But when he prevailed over Nimitz and got FDR to agree to retake the Philippines rather than bypassing them as the navy wanted, he threw away tens of thousands of American lives.
Just so he could walk up that goddamned beach and preen about his "return" in front of the newsreel cameras.
Full disclosure - my uncle left an arm on Luzon, February 1945.
The Japanese sure thought the Philippines were a valuable target. They sent nearly their whole remaining fleet including their last four aircraft carriers and both super battleships along with the largest fleet they ever assembled just to try and hold the Philippines.
Aren’t you forgetting about Australia? Hmmmmmmmmmmm