6 April 1943
Ten American officers imprisoned in May 1942 in the enemy concentration camp at Davao Penal Colony (DAPECOL), were saved by guerrilla troops from being recaptured by an enemy patrol in an engagement on 6 April 19)
A Jap patrol of 120 men and five officers dispatched to recapture these ten fleeing Americans was spotted by a guerrilla unit consisting of twenty men at Km 10, Kinamayan-Anibongan Railway; while still two kilometers away, the guerrillas took strategic positions in preparation for an ambush.
At the precise moment, the enemy advance guard was completely annihilated and several casualties on the main body inflicted. Accounted enemy losses were twenty-five soldiers, two officers and one physician, dead, and numerous wounded. No casualties were suffered on the guerrilla side.
About 300 rounds of cal .30 ammunition, a couple of bayonets, canteens, haversacks and biscuits were captured. The enemy was equipped with plenty of automatic weapons and hand grenades.
The enemy withdrew about 7:00 PM loading their dead and wounded in four trolley cars. Due to the deep mud on both sides of the railway, darkness, and an exhausted supply of ammunition, the guerrillas withdrew to a nearby forest. It was found out later that the Americans who escaped from the hellish enemy camp were only a couple of hundred yards inside the forest from the scene of encounter. The resistance offered by the guerrillas at an opportune time prevented the Jap patrol from going beyond the Anibongan-Kinsmayan railvay in pursuit of the Americans who were later assisted by troops of the 107th Division.
They were: Commander MELVIN McCOY, Maj (now Col); STEPHEN M. MELINICH, Capt WILLIAM F. DYESS (deceased); Capt (now Major) AUSTIN S. SHOFNER; 1st Lt (now Major) JACK HAWKINS; 2nd Lt (now Major) MICHAEL DOBERVICH; 2nd Lt (now Capt) LEO A. BOELENS, 2nd Lt (now Major) SAMUEL C. GRASHIO; Sgt(now Lt-Col) PAUL MARSHALL; and Sgt (now Major) ROBERT SPIELMAN.
Source: History of the Mindanao Guerrillas by the American Guerrillas of Mindanao (AGOM) Unpublished Manuscript
