THE BATTLE OF LEYTE

[Music] at his australian headquarters general douglas macarthur weighed the factors involved in regaining the philippines against nearly three thousand [ __ ] planes he had barely five hundred against millions of [ __ ] troops he had eleven divisions of inadequately equipped americans and australians against him were time and space power and preparation against him was an area which made even the united states seem small those men who were over saipan in june and guam in july were moving further west in september during the summer of 1944 our army and air forces had been cracking japanese defenses throughout the pacific spreading destruction far and wide in preparation for the new strategic move to the philippines [Music] the task of fighting back to the philippines required the closest teamwork of sea land and air forces this brought general macarthur and admiral chester nimitz together for the planning of the campaign the staging area for what was to be one of the decisive battles of history was humboldt bay near hollandia in new guinea under the escort of the third and seventh fleets assault transports assault cargo ships landing craft rocket ships and over 400 assorted amphibious craft were loaded with supplies equipment food and troops the men of the 10th and 24th cores of the sixth u.s army an amphibious assault on what where which island these men didn't know they could only speculate but wherever it was they had a job to do [Music] here was the man who knew the objective the man who also had a job to do and a score to settle the armada of assault and combat vessel stretched across the vast pacific horizon getting ready waiting resting trying to relax these men of the sixth army still had that one question lurking in their minds where was the assault to be made on which island of the philippines that's what they thought about or didn't think about and prayed for courage to face and the lord said be of good courage fear not nor be afraid for the lord thy god will not fail thee nor forsake me the object was to confound and confuse the jams to land where they least expected us and therefore where they wouldn't be as well prepared to offer resistance here's the spot our joint chiefs of staff chose an inconspicuous little island whose name most americans had never heard lady guns of the fleet opened up the invasion of the philippines was on [Music] planes from 18 escort carriers blasted at the enemy installations paving the way for our men [Music] uh general macarthur radioed this message men you've got what it takes your path before you won't be easy but you all have the guts to carry on god's god bless you americans all some seasoned troops some seeing action for the first time but all knowing the job ahead was going to be tough the impatient fidgeted the religious said their prayers it was the waiting and the wondering that made them taut and jumpy the japs were waiting too dug in and ready for us [Music] [Music] [Music] the odds were against us the enemy crouched safely in the protection of their shelters while we were bright targets outlined against the sky and sea moving in was one thing staying there was another the japs were determined to drive us out because our presence constituted a threat to their dream of a world empire we rushed our artillery into place and let them have it [Music] three days later general macarthur ordered the ground forces to secure the areas they held he knew the japs had decided to commit their fleet in the battle to prevent america's return to the philippines the troops ashore were to hold fast and await the outcome of the naval battle now impending admiral nimitz radioed the chief of naval operations in washington that the battle of the philippines had begun in earnest these bulldogs of the sea were ready to determine who was going to be boss of the pacific to be caught napping would have meant disaster so our navy was constantly on the alert already they suspected that the japanese were setting a trap [Music] by a crushing pincer movement the japanese navy intended to surround the narrow approaches to the american-held beaches cutting macarthur off from his supply lines and destroying u.s naval support that was it they planned to smash our foothold in laity at all costs it would take us a year to regain it if the japs could bring off their strategy to make sure of sporting their plan our high command stationed submarines at the entrance of lady gal the commanders of the submarine's daughter and dace discovered part of the japanese navy sneaking around the south china sea at once they radioed the news to our high command then proceeded to fend off the approaching enemy vessels [Music] the score wasn't bad we sank two heavy cruisers and severely crippled a third then our good fortune ceased in maneuvering for another attack the daughter struck a reef had to be abandoned admirals halsey and kincade met to make lightning plans to ward off the threatening fencers of the japanese waiting to blast the southern throng of the jeff fleet were five old battleships the california west virginia pennsylvania maryland and tennessee all rebuilt and re-equipped ready to pour forth their volley of revenge for pearl harbor long before dawn the alarm called the men to their stations [Music] [Music] open fire sir right yeah by 5 a.m the old battleships of pearl harbor had the rising sun on the run and had repulsed the advances of the southern throng of the [ __ ] navy but our troubles were far from over while admiral kincaid's attack was shriveling the lower prong of the [ __ ] finchers the upper prong was pushing headlong into san bernardino straight determined to destroy the shipping in lady gulf all that stood between the japs and their objective