The forgotten heroics of Russell W Volckmann * A new approach reveals
a forgotten hero of the Pacific campaign.
With his parting words "I shall return," General MacArthur sealed the
fate of the last American forces on Bataan. Yet
one young Army Captain, Russell Volckmann, refused to surrender. He disappeared
into the jungles of north Luzon and raised a
Filipino army of over 22,000 men. For the next three years he led a guerrilla
war killing over 50,000 Japanese enemy soldiers. At the same time he established
radio contact with MacArthur’s HQ in Australia and directed Allied forces
to key enemy positions. When General Yamashita finally surrendered, he made his
initial overtures not to MacArthur, but to Volckmann.
This book establishes how Volckmann’s leadership was critical to the
outcome of the war in the Philippines. His ability to
synthesise the realities and potential of guerrilla warfare led to a campaign
that rendered Yamashita’s forces incapable of repelling the Allied invasion. Had
it not been for Volckmann, the Americans would have gone in "blind" during their
counter-invasion, resulting in much greater loss of life and potentially
stalling the entire Pacific campaign.
American Guerrilla also establishes Volckmann as the progenitor of
modern counterinsurgency and the true "Father" of Army Special Forces. In 1950,
Volckmann wrote two field manuals that became the Army’s first handbooks
outlining the precepts for both special warfare and counter-guerrilla
operations. At a time when US military doctrine was conventional
in outlook, he marketed the ideas of guerrilla warfare as a critical force
multiplier for any future conflict, ultimately securing the establishment of the
Army’s first special operations unit.
Volckmann himself remains a shadowy figure in modern military
history, and in much of the Special Forces literature. This long overdue book
not only chronicles his dramatic military exploits, but analyses how his
leadership paved the way for modern special warfare
doctrine.
