The Saber and Scroll
don ’ t offer much help dissecting the problem of non-battle casualties . If not for the 127 th IR ’ s Surgeon , little would be known at all .
The 127 th ’ s Surgeon is very critical of how soldiers were repeatedly diagnosed with combat fatigue rather than psychoneurosis . 24 A “ victim ” of combat fatigue got a brief rest , maybe even a sedative , and then returned to duty . They usually came right back , never to again be an effective soldier . Higher commands complicated the situation with their reluctance to designate soldiers as psychological cases . The Surgeon noted :
… the diagnosis of combat fatigue , instead of psychoneurosis , was attached in accordance with directives from higher echelons cautioning against the use of the diagnosis of psychoneurosis in combat and thus fix in the patient ’ s mind that he was “ psycho ” or mentally ill . The connotation of “ fatigue ” and “ exhaustion ” denotes in the mind of the patient that quiet and rest lead to complete recovery . 25
5,000 non-battle casualties made far worse by deliberate misdiagnosis . All those replacements , 6,000 of them , were not ready for war in the jungle . They were mostly green kids , 18-20 years old , and many would wind up in the hospital . They could not even lean on veterans due to their own rampant exhaustion . 26 They secured a few miles of the Villa Verde Trail . Did it impact anything ? Not really .
“ It ’ s pretty hard to tell you know after all these years , just how I felt during the battle on the Villa Verde Trail in Luzon , beginning in January and lasting until the end of the summer . But it was a fact that the 32 nd Division was given a mission that was too big for its ability . No question in my mind .” 27 So stated General Gill , and he was absolutely right . The Villa Verde Trail with its formidable defensive advantages and tenacious enemy was too much for a single , understrength division . They did persevere , but at great cost . Fortunately , the atomic bomb made any further action on their part unnecessary .
Bibliography
Canon , M . Hamlin . Leyte : The Return to The Philippines . Washington D . C .: Center of Military History , 1954 .
Carlisle , John M . Red Arrow Men : Stories About the 32 nd Division on the Villa Verde Trail . Nashville : The Battery Press , 1990 .
I Corps . I Corps : History of the Luzon Campaign , Philippine Islands , 1945 . Headquarters : I Corps , 1945 .
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