In 1944, as he had promised, General Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippine Islands. With him, along with many others, was my grandfather, Henry Durham. At the time he was only 18, but had already become a Marine Golden Glove and been through all of the rigorous Corps training. He was sent out on a mission to a small village that was said to be harboring some "Huk" guerrillas. He was told that they were communist and were set against this great American liberation. Based on this meager knowledge, he entered a building and was surprised by a small man wielding a bizarre weapon. Shot in the arm, my grandfather jumped up, grabbed the rafters and swung into the man, knocking him down. However, as he was in the air, the man managed to get his machete into play, opening another wound in my grandfather's leg. That as they say was that, and while accounts differ as to the method, the fellow is most certainly dead. In his hand he held this:

The weapon was home made, out of what looked like parts from a downed airplane. It used black powder and its projectile couldn't be picked up by an x-ray, so it must have been non-metallic. The mechanism was operated using the tension from some strips of tire. It was crude to say the least, and dubiously effective under optimal circumstances.

Henry Durham (in jeep) with his friends Chartier and Shorey

This has left me wondering for a while now, what kind of circumstances lead up to a bizarre event like this? What could have been the motivation of such a desperate "Huk." And what was a Huk anyway? The more I read, the more I researched and the more I came to understand the forces at work that brought these two men together, I began to feel ill. Tossing about accusations of "communism" does not serve to dismiss this as the act of a lunatic. Like any country that once had an imperial nature, America has some apologies to make. But I was utterly in the dark as to what exactly happened in the Philippines, and what my godlike grandfather was unwittingly invovled in. It is with the deepest respect for him and the other men who fought bravely to save the world that I submit these findings on something we'd all like to ignore, the story of America and the Hukbalahap, a people's army.

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This exhibit was researched and designed by [Andrew David Freeman].

This exhibit and museum were created during an introductory seminar on the Asia-Pacific War, taught at Wake Forest University during the spring semester 2002.

The material and opinions are those of their respective authors and do not represent the views of the University or the Department of History.