Army Sgt. Jose Calugas, Philippine Scouts

MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT
Army Sgt. Jose Calugas, Philippine Scouts

Jose Calugas, Sr., had a long and illustrious career with the U.S. Army, first as a Philippine Scout and then in a range of assignments after the war until his retirement with the rank of captain. It was as a Scout that Calugas was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism on January 6, 1942, at Culis, Bataan Province. As a Sergeant in Battery B of the 88th Field Artillery (PS), Calugas witnessed the Japanese bombing and shelling of a nearby Scout gun position until it was put out of commission and its crew members killed or wounded. Calugas from his own battery, in the words of the Medal of Honor citation, "voluntarily and without orders ran 1,000 yards across the shell-swept area to the gun position. There he organized a volunteer squad which placed the gun back in commission and fired effectively against the enemy, although the position remained under constant and heavy Japanese artillery fire."