‘Our attention is better served by commemorating the sacrifices of the Battling Bastards of Bataan at a time when the former USAFFE Commander-in-Chief was already safely away in Australia and the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command had unfortunately collapsed.’
THE one time when violence was called for was the Second World War as it took massive anti-fascist violence to defeat massive fascist violence.
“If you don’t want to give away, To a German with his black gun, Your house, your mother, your wife – All that’s yours as a native son – No: No one will save your land, If you don’t save it from the worst.” [КонÑтантин Симонов, Убей его!] “No: No one will kill this foe. If you don’t kill him first. And until you have killed him, don’t Talk about your love – and Call the house where you lived your home, Or the land where you grew up your land.” [Konstantin Simonov, “Kill him!”]
Between 26 March 1942 and 06 April 1942, for instance, the Hitlerites (Slovaks and Germans) conducted a Bandenbekämpfung against the people of Belarus, murdering at least 6,000 people (local peasants, guerrilla supporters, non-fugitive Jews), thus, unveiling campaigns of plunder and deportation. What was the correct response to the Nazi Operation Bamberg? Hear the verses of Konstantin Simonov:
“Well may I curse in years to come
The features of your face.
My love is like a cataclysm,
Transcending time and space.
There’s not a friend or comrade dear
Who in the light of day
Could come into this flaming fire
And pull me clear away.
Despairing of escaping you
And raving like a fool,
As harnessed to an earthquake,
I live under your rule.
But when I come to free myself
From this hallucination,
I shall defend you when I hear
Their words of condemnation.
‘Why do you number up her sins?
She’s neither wrong nor right!
She’s not a woman, she’s a force,
A tempest in the night;
And feeling the approaching threat,
I went to meet the storm!
I did not stay, like you, indoors,
Where it was dry and warm’.”
Only the anti-fascists fighting as part of the original United Nations have earned the privilege of writing “Well may I curse in years to come…” Not those multi-millionaires who throw tantrums in the midst of televised ceremonies where the elitists give one another trophies to hike their market prices.
Our attention is better served by commemorating the sacrifices of the Battling Bastards of Bataan at a time when the former USAFFE Commander-in-Chief was already safely away in Australia and the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) had unfortunately collapsed. Diary of Basilio J. Valdes, March 30, 1942 — Monday: “Arrived in Melbourne at 9 a.m. We were met at the station by General & Mrs. MacArthur and his staff. The President and members of his family were conducted to the home of Mr. Norman Myer a wealthy Australian businessman, and we were taken to the Chevron Hotel, a neat and quiet place full of old and unattractive women. We were told that the US Army had commandeered this hotel and that beginning April 4th there would be no more civilians. I have room 14. After I had installed my things in my room, I went with Joe McMicking to purchase a sweater and order some warm clothing. It is quite chilly. Joe invited Vice-President Osmeña and I to lunch at the Menzies Hotel. Nice place — good food. General MacArthur and his staff live there.” [https://philippinediaryproject.com/1942/03/30/march-30-1942-monday/] Diary of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Monday, March 30, 1942: “Wainwright’s position is getting bad — food and medicine required, and except for sub there’s not much chance!”
Yes, the Philippines was the one place in Southeast Asia where the Allies were successfully resisting the Oriental Hitlerites: “Terrific day. Heavy fighting in front. Fred sent to west sector. I went to east. Spent day observing progress of battle. Japs raining bombs on front line, powdering every inch of ground. Our artillery can only fire occasionally because of continuous presence of Jap planes. Japs trying to break line with artillery fire supporting tank formations. Boys holding out with machine-guns and mines laid in front area. Japs have broken part of barbed wire but cannot penetrate. Many casualties on both sides. Japs are also using flame-throwers. Incendiaries are being dropped on the rear. Trucks carrying food cannot go to the line. Dumps are being bombed without let-up. Any truck or car on any trail or road is machine-gunned. Even trucks carrying wounded cannot move. U.S. tanks rushed to eastern sector. Japs will undoubtedly try to break through the east, perhaps in the very center of the front line, in the Patingan river. If line breaks, it is the end for all of us. No more reserve line. Boys must hold and fight at all cost or all is lost. Had to stop car two times because of strafing Jap planes. One bullet hit the running board near the chauffeur. Fred reports that Japs are also putting pressure on the west. But it is agreed that attacks on the west are just diversionary attacks. Main thrust will be in the east or perhaps in the very center, followed by a double envelopment maneuver. Area in front of line has been partially mined. Several lines of barbed wire have been emplaced. Our artillery is ready for advancing Jap tanks. Huge clouds of dust in the front. The zero hour has begun.” [HQ, MIS, Bataan, Diary of Felipe Buencamino III, March 31, 1942]
We commemorate as well the Filipino guerrillas who opened a second front outside of the peninsula of Bataan and the island of Corregidor, particularly the Huks: “In March 1942, when the fall of Bataan became imminent, a group of Filipino peasants and workers led by Luis M. Taruc banded together in a barrio in Central Luzon to organize a resistance movement, otherwise known as the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap) directed against the Japanese Imperial Army during the occupation of the Philippines.” [https://mirror.officialgazette.gov.ph/1977/10/07/presidential-decree-no-1207-s-1977/] “Hukbalahaps were finally recognized as legitimate and bona fide veterans entitled to the same benefits.” [https://mirror.officialgazette.gov.ph/1986/09/27/r-c-c-no-94-saturday-september-27-1986/]
Salute the Soviet Red Army, the Battling Bastards of Bataan, and the Hukbalahap.
