Return to Naval Historical Center home page. Return to Online Library listing

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images -- Picture Data

Photo #: NH 47859 (extended caption)

USS Bataan (CVL-29)

Officer of the Deck, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Howard W. Milke, USNR, welcomes entertainer Pascacio Alinangohan as he boards the ship in 1945. Mr. Alinangohan, a former guerrilla Captain whose stage name is "Professor Paz", led a troupe of dancers, singers and guitarists in a show for the carrier's crew.
The plaque behind them features a quotation from the speech given by Philippine President Manuel Quezon at USS Bataan's launching ceremonies on 1 August 1943.
More extensive information is provided below.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 


Original caption accompanying this photograph reads:

"Fooling the Japs as a Captain in the Philippine guerrillas, to fooling a hangar deck audience of officers and men of aircraft carrier USS Bataan with magic tricks is story of 'Professor Paz'. Mr. Pascacio Alinangohan, as Professor is known in islands, has been entertaining Armed Forces of the United States ever since they arrived in the Philippines. His performance on USS Bataan, however, was especially significant in that this carrier was named after famous World War II battle and President Sergio Osmeña represented Philippine Commonwealth at ship's commissioning on November 17, 1943. For two years in Philippine hills, Mr. Alinangohan and his comrades waged war, guerrilla war, against Japs. When the Americans finally arrived, he filtered through Japanese lines and began entertaining fighting men. He and his troupe of dancers, singers and guitarists are now sponsored by Army Special Services."


Another original caption accompanying this photograph reads:

"The Officer of the Deck of the aircraft carrier USS BATAAN welcomes to the quarterdeck Mr. Pascacio Alinangohan, former Philippine Guerrilla Captain. After keeping the Japs guessing for two years in the Philippine hills, Mr. Alinangohan had no trouble in fooling his audience with feats of magic."

"In the center of the picture is a bronze plaque bearing the seal of the Philippine Commonwealth and a quotation from the speech which the late President Manuel Quezon delivered at the launching of the USS BATAAN:
'...The valor of the American and Filipino fighting men who battled through the long months on Bataan will serve as an inspiration to the men of this fine new ship. To the people of the Philippines, who live only for the day of victory and liberation, the Bataan will be a symbol of the inevitable defeat of Japan. Our fighting comradeship was sealed in the foxholes of Bataan and hallowed forever in the shallow graves of that bloodstained bit of land ...'"

"Lieutenant (j.g.) Howard W. Milke, USNR, is the officer shaking hands with Mr. Alinangohan. ... A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Lieutenant (j.g.) Milke is the carrier's Radar Materiel Officer and a veteran of 19 months of sea duty. His brother, Second Lieutenant Albert Milke, Jr., is with the Infantry and was wounded in a recent Pacific Action."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

If you want higher resolution reproductions than this digital image, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

22 August 2000