In studying the story of the bolomen, I have yet to read
Muddy Glory: America's Indian Wars in the Philippines (1981) and
Bullets & Bolos: Fifteen Years in the Philippine Islands (1928).
I've read several times however, Vic Hurley's
Jungle Patrol (1938) and
Swish of the Kris (1936).
Can anybody please comment on whether Hurley has romanticized too much his accounts of the antagonists and protagonists?
For instance we read of this account by Hurley about the famous Lt. Leonard Furlong:
Beyond doubt, the most romantic figure of the entire American-Moro conflict, was this same Furlong. His career as a fighting man was so remarkable that to this day the Moros of Cotobato bow their heads when his name is mentioned. Furlong has become an undying tradition to these fierce Moros who respected, more than anything else, the terrific valor displayed by this man. Furlong had a strange and tragic history, the details of which were supplied to the writer by men who knew him well and who fought beside him in Mindanao. After an unfortunate love affair which made life futile to him, he came to Mindanao to seek death on the krises of the Moros. He was in the thick of the Moro fighting for several years and it was said by his associates that no odds were too great and no charge too forlorn for this soldier seeking death. His reckless disregard for his own life often took him alone across open country to the very walls of cottas swarming with hostile Moros. It is said that it was his habit to enter the cottas, far in advance of his men, and that the Moros gave way before him, denying him the death he sought. Furlong seemed to lead a charmed life. To the Moros he was supernatural, and he came through the campaigns without a scratch. When the period of cotta warfare came to and end Furlong resigned his commission and sailed for Manila. There in the capital city, he took is own life, accomplishing that which the Moros had been unable or unwilling to do.
Poetic license (i.e., the underscored portion above) or the plain truth?
But let us not miss out on the most important lesson here -- any man can survive a lot of battles and hardships, but nothing is as lethal as unrequited love
