On December 14, 1944, Japanese soldiers herded the remaining 150 U.S. POWs who had constructed the airstrip on Palawan Island into air raid trenches, doused them with gasoline, set them on fire and then machine-gunned and bayoneted survivors.
Among them was Army Captain Fred Bruni, the Palawan POW senior officer who was from Janesville, Wisconsin. Before capture when the Philippines fell, he had been with the 192nd Tank Battalion.
Only eleven of the POWs escaped in what became known as the "Palawan Massacre." They were rescued by guerillas.
The story of this ordeal persuaded General Douglas MacArthur that the rumored order of retreating Japanese soldiers to "kill all" prisoners was being implemented, thus speeding up his plans for the liberation of the Philippines.
When U.S. forces took over, the U.S. Army and Navy Engineers of the 1897th Engineer Aviation Battalion immediately rehabilitated the facility and it was in use by March 18, 1945. They further expanded the airfield by laying steel Marston Mats and concrete and added air control facilities and tanks to store oil and aviation fuel.
--GreGen
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