Summer - United States Special Operations Command

Blackburn’s HeadhuntersPhilip Harkins.New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1955. ISBN-10 1299651186, hardcover, 326 pages.Reviewed by MAJ Pete Franco, MSCBlackburn’s Headhunters is the true story ofDonald Blackburn. Blackburn was the Army Officermost responsible for pioneering guerilla warfare and insurgencyoperations in the Philippines after the Japaneseinvasion during WWII. The time span of this book runsfrom around the fall of Bataan to the liberation on VJ Day(approximately 1942-1945). Most of the book deals withBlackburn’s training and integration of native Igorat andIfugao Filipino tribes along with the training of regularFilipino soldiers and American Soldiers. The accountstarts as a narrative but then transitions to excerpts fromBlackburn’s reports and diaries throughout the secondhalf of the book.The book begins with then 1LT Blackburn’s arrivalto the Philippine AOR on orders to train a section ofthe Philippine Army, the 12th Filipino Infantry Regiment.He was assigned with MAJ Russell Volckmann who togetherhad responsibility for the 11th Filipino InfantryRegiment. Both Backburn and Voalckmann employedstrong, early attempts to empower the Filipino Army;however, they failed to muster an initial force that couldcombat the Japanese. The book clearly illustrated thePhilippine Army’s lack of training, equipment, and theiralmost immediate collapse. Skillfully, Blackburn wasable to escape from the Japanese. The quick collapse ofthe Filipino Regular Army forces propelled Blackburninto beginning a fight “unconventionally.”The account focuses heavily on the unconventionalGW fight for the majority of the rest of the book.After realizing the initial superiority of the JapaneseArmy, the U.S. command gave 1LT Blackburn and MAJVolckmann orders to peacefully surrender; however, theydid not! (Hence the title of the later Hollywood accountof this book “Surrender – Hell!”) Instead they immediatelycontacted the higher Philippine Army command toassist them in their resistance. They went on to furtherrecommend the formation of an insurgency and the creationof a guerilla army. The Philippine Commandagreed, however they were not up to the task. They partiallymobilized and joined the resistance but were extremelylimited in most areas. They also fell prey toJapanese fear tactics and extreme torture methods employedon all Filipinos’ creating ANY form of resistance.1LT Blackburn and MAJ Volkmann took on the task tocreate the insurgency and the guerilla army.The author, Philip Harkin, skillfully used Blackburn’smemoirs and records to re-create the portrayal ofhis guerilla warfare training and operations in the Philippines.1LT Blackburn, along with MAJ Volckmann, tookBook Review 81