Magdalena Estoista Leones (1920 - 2016)

Born 19 Aug 1920 in Philippines

Died 16 Jun 2016 at age 95 in San Jose, Santa Clara, California, United States

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Biography

Maggie Leones was a Filipino Spy in World War II.

Birth

Magdalena Estoista Leones was born 19 Aug 1920 ^[1] in the highlands of Lubuagan in the then-sub-province of Kalinga. She was born into a religious family; her father, Juan A. Leones was a famed Filipino missionary to the Cordilleras

Highlights of The Filipina Super Spy: Magdalena Leones

December 1941, the Imperial Japanese soldiers landed on Northern Luzon and began the conquest of the Philippines. The inexorable march of the enemy into Baguio, the American bastion in the Cordilleras, forced Camp John Hay’s commander Colonel John Horan to abandon the city.

Horan’s troops retreated to Kalinga—and this is where fate stepped in. The Fil-American forces chose to seek haven in the town of Lubuagan, Magdalena’s home, and made the Mission House their battalion headquarters.

Reverend Nagel of the United Evangelical Church became a chaplain to Horan’s men. Consequently, Magdalena became the chaplain’s aide and interpreter between English and Iloko/Kalinga speakers. On the side, she also kept busy giving first-aid to the Allied forces.

On 6 May 1942, the island-fortress of Corregidor fell and all Allied troops were to immediately surrender to the nearest enemy commander. With organized resistance effectively over, Horan and his men gave themselves up and were subsequently interned at Camp Holmes in La Trinidad.

For her part, Magdalena joined the missionaries’ wives and other officers who chose not to lay down their arms in their retreat to Magnao in Tabuk, Kalinga. Soon, however, the Japanese ordered them to surrender. The small group turned themselves in and was imprisoned at Camp Holmes, joining Horan’s troops.

For the first time in her life, Magdalena’s existence would be confined within a dank and dark cell. It was the thirteenth of August 1942, six days before her birthday. As the weeks passed by in incarceration, Magdalena learned Nippongo, the Japanese language. Little did she know how crucial her ‘education’ was to prove in later months.

In December 1942, after almost five months in jail, Magdalena received an early Christmas gift: her freedom. She was set free under the auspices of Rev. Karl Eschbach, a Baguio-based missionary of her church. The young woman sought out her widowed mother and younger brothers and sisters in Agoo, La Union.

As the war wore on and 1942 limped toward 1943, Magdalena, the former deaconess, seemed to have found a new calling in life. She traveled south to Manila and met her American missionary friends, Rev. Mary Stagg of the Cosmopolitan Church, Helen Wilke, and the Darvey sisters.

The ladies weren’t just spiritual people; they were also members of the guerrilla Fil-American Irregular Troops (FAIT) headed by Colonels Claude Thorpe and Hugh Straughn. The missionary Wilke held a rank of Major, and she had the privilege of inducting Magdalena to the FAIT before the New Year. (After the war, the then-green guerrilla would learn from survivors that her rank was first lieutenant.)

Double Agent "AZ-48"

In January 1944, Magdalena Leones was ordered by agent “AZ-48” to collect rosters of guerrilla forces in Northern Luzon. The agent, a Filipino, had contacted Magdalena’s group and established his identity as SWPA operative from General MacArthur’s headquarters in Australia with orders, papers, and US Treasury checks.

Ready to serve her country in any capacity, Magdalena returned to the region she knew well. As she was collecting information and asking for guerrilla unit rosters in February 1944, she was apprehended by operatives of the 121st Infantry Regiment of the United States Armed Forces in the Philippines, Northern Luzon or USAFIP, NL, the unified resistance force operating in the Ilocos, Cordillera, and Cagayan regions.

The surname “Leones” rang a bell to Colonel Russell Volckmann, the USAFIP, NL commander. In his monograph, Gregorio Tabor surmises that Volckmann might have heard the name from missionary friends who might have talked about Rev. Juan Leones, whose deeds in turn were fairly well-known in the area. Volckmann interviewed Magdalena and then dispatched an agent to Manila to check out the young woman’s story.

After two weeks of investigation, the truth came to fore. A Filipino by the name of Franco Vera Reyes alias "AZ-48" gained the confidence of Magdalena’s American missionary friends in Manila and established himself as an SWPA operative. Reyes turned out to be a double agent of the Japanese.

