FILIPINO SCOUTS MET JAPANESE INVASION
Originally a 2 part article which I have condensed into one article. This article is about my grandpa, Eulalio Arzaga Sr, who currently lives in Killeen Texas.
FILIPINO SCOUTS MET JAPANESE INVASION
By MARK BROADAWAY Killeen Daily Herald
We’re the battling bastards of Bataan;
No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam;
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces;
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces.
… And nobody gives a damn.
Those grim words became the battle cry of former Filipino Scout Eulalio “Eli” Arzaga of Killeen, who helped defend the mountainous peninsula of Bataan for 14 weeks during the Japanese invasion of the Philippine island of Luzon.
With an empty stomach and sick body, his mind tortured by the strain of fighting with the knowledge that all hope of aid from the outside was gone, Arzaga fought until overwhelmed by hunger and disease.
“Beriberi swelled my face until I could hardly see,” recalled Arzaga, who joined the elite 26th Cavalry Regiment in March 1938.” By the time (Maj. Gen. Jonathan) Wainwright surrendered, I had the chills and my entire body was numb.”