In Memory of
Colonel Abraham “Abe” Garfinkel
Various Philippine Scout Units, 1912-1942
September 30, 1885-April 11, 1962
Abraham Garfinkel (sometimes misspelled “Garfinkle”) was born in Austria on September 30, 1885. He moved to the U.S. and he apparently faked his age⏤changing his birth year to 1882⏤to enlist in the Army. [i] [xiv]
He first served with the 42nd Company, Coast Artillery Corps at Ft. Mott, New Jersey, from June 14, 1900 to June 13, 1903. He reenlisted and shipped off to the Philippines to join H Company, 22nd Infantry from September 1, 1903 to August 31, 1906, which fought in Mindanao. He took nearly a year off before enlisting again, this time with Company K, 14th Infantry on August 6, 1907. The regiment returned to the continental U.S. in 1910. Garfinkel rose to the rank of post quartermaster sergeant of Ft. Meade, South Dakota. [ii]
He left his post due to his appointment on February 9, 1912 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Philippine Scouts. He accepted on February 16 and sailed for Manila.
Garfinkel finally arrived on May 23, 1912 and was assigned to the 10th Company, Philippine Scouts. He shipped out the next day to Camp Bumpus, Leyte Island to join the company. In October 1913, he served with the 7th Battalion on detached service at Ft. San Pedro, Panay Island. In August 1914, he was the commanding officer of the 12th Company (PS). He stayed with the 12th Co. (PS) from August 1914 to March 1916, hopping from one station to another: Camp Treadwell in Pampanga, Warwick Barracks in Cebu and Camp Overton in Mindanao. [iii]
On March 22, 1916, he transferred to HQ Company, 3rd Battalion (PS) while at Camp Overton, serving in different capacities from Signal and Barrio Officer to Battalion Supply Officer.
He later transferred to the 9th Battalion (PS) and was promoted 1st Lieutenant, Philippine Scouts, on April 1, 1917. On May 11, 1917, he transferred to the 40th Company (PS) and took command of the company on May 21. [Ibid].
From there, the Army promoted him to Captain, P.S., on July 30, 1918 and Major, P.S., on July 1, 1920. [ii] From 1919 to about 1927, Garfinkel commanded Camp John Hay in Baguio, Benguet Province, in the northern part of Luzon. On October 27, 1927, the Army named Garfinkel commanding officer of the Special Troops, Philippine Division and served in this capacity until February 27, 1931. [iv]
In November 1931, the Major was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the acting Governor General of the Philippines, George C. Butte. [v] He then became ADC to Butte's successors, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. and Frank Murphy. The Army promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel, P.S. on August 1, 1935.
Once Manuel Quezon ascended to the presidency of the Philippine Commonwealth, Lt. Colonel Garfinkel became President Quezon's Aide-de-Camp on November 16, 1935. He said in January 1936 that the American military was finally warming up to President Quezon, realizing the President's "intelligence and powerful grasp of affairs." He continued and said "Quezon had accomplished more in one month than Governor General had ever done in one year." [vi]
From April 1, 1936 to March 28, 1938, Lt. Colonel (PS) Garfinkel once again commanded the Special Troops, Philippine Division. [iv] He was later promoted Colonel, Army of the United States, October 16, 1940, and then the permanent rank of Colonel, Philippine Scouts, on May 31, 1941.
WWII began on December 8, 1941 in the Philippines. At that time, Col. Garfinkel was the post commander of Ft. William McKinley. With the enemy closing in, he ordered the destruction of documents and prepared to abandon the post. At 11 p.m. on December 31, Garfinkel and his men began the retreat to Bataan. [vii] After he arrived, the Army named him Inspector General of II Philippine Corps, the command that covered the eastern half of the Bataan Peninsula. On April 9, 1942, after months of fighting on the peninsula, Major General Edward P. King ordered all soldiers on Bataan to surrender.
