LUKBAN
continued to bail out the water. They drifted east for several hours when they got stuck in a coral reef. The shore was just 600 yards away. So they walked on the corals and started going to the shore, leaving their baroto. At night when the tide came in, it drifted to the sea. They had a bad time going ashore because of their wounds.
Two of the men started to look for water on the beach but found the dead body of another soldier from another boat. Then two of their badly wounded companions, whom they left behind on the shore, were found by Filipino fighters and were hacked to death. The remaining two slowly backed to the shore, confiscated a small boat from an old man after killing him, and headed to the sea. They were later rescued by the USS Pittsburg on its relief mission to Balangiga. 29
The fifth boat also sank in the rough seas after one of its passengers was transferred to the bigger boat. Its lone passenger sank with the boat. This left the fourth boat that carried 18 men. Only the persistence of its rowers saved the group after this, too, had a horrible time at sea. By noon that day, they had consumed all their water. Two of their badly wounded companions died while at sea, while two others died in the hospital. The boat arrived in Basey at 4 early the next morning. 30
According to official reports released when House Resolution 13005 was filed in the US House of Congress on July 16, 1932, four were declared missing, eight who were wounded died later, 22 were wounded and survived, and only four were not wounded. Total killed were 36 out of 74 soldiers present during the Balangiga raid. 31
As for the Filipinos, Daza in his affidavit listed 28 fighters dead and 22 wounded, while Pedro Duran came up with a smaller figure of only 16 dead.
Daza said they were able to gather about 100 rifles left on the battlefield and about 50 in deposit; one shotgun, 3 carbines, 5 revolvers, 3 sabers, two pairs of field glasses, 7 watches and about 300,000 rounds of ammunitions, canned foodstuffs, liquors, medicines, and other things deposited in the Commissary of the Americans. 32
Reactions
When the first survivors arrived in Basey to relate their horrifying experience, Capt. Edwin V. Bookmiller, commander of Company G of the 9 th Inf. at Basey, immediately telegraphed the Visayas command headquarters in Cebu, the station of Gen. Hughes. Bookmiller was directed to proceed immediately to Balangiga in a small gunboat the USS Pittsburg. The boat steamed out of base at 9:00 AM on the 30 th and arrived in the Bay of Balangiga at 12:30 PM. It opened fire on the
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