The colonel, now convinced of the Filipina’s innocence in the plot, offered her a new opportunity. “Now that you have been working for the Japs,” the American joked, “will you consider working for us?” With the memory of her slain friends fanning the fire within, Magdalena readily accepted the invitation. She was now a special agent of the USAFIP, NL.

Special agent of the USAFIP, NL

From 27 February to March 1944, Magdelena (now called Maggie) went down to the plains of Pampanga to exchange intelligence information with the resistance leaders there. She then proceeded to Manila to secure urgently needed medical supplies from a contact nurse working at the Doctor’s Hospital—a task none too easy, for carrying such provisions through checkpoints carried the risk of arrest and punitive action. Along the way, Maggie obtained information on enemy dispositions and installations in the whole Pampanga province and in the towns along the national highway from Manila to San Fernando, the bustling port of La Union.

In the next months, Maggie went back and forth between the mountains and the lowlands to ferry vital intelligence reports. She even journeyed as far south as the Bicol region in search of radio technicians and radio parts, as well as to buy medical supplies and distribute funds to fellow guerrilla agents.

Maggie was eventually formally enlisted into the Philippine Army and inducted into the USAFIP, NL. Exploit after exploit soon earned her a promotion to corporal before the year ended. As the US 6th Army landed on the beaches between Lingayen in Pangasinan and Damortis in La Union on D-Day, 9 January 1945, the resistance movement erupted into full action, guns blazing and grenades exploding. Maggie was in the thick of the action, serving her country with her usual intelligence work and other services.

On 18 July 1945, as the Filipino guerrillas were delivering the penultimate blows to General Yamashita’s once-mighty forces, Colonel Volckmann recommended that Maggie be awarded the U.S. Silver Star, the third-highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces.

The only Filipina WWII US Silver Star recipient

^[2]

Citation reads: For gallantry in action at Luson, Philippine Islands, from 27 February to 26 September 1944. During the period cited, Corporal Leones repeated risked her life to carry important intelligence data, vital radio parts and medical supplies through heavily garrisoned enemy-held territory. Although she knew that detection by the enemy would result in torture and execution, Corporal Leones fearlessly continued her perilous missions between guerrilla forces throughout Luson with notable success. Through her intrepidity and skill as a special agent, Corporal Leones contributed materially to the early liberation of the Philippines.

Signed: O. W. Griswold, Lieutenant General, US Army, Commanding. Headquarters XIV Corps United States Army. ^[3]

Much later, four honors were also issued to her—the Philippine Liberation Medal, the Resistance Movement Medal, the World War II Medal, and the Philippine Independence Ribbon, thus cementing her status as one of the finest agents—war or peacetime—in the history of the Philippines, and undeniably a hero.

Civilian Life

Leones moved to California from the Philippines in 1969. She worked as a clerk at Pacific Bell, owned homes in Richmond and in San Jose and did not talk much about her war exploits, according to her offspring.

Death

CPL Magdalena Leones passed away Jun 16, 2016, San Jose, Santa Clara, California, USA ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes 1791-1992, (Indexed in World Archives Project)
2. ↑ http://globalnation.inquirer.net/140317/only-asian-female-wwii-us-silver-star-recipient-dies-at-95
3. ↑ General Orders No. 88, HQ XIV Corps, dated 22 October 1945. (Citation to the right of profile, image #3)
4. ↑ http://globalnation.inquirer.net/140317/only-asian-female-wwii-us-silver-star-recipient-dies-at-95

• U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project) Immigration & Emigration Name Magdalena Estoista Leones Birth 19 Aug 1920 Civil 23 Feb 1988 - Age: 67 Residence California

• U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 Directories & Member Lists Name Magdalena E Leones Birth 19 Aug 1920 Residence 1990 - Richmond, CA

• U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2 Directories & Member Lists Name Magdalena E Leones Birth 19 Aug 1920 Residence Richmond, CA

See Also:

• http://globalnation.inquirer.net/140317/only-asian-female-wwii-us-silver-star-recipient-dies-at-95

• http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/magdalena-leones-filipina-wwii-silver-star-recepient-who-aided-macarthur-n603566