#19. WW2’s Only Filipino Medal of Honor Awardee

In early January 1942, a battlefield mess sergeant realized a vital artillery gun had been silenced.

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Risking his life, he ran more than half a mile across an active battlefield, manned the large gun, and spent the next 2 hours firing it, alone, on the enemy.

His actions that day would earn him the Medal of Honor.

But his legacy far outreaches his heroism of that day.

This is the story of Jose Calugas, the only Filipino in WW2 to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

2007 KCTS 9 (PBS) Video about Capt. Calugas

Images

Sgt. Jose Calugas salutes during the April 1945 ceremony where he was presented with the Medal of Honor.

Philippine locations in Jose Calugas’s story.

Bataan peninsula with Layac Junction, where Sgt. Calugas earned the Medal of Honor, marked in red.

A World War 2 era 75mm artillery gun. I don’t know if this is the same model as the one Calugas used, but it would have been similar.

Footage of a field kitchen at Eigelshoven, Holland, during WW2.

Capt. Calugas shaking hands with President John. F. Kennedy in the 1960s.

Capt. Jose Calugas Sr, age 68, wearing his Medal of Honor in 1975.

Sources

Jose Calugas entry, “US, World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2005, original data: National Archives and Records Administration, Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database], ARC: 1263923, “World War II Army Enlistment Records,” Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64, National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland, accessed 25 April 2023.
Jose Calugas entry, “Web: U.S., Congressional Medal of Honor Society Recipients, 1839-2012,” database online: Ancestry.com, Lehi, Utah, 2019m original data: Congressional Medal of Honor Society Recipients, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, USA: Congressional Medal of Honor Society, accessed 25 April 2023.
Howard Ferguson, “War Hero Returning to His Beloved Philippines Barrio,” The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, 15 Sep 1977, page 13, online at Newspapers.com
Howard Ferguson, “A Quiet, Gentle Hero,” – The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, 23 Nov 1975, page 114, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.
Jose Calugas Jr., “My Father,” created for a website called US-JapanDialogueOnPOWs.org (unsure if that’s still an active site), Paper copy given to Anastasia Harman by Jose Calugas Jr, 27 April 2023.
Jose Calugas Jr., “My Father”; Helen Ross, “Filipino Scout Took over Battery Despite Rain of Japanese Shells,” The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, 16 Jan 1969, page 50, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.
Jose Calugas | World War II | U.S. Army | Medal of Honor Recipient (cmohs.org), accessed 25 April 2023.
“To a Filipino Sergeant,” Stockton Evening, and Sunday Record, Stockton, California, 19 Feb 1942, page 22, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.
“Filipino Scout Is Awarded Medal,” The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, Virginia, 18 Feb 1942, page 7, online at Newspapers.com
Radiogram from Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Fort Mills, Philippine Islands, to Adjunct General, War Department, Washington DC, photocopy, RG 407, AG Classified Decimal File (220.522), 1940-42, box 109, folder 220.522, given to Anastasia Harman by Jose Calugas Jr, 27 April 2023.
“High Honor Given to Mess Sergeant,” The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, 18 Feb 1942, page 1, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.
“Jose Calugas Well Recalls Bataan March,” The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Washington, 11 Nov 1981, page 18, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.
Elaine Porterfield, “WWII Hero Jose Calugas of Tacoma Dies at 90,” The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, 21 Jan 1998, page 17, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.
Brig. Gen. J.H. Hilldring, Memorandum for the Chief of Staff, Secretary of War, Washington DC, photocopy, RG 407, AG Classified Decimal File (220.522), 1940-42, box 109, folder 220.522, given to Anastasia Harman by Jose Calugas Jr, 27 April 2023.
“Filipino Scout Took over Battery Despite Rain of Japanese Shells,” The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, 16 Jan 1969, page 50, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.
Jose Calugas entry, “Army of the United States Retired List,” 1972, Volume III, “U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985,”database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2013, original data: United States Military Registers, 1902–1985, Salem, Oregon: Oregon State Library, accessed 25 April 2023.
“MOH Winner Ends Service,” 11 May 1957, page 7, “Stars and Stripes Newspaper, Pacific Editions, 1945-1963,” database online: Ancestry, Provo, Utah, 2007, original data: The ‘Stars and Stripes’ Newspaper of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Pacific, 1945-1963; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1624, 166 rolls); Publications of the U.S. Government, Record Group 287; National Archives, Washington, D.C., accessed 25 April 2023.
Helen Ross, “Filipino Scout Took over Battery Despite Rain of Japanese Shells,” The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, 16 Jan 1969, page 50, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.
Nora C. Calugas entry, “Washington, US, Death Index, 1940-2017,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2002 original data: Washington State Department of Health. State Death Records Index, 1940-1996. Microfilm. Washington State Archives, Olympia, Washington, accessed 25 April 2023.
Jose C Calugas entry, “Washington, US, Death Index, 1940-2017,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2002 original data: Washington State Department of Health. State Death Records Index, 1940-1996. Microfilm. Washington State Archives, Olympia, Washington, accessed 25 April 2023.
Jose C Calugas Jr [sic] entry, “U.S., Veterans’ Gravesites, ca. 17725-2019,” database online: Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2006, original data: National Cemetery Administration, Nationwide Gravesite Locator, accessed 25 April 2023.
Jose Calugas (1907-1998) – Find a Grave Memorial, accessed 25 April 2023.
Interview with Jose Calugas, Jr., phone call, April 2023, notes in possession of Anastasia Harman.
Louis Morton, “Chapter XV: Setting the Stage,” War in the Pacific: The Fall of the Philippines (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1953), page 325-346, online at US Army Center of Military History, accessed 2 June 2023.

Historic Audio Sources

January 1942 State of the Union: Transcript available at Franklin D. Roosevelt’s State of the Union Address, 1942 – Ballotpedia; Audio file online at National Archives NextGen Catalog

Images Sources

Map of Bataan: Louis Morton, “Chapter XV: Setting the Stage,” War in the Pacific: The Fall of the Philippines (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1953), page 325-346, online at US Army Center of Military History, accessed 2 June 2023.
Meeting JFK: Article clipped from The News Tribune – Newspapers.com
Picture at Boeing: “Filipino Scout Took over Battery Despite Rain of Japanese Shells,” The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, 16 Jan 1969, page 50, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.
1975 Portrait: Howard Ferguson, “A Quiet, Gentle Hero,” – The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, 23 Nov 1975, page 114, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 25 April 2023.