Philippine E-Journals

A World War II Story of the Philippines: Letters of the Medical Officer of Philippine Civil Affairs Unit # 17

David Smollar

 

Abstract:

This paper presents the experiences of the Philippine Civil Affairs Unit (PCAU) # 17 during World War II, as reconstructed from the letters of and reports filed by its medical officer, Dr. Leo Smollar. The Philippine Civil Affairs Units (PCAUs) were the brainchild of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his civil affairs staff. The PCAUs consisted of 30 special U.S. Army teams tasked to revitalize combat-damaged areas with as little meddling as possible from regular military units after MacArthur’s return to the Philippines in October 1944. Its officers had specialties in medicine, law enforcement, engineering, transportation, labor, supply, and finance. Enlisted personnel were culled almost exclusively from Filipino men, many of them farm workers from California, who had volunteered for all-Filipino regiments to fight in the Pacific. During active combat, the PCAU detachments handled civil administration and relief using local Philippine organizations and individuals as much as possible. They endeavored to keep civilians away from fighting units and dealt with emergency food and medical needs. In the post-combat second phase, the PCAUs helped re establish economic activity, schools and public health systems, and restored local governance to the Commonwealth as soon as practicable.