I was 19 when World War II broke out. I turned 20 going into Bataan on my birthday, the 12th of December 1941. I was in the antitank company, 31st Infantry, the only American infantry unit in the Philippines. We had between 1800 and 1900 men in the unit when the war started. The whole 31st regiment was called “Manila's Own." and it was formed there in 1916. They'd seen duty in China and Siberia. They were America’s Foreign Legion. They never served in the United States until long after World War II.
