MacArthur's Spies

by Peter Eisner

The young man “whipped: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 108.

  She dedicated her time: CC; Diary, July 27–29, 1943.

  “We’re in the Movies!”

  “They gave us new: Nornes and Yukio, The Japan/America Film Wars, 238.

  Two Filipino American actors: Although Bert Leroy is listed in the film credits and publicity, Nornes and Yukio (The Japan/America Film Wars, 237) say that he was replaced by a Filipino radio personality, Johnny Arville.

  “They took us into: Ibid.

  “You know the funny: Ibid.

  Claire also brought food: ME, 160–61.

  “We’re in the movies: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 113.

  “We had no idea: Nornes and Yukio, The Japan/America Film Wars, 238.

  When it was all: Ibid.

  “Even to Madame Tsubaki: ME, 150.

  Giving Thanks

  “Doctor Guerrero called: ME, 151–54.

  “At the end of the fourth: Utinsky, Miss U, 114.

  “When I started to cough: Ibid., 152.

  “On the following day: Ibid., 153.

  As Claire regained consciousness: ME, 153.

  Ramón got in touch: Mamerto Roxas, affidavit, August 23, 1949, CC.

  “She told me that she felt: Ibid.

  “You go to Fely: Transcript of the Testimony of Claire Phillips Clavier, San Francisco, California, January 11, 1956, CC, 1230.

  “I was able to go: ME, 154.

  “saw and felt death”: Diary, December 2, 1943.

  Arrest and Ransom

  As Peggy was checking: Utinsky, Miss U, 91. Peggy said it was Friday, September 28, two days after Claire entered the hospital. Her timing is off. That doesn’t match Claire’s diary, the only contemporary chronology, nor the account of Lorenza Amusategui, who agreed that Peggy had been with Claire at the beginning. This would have been later, in October.

  “The Japanese soldiers took: Ibid., 92.

  “My aunt had taken: Ibid., 97.

  Terrorized, she begged Vásquez: Lorenza Amusategui document, undated, Philippine Archive Collection, POWS/Civilian Internees, Record Group 407/270/49/27/1, Box 143A-B, NARA, 22–24.

  Peggy’s arrest was a sign: Transcript of the Testimony of Lorenza O’Malley, Washington, DC, September 14, 1955, CC, 724–25.

  “You’ll Have to Kill Me First”

  “I demand the arrest: Agoncillo, The Fateful Years, 413.

  “You can go: Friend, The Blue-eyed Enemy, 200.

  “If you insist”: Agoncillo, The Fateful Years, 415.

  If General Roxas could: Ibid., 407.

  Ramsey had fallen in love: Ramsey and Rivele, Lieutenant Ramsey’s War, 169–70.

  Nagahama’s War

  INTELLIGENCE REPORT KAKI: Advantis Translation, no. 22, p. 1, Manila Branch (ATIS files), Record Group 331/290/12/34, Entry 1340, Box 1908, NARA. The English names in the translated text are transliterated, so Hugh Straughn appears in the translation as “HIYUSUTORONGU” and Home Guard is “HOMUGAIDO.”

  seized a prominent American: The Japanese-controlled Manila Tribune said he was captured on August 5. Separately, Claire said in Manila Espionage that she was in touch with Straughn, but there is no confirmation.

  Punitive operation around: Advantis Translation no. 22, p. 1.

  Thorp survived more: Ibid.

  “Even after the capture: Ibid.

  “The remaining guerrillas: Ibid.

  “The self-appointed American: “Straughn Predicts Collapse of Guerrilla Warfare in P.I.,” Manila Tribune, August 7, 1943, p. 1.

  The report said Straughn: Ibid.

  Like Parsons and MacArthur: Schaefer, Bataan Diary, 206.

  “Upon my word of honor: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 126.

  “the bad elements: Manila Branch (ATIS Files), Record Group 331/290/12/34, Entry 1340, Box 1908, NARA.

  It was not a question: Ibid.

  They were summoned: Schaefer, Bataan Diary, 208. This account is also based on testimony from eyewitnesses, including Lieutenant Richard C. Sakakida, an American double agent who was working inside the Japanese Army. After the war Sakakida was considered an American hero for his role, though some charged that his claims were false and that he had been working for Japan.

  Several days later Straughn: Schaefer, Bataan Diary, 208. There are other accounts of the execution. Claire said in Manila Espionage that Nagahama told her at Tsubaki Club the day of the execution that he personally had killed Straughn. But it would have taken place on or around October 5, while Claire was in the hospital, seriously ill after ulcer surgery. Nagahama was tried and convicted of war crimes in Manila after the war. Testimony showed that he was in charge and clearly aware of torture and killings, but no evidence showed that he participated directly in the Straughn execution or any other.

