Some minor isolated action of a guerrilla nature in the practically uninhabited mountain ranges may occasionally persist, but this great land mass of 115,600 square miles with a population of 17,000,000 is now freed of the invader. The entire Philippine Islands are now liberated and the Philippine Campaign can be regarded as virtually closed. MacArthur’s communique’ is reprinted below in its entirety: Though the American general did reference guerilla efforts in his communique, he mentioned resistance by the remaining Japanese forces in the Philippines, without giving credit to the brave efforts of the Filipinos and Americans who had harassed Japanese forces in occupied areas. Nor did MacArthur mention progress in the Central Pacific campaign (a primarily Marine Corps and Navy effort), efforts on mainland Asia, or the combined air and naval blockade of the Japanese home islands, which assisted in preventing further reinforcements being sent to the Pacific islands. Instead he refers simply to forces under his command. Some key points that stand out in the text of the official communique (shown below) are: MacArthur’s detailed list of the Japanese order of battle his emphasis on the fact that Japanese forces held a numerical advantage in the Philippines and the number of square miles and people that were liberated.Ĭuriously absent in MacArthur’s communique was any reference to his own order of battle or commanders’ names. Recapturing the islands after more than three years under Japanese control, therefore, was one of the greatest symbolic and strategic victories of the Pacific war. The Japanese conquest of the Philippines was one of the worst military disasters in American history. Image by US Army Signal Corps officer Gaetano Faillace, courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, 531424.Ī lesser known, but perhaps more monumental message came from MacArthur’s General Headquarters on July 5, 1945, when he declared all of the Philippines had been liberated.
MacArthur landing at Leyte, October 20, 1944.
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