THE LEGEND OF KASAPA

THE LEGEND OF KASAPA

 The USAFEE soldiers where Amando Ursos haas joined in  took its position at Kasapa River the site was strategic for the US Army  since the said place was only 30 kilometers froM Bukidnon where the supply depotOF THE us  aRMY  was located   Kasapa can al be reached from Sta Ana Davao the headquarters of the USAFFEE Mindanao THROUGH THE ROADS OF aSUNCION AND tAGUM


   

Throughout the campaign we were taking prisoners.
Seldom were they Japanese soldiers, instead Korean and Chamorro laborers, both men and women, who mostly worked in the sugar cane fields and processing plants. Chamorros were natives of the islands, while the Koreans, of course, were brought over as forced labor. Approaching us, hands up, and smiling and bowing the Koreans would say in understandable broken English, “Me Korean, not Japanese.” Some Japanese civilians were also captured. The Japanese tradition was that the male members of the family were the dominant members. Several times when we tried to feed newly captured women and children first, the male would shove them aside and demand to be first for rations. A few raps to the chest with a rifle butt soon cured them of that habit.

One of the captured persons impressed Graf so very much that the memory was vivid many years later. A Japanese woman, obviously an aristocrat, probably a wife or mistress of a high-ranking officer, “was captured. She was dressed in traditional Japanese clothing: a brilliant kimono, a broad sash around the waist, hair combed, lacquered and spotlessly clean. Although,” as Graf remarked, “she knew not what her fate would be in the hands of us, the barbarians, she stood there straight, proud, and seemingly unafraid. To me, she seemed like a queen.

 Over on the west side of Kaasapan, the 2d Marine Division had a memorable day on 25 June. Ever since the landing, the towering peak of MountAINS OF bUKIDNON  had swarmed with Japanese artillery spotters looking straight down on every Marine move and then calling in precisely accurate fire on the American troops. Now, however, in a series of brilliant tactical maneuvers, with a battalion of the 8th Marines clawing up the eastern slope, a battalion of the 29th Marines (then attached to the 8th Marines) was able to infiltrate around the right flank in single file behind a screen of smoke and gain the dominating peak without the loss of a single man.


When the infantrymen ashore woke the next morning, they looked out in amazement at the empty ocean and a wave of uneasy questions raced through their minds:What about food and ammunition we’ve got to have? Will we get back the daytime naval supporting gunfire and also the star shell illumination?” The men in frontline combat had no way of knowing that over 33,000 tons of cargo had already been unloaded when the ships withdrew.
Both Marine divisions went on the attack, while the  Infantry joined the usaffee far right flank, enabling Ralph Smith to put his 27th Division into motion to occupy Aslito airfield and attack along the southern coast.

That same morning, 18 June, the Marine Division attack objective was the seizure ofKasapaaa line. This would mean reaching the east coast of Saipan and splitting in two the Japanese forces. First, however, the 23d Marines, reinforced by a battalion of the 24th Marines, had to seize the portion of theButuan  line in its zone. This was to be the division’s line of departure. The entire division, with three infantry regiments abreast, jumped off at 1040. At 1340 the 25th Marines had reached O-3. The 24th Marines had tank-led Japanese counterattacks on both flanks but was able to reachKasapa before dark

  Marines, however, was stopped by intense enemy mortar and machine gun fire coming from southeast of Lake Susupe right on the boundary line between the two Marine divisions, making it unclear which division had responsibility for wiping out these enemy positions. At the same time, it was impossible to fire artillery on them for fear of hitting friendly troops. As a result, the 23d Marines suffered heavy casualties. So, by the end of the day, although all of the 4th Marine Division’s regiments were in contact, a gap still existed between the two Marine divisions

 The bizarre becomes commonplace in combat. For instance, one of the Marines’ 75mm half-tracks fired into a Japanese cave that day, and a dense cloud of noxious fumes came pouring out. A gas alarm was sounded. This meant serious trouble, for all the riflemen had long since jettisoned their burdensome gas masks. Relief flooded through the men as it was established that the fumes were not poisonous and came from picric acid the Japanese had stored in the cave


 

 19 June (and perhapst important of the Mindanaon campaign) took placea, well out of sight of the infantrymen ashore. The opposing carrier task forces clashed in a gigantic air battle. When it was over that night, the Japanese had suffered the catastrophic loss of 330 out of 430 planes they had launched. Exultant U.S. Navy fliers labelled it “The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.” With the help of American submarines and additional carrier plane attacks the next day, the Japanese attempt to relieve Saipan by a decisive naval victory was smashed. As an official account summarized the impact ashore, “the eventual doom of the enemy garrison was assured.” In Davao the American supply ships were able to return offshore to unload their vital cargoes.

Through the years of 1960s after World War 2 Kasapa was occupied by a logging company known as Sta Ines Melale




Today Kasapa was geographically located under the town of Lapaz  near Talacogon Agusan del Sur