  “in ever-increasing numbers”: “Straughn Predicts Collapse of Guerrilla Warfare.”

  The only problem: Charles Parsons, report, undated, Record Group 58, Papers of Commander Charles C. Parsons, Box 1, MacArthur Archives.

  Holding On

  Fortunately, Lichauco had carried: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 139.

  Winds toppled the open-walled: Wilkinson, Surviving a Japanese Internment Camp, 59.

  The situation was at least: Shreve, The Colonel’s Way, 116.

  “Nip big-wigs would: ME, 154.

  “We are loading ships: Ibid.

  “Thanks a million: John Boone to Claire Phillips, January 1, 1944, Record Group 122, Papers of Sergeant John Boone, Box 1, MacArthur Archives.

  Stop fighting, he said: Inaugural address of Jose P. Laurel, Manila, October 14, 1943, available at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Jose_P._Laurel%27s_Inaugural_Address.

  He called Laurel: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 134–35.

  Parsons’s Second Return

  “Give a gander, Chick: Ingham, MacArthur’s Emissary, 99.

  It had been stripped: Unlike other fleet submarines, the 371-foot Narwhal and its sister sub, the Nautilus, were equipped with two-deck six-inch cannons.

  Latta had seen no sign: Charles Parsons, action report, undated, Papers of Commander Charles C. Parsons, Record Group 58, Box 1, MacArthur Archives.

  “We surfaced to get: Jones and Nunan, U.S. Subs Down Under, 216.

  “Is it necessary to keep: Ingham, MacArthur’s Emissary, 101.

  The Narwhal was one: Peter Parsons, note to the author, April 2016. The fleet became known as the Spyron submarines, named for Parsons’s subsection at MacArthur’s general headquarters.

  By the time they had evaded: Parsons, action report, undated, p. 1.

  Soon the ferries: Ibid., 3.

  “I found the family: Ibid.

  Boone had told: John Boone to Claire Phillips, June 1, 1944, Boone papers, Record Group 122, Box 1, MacArthur Archives, p. 2. Boone did not know when he wrote and sent a copy of the letter that Claire had been arrested ten days earlier. He writes in this letter that other guerrilla commanders had been in touch with her, but he didn’t know the contact procedures they were using. While guerrillas such as Ramsey and Decker said that Claire was providing intelligence information, no documents attributed to her were found at U.S. Army headquarters. It is probable that her reports were combined with other dispatches.

  A Spy Breaks Through

  Reyes said that he: Schaefer, Bataan Diary, 217–20.

  “I was routinely suspicious: Ramsey and Rivele, Lieutenant Ramsey’s War, 199.

  Ramsey then alerted Ramona: Ibid., 199–200.

  Japanese authorities announced: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 154.

  Blanche Jurika had been: Schaefer, Bataan Diary, 219.

  Manila Dragnet

  Once at the prison: Transcript of the Testimony of Manuel Elizalde, U.S. v. Akira Nagahama, 686, Record Group 331/290/12/13, Ent
ry 1321, Box 1579, NARA.

  “Practically everything, shipping, broker: Ibid.

  “I was punched right: Ibid., 689.

  He saw Juan several: Ibid., 692.

  On Friday, May 12: Ibid.

  “I found him very: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 150.

  “If Anything Happens . . .”

  “The cookies are about ready,”: ME, 162.

  “At a sign from me: Ibid., 133.

  “If anything happens to me: Ibid.

  “If any of you: Transcript of the Testimony of Lorenza O’Malley, Washington, DC, September 14, 1955, CC, 730–31.

  She gave these to Fely: Vicente Corcuera, affidavit, January 8, 1949, Transcript of the Testimony of Felicidad P. Corcuera Santos, Washington, DC, August 23, 1954, CC, 591–93.

  Losing the War

  “With the loss of: Lieutenant General Shuichi Miyazaki, chief of the Operations Section, Imperial General Headquarters, quoted in “Reports of General MacArthur,” The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific, Prepared by His General Staff, 1994, vol. 1, p. 166, cf. 1, available at www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1/ch07_notes.htm.

  A Japanese sergeant slammed: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 196–97.

  “We are well on the road: Ibid., 342–43.

  “Evidently they intend to scatter: Ibid., 161.

