MacArthur received orders from Washington to leave the Philippines while he still could, so he went to Australia to run the war from there and received a Medal of Honor for his accomplishments in the Philippines. He left 78,000 American troops behind with no hope of reinforcements.
A song, sung to the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” turned up at Bataan:
Dugout Doug MacArthur lies ashaking on the Rock
Safe from all the bombers and from any sudden shock
Dugout Doug is eating of the best food on Bataan
And his troops go starving on.
Dugout Doug’s not timid, he’s just cautious, not afraid
He’s protecting carefully the stars that Franklin made
Four-star generals are rare as good food on Bataan
And his troops go starving on.
Dugout Doug is ready in his Kris Craft for the flee
Over bounding billows and the wildly raging sea
For the Japs are pounding on the gates of Old Bataan
And his troops go starving on...
You do know that he was a hero in three wars, right? Next you’ll bring up the Bonus Army incident.