MACARTHUR RETURNS TO THE PHILIPPINES

[Music] SP [Music] [Music] in Washington in March 1935 President Roosevelt approved the constitution of the new Philippine Commonwealth another step toward Philippine Independence but in the islands themselves the preparation for that longs sought Freedom was interrupted in December 1941 and the months that followed by Japanese assault [Music] troops in May 1942 the Japanese won corgador and general Jonathan way wght was forced to surrender all his forces in the Philippines the United States suffered a humiliating defeat but the large majority of the Filipinos remained loyal to the US while working toward the day of their Liberation below the equator US forces were mounting an offensive which was to carry them to final victory in the Pacific [Music] in mid 1944 US forces seized the Marianas but where to strike next should the Philippine Islands be invaded or as the Navy advocated should the next move be to Formosa and then the China Coast in Honolulu in mid July 1944 Admiral Chester nimit summed up the advantages of the Formosa plan for an interested listener who expressed enthusiasm for the idea and seemed definitely opposed to General MacArthur's proposed Philippine operation but as the conference continued the general argued so convincingly for permission to make good his promise to return to the Philippines that the president finally endorsed his plan US forces in the Western Pacific had progressed by September 44 to morai and palao one month later a strong Invasion Armada moved toward the island of leate in the vulnerable Central Philippines the carriers continued their attacks against enemy targets throughout the Philippines [Music] [Music] the planes hit a great variety of targets [Music] in mid October the invasion Fleet began the last leg of the trip to the objective the mighty Armada included combat and assault vessels of all types escorted by six battleships aboard the cruiser Nashville General MacArthur was confident of the success of his mission as he surveyed the powerful Fleet this impressive Convoy was transporting some 170,000 American soldiers to The Invasion beaches on late GIS from Oregon and Ohio Mississippi and Montana All intent on paying the Japanese back for batan and corgador on the morning of October 20th The Invasion Fleet stood off late and the assault troops moved towards Shore near Tean the first wave was scheduled to hit the beach at [Music] 10:00 The Assault on late carried the fighting forces of the Southwest Pacific some 2500 mil from the point on ug Guinea where the offensive against the enemy in that theater had begun right on schedule the assault troops landed soldiers of the 10th core of the US 6th Army the landing near techlin went off smoothly and US forces quickly set about securing a position of sufficient area to facilitate a successful defense on the Nashville General MacArthur and Philippine president Serio asmana prepared to go ashore several hours after the first waves landed osmania was returning to his native land after an absence of some 2 and A2 years the general set foot on Philippine soil for the first time since his departure from corgador in March 1942 about 20 mi to the south at dag GIS of the 24th Corp made a second Landing coordinated with the invasion near [Music] Tacloban by the end of D-Day the beaches were secure and the area was given a careful going over for enemy mines while the beach head was being cleared the 96th division Advanced along the flank at dag too the invasion was a complete success but the US Advantage was not to go unchallenged two American submarines the daughter and the Dace proceeding through a narrow channel off Palawan in the western Philippines in the early morning of October 23rd spotted a strong enemy Naval force and promptly attacked torpedo attacks were made on three enemy Cruisers two of the Cruisers were sunk one damaged this engagement was the Prelude to one of the most memorable battles in Naval History the US third Fleet lay in wait for a possible attack by enemy Naval units in the Philippine Sea to the east of the Central Philippines the US 7th Fleet protected the entrance to late Gulf and the beach head on October 23rd and 24th two Japanese Naval forces proceeded Eastward toward the US position on late at 9:10 a.m. on the 24th H's carriers launched their planes in an attack on the enemy's Central Force at 10:20 the enemy fleet was spotted entering the siuan sea the US planes attacked immediately some 250 us planes hit the enemy Fleet succeeding waves of us planes kept up a continuing attack for 5 hours [Music] at 3:30 the Japanese Force turned and withdrew after hits had been scored on several of its warships survivors of the super Battleship moushi sunk by US Air action were picked up by other enemy ships the enemy's Naval strategy called for a decoy Force to try to lure Hy out of position Hy bit he took his third Fleet North to meet the