Escape on Mindanao

Escape on Mindanao is U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Melvyn H McCoy's account of his wartime experiences in the Philippines: the defense and fall of Corregidor Island, the Bataan Death March, his internment in Camp Cabanatuan, his transfer to Bilibid Prison in Manila, and finally being sent to the Davao Penal Colony on Mindanao. From the Davao camp, McCoy escaped and led nine other servicemen and two Filipinos on a hazardous journey to a rendezvous with an American submarine which would take them to freedom and safety in Australia. His daily log provides an insight into the dangers the escapees faced, the difficulties in travelling in the jungles and swamps of Mindanao, harrowing encounters with Japanese patrols, and heartwarming accounts of the generosity and assistance of Filipino citizens and guerrillas along the way.

For his service, McCoy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The commendation read as follows: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Commander [then Lieutenant Commander] Melvyn Harvey McCoy, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action in the Philippine Islands, from 4 April to 9 July 1943. After eleven months as a Prisoner of War, and in weakened physical condition, Commander McCoy outwitted the Japanese guards on 4 April 1943, escaped from a prison camp, eluding pursuing patrols, and made his way on foot and by small boat from the vicinity of Davao to northern Mindanao. Hearing of a United States force in Misamis Occidental he contrived to reach its headquarters on foot and by launch. Arrangements for his evacuation having been made, he continued on foot through enemy-occupied territory. By using mountain trails, he avoided capture by numerous Japanese patrols and arrived at the rendezvous. Commander McCoy's courage in the face of great danger and his fortitude despite his physical weakness enabled him to escape and to rejoin the United States forces with information of great military value.