Talk:Valeriano Abello

This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Orders, decorations, and medals Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Orders, decorations, and medals, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of orders, decorations, and medals on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Orders, decorations, and medalsWikipedia:WikiProject Orders, decorations, and medalsTemplate:WikiProject Orders, decorations, and medalsOrders, decorations, and medals articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Scouting Low‑importance

	Scouting portal Valeriano Abello is part of the Scouting WikiProject, an effort to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to Scouting and Guiding on the Wikipedia. This includes but is not limited to boy and girl organizations, WAGGGS and WOSM organizations as well as those not so affiliated, country and region-specific topics, and anything else related to Scouting. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.ScoutingWikipedia:WikiProject ScoutingTemplate:WikiProject ScoutingScouting articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Tambayan Philippines Mid‑importance

	Philippines portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Tambayan Philippines, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics related to the Philippines on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Tambayan PhilippinesWikipedia:WikiProject Tambayan PhilippinesTemplate:WikiProject Tambayan PhilippinesPhilippine-related articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the importance scale.

Biography

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	This article has been automatically rated by a bot or other tool because one or more other projects use this class. Please ensure the assessment is correct before removing the `\|auto=` parameter.

Excerpt from Hilary Saint George Saunders, The Left Handshake, 1948

Saunders, Hilary Saint George (1949). The Left Handshake: The Boy Scout Movement during the War, 1939-1945. London: Collins.

Contributed by Chris:

World War II

By far the most remarkable exploit performed by a Filipino Scout was that of Valerino Abello, a member of Troop 11 of Leyte. As a Scout he had learned signaling, and on the day of the attack on Leyte, this accomplishment was to stand him and the American invading forces in good stead. The Japanese had massed the most formidable of their defenses along the eastern coast of the island and they stretched from the Ambao Mountains to the San Juanico Strait, which divides Leyte from Samar. The defenses included tank traps, pillboxes, slit trenches, barbed wire and individual foxholes, and were manned by a full Japanese division. On the seashore and at certain points in the hills behind, batteries of guns and mortars had been installed.

Having served as a capataz, or foreman, over the Filipino laborers who had been forced to build these defenses, Abello possessed detailed knowledge of their general disposition, and the many strong points they contained. On the 20th October 1944, he was at Telegrafo, near Toloso, when looking out to sea he saw a long line of warships moving into position. A moment later heavy shells began to burst near him and he ran at once to the beach, where he was joined by two comrades, Anterio Junua and Vicente Cononigo. By now the bombardment was at its full height, and large and medium-caliber shells were falling along the defenses. It was obvious that this was the preliminary bombardment not of a raid but of a landing in force.

Abello began to signal, repeating over and over again, "Please let me direct the shelling." The waving flags were presently seen and a destroyer closer in shore than the great ships flashed back, "Come immediately. Waiting." The three men jumped on board a native outrigger canoe and paddled out towards the destroyer. They were closing her when shells from a Japanese battery burst into the water nearby and upset the canoe. They took to the sea, swam towards the destroyer and were dragged, exhausted and dripping, on to her decks. Abello was taken at once to the bridge where, giving the Scout's salute, he said, "I know where every main defensive position on shore is to be found, for I helped to build them." The destroyer signaled to the flagship, and soon Abello, from her bridge, was directing the bombardment. New targets were given to the gunners and, most important of all from the point of view of Abello, Tolosa and the other villages and towns within the defense area were spared the hail of fire which fell upon the beaches. One by one each strong point was shelled in turn, and two hours later the assaulting troops headed by the famous Marines, swept in in their landing craft and set foot on shore.

Oliver Puertogallera (talk) 11:51, 14 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]