M16 Half-tracks in the Philippines: After Action Reports of the 209th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion
These narrative reports were obtained from the National Archives, Washington, D.C. Battery A, 209th AAA Aw Battalion, 0320, 17 February 1945 Corporal James Robinson was on guard duty at No. 12 machine gun position on the Pasig River when at 0320 hours on 17 February 1945 he spotted a canoe coming down river about 25 yards away. He immediately opened fire with a Tommy gun from a position in a foxhole. The first two short bursts of four each wounded one of the three visible men in the craft. One man from the rear of the boat ran forward to help the wounded man and at this point Corporal Robinson could plainly hear the occupants of the boat jabbering. He then emptied his Tommy gun on the canoe which caused it to blow up with a tremendous explosion. Corporal Robinson was knocked down by the explosion and received a slight cut over the eye from a flying piece of bone. Private James McCarthy, who was on the half-track, was knocked off by the force of the explosion but was uninjured. ...