Reminiscences by Macarthur General Douglas

Author:Macarthur, General Douglas [MacArthur, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781612511733
Publisher: Naval Institute Press

In the campaign for liberation of the Philippines, I now faced my final and decisive objective, the recapture of Luzon. It was a difficult and dangerous problem, for the Japanese ground forces greatly outnumbered my own. I needed one last steppingstone before a main attack could be launched. The island of Mindoro was selected. It was located just south of Luzon in a central position along the coast. Its possession would enable me to return to my strategy of never leaping ahead of my own air cover. Midway between Leyte and the Lingayen Gulf area of Luzon, an airfield on Mindoro could be used to cover a landing at Lingayen, which was to be my point of assault on Luzon.

On December 12th, a scant two weeks before the final tactical stroke of the Leyte campaign, I dispatched a task force commanded by Brigadier General William C. Dunkel, and accompanying vessels of the Seventh Fleet to Mindoro by way of Surigao Strait. Once again the Japanese misjudged our goal, this time believing it to be the beaches of Panay and Negros. They realized our destination only after our ships had anchored off the chosen beachheads. The landing phase of the operation was accomplished without the loss of a single soldier. The Kamikaze attacks which soon followed, however, did much damage to our shipping off Mindoro, and the destruction wrought by these suicidal assaults created a serious local shortage of aviation gasoline for a period. But, by December 23rd, two airfields were in operation on Mindoro.

Upon the surrender of Mindoro, Japan ceased sending additional troops to the Philippines, and no longer used Manila Bay as a transfer point for convoys from the Netherlands Indies area. I was at last ready for Luzon. Mindoro was the gate to Lingayen—and I held the keys. General Marshall wired me:

“What you have done on Leyte and are doing on Mindoro are masterpieces. You and your command have my prayers for your continued success and safety.”*

Before leaving Leyte, I had the great pleasure of decorating Major Richard Bong, Kenney’s ace of aces, with the Medal of Honor. He had shot down forty enemy planes in air combat. I cited him, saying:

“Of all military attributes the one which arouses the greatest admiration is courage. It is the basis of all successful military ventures. You, who have ruled the air from New Guinea to the Philippines, I now induct into the society of the bravest of the brave, the wearers of the Congressional Medal of Honor of the United States. My dear boy, may a merciful God continue to protect you is the constant prayer of your old Commander-in-Chief.” He made his last flight on August 7, 1945, as a test pilot in the United States. His jet engine had “flamed out” on take-off. He jumped, but there was not enough altitude for the parachute to function.

With our occupation of Mindoro, General Yamashita became greatly concerned over the prospect of an imminent invasion of the southern area of Luzon.

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