supplies were transferred to another boat and restarted. Major Henry Burgess later told me he could hear the Jap officers giving commands as we withdrew.. Nestled on the southern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Camp Toccoa was a little camp outside a little town far off the beaten path. The 511th PIR formed on January 5 under thirty-six-year-old LTC Orin D. Haugen who became known as "Hard Rock" due to the rigorous training he put his men through at the 17,530-acre camp, including their "three miles up, three miles down" runs on Currahee Mountain. 37 The voyage to the objective area was uneventful. G-2 LTC Henry Muller and his staff complete their tentative map of the Los Baos internment camp based on aerial reconnaissance and reports from Filipino guerillas. William R. McCarthy, one of the Catholic clergy interned at the camp, wrote, The struggle for survival forced us to eat weeds, flowers, vines, salamanders, the pulpy insides of banana trees, and juicy black bugs. So, we loaded and fired at the hill with a charge one, I believe. The 511th PIR is sent battalion by battalion to Fort Bennings Jump School where no member of the regiment refused to exit the plane and nearly all earned their parachutists badge. The two discuss the feasibility of using Filipinos to affect a rescue of the internees at Los Banos, an action Vanderpool (whom the Angels affectionately called The Little Corporal) believed was impracticable. As the Angels are now engaged with the enemy and the camp lay miles outside the divisions line of advance, Gen. Joseph Swing elects to delay the operation until his under-strength division was in a better place to affect such a rescue mission. When Gen. The jeep arrived Mamatid Beach, also known as Bugod, just as the last Amtracs were departing across Laguna de Bay (see below). Utilizing firsthand experiences and interviews with members of the 511th PIR, including his grandfather 1st Lieutenant Andrew Carrico of Company D, Jeremy tells the full story of this historic regiment. The regiment remained in the Lipa-Batangas area, training for the planned invasion of Japan, until the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In a continuous series of combat actions, Japanese resistance was reduced on Leyte by the end of December 1944. Even so, no one expected all the prisoners to make it and B Company was told that success would be declared if only one-third of the internees survived. he chronicles the regiments 1945 liberation of over 2100 allied civilian and military personnel from the japanese military's los banos . The 11th Airborne Division breaks through The Genko Line, the enemys heavy line of interlocking defenses along Manillas southern edge. Their bodies were recovered and buried beside the College chapel (Hunters were usually cremated so the enemy could not identify and desecrate them). Lt. Skau and his six men, as well as Sgts. He was seriously wounded in the wrist and knee during combat and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.. Serling's military service deeply affected the rest of his life and . Glenn A. Glover Pvt. Japanese guns on Mayondon Point began firing at the unit, and D Battery, 457thPFABs artillery goes into action while the rest of the amphibious assault advances toward Los Baos roughly two miles away. The internees names were checked off a list and friendly soldiers, including from F-511 who were guarding the prison, distributed Hershey bars and provided pots of celery soup for the hungry group. Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Badge, 1st Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry, Holm, Jeremy C. "When Angels Fall: The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II MacArthurs Secret Weapon & Heroes of Los Baos" 2019 Amazon, This page was last edited on 9 February 2023, at 03:54. Following 17 weeks of Basic training, the 511th journeyed to the Fort Benning Parachute School for three weeks of jump training. The note directed Big Ed to select one parachute company for operations behind enemy lines. All those who served in the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment deserve our undying respect. The last Amtracs depart from San Antonio for Mamatid. For three weeks, the 511th PIR crossed the Pacific onboard the Sea Pike, alone, enduring stiffing conditions below decks and long lines for their two daily meals. Robert H. Angus, Jr. Pfc. The 511th had led the assault and broken through the Genko Line, but was soon replaced as the division's spearhead by the 188th; the glider regiment advanced westwards towards Manila in the face. Griswold agrees. Martin Squires, Sgt. On 23 February its 1st Battalion took part in the Raid at Los Baos, freeing over 2,000 foreign Allied civilians from a Japanese internment camp south of Manila, with its B Company performing a parachute jump on the camp itself.