  “Lunch was usually a ladle: Wilkinson, Surviving a Japanese Internment Camp, 116.

  “The principal sufferers”: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 163.

  Hunger had turned Manila: Ibid., 110 and 157.

  “Evil Days Are Upon Us”

  “Evil Days Are: Shreve, The Colonel’s Way, 148.

  Mr. Threatt waited a good: Transcript of the Testimony of Naomi Jackson, Washington, DC, September 14, 1955, CC, 821.

  If others had seen: Ibid., 822.

  “As he approached the: Shreve, The Colonel’s Way, 146–47.

  Moments later, guards seized : Ibid., 148.

  On May 11 the: Shreve, The Colonel’s Way, 149.

  The next day they: Colonel Eugene C. Jacobs, Blood Brothers: A Medic’s Sketch Book (New York: Carlton, 1985), chapter 5.

  She jumped out a window: Transcript of the Testimony of Naomi Jackson, Washington, DC, September 14, 1955, CC, 823.

  When she didn’t appear: Binkowski, Code Name: High Pockets, 156.

  “Helen was a nice: ME, 170.

  Nagahama had received a report: Pacific Theater, ATIS reports, Record Group 470/270/51/9, Entry 427, Box 837, NARA.

  Ramón’s Turn

  She took it all: The material was never recovered.

  “All we could do: Lorenza Amusategui document, undated, Philippine Archive Collection, POWS/Civilian Internees, Record Group 407/270/49/27/1, Box 143A-B, NARA, 27.

  Fely helped her burn: Transcript of the Testimony of Felicidad P. Corcuera Santos, Washington, DC, August 23, 1954, CC, 496.

  Claire Goes to School

  They “ordered me to: ME, 172.

  “I managed to smile: Ibid., 173.

  Claire could have escaped: Binkowski, Code Name: High Pockets, 163.

  “Well, leave Dian with: Transcript of the Testimony of Margaret Utinsky, San Francisco, California, January 11, 1956, CC, 1075.

  She had reassured Claire: Ibid., 1076–77.

  “I kept her right: Ibid.

  Within days, Fely was: Binkowski, Code Name: High Pockets, 163.

  Ramón Amusategui’s brother, José: Mamerto Roxas, affidavit, August 23, 1949, CC, 4.

  “gave the Allies three: “Hollandia Seizure Cost U.S. 27 Lives,” New York Times, May 9, 1944, p. 10.

  General MacArthur was “leap-frogging”: The Wakde Islands were in the Dutch East Indies, part of modern Indonesia.

  “Filipinos have been so: “Tokyo Admits Difficulty in Winning the Filipinos,” New York Times, May 8, 1944, p. 12.

  A Letter from Boone

  “Wrapped in his cloak: Thomas Mann, “Death in Venice,” Death in Venice and Seven Other Stories (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), 18.

  Something in Mann’s writing: John Boone to High Pockets, June 1, 1944, Papers of John Boone, Record Group 122, Box 1, Folder 6, MacArthur Archives.

  “God knows how many: Ibid.

  “A guerrilla group of: Intelligence report, November 9, 1943, Advantis Translation, no. 25, Pacific Theater, ATIS reports, Record Group 470/270/51/9, Entry 427, Box 837, NARA.

  “I don’t think these boys: John Boone to High Pockets.

  “They told Ramsey that: Ibid.

  “I was no longer: Ramsey and Rivele, Lieutenant Ramsey’s War, 223.

  “It was a radio: Ibid., 235.

  Boone’s forces on Luzon: Transcript of the Testimony of John Boone, Washington, DC, September 14, 1955, CC, 650.

  “We must give credit: John Boone to High Pockets.

  “We must prepare to put: Ibid.

  The child had a persistent: Ibid.

  You Are High Pockets

  Claire was surprised when: ME, 174. Claire’s diary ends on May 22, 1944, two days before her arrest, with the words “waiting for my call to school.” Her memoir, Manila Espionage, written with Myron B. Goldsmith, gives an account of her nine months in prison, parts of which could not be corroborated. There was independent confirmation of her imprisonment at the places and at the times she describes—the Japanese Administration Building, Fort Santiago, Bilibid Prison, and the Women’s Correctional Institute at Mandaluyong. Fely and Mamerto and Judge Roxas confirmed that they were in touch with her in jail, and Judge Roxas said she was tortured. Claire also was in contact with other prisoners who survived—prisoners held for long periods of time were on starvation diets and were tortured routinely. The details of torture sessions and whatever else took place can be judged only in context. All prisoners were tortured; beatings and water-boarding were routine—she would not have been immune.

