American guerrilla leader in the WW-II Philippines
Wendell Fertig
Colonel Wendell Fertig, 1963
Nickname(s)
"Tatay" (the Old Man, Father)
Born
(1900-12-16)December 16, 1900 La Junta, Colorado
Died
March 24, 1975(1975-03-24) (aged 74) Colorado
Allegiance
United States of America
Service/branch
United States Army
Years of service
1928–1954
Rank
Colonel
Commands held
Commanding Officer, 10th Military District – Mindanao
Battles/wars
World War II
Battle of Bataan
Battle of Corregidor
Philippine resistance against Japan
Korean War
Awards
Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal
Alma mater
Colorado School of Mines
Other work
Mining and Civil Engineer businessman
Wendell Fertig (December 16, 1900 – March 24, 1975)[1] was an American civil engineer, in the American-administered Commonwealth of the Philippines, who organized and commanded an American-Filipino guerrilla force on the Japanese-occupied, southern Philippine island of Mindanao during World War II. Fertig's widely scattered guerrilla force numbered approximately 32,000.[2] He faced about 50,000 Japanese soldiers, mostly garrison troops in towns and cities.[3]
Fertig held a U.S. Army reserve commission and was called into military service before the war in the Pacific began. Ordered from Corregidor before its surrender to the Japanese, he was sent to Mindanao to assume command of engineer activities there. Almost as soon as he arrived, the U.S. Army forces on Mindanao surrendered, but Fertig refused to do so.[4] Fertig used his knowledge of the Filipino people to organize them into a guerrilla army and civilian government. He also used his engineering knowledge to solve problems in supply and construction.[5]
Fertig led the guerrillas against the Japanese and their collaborators, mostly in hit-and-run raids and vital coast watching activities.[6] After making contact with U.S. forces in the Pacific, the guerrillas began to receive supplies, but never enough to stage large-scale attacks. More than once, the Japanese made efforts to suppress and destroy elements of Fertig's guerrilla army, committing large numbers of troops for this purpose. At those times, Fertig had his forces retreat and disperse before the Japanese advance and respond with pinprick attacks on small, isolated Japanese units.[7] This continued until American forces returned to the Philippines in late 1944 and 1945.
After the war, Fertig returned to his civilian engineering career, but retained his reserve commission. He spent four years as commander of the ROTC detachment at the Colorado School of Mines, his Alma mater, and served in a U.S.-based psychological warfare unit during the Korean War.[8] Leaving active duty in the mid-1950s, he ran a Colorado mining company until his death. During his post-war years he was regarded as a hero by the people of Mindanao, and was a respected figure among the U.S. Special Forces.[8][9] One authority lists him among the top ten guerrilla leaders in history.[1] However, several of Fertig's subordinates and contemporaries were critical of his leadership and the literature extolling his wartime activities.
^ abBrooks 2003, p. 37.
^"U.S. Army recognition Program of Philippine Guerrillas". National Archives. Headquarters, Philippines Command United States Army. p. 40. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
WendellFertig (December 16, 1900 – March 24, 1975) was an American civil engineer, in the American-administered Commonwealth of the Philippines, who organized...
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"Shuttle Camp WendellFertig [permanent dead link]." (PDF). In The Tribble Times. page 14. Retrieved September 7, 2009. (An interview with Fertig's daughter:...
of the Philippines during the World War II era. American engineer, WendellFertig who served for the Allied forces as a reserve lieutenant colonel in...
consolidated under the command of American civil engineer Colonel WendellFertig. Fertig's guerrillas included many American and Filipino troops who had been...
attacked October 25, 1942, by guerrilla forces under U.S. Lieut. Col. WendellFertig. During a fourteen-day siege sixty-eight of the seventy-six Japanese...
organized into new municipalities of Clarin and Tudela. In October 1942, WendellFertig established the command headquarters of the growing guerrilla resistance...
escaped in Spring 1943. When the twelve men escaped, later joining WendellFertig's guerrillas, the Japanese beheaded twenty-five prisoners. Major Stephen...
War, individuals such as former Philippine guerrilla commanders Col. WendellFertig and Lt. Col. Russell W. Volckmann used their wartime experience to formulate...
Osmeña The Great Raid US Army Forces Far East XXIV Corps (United States) WendellFertig Tomoyuki Yamashita Catlett 1947, p. 70 Agoncillo 1990, p. 328 Agoncillo...
moved toward Illana Bay to prepare the landings at Parang, Colonel WendellFertig—commander of guerrilla forces in Mindanao—sent word that his guerrillas...
"Shuttle Camp WendellFertig[permanent dead link]." (PDF). In The Tribble Times. page 14. Retrieved 7 September 2009. (An interview with Fertig's daughter:...
Robert Wright Jr. 27th Director of the Office of Management and Budget WendellFertig civil engineer, organized and commanded an American-Filipino guerrilla...
"Operation Windmill" by General Pickering to evaluate the sanity of General WendellFertig and the resistance potential of his U.S. Forces in the Philippines;...
operations began in April. Beginning in early March 1945 part of Colonel WendellFertig's 10th Military District guerrilla force, the guerrilla 108th Division...
2021. "Women made to be Comfort Women - Philippines". Kent Holmes, WendellFertig and His Guerrilla Forces in the Philippines: Fighting the Japanese Occupation...
Daughter (Kent, Ohio: Kent State U. Press, 2009), p. 73. Kent Holmes, WendellFertig and His Guerrilla Forces in the Philippines: Fighting the Japanese Occupation...
War, individuals such as former Philippine guerrilla commanders Col. WendellFertig and Lt. Col. Russell W. Volckmann used their wartime experience to formulate...
and was engaged in guerilla warfare under the command of Lt. Col. WendellFertig in the 10th Military District (Tenth United States Army) until the end...
Keats wrote about an American guerrilla leader in World War II: Colonel WendellFertig, who in 1942 organized a large guerrilla force which harassed the Japanese...
Capitolio. The United States Forces in the Philippines under Colonel WendellFertig based in Misamis Occidental, was the rallying point for the guerrillas...
Hugo Blanco Andrés Avelino Cáceres Javier Heraud Guillermo Lobaton WendellFertig Gabriela Silang José María Sison Luis Taruc Emilio Aguinaldo Macario...
the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2011. Kent Holmes, WendellFertig and His Guerrilla Forces in the Philippines: Fighting the Japanese Occupation...
(Kent, Ohio: Kent State U. Press, 2009), pp. 127, 168. Kent Holmes, WendellFertig and His Guerrilla Forces in the Philippines: Fighting the Japanese Occupation...
cases the guerrilla units were led by escaped American officers (e.g., WendellFertig) and often included "paroled" Philippine Scout and Philippine Commonwealth...
Global Information
United States Army
Colonel