Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Juan Ulep holds a handkerchief between his thumb and forefinger.
With the other hand, he knocks it over. It flops over to the side.
That?s an American, tall and weak.
He pulls the handkerchief back through his hand, so just a short stub is left above his hand. He knocks it over with his other hand, but it just bounces back up.
That?s the Japanese, short and strong.
That was the sort of propaganda the Japanese used on Filipinos after they invaded the Philippines during World War II, said Ulep, a 77-year-old with a gruff voice and a commanding presence. The invaders were like the Filipinos? bigger uncle. They told the Filipinos that as long as they behaved, they would be treated well; but if they misbehaved, they would be spanked like unruly children, nieces and nephews of the Japanese.
Ulep wasn?t a World War II veteran. He was just 13 years old, pushing 14, when the Japanese invaded. Rather, he witnessed the war in one of the lands contested during the war. He would later join the Filipino service and help rebuild his country and serve in the U.S. Army in Vietnam.
Ulep grew up in San Miguel in central Luzon in the province of Tarlac.
?In San Miguel, there are railroad marshaling yards and also the James B. Ord military installation,? Ulep said. Between Dec. 8 and Christmas of 1941, ?the Japanese dropped their bombs on the military installation and the marshaling yard. We were informed to evacuate the area until we were told to return. We went to another town with our relatives, and then we returned to San Miguel in April 1942.
?During that period, Japanese occupying forces were taking care of business. In late January 1942, a detachment of Japanese soldiers and interpreters came to the village we evacuated and extracted an amount of grain to feed the troops, no pay. They said give us ?X number of kilos of grain.?
?I felt bad,? Ulep said. ?I was angry. My initial feeling was, ?where is Uncle Sam???
?We heard a lot of radio messages that help is on the way, but it didnít come in time to assist the Bataan Peninsula.?
At the time, Ulep had no way of knowing what was happening with the United States.
?We got a news blackout,? Ulep said. It would be after the war before he learned about the American island-hopping campaign.
?The only thing we knew were Japanese victories throughout the Pacific,?Ulep said. ?You do not expect that Uncle Sam is going to come back. They extol their victories in the Philippines, but you don?t know about Midway.?
Still, ?we had a lot of hope,? he said.
The Filipinos mounted guerilla resistance, Ulep said. The Japanese fought this by torturing those even suspected of being guerillas.
The Japanese also mounted the propaganda campaign that Ulep described.?That?s the way they approached us, so that we will abide by the rules.
?This is war, and we are defeated. Because of that we have to adhere to Japanese dictum. For instance, you pass a Japanese sentry, you have to bow.?
That represented bowing to the emperor, Ulep said. The sentry would bow in return.
The Filipino government and the United States no longer existed there at that point, Ulep said. The Philippines at the time was a territory of the United States. It became the Commonwealth of the Philippines on Nov. 5, 1935 and was on a 10-year transition period to independence. That was delayed by the war, and the Philippines gained its independence on July 4, 1946.
During the occupation, Ulep worked on a local farm, he said. ?My dad worked as a warehouse man for the sugar and tobacco plantation, administered by the Spaniards.?
Spain was neutral in the war, Ulep said, so the plantation operated without being molested.
The infamous Bataan Death March passed just 13 kilometers ? about 8 miles ? from Ulep?s home in 1942. Filipino and American prisoners, many emaciated and sick to start, were marched some 60 miles over land from Capas to Camp O?Donnell. Along the way, many died.
?I was angry that we saw Filipino and American forces treated that way,? Ulep said. ?They were sick to start with. They?re hungry, not enough medication, not enough food, minimal health and comfort. When the (prisoners) came out under guard to get firewood, we?d provide them, if permitted, food.?
After the Japanese invasion, American forces would not return until Oct. 20, 1944, Ulep said. Their return was preceded by leaflets with a photo of Admiral Douglas McArthur saying, ?I have fulfilled my promise. I have returned to the Philippines.?
The leaflets advised Filipinos to stay away from infrastructure and military targets, Ulep said, ?and that?s what we did.?
The American forces bombed the same things the Japanese did, including the warehouses, Ulep said. Elements of the 25th Infantry Division used the structures as an ordnance depot as they moved northward through Luzon.
When the Americans rolled in with their jeeps and ?armed to the teeth,? they were welcomed by villagers. American soldiers passed out chocolate bars and chewing gum, and the soldiers, tired of K rations, asked if the Filipinos had eggs or chicken for sale.
Fighting ceased on Sept. 2, 1945 when the Japanese accepted unconditional surrender.
The Philippines were liberated, Ulep said, but snipers kept fighting, one for 29 years.
?That?s what I saw,? Ulep said. After the surrender, Ulep said, he was assigned to help the construction engineers and followed them all the way to Manila.
? saw the destruction of the city from aerial and artillery bombardment,? he said.
Americans had to destroy Manila to get at some 20,000 Japanese soldiers fighting in the city.
?That?s what it was, pretty much a city that?s destroyed,? Ulep recalled. ?You cannot help but sometimes tears roll down your cheek. You see troops that are sick or can barely walk ? not understanding why we are defeated.?
Ulep was in the Filipino service from winter 1946 to late spring 1947 when he was discharged. He said it was nothing but a mop-up operation, constructing buildings and highways.
After the engineers departed to China, he became a cook.
?I was interested and didn?t mind helping out,? he said. ?I began to learn how to cook American food.?
Ulep traveled to Guam and helped build Anderson Air Force Base as a civilian, then he traveled to the U.S. mainland to attend school. He attended Metropolitan High School in Los Angeles and then went to Stockton Junior College in California. He transferred to the University of the Pacific where he earned his bachelor?s degree in social studies with a minor in language.
Ulep got married and joined the U.S. Army as the Vietnam War was heating up. He served in Vietnam as an infantry scout with a dog.
He was assigned to Germany twice and from 1968 to 1971 to the Philippines. He worked in four specialties while in the military, including infantry, quartermaster, logistics and terminal operations.
Ulep retired in 1983 and went to work in heavy construction from 1984 to 1987. He then went to work for the Bureau of Mines in Albany. He retired in 1996.
He married Donna in 1986 in Sweet Home. They served together in the Oregon National Guard Reserve, which became the Oregon State Defense Force. They were discharged on Dec. 1, 2001 after 14 years. Juan Ulep was a command sergeant major. Donna Ulep was a major.
They have six children between them, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Both are active with the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Rotary Club and have helped organize two projects to send supplies to schools and hospitals in Luzon in recent years..