0n the 20th October 1944, US
General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore in the Philippines, a country he had
been forced to flee 2 and half years early following the invasion of Japanese
forces.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor on the 7th December, 1941, MacArthur was ommanding US and Filipino
forces in the Philippines. The following day Japanese forces invaded the
islands, although MacArthur and his generals response was confused, meaning
that allied forces immediately found themselves on the defensive. With the
islands air defenses neutralised MacArthur began a hasty retreat that ended on
the Bataan Peninsula and the rocky fortress called Corregidor.
Under continuous and sustained
assault on 12 March 1942, MacArthur and a select group including his wife and son
escaped to Australia were he famously said, "I came out of Bataan and I
shall return". Bataan surrendered on 9 April 1942 and Corregidor on 6 May
1942
Two years later on the 20th
October 1944, allied troops of Krueger's landed on Leyte, while
MacArthur watched from the light cruiser USS Nashville.
That afternoon he arrived off the beach where his whaleboat grounded in
knee-deep water, and MacArthur was compelled to wade ashore. In his prepared
speech, he said: “People of the Philippines: I have returned.”
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Research courtesy of Wikipedia
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