This depicts one of the Rangers that participated in the Raid on Cabanatuan.
This event was the basis for the movie the "Great Raid" and the even better
book "Ghost Soldiers".

The raid started on January 28th 1945 as the Rangers marched behind Japanese
lines in order to reach the POW camp.  They marched approximately 30 miles
on foot through a territory manned by a few thousand Japanese soldiers.  They
didn't wear signs of rank or helmets (they didn't want the rattle from the
helmets).

They met up with members of the Filipino resistance who performed security as
the Rangers raided the camp.  There was a slight snag, as the camp was
surrounded by nothing.  So they had a P-61 buzz the camp in order to distract
the Japanese.

The raid was a huge success.  500 POWs were liberated at the cost of 2 Rangers
and 21 Filipino resistance members.


This picture shows one of the Rangers as he would have appeared.  He was
wearing HBT fatigues and a soft fatigue cap.

A close up shot of the same Ranger.

The Ranger as he crawls up to the camp.

As he fires the first shot.

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