Russell Volckmann and "We Remained"

Mountain View Reads Together is about conversations around the book of the year. You might not have even read it to have interesting conversations you might not have had otherwise. The other night Chris Campbell told me about a guy from his hometown, Russell [somebody], and how he served in the Philippines and wrote a book, now out of print.

Later, I "googled" what I remembered, and asked Chris to write a few paragraphs for this blog about Russell McLogan, who wrote "Boy Soldier: Coming of Age During World War II." Turns out it was the wrong Russell. Here's what Chris had to share:

When I was a child, growing up in a small Illinois town in the 60s, I was surprised to learn that the father of my friend, Ted Volckmann, was a West Point Graduate, a retired Brigadier General and a WWII Veteran. He never spoke about his experiences, and we just knew him as Mr. Volckmann, the owner of Volckmann’s Furniture factory. As it turns out, Russell Volckmann had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army, stationed in the Philippines in December of 1941. Like many other American Service personnel, he was captured and held in a camp on the Bataan Peninsula. On the night before the infamous Bataan Death March started, he and several other soldiers slipped out under the wire and escaped into the Philippine jungle. And there they remained for the entire war, gone, but certainly not forgotten.

Russell Volckmann commanded the Allied guerilla campaign on Luzon in the Philippines, operating out of the Cordillera in the northern part of the island. He was in communication with the US Government and Allied forces during the occupation, and the Japanese forces knew his name well. They had a large price on his head, but there were no takers. His civilian liaison and lieutenant was Ferdinand Marcos, later President of the Philippines. In America, his wife at the time was told by the Government that he was dead, and I believe that she remarried. While Douglas MacArthur famously said “I shall return,” Russell Volckmann wrote a book entitled We Remained. It is out of print and almost impossible to find.

During the Vietnam War, the Johnson Administration made extensive use of his vast expertise in jungle fighting and guerilla tactics. My parents and Ted’s parents used to golf together, and there were occasions when Mrs. Volckmann would show up alone, saying that Russ had business out of town. We found out later that he was being flown to Washington DC to consult with the President and the Pentagon. If they flew him to Saigon, he’d be gone for several days. We were told it was just a long business trip. Whenever President and Mrs. Marcos were in Washington, General and Mrs. Volckmann were always invited to the State Dinner at the White House.

General Volckmann passed away many years ago, but the hard lessons he learned during his experience as a guerilla leader are more relevant than ever. Further information can be found online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare#World_War_II_American_writings

From Tess Uriza Holthe

I am so delighted to have When the Elephants Dance chosen for Mountain View Reads Together.

The power of the written and spoken word to heal, spark discussion and bring people together never ceases to amaze me. In fact, many aspects of this book stemmed from having grown up in a diverse household teeming with people: relatives, newly immigrated Filipinos, players of my parents weekly mahjong games, service men from my brother's Vietnam boot camp and my grandfather's World War II Navy Veteran's group. Over the years, their personal experiences, stories and characteristics soaked into my skin and many years later, onto the page. During many of my book readings people in the audience felt compelled to share their parents' and their own life experiences of World War II. I look forward to hearing what the community of Mountain View has to share after reading WHEN THE ELEPHANTS DANCE.

-- Tess Uriza Holthe
(photo by Russ Pelton)