was a group of low-speed us destroyers we had only a toehold in lady but if the japs could dislodge it if they could seize the supplies we had landed if they could decimate our troops and blast our ships out of the harbor they knew it would take untold effort and time for us to replace all we would lose it would be a catastrophe on the scale of dunkirk or baton out to see the enemy was sighted the powerful japanese dreadnoughts were advancing relentlessly against our light carriers [Music] meantime on shore everybody sweated it out from gi to general our heaviest artillery was turned toward the sea the firepower was formidable but against naval broadsides it was like pistols against cannons [ __ ] land-based fighters and bombers were a constant threat our desperate and hard-hit jeep carriers radioed an sos to admiral halsey's third fleet in the north the admiral faced a great dilemma should he go to the rescue and ignore the oncoming jeff fleet or should he hold his position and leave our small forces to fight overwhelming odds he did neither instead he kept the main units of his powerful fleet on its course and dispatched a carrier group to the samar battle area facing the murderous barrage of the jap's big guns these little ships used every strategy to stay afloat [Music] some of our planes unable to land on the flaming carriers headed for lady the unfinished airstrips were wet but not as wet as the ocean japanese suicide planes tore head-on to the carriers the bellow would in particular sustaining heavy casualty our men though they were greatly outnumbered were never out fought the heroic american spirit proved indomitable even against tremendous odds [Music] we lost the whole the johnson the samuel roberts and the cambier bay we gained precious time with priceless american lives time that probably saved the southern fleet then suddenly when disaster seemed imminent the japanese for some mysterious reason hauled away from the battered americans probably the nebanese admiral had heard of the destruction of the southern prong of the [ __ ] pincers at syragal strait and hastened to escape through san bernardino strait before he was annihilated by the victorious american forces in the south [Music] on shore the ground forces had made local gains and an advanced ghq moved into tacloban on the 25th of october securing what was now the shambles of the town [Music] meanwhile admiral halsey had decided on a daring and spectacular plan he steamed north to meet the main portion of the jack fleet hoping to take them by surprise this was the most powerful segment of the enemy forces supported by waves of plumbers it was assigned the task of mopping up the american navy the approaching encounter would decide japan's future as a naval power [Music] undaunted admiral halsey kept to his course full speed ahead as our fleet neared the enemy the men rushed to their battle stations [Music] american flames blanketed the skies but jeff flanes were speeding toward them [Music] far below was the jack fleet [Music] then the two opposing forces met [Music] [Applause] [Music] when night fell on the last day of battle it was apparent that the third and seventh fleets had virtually eliminated japan as a sea power thousands of japs were fished out of the very waters they considered their own private sea and our scouts were hunting down the remnants of the imperial japanese fleet now with our naval supply line secure our ground forces were ready to fight their way across the island of lady general macarthur and his aides surveyed the situation from all angles deciding on a pincer movement to trap the taps construction and development of bases were initiated as soon as the necessary areas were secured toward the end of october elements of the tenth corps began to push along the lady side of san juan eco straight [Music] while this was going on in the north the 24th corps continued its drive across the southern half of lady toward bye bye in an attempt to stop our advances general yamashita siphoned more troops onto the west coast of lady from the garrisons of all neighboring islands job reinforcements poured into ladies but we were ready for them we answered with everything we had with steel with fire with determination as november wore on supply became a major problem so both troops and equipment were landed by small boats by a series of amphibious operations american troops leapfrogged along the western and northern coasts of lady [Music] by the end of november the 10th core was surrounding limon at the northern end of the valley road leading to ormock the principal japanese installation on the island our giant fencers closed in as columns of the 24th corps converged on ormat from the south and west the battle for armark lasted four days and on december 10th this last jack stronghold on lady fell to our troops by christmas all organized japanese resistance was ended and on the next day latey was declared secure this was the enemy we fought an enemy in whom was concentrated the worst of human crimes for years the japanese militarists drugged with the narcotic of invincibility dreamed of a world empire some will never awaken from this dream americans paid dearly with their lives but not without purpose or had our forces failed the war would have been prolonged indefinitely this was the final tribute paid in american pilot by his buddies it is our duty to remember him and all the others who died because they have endowed our flag with new glory new dignity and new honor they have committed liberty into our keeping we must keep it glowing so that those who tread in darkness may see the light our liberty is no longer just a gift from our forefathers but a challenge only by eternal vigilance can we keep it [Music] you