Posted on 01/26/2023 9:56:03 AM PST by Ozguy1945
All the other soldiers, including my father got off the ships on the quay. The only reason to land on the beach was to be more dramatic for the cameras they had set up on the beach.
He shipped out of HI. His first stop was Wee Wack on the north coast of New Guinea. His main duty was the rebuilding of air fields after they had been bombed. He was a heavy equipment operator/mechanic. He spent several months on New Guinea. They discovered Japanese ships run aground far up a river. He and another GI discovered and repaired a sunken Chris Craft cabin cruiser. They had this vessel for one day before MacArthur saw them in it and requisitioned it for himself.
Maybe the beach where he had to walk on the bodies was another landing sight in the Philippians. He was promoted during a battle from Sergeant to Captain for one day. Apparently, all the LTs and Captain were either dead or incapacitated. He was the senior Sergeant. He was replaced the next day.
During the battle of Luzon he received two injuries. A bullet through his helmet that did not penetrate his skull. A bullet to the lower abdomen that became infected and put him in the hospital for six weeks. He came home on a hospital ship.
You might want to ask the Filipinos that were being raped and murdered by the Japanese forces what they thought of being left behind enemy lines by the USA. It was unthinkable to leave them in Japanese hands.
You bet that the Japanese raped and murdered Filipinos, and the American invasion put an end to that. On the other hand, something like 100,000 Filipino civilians died during the battle of Manila alone. That is an horrific number.
So I suppose a good argument can be made both for and against the invasion.
Truman was an idiot. The General wants to use the threat of Chiang Kai-shek in Formosa to keep the Chicom's occupied. Truman used the US 7th fleet to patrol the straights between China and Formosa to ensure there would be no invasion from Formosa. That freed up a million Chicom troops, guess where those million or so troops went? Yup Korea and those million of so troops almost won the Korean war for the Chinese. But the General saved Truman's butt with his Inchon counter attack.
Paton claimed that the only officer he meet on a WW1 battlefield above the rank of Major was MacArthur. MacArthur was the most decorated American in WW1. Decorated for bravery. A general in WW1, a 5 star general in WW2 and a supreme commander in Korea. Very impressive, Democrats hated him because he was the Republican General.
Bump!
Pretty cool.
He shipped out of HI. His first stop was Wee Wack on the north coast of New Guinea.
Which means he was at Wewak mid-1945 since Wewak wasn't taken until May 1945.
His main duty was the rebuilding of air fields after they had been bombed. He was a heavy equipment operator/mechanic. He spent several months on New Guinea.
Because he couldn't have arrived at Wewak until May 1945 at the earliest, several months at Wewak would have him there until perhaps July-August of 1945.
They discovered Japanese ships run aground far up a river. He and another GI discovered and repaired a sunken Chris Craft cabin cruiser. They had this vessel for one day before MacArthur saw them in it and requisitioned it for himself.
Must be a different MacArthur because Gen Douglas MacArthur was over 1,500 miles away on Luzon in mid-1945.
Maybe the beach where he had to walk on the bodies was another landing sight in the Philippians. He was promoted during a battle from Sergeant to Captain for one day. Apparently, all the LTs and Captain were either dead or incapacitated. He was the senior Sergeant. He was replaced the next day.
But you said your dad's first stop out of HI was Wewak in Northern New Guinea which would have been mid-1945 and the landings at Luzon began in January 1945 but I understand from last night that you probably have your geography jumbled and mean Leyte. The landings at Leyte were in Oct 1944 while your dad was still at Hawaii.
During the battle of Luzon he received two injuries. A bullet through his helmet that did not penetrate his skull. A bullet to the lower abdomen that became infected and put him in the hospital for six weeks. He came home on a hospital ship.
The battle of Luzon continued after the formal surrender of Japan. So your dad spent several months on Wewak from approx May until August 1945, then went to Luzon/Leyte and participated in mop up activities and was wounded there?
No because you posted that your dad's first stop out of Hawaii was Wewak, New Guinea.
Wewak wasn't taken from the Japanese until May 1945. So, your dad hearing "Dugout Doug" on New Guinea would have been in mid-1945.
