Gagalac Letter Requesting for Reconsideration for Official Recognition, Oct 46
The Gagalac Guerrilla Group was one of the groups operating in Batangas that was given official recognition by the United States Army after World War II. In this October 1946 document1, Gagalac Guerrilla Unit Founder and Commanding Officer Filomeno Gagalac wrote to the Commanding General of the Armed Forces of the Western Pacific (through) channels requesting for reconsideration of an earlier decision not to officially recognize the guerrilla unit as having served with the United States forces in World War II. This transcription includes edits here and there for grammar, punctuation and spelling.
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HEADQUARTERS
GAGALAC GUERRILLAS
LEMERY, BATANGAS
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SUBJECT TO |
: Request for Reconsideration for Recognition of the Gagalac Unit : C G, AFWESPAC, APO 707
Attention: Guerrilla Affairs Branch
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Referring to letter of your Headquarters, dated 15th June 1946, denying recognition to the Gagalac Unit, a guerrilla organization under my control, while it cannot be denied that many members of this organization lived at home and assisted the active guerrillas on [a] part time basis, it is also equally true that many members devoted their entire time to guerrilla activities during the occupation. It is, therefore, in the interest of justice for these active members of my organization that I now plead for reconsideration of your decision and to request for a reinvestigation with the view to extending recognition to them for the following reasons:
(a) The unit was maintained as satisfactorily in the field as humanly possible under the circumstances, with the results Japs, if at all, dared send punitive expeditions to our sector except they be in force for fear of our guerrillas.
(b) The activities of this unit contributed to a very large extent to the defeat of the enemy, so much so that American officers had recommended them very highly. Please see attached copy of letter dated 2 June 1945, enclosure “M,” and our record of our combat engagements, enclosure “C.”
(c) Members who did not devote their entire time to guerrilla activities were eliminated from the roster and a screened roster of the original Gagalac regiment is prepared and hereby submitted in reduced strength of only 735 officers and men instead of 1263 originally submitted.
(d) Members who assisted active guerrillas on [a] part time basis were deleted from the roster herein submitted.
(e) Additional written evidences supporting the record of service of the members had been compiled and will be presented to your headquarters in addition to those hereto attached.
(f) Our unit is a combat guerrilla organization devoted to the elimination of the enemy, although it is equally true [that] we fought to protect our homes and families. Would not Americans have done the same if they were in our place during the occupation?
In justice, therefore, to our full time guerrillas, and in view of the lack of definite instructions as to the preparation of the roster in the past, I respectfully request for a recognition of the Gagalac Guerrilla members shown in the attached screened roster.
Orders from Maj. Vanderpool and Maj. Schummers are among the enclosures herein submitted, forming a part of our records. (enclosure Nos. J-1 to J-3)
Commanding Officer