As a result, the Japanese forced the 56-year-old Garfinkel to walk the infamous the Bataan Death March, the fifth oldest U.S. Army soldier to do so. Despite being one of the older ones to march, he apparently inspired others around him. In Donald Knox’s book “Death March: The Survivors of Bataan,” a soldier saw Col. Garfinkel during the march. He “really disliked” the Colonel because he once served as an NCO in 1935, but Garfinkel demoted him. But when he saw the Colonel on the march, he said to himself, “‘If that gray-haired bastard can make it, so can I.’ He gave me incentive.” [viii]
making it to the POW camp at Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac [ix]
On August 12, 1942, Col. Garfinkel and many of the senior U.S. Army officers boarded the hellship Nagara Maru headed for Takao, Formosa, arriving on August 14, 1942. They then transferred to another hellship, the Otaro Maru, that same day and taken to the Karenko POW Camp (also on Formosa). The Army officially declared him retired on September 30, 1942, which on paper was his 60th birthday. [x]
At some point, Garfinkel boarded another hellship and taken to Mukden, Manchuria. Col. Malcolm Fortier drew several sketches of “Abe” in his book, “The Life of a P. O. W. under the Japanese.” One sketch captured Garfinkel’s energy: “Abe Garfinkel, one of the oldest men in Camp had more pep than most, he’d walk the compound on the double for an hour at a time.” Another sketch celebrated his 45th anniversary in the Army on June 14, 1945.[xi] Colonel William Braly wrote about that day as well:
“June 14 marked a memorable day for one of our number whom everyone admired and respected , my good friend , Colonel Abe Garfinkel. On that date he completed 45 years of active service in the U. S. Army which included a distinguished record in many important assignments. After breakfast that morning many crowded around him to extend congratulations.” [xii]
Garfinkel and the rest of the Hoten Camp POWs were liberated in August 1945. [xiii] He returned to the U.S. shortly thereafter.
During WWII, his son, Lt. Harold Garfinkel was Killed-In-Action in Italy, April 1945, and his oldest son, Capt. Bernard Garfinkel, survived the war.
President Quezon passed away in the continental U.S. on August 1, 1944 and the U.S. prepared to return his body back to the Philippines. Col. Garfunkel and former Governor-General Frank Murphy escorted Quezon back to the archipelago aboard the U.S.S. Princeton in July 1946. Garfunkel helped lay his old boss to rest in August 1946. In a few months, the Colonel would officially retired on December 19, 1946. He passed away on April 11, 1962.
Sources:
[i] “Remembering Veterans and the Legends They Leave Behind.” Culture Bean, 28 May 2013, culturebean.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/remembering-veterans-and-the-legends-they-leave-behind/.
[ii] The Adjutant General's Office. Official Army Register, Jan. 1, 1941. Govt. Print. Office, 1941.
[iii] Returns From U.S. Military Posts, 1800-1916; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M617, 1,550 rolls); Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
[iv] “Headquarters, Special Troops, Philippine Division.” US Army Order of Battle, 1919-1941, by Steven E. Clay, vol. 3, Combat Studies Institute Press, 2010, p. 1891. The Services: Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops, 1919–41.
[v] Kamins, Toni L., et al. “Kohut School for Boys Opens September 26th.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 13 Sept. 1932, www.jta.org/1932/09/13/archive/kohut-school-for-boys-opens-september-26th.
[vi] “Abraham Garfinkel.” The Philippine Diary Project, philippinediaryproject.wordpress.com/tag/abraham-garfinkel/.
[vii] De La Cruz, Pablo N. “1st Provisional Bn., Fil-American Irregular Troops: Additional Records.” Received by The Commanding General, PHILRYCOM, 1 June 1948, Manila.
[viii] Knox, Donald. Death March: the Survivors of Bataan. Harcourt, 2002.
[ix] Hardee, David L., and Frank A. Jr Blazich. Bataan Survivor A POW's Account of Japanese Captivity in World War II. University of Missouri Press, 2017.
[x] National Archives. “Draft Rosters of Army POWs Showing Transfers from Bilibid Prison to Other Camps in 1944 or Earlier.” Edited by Robert Hudson, The West Point Connection, Oct. 2008, www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/HudsonFast/BilibidDbf.htm.
[xi] Fortier, Malcolm Vaughn. The Life of a P.O.W. under the Japanese: in Caricature. C.W. Hill Print. Co., 1946.
[xii] Braly, William C. The Hard Way Home ; a True Story of More than Three Years Spent in Japanese Prison Camps, p. 227.
[xiii] Braly, William C, and Roger Mansell. “POW Camps for Senior USA POWs.” The West Point Connection, www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/Tarlac/Tarlac.htm.
[xiv] In '“Heroes of Bataan, Corregidor, and Northern Luzon,” it lists his birth year as “1885.”
“Col. Abraham Garfinkel.” Heroes of Bataan, Corregidor, and Northern Luzon, by Marcus Griffin and Eva Jane. Matson, M. Griffin, 1994, p. 104.