expected threat since he thought that the enemy's Central Force had been routed but that Force had reversed itself again seventh fleet escort carriers were all that stood between the L Beach head and the Japanese Central Force which slipped through San Bernardino straight at midnight meanwhile the main strength of the seventh fleet was concentrated on suruga straet as the enemy's Southern Force approached it from the other side a division of PT boats commanded by Lieutenant Weston Pullen spotted the Vanguard of the enemy's Southern force all during that night we were under heavy attack from the enemy's warships but some of our boats managed to get close enough to do some [Music] damage the battleships of the US 7th Fleet which were equipped with the latest radar operation us waited through the night until the enemy came well within range of their guns the enemy force was moving right into the Trap some of the battleships used Radar Fire Control devices the Gunners held their fire until the eny enemy's lead ship was only 21,000 yd [Applause] [Music] [Music] away in the battle of suruga straight the enemy's Naval force was overwhelmingly defeated but the Japanese Central Force knifed down from San Bernardino straight and attacked us escort carriers and destroyers sinking four ships meanwhile to the north the powerful us third Fleet commanded by Admiral Hy was pursuing the enemy's decoy Fleet which the Admiral was convinced constituted the main enemy striking Force on the morning of October 25th the third fleet was hundreds of miles from the Battle of Samar word of the engagement came through but Hall's Force continued chasing the enemy's suicide Fleet at 8:10 that morning H's plane spotted the enemy and within 10 hours his task force sank four Japanese carriers the remnants of the decoy Force turned and fled Paul's sped South but too late the Japanese Central Force unaccountably left the area confusion and uncertainty characterized the actions of commanders on both sides during the battle for late Gulf this epic naval battle marked the end of the Japanese Fleet as an active surface force in spite of faulty coordination between top us commanders the battle for late Gulf was a resounding us Victory a victory which ensured the success of the Philippine campaign since no further large-scale Naval attacks could be made by the enemy on the Philippine Beach heads the battle for late Gulf was a notable Milestone on the road to the final defeat of Japan during the last days of October and throughout November the battle for late Island continued the enemy strengthened his force on leate by sending reinforcements from Lucan as soon as Japan's show plan number one for the defense of the Philippines was put into effect some 40 to 45,000 Japanese troops were moved from Lucan and other Islands to late but these reinforcements were usually dispatched in oddly assorted Lots thus the Japanese on L were never able to function as a single coordinated fighting force and the movement of troops to Le was draining the strength of the elite Japanese 14th area Army whose men had been prepared to fight a carefully planned defense of lcan on latay the soldiers who arrived safely were simply added to units which were fighting a losing action against the American GIS the fight for late finally resolved itself into a series of small unit [Music] actions the enemy's casualties on late continued to mount during the battle for late Island Japanese Pilots introduced a new kind of aerial attack suicide Pilots or kamakazi crashed their planes into US ships [Music] a number of American ships of all types were rammed in these desperate [Music] attacks the ship's crews could expect little advanc warning [Music] [Music] but some of the kamakazi were more successful in their farewell [Music] div on Shore the battle for late Island continued with the gis advancing quickly by December 1st there were seven us divisions fighting on latay three of which had joined the fight after the original Landing the key port city of orach fell to the 77th division on December 11th by the end of the year all organized resistance on late had ended and the island was once more in American possession after 3 years of enemy occupation meanwhile US troops went ashore unopposed on Muro on December 15th and quickly established a beach head as a base for subsequent operations then on January 9th 1945 four US Army divisions invaded lucon focal point of the Philippine campaign the gis landed at lingayan Gulf early that afternoon General MacArthur went ashore to inspect the rapidly expanding us Beach head the general was jubilant the lack of opposition confirmed his conviction that the enemy would be taken by surprise he considered the lingan operation an unqualified success the 68,000 GIS who landed on that first day were given a warm welcome by the Overjoyed Filipinos who had been dreaming of this moment for 3 [Music] years the troops were