Veteran of 3 armies 'never fired a shot'

Ronnie White By Ronnie White
on April 26, 2007 at 8:38 AM, updated April 26, 2007 at 8:46 AM
Aniceto Bagley looks over a map of the Philippines, where he served as a coastal watcher. After the war; he came to the U.S., re-enlisted and became an American citizen.
Filipino adopted by U.S. couple was 'one of lucky ones' By YVONNE BETOWT Times Staff Writer

When Aniceto Bagley was 2 years old, his Filipino parents allowed a childless American couple living in the Philippines to adopt him.

The couple, Zane and Merle Bagley of San Francisco, had moved to the Philippines to try to make a better life for themselves in the mid-1920s. But when that move didn't pan out, they returned to the States in 1928 with their child to start over. That still didn't work out, and when the Great Depression hit, they returned to the Philippines - a U. S. territory - for another try.

It was tough in the beginning, but things began going "relatively" well for Bagley. He not only had his adoptive parents, but also was reunited with his biological parents and ended up with 10 younger siblings despite being an "only child."

But things fell apart Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and "all hell broke loose," said Bagley, who has lived in Huntsville since retiring from the Army in 1976. He went on to work for McDonnell-Douglas for 11 years as a contractor on space lab.

Bagley and his relatives hid for months to escape the Japanese. His American parents had to spend most of their time hiding in a thicket, and Bagley's relatives risked their lives to take them scarce food and water.

While still a civilian in 1943, Bagley, 17, learned about a Philippine signal corps station just off the coast that had been set up by a friend of his, Frederick P. Stangle, and two other men.

Aniceto Bagley in 1946 as a first sergeant in the U.S. Army.

"I said, 'Why don't I see if I can join their organization?' "

Bagley and several other men joined, and he was made a code clerk who encoded messages.

"We were in constant contact with the U.S. Army, but we never knew who we were talking to," said Bagley. "We even talked with people in the Antarctic."

In 1944, Bagley joined the Philippine guerrillas to help fight the Japanese. He and a few others were assigned to a coastal watch to alert his unit to Japanese planes, but he had no binoculars or even a radio. If he saw aircraft, Bagley had to run a little more than half a mile to the nearest phone.

But often by the time he made it back to the unit, the planes had already arrived, dropped some bombs and departed. The Japanese soon disrupted the guerrilla operation, forcing it to tear down the phone lines.

Aniceto Bagley shows an area of the Philippines coast where he served as a watcher during War World II.

The guerrillas dispersed in early 1945, so even though he could have gone home, Bagley decided to stay in the Philippine army. He was assigned to a radio platoon of the headquarters company of the 52nd Infantry Regiment, where he served until February 1946.

After it was demobilized in March 1946, he joined the Philippine Scouts of the U.S. Army. On July 4, 1946, the U.S. gave the Philippines its independence. While most Filipinos rejoiced, 29,000 Philippine Scout soldiers suddenly found themselves "foreigners" in the U.S. Army, which had no clue what to do with them.

Most were placed in service units, ordnance, transportation or signal groups. Bagley stayed with the scouts until December 1948 when he was discharged. He remained in the Philippines for three more months before returning to California where his foster mother, who wrote a book about their lives during the war, lived. His foster father died before he returned to the U. S. on June 15, 1949.

The next day, Bagley re-enlisted with the U. S. Army and a month later, he was sent to White Sands, N. M., followed by Fort Bliss for training. While there, he met his wife, Trudy, a member of the Women's Army Corps.

They married in 1951 and she was assigned to Okinawa during the Korean conflict. The Bagleys have three children and four grandchildren, including a grandson in the U. S. Marines.

He was stationed in Germany three times, Korea and Fort Bliss twice each and at Redstone in 1964, 1971 and 1974. He retired as chief warrant officer in 1976.

Bagley, who ended up serving in three armies, said he "never fired a shot. I was one of the lucky ones."

Aniceto Bagley
Age: 80
Branch of service: Army
Rank: Private first class/first sergeant
Unit: Philippine Army Guerrillas/Philippine Scouts
Years of service: 1944-76
Honors/medals: Meritorious Service medal, Army Commendation medal with 1st Oak Cluster; Good Conduct medal (1st and 2nd award); National Defense Service Medal with first Oak Leaf Cluster; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Armed Forces Reserve Medal (1st and 2nd award); Philippine Liberation and Independence ribbons; and Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
Advice to today's soldiers: "I've always contended that you've got to want to be in the service to really want to matter. Volunteers want to be here because they want to be here."