Ray C. Hunt (December 11, 1919 – June 17, 1996[1]) was a staff sergeant in the United States Army Air Forces stationed at Nichols Field in the Philippines at the beginning of World War II, under the command of Ed Dyess.
[2]: 28 Hunt states, "I don't remember how many of those days I actually spent marching down the road accompanied by Japanese guards: seven or eight most likely, possibly ten", before he escaped on 21 April.
[2]: 28 Starved from his normal weight of 150-160 pounds down to 100, and suffering from malaria, beriberi and jaundice, Hunt spent the next five months recovering in the Fassoth Camps.
[2]: 229, 42 Following his second escape, Hunt was cared for by the Franco Filipino family in Tibuc-Tibuc, western Pampanga, before he headed north with an Igorot, Jose Balekow, his future bodyguard.
[2]: 183–187 Just during the five days before the American landings on Luzon, the guerrilla battalion under Hunt's command was credited with killing over 3,000 Japanese soldiers in numerous ambushes and raids.
Distinguished Service Cross by General Douglas MacArthur on 13 June 1945,[2]: photo section Hunt also received the Bronze Star for staying with his troops when he could have returned to the US.