not accustomed to making this kind of an [Applause] invasion the landing at lingayan Gulf had little in common with previous assaults made by the gis in New Guinea and the Solomons Filipino gorillas who had carried on sporadic raids against the enemy during the black years just ended enthusiastically joined forces with the gis volunteering to act as Scouts Guided by the Filipinos the American Drive Southward toward Manila gathered momentum the gis passed numerous dugouts where enemy soldiers met their death along the 117 M route the American Advance moved swiftly through the remnants of the enemy's Elite Lon Force heavy US Air attacks were made daily on airfields near Manila [Music] [Music] with the enemy's airfields under almost constant attack GIS of the 37th infantry and first Cavalry division closed in on the capital city from the north by February 4th both divisions were moving through the suburbs and were ready for the crucial battle for Manila itself [Applause] the drive to capture Manila proper began with heavy fighting the gis were well aware that it would be a tough [Music] job the enemy was prepared to defend every building and took a heavy toll of us fighting men the streets of Manila turned quickly into a Battleground in the bitter fight for the Philippines Capital City the gis of the first Cavalry division made their first objective the camp where many Americans were held prisoner among them Army Nurse Lieutenant YULA fails of Houston Texas it's hard to describe how I felt when the first American soldiers reached us at San at demise the Great The Surge of Joy on being free again is almost too much to bear after 32 months of being prisoners without any question it was the happiest moment of Our [Applause] Lives the prospect of actually going home again was a little hard to get used to at first I think we all felt that we were getting a second chance at life a chance which some of us didn't expect outside Manila at cabanatan prison camp American fighting men who had fought the desperate defense of corgador during the early months of the war were liberated on January 30th 1945 at bbid another camp in the minila area more Americans were freed after 3 years of imprisonment some had managed to survive the ordeal others had not been so fortunate one American prisoner had died the day before the camp was liberated the fight for Manila continued unabated on February 15th the struggle shifted to a strange setting for such a grim engagement Harrison ballpark [Music] [Music] General Mudge himself helped a private who had been wounded remove a casualty to safety the ballpark was finally taken by February 23rd the fight for Manila was centered in the intramuros the old wall [Music] City GIS of the 129th and 145th Infantry regiment swiftly annihilated enemy resistance for 4 weeks Manila existed in a state of complete chaos to the residents of Manila February 1945 was a month of Horror [Music] [Music] on February 16th an assault by air was made against corgador the historic Rock in Manila Bay more than 2,000 men of the 53rd parachute regiment were to make the jump the c47s Flew Over the 1 12 square mile head of corgador at low level and prepared to eject their cargo of experienced assault troops over the target area two small patches of clearing the men jumped from a height of only 400 ft an 18 M hour wind complicated the problem of Landing precisely on the two pinpointed spots but most of the men made it successfully to the designated [Music] areas the operation went off on scheduled but not exactly smoothly [Music] a few of the men missed the rock entirely the operation was considered eminently worthwhile since the enemy had not prepared for an attack from the [Music] skies 267 men were injured in the spectacular drop one on the Rock the paratroopers went right to work on fulfilling their assignment to Route the enemy out of his last ditch defenses on the island where American fighting men had made their Unforgettable stand in 1942 to reinforce the air assault the Third Battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment landed on the South Shore of corgador the troops pushed ahead quickly to take menta Hill opposition on the beach was negligible since the enemy had been caught completely off guard by the air invasion in addition the landing on the Southshore of the island also came as a surprise to the enemy who had expected an assault on the Northern [Music] beaches the fight for corgador lasted for almost 2 weeks soon after the seizure of corgador General MacArthur arrived for the formal ceremony which marked the Island's return to US possession he ordered the assembled troops Hoist the Colors and let no enemy ever haul them down [Music] corgador was a notable Milestone on the road to Tokyo 3 days after corgador was invaded iojima some 1600 mil to the north was assaulted by three divisions of United States Marines [Music] andice the Christ is [Music] the [Music]