'Great Raid' leader dies in Port Townsend; Prince, 89, was recipient of top Army medal
By Erik Hidle
Peninsula Daily News
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Mr. Prince died on New Year's Day in Port Townsend after a long illness. He was 89.
As an Army Ranger captain, Mr. Prince served as the assault commander in a mission that freed 571 Allied prisoners of war from the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in the Philippines on Jan. 31, 1945.
'The Great Raid'
The mission, which came to be known as "The Great Raid," was documented in such books as Hampton Sides' Ghost Soldiers and William Breuer's The Great Raid: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregido.
In a film released in 2005, "The Great Raid," the role of Mr. Prince was played by James Franco, who also narrated the film.
Mr. Prince served as a consultant on the film, seeing parts of it during production and judging the scenes for their historical accuracy
In an interview with the Peninsula Daily News in 2005, Mr. Prince said he was humbled by his fame.
"It's amazing to have it come back as the same story," he said. "I am getting a little more attention than I deserve."
His son, Jim Prince of Port Townsend, said on Tuesday that his father was humble about his service.
"He was always very modest about it," he said. "He never brought it up. I think the record speaks for itself. He was very successful, but also very private."
On Jan. 30, 1945, Mr. Prince's battalion conducted a raid behind enemy lines on Luzon Island, 50 miles north of Manila.
The objective was to free more than 500 POWs housed in a barbed-wire compound, where they were being tortured and starved.
"The command was quite concerned about American POWs because on nearby Palawan Island, the Japanese had killed 150 prisoners," Mr. Prince said in 2005.
The 25-year-old Capt. Prince was second in command of the battalion of Army Rangers led by Lt. Col. Henry Mucci.
Their mission was to march 25 miles behind the front lines to the camp, kill the guards and free the POWs.
Mr. Prince said the group accomplished it over a period of four days with the help of Filipino civilians and Filipino guerrillas.
The battalion also included 13 special reconnaissance Alamo Scouts from the 6th Army.
The scouts provided information on the layout of the prison camp guarded by 200 Japanese soldiers.
"Before we attacked, we had to cross an open field," Mr. Prince said in 2005.
"A U.S. plane flew over the camp. It was a diversion. POWs later told us that everybody in the camp watched the plane, while we crossed the ground and that put us in the position to attack at 7:40 p.m."
Beginning at dusk, the attack lasted about 30 minutes.
Filipino guerrillas protected the group on the flanks and killed a number of Japanese, Mr. Prince said.
"It was dark and we did not stop to count them," he recalled. "I don't think anybody would have stopped to think about how many were killed."
After the shooting was over, the Army Rangers rounded up the prisoners and assessed their losses.
The Rangers had lost two soldiers, Mr. Prince remembered.
Filipino civilians provided ox carts to transport prisoners who were too weak or injured to walk.
The soldiers marched all night before arriving at the base with the prisoners at 10:30 a.m. the next morning.
About 170 Filipino guerrilla fighters stayed behind, protecting the convoy's rear.
"I thought we were well protected by two guerrilla forces," Mr. Prince had said. "It was their country."
Seattle native
A Seattle native, Mr. Prince graduated from Stanford University in 1941 as an ROTC cadet.
He joined the Army and was on active duty five months before the attacks on Pearl Harbor.
"I had no idea what lay ahead of me," he said in 2005. "We weren't even at war when I went into the Army.
"I figured there was a war coming, and I wanted to be an officer."
In 1942, he married Barbara, a Seattle native, before his deployment overseas.
Mr. Prince fought in New Guinea, and took part in the 1944 Leyte Campaign aimed at defeating the Japanese in the Philippines.
After the war ended, he left the military at the rank of major.
He returned to his wife and started a career selling apples in Wenatchee.
After retiring from his apple business, Mr. Prince moved to Kirkland and lived there for 20 years.
He moved to Port Townsend in 2003 to be closer to his family after the death of his wife in December 2003.
There, he told an interviewer that he liked to take walks along the Port Townsend Bay and read.
"I don't think too much about the war," he said. It was a very rewarding experience in my life, but nothing I dwell on.
"I have other things to do."
In addition to his son, Mr. Prince is survived by his brother, John Prince of Seattle, his daughter-in-law, Mardee Stadshaug and grandchildren Amy Murray and Andrew Prince.
As per Prince's request, no services are being held.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com
Last modified: January 07. 2009 4:45AM