This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Gutierrez, Anthony Aralio, EMC.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Casualty Info
Home Town Providence
Casualty Date Oct 24, 1944
Cause MIA-Died in Captivity
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Philippines
Conflict World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Philippine Islands Campaign (1941-42)/Battle of Bataan
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1942
To Month/Year
December / 1942
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories In March 1942, Pigeon salvaged and concealed gasoline drums ashore in Saseaman Cove, fueled a submarine and gunboats, and towed several lighters between Corregidor and Bataan. She also salvaged and repaired S.S. Floricita and towed her from the beach at Corregidor to Mariveles. In April she dueled with enemy artillery at Cab Cabin and again fought off enemy aircraft.
Bataan fell on 9 April 1942 and, rather than surrender to the enemy, Canopus backed away from the dock and sank at the hands of her own crew. That night Pigeon made rendezvous with fleet submarine Snapper (SS-185) under the enemy guns in the south channel off Corregidor. Snapper had brought 46 tons of food and stores for beleaguered Corregidor and Pigeon hurried to load the cargo before the start of night bombing raids.
