INVESTIGATING HISTORY: WWII HEROES PROJECT

 INVESTIGATING HISTORY:  WWII HEROES PROJECT

I have been searching for the unknown heroes of WWII, those who fought for our Country to include not only our uncles and grandfathers but also our Indigenous People whose contribution had been forgotten.  Since 1999, I was able to compile such history of the unknown Fighting Filipinos and Tomas King is just one of them.  

**TOMAS KING: THE FORGOTTEN USAFFE AYTA HEADHUNTER OF MT. PINATUBO **

During the Japanese raid over Clark Field on December 8, 1941 and the succeeding days, several Japanese planes were shot down by anti-aircraft fire and by intercept battles with the American pursuit squadrons. Some of the Japanese planes hit and pilots landed on the high grounds overlooking Clark Field, the territory of the dreaded Ayta warriors that had been occupying the areas since "time immemorial". To the north and northwest from Fort Stotsenburg-Clark, lies the Bamban Mountains where the Ayta Mag-Antsi tribes occupied the mountain enclaves. To the south and southwest lies the Porac Mountains, Mt. Dorst and Mount Pinatubo; home of the many Ayta tribes. One of these mountain tribes was the Bukil Aytas where the old Stotsenburg-South China Sea Trails pass into their ancestral lands. From among the Ayta tribes of Pinatubo-Porac Mountains, the Bukil Aytas were feared for being "headhunters". And this headhunting traditions of the Bukils will be the scourge of the enemy during WWII. Tomas, King of the Bukil Aytas was the feared tribal leader of Mt. Pinatubo with his warriors in the mountain enclave overlooking Clark Field.

**TOMAS, KING OF THE BUKIL AYTAS OF PINATUBO**

Tomas, king of the Bukil Aytas made a reputation that is not known in the annals of WWII. From the debris of fort Stotsenburg, he, along with his Ayta Bukil warriors don in their "Labay" g-strings and armed with bow and arrow and native spears swooped down into the headquarters of then Major General Jonathan Wainwright and brought something to uplift the spirits of the Americans. A severed head of a Japanese pilot, probably one of those shot down during the air raid in December 1942 handed over by King Tomas. He was given an award of six sacks of salt which was an important food supplement for the Aytas in the mountains. King Tomas and his Ayta warriors from Pinatubo may have killed one of America's enemies at the time. In fact, it was known that king Tomas pledged allegiance in support of America's war effort in that early days of WWII at fort Stotsenburg; citing the following oath:

*"The Balugas, with the approval of their tribal councilor, my father King Alfonso, proclaim themselves the allies of America in the fight against common enemy."*

*                                             King Tomas, December 1941*

**THE AMERICAN USAFFE GUERRILLAS IN PORAC-PINATUBO MOUNTAINS**

With the aftermath of the bombing of Clark Field on December 8, 1941, Mt. Pinatubo and the mountains of Porac became the sanctuary of the American USAFFE guerrilla leaders including Lt. Col. Claude A. Thorpe, Lt. Edwin Ramsey, Lt. Robert Lapham and Lt. Clay Conner. Many other American guerrillas made their way to Mt. Banaba and Mt. Timbo that became their headquarters (the mountain became the GHQ of Col. Thorpe until September 1942 prior his departure for Tarlac) during the dark days of enemy occupation. King Tomas was one of those Ayta tribal chieftain who lend hands in support of the American guerrillas at Porac Mountains. He was in contact with Major Eugenio Soliman, a pre-war government employee in charge of the Ayta communities in Porac and was the main contact of Lt. Col. Thorpe in his sojourn to Porac after his escapade from Bataan and Olongapo.

**WITH CONNER's GUERRILLAS & TOMAS KING WAR EXPLOITS WITH NEGRITO SQUADRON**

During the sojourn of Lt. Clay Conner into the territory of the Aytas of Porac Mountain in mid-1943, he was in contact with the Aytas of the mountain enclaves with Kodiaro Laxamana. At the time, King Tomas was already the famous Bukil Ayta "headhunter" warrior with this clan thriving in the deeper Pinatubo enclave. With the re-organization of the USAFFE guerrillas in Porac and Pinatubo Mountain under Lt. Conner and the formation of the Squadron 155 with the Negrito Company on December 3, 1943, King Tomas and his clan were incorporated into the fold of the USAFFE guerrilla organization with headquarters at Mt. Tambao, Mangga, and Bucbuc located on the east side of Pinatubo. Being Tomas as the King of the Negritos (Aytas) of Pinatubo, he was given in command of a platoon 25 men with Captain Pan Baili and 2nd Lt. Vicente Turaldes as his assistants. As part of the Negrito Company of Squadron 155, they were given the tasks of mountain patrol, couriers, and messengers. As the land battle loomed in late December and January 1945, Tomas King and the Negrito Company were given the combat mission to hinder the Japanese use of the South China Sea Trail; the old mountain path from Fort Stotsenburg to Zambales coast near Iba passing Mt. Pinatubo. They were to employ the indigenous weaponry including emplacing thousands of pig traps and ambuscades in the mountain pass.

By January 1945, the American main force came down from Lingayen and occupied Clark-Stotsenburg facilities. Tomas King and the 155 Provisional Battalion including the Negrito Squadron participated in the many clearing operations against enemy positions in Porac Mountains, Mt. Dorst, and the Seven Hills south of Stotsenburg with American infantry including the 40th, 43rd, and 38th Divisions. At the war's end, Tomas King and his Ayta warriors went back to their village to continue their normal lives in the realms of their mountain god Apu Nalamyari near Mt. Pinatubo. Their names were compiled in the official roster of the Negrito Company with Squadron 155 (Provisional Battalion) certified by Lt. Clay Conner.

**IN MEMORIAM**

Please join me in giving honor, respect and in remembering Tomas King, the headhunter of Mt. Pinatubo during WWII and his 25 Ayta warriors for their services during WWII, fighting for their ancestral lands and upholding their tribal virtues in the fight against common enemy with the American guerrillas in Porac Mountains.