In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 29 December 1907
- Died
- 18 January 1998
- Birthplace
- Barrio Tagsing, Leon, Iloilo, Philippines
- Country
- Philippines
- Nationality
- Filipino
- Known for
- Restoring an artillery position under fire at Culis during the Battle of Bataan
- Wartime unit
- Battery B, 88th Field Artillery
- Action at Culis
- 16 January 1942
- Award
- United States Medal of Honor
- Final Army rank
- Captain
Why this life matters
Calugas connects battlefield initiative, the suffering of Filipino prisoners and covert resistance in one of the best-documented individual stories of the Philippine campaign.
Timeline
Key moments
Born in Iloilo
Born on 29 December in Barrio Tagsing, Leon.
Joined the Philippine Scouts
Entered the United States Army formation and trained in artillery.
Action near Culis
Crossed approximately 1,000 yards under fire and organised sixteen volunteers to operate a gun.
Captivity after Bataan
Survived the Death March and imprisonment at Camp O’Donnell.
Rice-mill work and resistance
Released to work in January; gathered intelligence and escaped to the guerrillas in October.
Medal presentation
Major General Richard J. Marshall presented the award at Camp Olivas.
Retired as a captain
Settled with his family in Tacoma, Washington.
Died
Died on 18 January, aged ninety.
From Iloilo to the Philippine Scouts
Jose Cabalfin Calugas was born on 29 December 1907 in Barrio Tagsing, Leon, Iloilo. He joined the Philippine Scouts in 1930 and trained as an artilleryman. The Scouts were a United States Army formation; his service should not be casually reassigned to a later national army merely because he was Filipino.
By January 1942 he was a sergeant in Battery B, 88th Field Artillery, serving as a mess sergeant during the defence of Bataan. That support duty is central to the story, rather than an incidental detail added after the battle. He was preparing food when he recognised that a gun position had fallen silent and decided to act beyond his assigned task.
The action at Culis on 16 January 1942
The official Medal of Honor citation places the action near Culis in Bataan Province on 16 January 1942. Enemy bombardment had put a battery gun out of action and killed or wounded its crew. Without waiting for orders, Calugas crossed approximately 1,000 yards of ground under shellfire to reach the position.
He organised sixteen volunteers and returned the gun to effective service. The citation describes a sustained contribution while the position remained under attack, not a single shot that instantly decided the campaign. His initiative helped maintain artillery fire during a wider withdrawal. It is this specific action, rather than his later captivity or guerrilla service, for which the Medal of Honor was awarded.
Sources for this section: [1]
The Death March, Camp O’Donnell and resistance
Bataan surrendered in April 1942 before Calugas could receive the medal. He survived the Death March and imprisonment at Camp O’Donnell. The National WWII Museum describes nearly eight months in the camp, where malnutrition and abuse made survival itself uncertain. The recommendation for an American decoration offered no protection from those conditions.
In January 1943 he was released to work in a rice mill. He secretly supplied intelligence to a guerrilla organisation and escaped in October to join it. His resistance continued until the return of Allied forces. Rice-mill work, clandestine reporting and joining armed guerrillas were successive stages, not one undifferentiated episode beginning immediately after the surrender.
An award authorised in war and presented after liberation
The citation lists General Orders No. 10, dated 24 February 1942. The physical presentation took place much later: on 30 April 1945 at Camp Olivas in Pampanga. Major General Richard J. Marshall placed the medal around Calugas’s neck. The order date and the ceremony date answer different questions about when he received the honour.
The presenter was Richard Marshall, not Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall. An older Army NCO article confuses the names; both the museum account and the more detailed 2023 Department of Defense biography identify Richard. Comparing those institutional accounts prevents a familiar surname from becoming a repeated historical error. Calugas had survived the intervening occupation to attend his own award ceremony.
Postwar service, citizenship and life in Tacoma
Calugas continued serving after the war, including occupation duty with the 44th Infantry Regiment in Okinawa. He obtained United States citizenship and eventually retired from the Army as a captain in 1957. Sergeant was his rank at the decorated action; captain was his later rank. The two titles describe different moments in a continuing military career.
He settled in Tacoma, Washington, and later worked for Boeing before retiring from civilian employment. He died on 18 January 1998, aged ninety. His biography connects a Filipino soldier’s service in the pre-independence Scouts with captivity, resistance and a postwar American life. That sequence is more informative than treating the medal as the only event between his birth and death.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Jose Calugas
- What did Jose Calugas do to earn the Medal of Honor?
- On 16 January 1942 near Culis, Bataan, he crossed about 1,000 yards under fire and organised sixteen volunteers to restore an artillery gun to action.
- When was his Medal of Honor presented?
- On 30 April 1945 at Camp Olivas. The citation’s 24 February 1942 general-order date is a separate milestone.
- Who presented the medal to Calugas?
- Major General Richard J. Marshall. He should not be confused with George C. Marshall.
- Was Calugas a sergeant or a captain?
- He was a sergeant during the 1942 action and retired from the Army as a captain in 1957.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Jesús Villamor
Compare the service and resistance work of another decorated Filipino soldier, in aviation rather than artillery.
- Macario Peralta Jr.
Read about a separate guerrilla command in the wartime Philippines.
- Bado Dangwa
Explore another regional resistance career without assuming the men served in the same unit.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. United States ArmyWorld War II Medal of Honor citation: Jose Calugas
The original citation anchors the action, unit and general-order date. The latter is not substituted for the 1945 presentation date.
- 2. United States ArmyMedal of Honor: Army Capt. Jose Calugas
- 3. U.S. Army Center of Military HistoryPhilippine Islands campaign booklet
- 4. Department of Defense / United States ArmyMedal of Honor: Army Capt. Jose Calugas, 3 May 2023
- 5. National WWII MuseumSergeant Jose Calugas Medal of Honor
The museum separates January 1943 rice-mill work from the October escape and identifies the 1945 presenter. Its account of the medal’s later location differs from DOD’s, so no current repository is asserted.
- 6. Army University Press / NCO JournalThis month in NCO History: 16 January 1942
The 2013 NCO account supports his Scouts and mess-sergeant background but incorrectly names George Marshall as presenter. The museum and 2023 DOD account identify Richard J. Marshall.
- 7. Wikimedia CommonsJose Calugas — portrait and reuse record