[3]. One platoon from A Company jumps off to secure the beach along with two jeep-drawn 75mm pack howitzers. TWS is the largest online community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator. On March 23, 1943, the 511th PIR closed at Camp Mackall, NC to join the 11th Airborne Division, under the command of Major General Joseph M. Swing. The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment was a parachute infantry unit of the United States Army first activated during World War II. The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment was assigned the task of attacking and destroying all Japanese formations in the operational area, which it began on 28 November when it relieved the 7th. The regiment, led by Colonels Orin "Hard Rock" Haugen and Edward "Slugger" Lahti, helped save the United States Airborne during the Knollwood Maneuvers, eliminate Japanese forces on Leyte, liberate Manila and rescue 2,142 internees at the Los Baos prison camp in 1945, were the first full unit into Japan at the end of World War II, formed General MacArthur's Honor Guard and protected the Allied dignitaries during the surrender ceremony on the USS Missouri. Malepunyo and ultimately the Angels participated in Task Force Aparri, the last combat airborne operation of the war. Baby Lois Kathleen McCoy is born in the Los Baos Internment Camp to Oscar and Mildred McCoy with Navy nurse Dorothy Still Danner performing the delivery. Shoulder patch: A red circle on a royal blue shield containing a white numeral "11" ; the circle is bordered in white with white wings raising obliquely from the white periphery; in the top arc, the white letters "Airborne" are alined with shape of arc. Ed J. Siemer and Robert Turner) to make a reconnaissance of the drop zone with members of the Divisions Reconnaissance Platoon and then return to the unit for debriefing and then to jump with B Company. Gambling was common and many Angels slept on deck at night to enjoy the cooler air. Despite some misdrops, the 511th assembled successfully at its drop zone at the Manila Hotel Annex on Tagaytay Ridge and proceeded in battalions north towards Manila, encountering occasional Japanese resistance in the towns of Imus and Las Pias before engaging the Japanese at the Paraaque River just south of Manila. During their return trip, the 457th artillery men noticed a Japanese gun crew on a hillside to the west which was firing on the lumbering column of amphibious tractors. Out of 12,000 volunteers, only 2,176 remained, having passed (i.e. Brig. Swing also radios 1stBattalion at Mamatid to send a driver to pick him up at Division HQ. The Amtracs depart from Mamatid Village carrying the balance of 1st Battalion under Maj. Henry Burgess to land at the beach outside San Antonio/Mayondon, a journey of 7.5 miles. The cadre of the 511th PIR were selected mainly from the 505th PIR which was then stationed in Fort Benning, GA. Author & American bobsled athlete & former head coach Jeremy C. Holm was born in Pennsylvania near Valley Forge. Miles points out the location of all the internees quarters, the guard houses, and sentry and pillbox/guardhouse sites along with machine gun emplacements. Taskforce commanders are allowed the recon their routes of approach to Laguna de Bay and the 511th PIRs 1st Battalion under Maj. Burgess continues their march south and leaves the highway and proceeds across the countryside towards the shore of Laguna de Bay to a point near Mamatid-Bugod. Walter Hettingler, CO of the attached HQ1 light machine squad, noticed that some of the straw and bamboo quarters towards the rear of the camp were on fire (Lt. Skaus men had thrown phosphorous grenades to burn the Japanese barracks and their weapons). The regiment proceeded to clear a transport corridor from Manila to the towns of Lipa and Batangas City, which has an important port, and took the crossroads town of Santo Tomas. If you served in 11th Airborne Division, Join TWS for free to reconnect with service friends. On 3 February 1945 the 511th on board 48 C-47 aircraft performed a combat jump on Tagaytay Ridge. Heavy resistance was met at Rock Hill, which finally fell, 18 December; a sleeping enemy was caught off guard at Hacksaw Hill, 23 December, and suffered heavy losses. All four jumped with B Company during the raid. In addition to motivational speaking and corporate appearances, Jeremy is the author of two additional books and spends his time camping, hiking, writing and traveling the country to tell the story of the Angels. After securing the Atusgi Air Base near Yokohama on 30 August 1945, for General Douglas MacArthur's arrival, the regiment took up defensive positions before being tasked with guarding the departure docks for the Surrender Ceremony on board the USSMissouri. Maj. Gen. William M. Miley (24 January 1948 to present). As the jump craft approach the DZ under Maj. Don Anderson with Capt. The remainder of 1/511 arrives at the beach with Maj. Burgess bringing up the rear