MacArthur Returns

In 1942, just a month before Japan forced the surrender of all USAFFE forces in the Philippines, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt had ordered MacArthur to leave the Philippines and organize the US forces gathering in Australia,[1]:22 which were meant to relieve the USAFFE. Those relief forces were non-existent;[1]:22 Roosevelt's true intentions in ordering MacArthur to flee the Philippines had been to prevent his capture by the Japanese. Still, MacArthur had vowed that he would return to the Philippines.

Click to expand...

Following four hours of heavy naval gunfire on A-day, 20 October, Sixth Army forces landed on assigned beaches at 10:00.[1]:39 X Corps pushed across a 4 mi (6.4 km) stretch of beach between Tacloban airfield and the Palo River. 15 mi (24 km) to the south, XXIV Corps units came ashore across a 3 mi (4.8 km) strand between San José and the Daguitan River. Troops found as much resistance from swampy terrain as from Japanese fire.[1]:41 Within an hour of landing, units in most sectors had secured beachheads deep enough to receive heavy vehicles and large amounts of supplies.[1]:40 Only in the 24th Division sector did enemy fire force a diversion of follow-up landing craft. But even that sector was secure enough by 13:30 to allow Gen. MacArthur to make a dramatic entrance[6] through the surf onto Red Beach[1]:47-48 and announce to the populace the beginning of their liberation: "People of the Philippines, I have returned! By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil."

Click to expand...