American Guerrilla: A Review
American Guerrilla: A Review
by Dr. Alfred H. Paddock, Jr.
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In American Guerrilla: The Forgotten Heroics of Russell W. Volckmann, Mike Guardia seeks to demonstrate the contributions of Russell Volckmann and his guerrillas in the successful outcome of the US campaign to retake the Philippines from the Japanese during World War II; and, secondly, to establish Volckmann as the true father of Army Special Forces–“a title that history has erroneously awarded to Colonel Aaron Bank.” He does an adequate job with the first goal, but his second attempt is flawed.
Guardia tells the story of Volckmann’s adventures in the Philippines in a workmanlike manner, and he deserves plaudits for uncovering his “war diary” from the Volckmann family, as well as some of his other primary source research. However, in stating that “the historiography of the guerrilla war in the Philippines is comparatively narrow,” he omits some important published sources in his bibliography. These include “Lieutenant Ramsey’s War,” by Edwin Price Ramsey and Stephen J. Rivele, and “The Intrepid Guerrillas of North Luzon,” by Bernard Norling. Norling, a history professor at Notre Dame University for over 35 years, also co-authored other books on resistance movements in the Philippines. His work on the subject is authoritative.
While Guardia confines his tale to Volckmann’s role in northern Luzon, the story of Wendell Fertig’s accomplishments in the Japanese-occupied island of Mindano is also impressive. At its peak, Fertig commanded an army of 35,000 men, and headed the civil government in one of the largest islands in the world. His accomplishments are told in a novel-like fashion in John Keats’ “They Fought Alone: A True Story of a Modern American Hero.” Both Volckmann and Fertig later would play leading roles in the development of Army Special Forces.
Download the full article: American Guerrilla: A Review
Dr. Alfred H. Paddock, Jr., was born February 11, 1937, in Moscow, Idaho, and raised in Bogalusa, Louisiana. He holds a BA degree in political science from Park College, and MA and Ph.D. degrees in history from Duke University. Dr. Paddock completed a 31-year U.S. Army career as a colonel in October, 1988. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the U.S. Army War College. His military career included command and staff assignments in Korea, Okinawa, Laos, Vietnam, and the United States. During the 1960s he served three combat tours in Laos and Vietnam with U.S. Army Special Forces “Green Beret” operational units.
