Editing Philippine Scouts (section)

==Liberation and the "New" Scouts==
During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines an extensive Filipino [[Philippine resistance against Japan|guerrilla]] movement sprang up. In some cases the guerrilla units were led by escaped American officers (e.g., [[Wendell Fertig]]) and often included "paroled" Philippine Scout and Philippine Commonwealth Army soldiers, along with civilian members of the Philippine underground. As MacArthur's forces, supported by the guerrillas, liberated the [[Philippine Islands]], the surviving Philippine Scouts stepped forward and rejoined the U.S. Army. The Filipino guerrillas joined them, and the U.S. Army set up new Philippine Scout units, reconstituting the old Philippine Division as the [[Philippine Division (United States)|12th Infantry Division]]. Subordinate units included the [[43rd Infantry Regiment (PS)|43rd]], [[44th Infantry Regiment (PS)|44th]] and [[45th Infantry Regiment (PS)|45th Infantry Regiments]] (PS); [[23rd Field Artillery (PS)|23rd]], [[24th Field Artillery (PS)|24th]] and [[88th Field Artillery (PS)|88th Field Artillery]] (PS) Battalions; [[56th Engineer Battalion (PS)]] and the [[57th Infantry Regiment (PS)]]. The "New Scouts" actively participated in combat against the Japanese Army in north [[Luzon]], served as [[military police]] to restore order and help locate pockets of escaped Japanese in the south, and served as occupation forces on [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]]. As planning for the invasion of Japan progressed, the Philippine Scouts were included in the invasion forces, and were selected to become part of the occupying force once Japan was defeated.

After Japan surrendered in August 1945, the United States granted the Republic of the Philippines full independence on July 4, 1946. At that point the ethnically Filipino Philippine Scouts held a unique status in U.S. military history: they were soldiers in the regular U.S. Army, but now they were citizens of a foreign country. To solve this dilemma, the United States offered the Filipinos in the Philippine Scouts full [[U.S. citizenship]]. Many of the surviving Scouts, perhaps around 1,000, accepted, and the Army transferred them to other units to finish their military careers.

With the consent of the Philippine government, Congress approved the maintenance of 50,000 Philippine Scouts. Under Major General Hibbs, Philippine Division as the 12th Infantry Division (PS) was reconstituted. Unlike its previous organization enlisted personnel of the division were exclusively Philippine Scouts. The War Department also proposed organizing a second Philippine Scout division, the [[14th Infantry Division (United States)|14th]], but never did so.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alexander M. Bielakowski Ph.D.|title=Ethnic and Racial Minorities in the U.S. Military: An Encyclopedia &#91;2 volumes&#93;|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w_Mqj6UuRgQC&pg=PT157|date=January 11, 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-428-3|pages=157–}}</ref> In the end [[Harry S. Truman|President Truman]] disbanded the Philippine Scouts as an official element of the United States Army, and all of their unit colors were retired in 1947,<ref>{{cite book |title=MANEUVER AND FIREPOWER |last=Wilson |first=John B. |author2=Jeffrey J. Clarke |year=1998 |publisher=[[Center of Military History]], [[United States Army]] |location=Washington D.C. |page=212 |url=http://www.history.army.mil/catalog/pubs/60/60-14.html|chapter=Chapter VIII: An Interlude of Peace|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027171421/http://www.history.army.mil/books/Lineage/M-F/chapter8.htm |chapter-url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/Lineage/M-F/chapter8.htm |access-date=November 15, 2014|archive-date=October 27, 2012 }}</ref> and finally disbanded in December 1948.<ref>{{cite book |title=World War 2 Pacific island guide |last=Rottman |first=Godron L. |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-313-31395-0 |page=318 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChyilRml0hcC&q=guerrilla%20Philippine%20liberation%20fighting%20Japanese&pg=PA318 |access-date=May 7, 2011}}</ref>