Book description
" Following the Japanese invasion of the islands in 1942, North
Luzon was the staging area for several Filipino-American guerrilla bands
who sought to gather intelligence and to destroy enemy military
installations or supplies. Bernard Norling focuses on the Cagayan-Apayao
Forces, or CAF, commanded by Maj. Ralph Praeger. Their bravery was
unquestionable, but by September 1943 all but one member of Troop C had
been claimed by combat, enemy capture, or disease. The only survivor,
Capt. Thomas S. Jones, remembered, ""Defeat is a terrible
thing. . . . It brings down with it the whole structure about which a
nation or an army has been built. It subjects men to the most severe of
moral tests at a time when they are physically least able to meet
them."" Based primarily upon unpublished sources, The Intrepid
Guerrillas of North Luzon includes the diary of Praeger's executive
officer, Jones, and draws on transcripts of radio communications between
Praeger and General MacArthur's headquarters in Australia. The struggles
of the men of the CAF tell a harrowing tale of valor, determination, and
occasional successes mixed with the wildcat schemes, rivalries,
mistrust, and betrayals that characterized the intramural relations of
guerrilla forces all over the Pacific islands.
