American Guerrilla: The Forgotten Heroics of Russell W. Volckmann—the Man Who Escaped from Bataan, Raised a Filipino Army against the Japanese, and became the True “Father” of Army Special Forces
By Mike Guardia
5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
This book establishes how Volckmann’s leadership was critical to the outcome of the war in the Philippines. His ability to synthesize the realities and potential of guerrilla warfare led to a campaign that rendered Yamashita’s forces incapable of repelling the Allied invasion. Had it not been for Volckmann, the Americans would have gone in “blind” during their counter-invasion, reducing their efforts to a trial-and-error campaign that would undoubtedly have cost more lives, materiel, and potentially stalled the pace of the entire Pacific War.
Second, this book establishes Volckmann as the progenitor of modern counterinsurgency doctrine and the true “Father” of Army Special Forces— a title that history has erroneously awarded to Colonel Aaron Bank of the ETO. In 1950, Volckmann wrote two Army field manuals: Operations Against Guerrilla Forces and Organization and Conduct of Guerrilla Warfare, though today few realize he was their author. Together, they became the Army’s first handbooks outlining the precepts for both special warfare and counter-guerrilla operations. Taking his argument directly to the Army Chief of Staff, Volckmann outlined the concept for Army Special Forces. At a time when U.S. military doctrine was conventional in outlook, he marketed the ideas of guerrilla warfare as a critical force multiplier for any future conflict, ultimately securing the establishment of the Army’s first special operations unit—the 10th Special Forces Group.
Volckmann himself remains a shadowy figure in modern military history, his name absent from every major biography on MacArthur, and in much of the Special Forces literature. Yet as modest, even secretive, as Volckmann was during his career, it is difficult to imagine a man whose heroic initiative had more impact on World War II. This long overdue book not only chronicles the dramatic military exploits of Russell Volckmann, but analyzes how his leadership paved the way for modern special warfare doctrine.
Mike Guardia
Mike Guardia is an internationally recognized author and military historian. A veteran of the United States Army, he served six years on active duty as an Armor Officer. He has twice been nominated for the Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Book Award and is an active member in the Military Writers Society of America. He holds a BA and MA in American History from the University of Houston. He currently lives in Minnesota.
Read more from Mike Guardia
Shadow Commander: The Epic Story of Donald D. Blackburn—Guerrilla Leader and Special Forces Hero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fires of Babylon: Eagle Troop and the Battle of 73 Easting Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crusader: General Donn Starry and the Army of His Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The American Heroes Collection: Hal Moore, Shadow Commander, and American Guerrilla Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to American Guerrilla
Related ebooks
Loyalty First: The Life and Times of Charles A. Willoughby, MacArthur's Chief Intelligence Officer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemoirs of the Civil War: Between the Northern and Southern Sections of the United States of America 1861 to 1865 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpecial Forces Berlin: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army's Elite, 1956-1990 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grant's Cavalryman Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Conquering 9th: The Ninth U.S. Army in World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurviving Bataan and Beyond: Colonel Irvin Alexander's Odyssey as a Japanese Prisoner of War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5On War and Leadership: The Words of Combat Commanders from Frederick the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ironclad Waters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Blue to Gray: The Life of Confederate General Cadmus M. Wilcox Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fellowship of Dust: Retracing the WWII Journey of Sergeant Frank Shaw Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTenth Army Commander: The World War II Diary of Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Major: The Senior Officer in Charge: Commanding Fellow Prisoners of War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDefeating Lee: A History of the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forward with Patton: The World War II Diary of Colonel Robert S. Allen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsControversies & Commanders: Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDefender of the Underdog: Pelham Glassford and the Bonus Army Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBig Guns, Brave Men: Mobile Artillery Observers and the Battle for Okinawa Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLincoln's Men: How President Lincoln Became Father To an Army an Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Casualty Figures: How Five Men Survived the First World War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of American Military: From the American Revolution to the Global War on Terrorism (Complete Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBaron Von Steuben's Revolutionary War Drill Manual: A Facsimile Reprint of the 1794 Edition Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Military 100: A Ranking Of The Most Influential Military Leaders Of All Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGustavus Vasa Fox of the Union Navy: A Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Brigade: The Fifth Canadian Infantry Brigade in World War II Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Native Memoirs from the War of 1812: Black Hawk and William Apess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeminole War Artifacts & a History of the Forts of Florida Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan: Selected Correspondence, 1860-1865 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Wars & Military For You
Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America's First Nuclear Accident Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for American Guerrilla
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a WOW book for me. A personal diary of an American Officer who escaped from the Japanese Army and led a Guerrilla revolt against the Japanese Army during WWII. His exploits and leadership skill as well as his ability to lift the spirits of the native people would inspire anyone to survive at their highest level no matter the difficulties of the situation.