Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission

Abraham “Abie” Abraham (1913-2012) was a World War II veteran as well as a survivor of the Bataan Death March and the Cabanatuan POW camp. Abie was also the former Guinness World Record holder for the longest tree-sitting for 121 days.

Abraham was born to Syrian immigrants in Pennsylvania. He excelled at boxing. Abraham joined the US Navy, followed by the Army in 1932. In the Philippines, he was a staff sergeant of the First Battalion in the 31st Infantry. He arrived in the area with his wife and three children before the US entered World War II.

During the war, he was in the Bataan Death March, subsequently spending three years as a POW in the Cabanatuan camp. After his liberation in January 1945, Abraham stayed in the Philippines on a special assignment, identifying and recovering his fellow soldiers from the Death March and obtaining the necessary documents about them. He earned a Purple Heart and other medals for his military service.

Back in the US, Abrahamson worked as a recruiter and served in Germany before retiring from the military. Abraham wrote the Ghost of Bataan Speaks (1971) and Oh God Where Are You (1997) about his experiences as a soldier and a prisoner of war. Abraham was also featured in documentaries on the History and Discovery channels.

Ralph Emerson Hibbs (1913-2000) was one of the survivors of the Bataan Death March and the Cabanatuan POW camp.

Born in Iowa, Hibbs received his medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1936, subsequently spending his residency in Chicago. He joined the US Army Medical Corps and ended up in the Philippines.

A survivor of the Bataan Death March and the Cabanatuan POW camp, Hibbs later wrote Tell MacArthur to Wait about his experiences during the war. After the war, he got married and joined the University of Oregon Medical School in Portland. Later, Hibbs worked at the Doctors’ Clinic in Medford, Oregon. 

Masaharu Homma (1887-1946) was a Lieutenant General in the Japanese Imperial Forces during the World War II battle for the Philippines. He was a convicted war criminal executed in 1946 for his role in the Bataan Death March.

Homma completed the Military Academy of the Japanese Imperial Army in 1907. Eight years later, he graduated from the Army General Staff College. Homma worked as an observer with the British Army during World War I in France. In the 1920s, Homma became Japan’s resident officer in British-controlled India. A fluent English speaker, he went on to work in London as a military attaché.

In late 1941, Homma led the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and Japan controlled the islands until the American liberation in 1945. Despite the successful battles of Bataan and Corregidor in the spring of 1942, Homma was demoted and then retired due to disagreements with Hajime Sugiyama, the Army Chief of Staff, in August 1943. The Bataan Death March that took away thousands of American and Filipino POW lives took place under Homma’s overall command.

Homma surrendered to the Allies in September 1945. He was put on a war crimes trial in December in the Philippines by the Americans for his role in the Bataan Death March, even though he appeared to not have given direct orders for the mistreatment of the captive soldiers. In 1946, he was executed by firing squad. Homma’s execution was a matter of controversy at that time and remains a subject of debate among historians.

Eduardo Joson (1919–1990) was a Filipino guerilla leader during World War II. He is best-known for his role in the rescue raid on the Cabanatuan POW camp to save the remaining prisoners of war.

During World War II, Captain Joson lead Squadron 213. He successfully worked with Captain Pajota and Colonel Mucci’s Rangers to liberate the Cabanatuan camp on January 30, 1945. He earned the Bronze Star, like the other Filipino participants.

After the war, Joson went on to become the governor of the Nueva Ecija area in the Philippines and served between 1959 and 1990.

Henry Mucci (1909-1997) was an American colonel during World War II. He is best-known for the mission to rescue the Allied POWs outside Cabanatuan, Philippines.

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to immigrant Italian parents, Mucci graduated from the West Point military academy in 1936. During World War II, Mucci led the 98th Field Artillery Battalion. He transformed this unit from an artillery group into the Army Rangers. The troops trained in New Guinea, learning the techniques of the special forces.

General Walter Krueger and Colonel Horton White selected Mucci to liberate the POWs even though the mission lacked strategic value. In early 1945, Mucci led the Rangers, aided by the Filipino guerilla troops and the Sixth Army Special Reconnaissance, on a dangerous mission to free more than 500 prisoners of war held captive by the Japanese imperial troops. Mucci lost only two men in action. He earned the Distinguished Service Cross for the success of this operation. Mucci also earned a Purple Heart, a Silver Star, and other military awards.

Back from the war, he got married and started a family. In 1946, Mucci participated in an unsuccessful run as a Democrat for the House seat. Later, he worked for the Sunningdale Oil Company and lived in Asia.

Juan Pajota (1914-1976) was a Filipino guerilla leader instrumental to the success of the Cabanatuan POW rescue raid due to his intimate knowledge of the terrain, the locals, and his ability to commit men to the operation.

Born in the Nueva Ecija area of the Philippines, Pajota served in the Philippine Scouts. When World War II reached the Philippines, Captain Pajota “so tenaciously devoted himself to the resistance that the Japanese had long ago put a price out on his head” (158). Pajota earned a Bronze Star for the successful Cabanatuan POW rescue. Eventually, after the war, Pajota relocated to the US and passed away shortly before receiving his citizenship.

Claire Phillips (1907-1960) was an American performer, club owner, and spy in the Japanese-controlled Philippines during World War II. She was a major source in the secret network helping the Allied POWs and gathering intelligence on Japanese troops.

Born in Michigan in 1907 as Claire Snyder, she grew up in Oregon. Musically gifted, Phillips moved to Manila in 1941 after a divorce. Shortly after the move, she married Sergeant John V. Phillips. He was a participant in the Battle of Bataan, the Bataan Death March, and, later, died in the Cabanatuan POW camp.

During her time in the Philippines, Phillips used the name Dorothy Clara Fuentes and the nickname “High Pockets.” She joined the underground resistance, running Club Tsubaki for the Japanese occupation forces and gathering information from them. She also successfully smuggled messages, food, medicine, and other supplies to the POW camps. In 1944, Phillips was arrested and sentenced to death. However, the US troops liberated her in early 1945.

Phillips returned to the US, publishing Manila Espionage (1947) and becoming the subject of the film I Was an American Spy (1951).