During the darkest days when Cebu was occupied by the Japanese Imperial Forces during World War II, one man kept some sanity to the ragtag guerilla forces that banded together refusing to bow to a foreign occupier. The man chosen to lead the motley bunch of Cebuano guerillas was Col. James Cushing. But there was another American who vied for this leadership, Harry Fenton, a radio broadcaster, who later became so paranoid, perhaps for killing Cebuano guerrillas whom he suspected of becoming agents of the dreaded Japanese secret police, the Kempetai.
Eventually, a group of Filipino guerillas arrested Fenton and he was summarily executed somewhere in Tabunan where the Cebu Area Command (CAC) was headquartered. A couple of years ago, my uncle, Col. Manuel F. Segura and I went up to Tabunan to find the site where once the CAC stood and a few remnants remain of what used to be a military campsite. That the CHAC has now taken steps to honor Col. Cushing, albeit belatedly is highly commendable because he is very much part of Cebu history.
Perhaps the most important saga in the life of Col. Cushing began on March 31, 1944 when two Kawanishi HSK2 code named "Emily" flying boats bearing Adm. Mineichi Koga Commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet (who recently took over the Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack) and another Emily had Rear Adm. Shigeru Fukudome, Koga's Chief of Staff on board, moved their headquarters from Korkor, Palau to Davao City 600 miles away.
On way to Davao, the two planes was met by a very strong typhoon and the 1st plane bearing Adm. Koga disappeared and most probably crashed in the Pacific Ocean, while the 2nd flying boat bearing Adm. Fukudome floundered into the Cebu coastline, missing Cebu City and crashed off Barrio Balud, San Fernando. Ricardo Bolo barrio chief of Magtalisay, San Fernando found the survivors and brought them to the hills of Tabunan in Central Cebu where Col. Cushing had his headquarters.
On April 3rd, Pedro Gantuangko of Perellos, Carcar found among the flotsam that washed ashore a red leather portfolio, which he learned later, contained the Z-Plan, the Japanese Naval strategy in defending the Philippines from US forces. This was popularly known as the "Koga Papers" the title of the book written by my uncle. Col. Segura. Another book, "The Rescue" written by Robert Trent Smith, tells this story. He wrote me a thank you email for helping promote his book.
Col. Cushing tried to keep his Japanese hostages in Tabunan, but shortly, the Japanese forces in Cebu led by Lt. Col. Seiti Ohnisi sent his soldiers to the mountains of Cebu to search for the survivors sending a message to Cushing to surrender his captives or he would kill Cebuano civilians, which he did. Because the Japanese had an overwhelming force searching for the survivors, Col. Cushing was forced to "trade" his prisoners and in return for the Japanese sparing civilian lives. Adm. Fukudome was returned to Cebu City, then to Manila and eventually brought back to Tokyo, Japan.
Because he gave up his captives, Col. Cushing was demoted on the spot by Gen. MacArthur although he was reinstated when MacArthur learned that the Koga papers were still in the hands of the Cebu Guerillas. The Z-plan was sent to Basay, Negros Oriental and sent via a submarine, the USS Crevalle to MacArthur's headquarters in Australia. Thus the invasion of the Philippines was moved to October instead of December and from Mindanao, the new target was Leyte. The rest is history.
Last November 2005, the "The Z-Plan Story" written by Greg Bradsher came out in "Prologue," the official magazine of the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). I contributed the photos of Col. Cushing and Salvador Abcede as requested by Nara editor Ben Guterman who learned that I wrote about this story extensively. Here's the best part: Adm. Fukodome was the highest-ranking Japanese officer ever captured during World War II, and credit goes to the Cebuano guerillas, led by Col. Jim Cushing! This is why CHAC should be honoring this man that our own historians have already forgotten!