The US Army also had their specialty units, such as the Rangers. However, The Alamo Scouts were a bit different. They were a recon-and-intelligence-gathering outfit that operated behind Japanese lines throughout 1944 and 1945 in the Southwest Theater of war under General Douglas MacArthur, and were a part of Maj. Gen. Kruger’s Sixth Army. The Alamo Scouts were an all-volunteer outfit, and only 138 men were chosen out of thousands who applied.

During World War II, MacArthur distrusted the OSS, as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff for intelligence, and thus the birth of the Scouts. Not only did they gather intelligence, but they also rescued POWs—hundreds of them, including Indian troops who had been captured with the fall of Singapore, and used as slave labor. And in spite, of the near suicidal nature of their missions—aside from two casualties during training—they lost no men killed, something most other elite units could not claim. Another point of interest regarding the makeup of the Alamo Scouts that I found was the overwhelming number of Native Americans who served in the Scouts, plus a number of Filipinos; this at a time in our history when the military was segregated. Definitely a good read.

Review by Bruce Petty  

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Last Updated
September 21, 2023