The Dugout Doug monniker first appeared in stateside newspaper at the start of the 1944 presidential campaign.
And who is to say that if we hadn't retaken the Philippines that even more Filipinos would have been slaughtered?
Stop and ask yourself why it is that the Filipinos don't share your opinion of what was best for them in 1945??
Perhaps useful idiot is a better term for the Red lover who gave China to Mao.
Democrats hated him because he was the Republican General.
Not so much that he was a Republican General because Eisenhower didn't receive anything like the blind hatred Democrats had and still have towards MacArthur. The hate of MacArthur goes back to the Bonus Army and the fact that the veterans had all cleared out and been replaced by communists itching for a fight... which they got.
> Stop and ask yourself why it is that the Filipinos don’t share your opinion of what was best for them in 1945?? <
I can’t imagine that a Filipino would argue against the American invasion. It’s not politically correct, so to speak. Anyway, with all due respect to the Filipinos (they suffered terribly during WW 2), their opinion is not the final say in the matter.
Consider Norway. Norway was occupied by the Germans early in WW 2. The Allies made no attempt to retake the country. Norway just wasn’t that great of a strategic importance. And any invasion would have been a bloody mess. So Norway was bypassed. Allied assets were better used elsewhere.
Please understand that I am not firm in my opposition of the 1944 American invasion of the Philippines. But I do have my doubts. That’s all I’m expressing here.
Anyway, thanks for disagreeing with me in a civil manner. I often learn from civil discussions!
The line from London to Berlin is far from Norway.
The Philippines however provided a base of operations against Formosa, China, Indochina, Borneo and the South China Sea not to mention being a staging area for the invasion of Japan.
Please understand that I am not firm in my opposition of the 1944 American invasion of the Philippines. But I do have my doubts. That’s all I’m expressing here.
Why should we have avoided savages for fear that they would act like savages??
Ditto for The Netherlands, it was still in Nazi hands right up to VE Day.
I am going by memories of stories that my father told me over forty years ago.
I know that the two islands he was on were New Guinea and Leyte/Luzon.
It was possible they were in the other order.
He spoke about going into some place in New Guinea where a Japanese ship had hit the reef at such high speed it was sticking up out of the water at a 90 degree angle.
He spoke about going into Wee Wack.
I am not sure if it was the same place.
I still have a Ten Peso note from the Philippines with VICTORY across the back stamped in red.
George Washington is on the front because it was part of the US back then. I will check the year on that.
We also have a bookcase made out of Mahogany that my father shipped back from the Philippines.
> The Philippines however provided a base of operations... <
No doubt about that. The Philippines were well-suited as a base of operations against Japan. The country was, however, not the only option available.
If you don’t like the Norway analogy, consider this one. After D-Day the Germans holed up in some of the French channel ports. These ports were of value to the Allies as supply depots. But the Germans had heavily fortified the ports. So Eisenhower wisely decided not to expend the blood to capture them. Most of those ports were simply isolated, and then bypassed.
A fair argument could be made that the Philippines fell in that same category.
I’m an old guy, and it’s getting late. So I’ll give you the last word. Thanks again for keeping the conversation civil.
On Feb 2, 1945, Americans expected the Japanese soldiers would fight to the death but nothing I can recall about the retaking of lesser cities indicated the Japanese would turn on the civilian population of Manila the way they did.
“The hate of MacArthur goes back to the Bonus Army”
“I’ve been to the beach on Leyte where he returned.”
I know an old lady in my suburb who was born in Leyte and was there at that time.
“The best bio of the General was by Geoffery Perret “Old Soldiers Never Die”
Noted.
Thank you.
Finding THAT BOOK is on my to-do list.
But not at the top.
Leftist police who assaulted me at a cathedral are making me the accused at a summary hearing in court on Friday week.
DefEATING THESE MODERN ENEMIES OF WHAT MACARTHUR STOOD FOR IS A HIGHER PRIORITY FOR ME.
“....... two of the greatest leaders this country has ever seen. Coincidentally, they didn’t get along with the media or presidents.”
AS TRUE OF SOME OF TODAY’S GREAT LEADERS AS IT WAS BACK THEN.
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