with 2nd Platoon, B Company as rearguard. With orders from Gen. Internees unable to walk are loaded onto the Amtracs which begin the two-mile journey back to the beach. Call Pfc. And as a historian for the 511th PIR, and the 11th Airborne as a whole, I have to agree with Andy. The 511th PIR was activated at Camp Toccoa, Georgia on January 5, 1943, under the command of LTC Orin D. Haugen. The Amtracs make their final course adjustment to land on the beach outside San Antonio/Mayondon which is marked at 0658 by white smoke grenades ignited by Recon Platoon members under Sgt. At that moment I wished I had gone over the cliff.. Miller/Turner had to turn back while Siemer/Charlie completed the recon mission. The 11th Airborne Division ("Angels") was a United States Army airborne formation, first activated on 25 February 1943, during World War II. Roughly 400 troopers take up defensive positions to defend the beachhead and the remaining 700 internees. The main guerrilla unit that participated directly with the Recon members were the 45th Hunter Regiment under Inspector Gustavo Ingles with Col. Honorio K. Guerrero as ground assault commander. Awards: MH-2 ; DSC-9 ; SS-432; LM-10; SM-56 ; BSM-1,515 ; AM-41. The first combat jump by an element of the division in the war, that of the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment on Tagaytay Ridge, 3 February 1945, met no resistance. Both battle groups were replaced in the 24th with non-Airborne battle groups. In February 1949, the Regiment except for the 3rd Battalion departed Camp Haugen and returned to the United States via the Panama Canal and arrived in New Orleans in March 1949, from where it moved to Camp Campbell, Kentucky. The Angels' time at Camp Polk was not one they remembered with fondness. With input from Gen. Joseph Swing, the mission is set for 0700 on February 23, 1945. Beightler later commented during a speech on November 20, 1988, I have never ever seen a man quite so mad, before or since. It formed the parachute infantry element of the 11th Airborne Division. On 23 June elements of the regiment took part in the war's final combat jump at Aparri in northern Luzon, part of the effort to seal off the retreat of Japanese commander General Yamashita. The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) is established at Camp Toccoa, GA under thirty-six-year-old LTC Orin D. Haugen. Terry Santos, and Sgt. This information is also relayed to Division HQ and Guerilla Command by Col. Gustavo Ingles via Col. E. Terry Adevosos HQ radio. The 11th Airborne Division was formally activated at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, on 25 February 1943, commanded by Major General Joseph M. Swing. Bill Abernathy hand delivers a message from Division HQ/Gen. To his astonishment, Swing suggested that Burgess retain the beachhead forged so deeply into enemy territory by liberating the town of Los Baos then linking up with TF-Soule to push forward. Please enjoy this currated list of 11th Airborne Division videos that has been created by division author and historian Jeremy C. Holm, author of WHEN ANGELS. Clifford L. Marsh Pvt. Robert T. Foss which company had the greatest strength available to which Foss indicated Baker Company with its 93 men (Lt. Ringler later said it was closer to 80). Maj. Donald G. Anderson, 65thTroop Carrier Squadron, and copilot Capt. Carrying their ammunition and 3 days rations, the Angels headed into "The Green Hell" and over the next thirty days they endured hunger, monsoon rains, mud, steep terrain, volcanic rock and banzai attacks out of the night's darkness. survived) Colonel Orin Haugen's strict acceptance guidelines. From 27 to 29 April it engaged and eliminated the remaining Japanese forces entrenched in underground complexes in the Mount Malepunyo (Malarayat) range east of Lipa. Anselmo "Momong" Soler]. The 11th Airborne Division is formed at Camp Mackall, NC under Major-General Joseph May Swing, three days before the generals forty-ninth birthday. Deaths mounted to two a day in January 1945.. A Task Force was formed and jumped on Camalaniugan Airfield, south of Aparri. 13th Airborne Division G-3 Journal June 1945 . Observing that the internees were moving away from the fires, Hettlinger and S/Sgt. Chronicles Page. The Divisions Recon Platoon under Lt. George Skau is trucked to barrio Walilias from which they depart in three bancas, one carrying Lt. Skau and six others, including Peter Miles. In this book you will learn about one of America's most elite fighting forces and one of the only parachute units to fight in the Pacific Theater. Gen. The Filipino crew of the becalmed banca mentioned that the Japanese army maintained armed patrol boats on the lake, which occasionally came out for routine checks of fishing boats. After the surrender of Japan, the 511th under Colonel Edward H. Lahti went with the 11th Airborne Division as the first Allied unit to land on Japan.