  The atmospherics of Claire’s capture and interrogation are consistent with other reports, but any possible Japanese documents about her imprisonment were likely destroyed during the Battle of Manila.

  A man then spoke: ME, 175.

  “We know you are not an: The interrogation scene is described in ME, 176–79.

  Luckily, she had confirmed: ME, 175–80.

  Claire asked Roxas to locate: Mamerto Roxas, affidavit, August 23, 1949, CC, 4.

  “She told me that she: Ibid.

  “the best baby I: Utinsky, Miss U, 118.

  “Guerrilla nursing would have: Ibid., 134.

  “No authority on childcare: Ibid., 139.

  “Ours was the only: ME, 182.

  “They beat me in an: Claire Phillips, as told to Frederick C. Painton, “I Was an American Spy,” American Mercury, May 1945, pp. 592–98; Wartime Case Files, Record Group 153/270/2/4, Entry A1 143, Box 120, NARA. Claire describes extreme torture, including water-boarding, during her time at Fort Santiago in this debrief by army investigators in 1945 and also in her memoir and in her 1945 interview with Frederick C. Painton in American Mercury. Two of her comrades, Marie Holland and Maria Martinez, said they saw no sign of such treatment of Claire, nor did Claire mention it while either or both of them were with her from July 31, 1944, to February 10, 1945. There is no way to confirm the degree and forms of torture she suffered.

  “Papaya is not a man: ME, 188; Transcript of the Testimony of Maria Martinez, San Francisco, California, January 10, 1956, CC, 999.

  “Hold on and pray”: ME, 198.

  “There was room here: Ibid.

  One morning at 2:00: Ibid., 196–99.

  A Chase Across the Pacific

  “Some of the islands: Ingham, MacArthur’s Emissary, 105.

  Despite the danger of discovery: Ibid., 125–28.

  “About 120 radio sets: Lockwood and Chadd
e, Sink ’Em All, 170–72.

  Parsons was successful enough: Ingham, MacArthur’s Emissary, 138.

  Yamashita “was resisting the pressure: Ramsey and Rivele, Lieutenant Ramsey’s War, 285.

  Welcome Bombs

  Thirteen-year-old Juergen: Goldhagen, Manila Memories, 74–75.

  “Planes! About five hundred: ME, 199.

  Meanwhile, Claire told Maria: Transcript of the Testimony of Maria Martinez, San Francisco, California, January 10, 1956, CC, 999.

  Claire had not seen or heard: ME, 195.

  Then Ramón was brought: Ibid., 200.

  Parsons Sets the Table

  Parsons now had four: Ingham, MacArthur’s Emissary, 148.

  “How to remove loyal: Ibid., 140.

  “Likewise how to coordinate: Ibid.

  One final thing, Krueger: Ibid., 143.

  Parsons and Rawolle made: Ibid., 151–53.

  His fighters were to: Ibid., 153.

  “High overhead, swarms of: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 215.

  Ensign Bernard Eisner was: Deck log, LST 463, Record Group 24/470/38/5/7, NARA.

  Deadly Passage

  When the POWs at Cabanatuan: Shreve, The Colonel’s Way, 198.

  More flyovers followed: Ibid.

  He used a floating: Ibid., 228–29.

  An estimated 21,000 Allied: Michno, Death on the Hellships, 280.

  Power of the Spirit

  “This is a real battleground,”: Manila Branch (ATIS files), Record Group 331/290/12/34, Entry 1340, Box 1908, NARA.

  They also used an airfield: For more on kamikaze effectiveness, see Kindred Winekoff, “Kamikaze Attacks by the Numbers: A Statistical Analysis of Japan’s Wartime Strategy,” The Fair Jilt, November 5, 2014, http://thefairjilt.com/2014/11/05/kamikaze-attacks-by-the-numbers-a-statistical-analysis-of-japans-wartime-strategy/.

  Civilians were being pressed: Lichauco, Dear Mother Putnam, 200.

  “At such time as: Document 2710, Tokyo International Military Tribunal War Crimes Trial, available at http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/pow/jap/powj-mo01.html.

  Officials at the Palawan: V. Dennis Wrynn, “American Prisoners of War: Massacre at Palawan,” World War II, November 1997, available at www.historynet.com/american-prisoners-of-war-massacre-at-palawan.htm.

  “One shot hit me: “Primary Sources: A Survivor of the Palawan Massacre,” American Experience, PBS.org, no date, www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bataan/filmmore/ps_palawan.html.