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I had never met <em>Ted Kalakuka</em> before he came to the Philippine Department for duty with the Department Quartermaster in July 1940. In May 1941, when all the dependents of military personnel of the Department were ordered home, Ted came to live with me in my quarters on Gral Luna. From May 15 until December 24, 1941 we lived in the same room, ate in the same mess, and read each other’s letters received from home and from our families. I believe I got to know him as well as anyone could. From this association I gathered the following general idea of his life.</p>
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Ted was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1902, the only son in a family of four children. His father, an immigrant from the Ukraine, sometimes acted as an interpreter at Ellis Island. Later the family moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Ted attended grade school and high school. I gathered from conversations with him that his life was not too easy. There was always plenty of hard work, but the family life he enjoyed as a child made up for many privations. He had enlisted in the Army during the First World War, but when it was found that his age was about four years less than he had given, he was promptly discharged from the service. After the war he joined the Pennsylvania National Guard and received an appointment to the United States Military Academy from that service. I have no knowledge of his ability as a student, but I do not believe that Ted “boned tenths” too hard, and I have no doubt that he was a very good student. He was graduated from the Military Academy in 1927, choosing the Cavalry as his branch. He served a short detail in the Air Corps and then went back to duty with the Cavalry. Sometime in the early thirties, he transferred to the Quartermaster Corps and, while on duty in the Quartermaster General’s Office in Washington, D. C., he met Miss Marion Ross, the daughter of Major C. A. Ross, Class of 1913, deceased. They were married in 1936. Two daughters were born to them—Page in November 1937, and Christine in April 1940.</p>
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Upon his arrival in the Philippine Islands In July, 1940, Ted took over the duties of Plans and Training Officer for the Department Quartermaster and, upon the organization of U.S. A.F.F.E., General Charles C. Drake. U.S.A.F.F.E. Quartermaster, selected him as his Executive Officer. His efforts to bring the Quartermaster Corps to a war footing were untiring. Although war was imminent, the state of preparedness of the United States did not permit the flow of supplies which we all believed were needed. I don’t know how Ted stood up during the early days of the war in Manila. It is doubtful whether he slept more than two to three hours out of the twenty-four. He was constantly making reconnaissances, inspecting, making contacts with civilian as well as military personnel, and acting as a liaison officer between U.S.A.F.F.E. and the Commonwealth Government of the Philippine Islands on supply matters. Upon the withdrawal of U.S.A.F.F.E. Headquarters to Corregidor, Ted set up the Q.M. Command Post of the U.S.A.F.F.E. Headquarters in Malinta Tunnel, and at least twice a week visited all Quartermaster installations on Bataan. It was on one of his inspection trips to Bataan that he became involved in an engagement with the Japs in the vicinity of Agloloma, for which he received the Silver Star. Ted always claimed that his participation in this engagement was purely accidental; however, he always carried an M-l rifle, and when the opportunity presented itself, he offered his services in any capacity to the battalion commander; and he served as a rifleman in that engagement. As I have said, I knew Ted as well as anybody, so I doubt whether his participation was as much by accident as it was taking advantage of a splendid opportunity.</p>
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After the fall of Bataan, Ted served on Corregidor until its fall. He had always had a flair for languages, speaking German, Spanish, French, Ukrainian and Russian. It was fortunate that he had command of this last language. When the Japs occupied Malinta Tunnel, in very poor English but by very evident signs, they gave the occupants to understand that unless the tunnel were evacuated in five minutes, flame throwers, which were threateningly displayed, would be used. Kalakuka spoke to a Japanese officer in all the languages he knew and finally found that they both spoke Russian. He explained the difficulty of evacuating the sick and wounded in the limited time, and assured the Jap that if given an opportunity all would be evacuated in an orderly manner, which promise was kept.</p>
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General Wainwright authorized Kalakuka to go to the northern part of Luzon to notify the guerrillas that the Philippine Islands had surrendered to Japan and that they were directed to lay down their arms. It was on this mission that Ted died of cerebral malaria at Bayombong, in the province of Nueva Vizcaya. He was buried In the Catholic cemetery of that town.</p>
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Ted gave the impression of being somewhat of a playboy and of a happy-go-lucky temperament, without a serious thought in the world. This impression was entirely wrong. In all of his duties Ted was deadly serious. He could work long hours on a most minute detail to make a plan carry through. He was very impatient with those from whom he could not get a direct decision or direct action. He was devoted to his family, a characteristic which he carried over from his own boyhood. He wanted his family to be proud of him, and no doubt they are. They have every reason to be. As recognition for his services, he received the Silver Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Bronze Star. His devotion to the United States and his appreciation of our country were far greater than most of us will ever know. He was so close to the land of his father that he realized how much America offered to him, and he felt he could never do enough to repay her. In all of his dealings that I observed, he kept the motto of the Military Academy for his guide.</p>
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The last time I spoke to Ted was just before we surrendered on Bataan. He was on Corregidor, and over the phone I closed my conversation with him by remarking, “I’ll be seeing you, Ted”. And I close this with the remark, “Sorry to have missed you, Ted”</p>
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<em>— M. A. Q.</em></p>
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