We Shall Return! Macarthur's Commanders and the Defeat of Japan, 1942-1945

320 Pages·1988·45.99 MB·English

by  William M. Leary

We Shall Return!
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We Shall Return!
MacArthur's Commanders
and the Defeat ofJapan
1942-1945
WILLIAM M. LEARY, Editor
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
Publicationofthisvolumewasmadepossibleinpart
byagrantfromtheNationalEndowmentfortheHumanities.
CopYright©1988byTheUniversityPressofKentucky
Paperbackedition2004
TheUniversityPressofKentucky
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Frontispiece. SouthwestPacificTheaterofOperations,July26,1942. Source: HughJ. Casey,
ed.,Engineersofthe SouthwestPacific,1941-1945,vol.6(Washington,DC.,1951).
PhotosonchapteropeningpagesarecourtesyofthefollOwing: MacArthur,Krueger,U.S.Army;
Blarney,AustralianWarMemorial;Kenney,Whitehead,U.S.AIrForce;Kinkaid,U.S. Navy;
Eichelberger,DukeUniversityLibrary;Barbey,U.S. NavalInstitute.
TheLibraryofCongresshascatalogedthehardcovereditionasfollows:
Weshallreturn! :MacArthur'scommandersandthedefeatofJapan.
1942-1945/William M. Leary,editor.
p. em.
Bibliography:p.
Includesindex.
ISBN0-8131-1654-6
1.WorldWar,1939-1945-Campaigns-PacificArea. 2. MacArthur, Douglas,1880-1964.
3. UnitedStates-ArmedForces-Biography. I.Leary,William M. (William Matthew),1934-
D767.9.W42 1988
940.54'26'0924-dc19 88-2731
PaperISBN0-8131-9105-X
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freerecycledpapermeeting
therequirementsoftheAmericanNationalStandard
forPermanenceinPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials.
@(i}
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
~A~A~.~ MemberoftheAssociationof
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CONTENTS
ListofMaps vi
Acknowledgments vii
Preface ix
Abbreviations xiii
DouglasMacArthurandtheWaragainstJapan 1
STANLEYL. FALK
BlarneyandMacArthur:TheProblemofCoalitionWarfare 23
D.M. HORNER
WalterKrueger: MacArthur'sFightingGeneral 60
WILLIAMM. LEARY
GeorgeC. Kenney: MacArthur'sPremierAirman 88
HERMANS. WOLK
ThomasC. Kinkaid: MacArthur'sMasterofNavalWarfare 115
GERALDE. WHEELER
RobertL. Eichelberger: MacArthur'sFireman 155
JAYLUVAASANDJOHNF. SHORTAL
EnnisC. Whitehead:AerialTactician 178
DONALDM. GOLDSTEIN
DanielE. Barbey:AmphibiousWarfareExpert 208
PAOLOE. COLETTA
Notes 244
Maps 274
BibliographicalEssay 282
Contributors 292
Index 295
MAPS
SouthwestPacificTheaterofOperations frontispiece
PapuaandNortheastNewGuinea 275
TheCaptureofBuna 276
NetherlandsandNortheastNewGuinea 277
TheSixthArmyPlan, Leyte 278
TheBattleofLeyteGulf 279
LingayenArea, Luzon 280
CentralPlains, Luzon 281
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WhenJohn GarratyaskedmetodoabiographicalsketchofGeneralWal
terKruegerforthe DictionaryofAmericanBiography, Ihadnoideathat
thetaskwouldleadtoavolumeofessaysonMacArthur'sseniorfieldcom
manders inWorldWarII. Kruegerprovedan intriguingtopic, however.
During the course ofmy research, I was surprised to learn that so little
had beenwritten abouthim or about his associates in the Southwest Pa
cific. I decided that a more extended treatment oftheircontributions to
MacArthur's triumphant return to the Philippines wouldfill a significant
gapintheliteratureofthewar.
D. ClaytonJames ofMississippi State University, MacArthur's fore
mostbiographer, generouslyencouragedmeandadvisedmeattheincep
tion ofthe project, while Stanley L. Falk came to my rescue at several
crucial points along the way. This volume would not have been possible
without their support. Alvin D. Coox of San Diego State University,
a source of wise counsel over two decades, made several helpful sug
gestions. Lester D. Stephens, head of the history department at the
UniversityofGeorgia, providedhis usualfull measureofsympatheticun
derstanding. I amindeedfortunatetocountthembothasfriends. Mywife
Margaret suggested the title; I am grateful to herfor that-and for a lot
more.
I havededicatedthisbooktothememoryofamanwhomI nevermet
butwhose letters over the years gave me great insight into the nature of
war.
TOTHEMEMORYOF
LieutenantColonelRaymondC. Mullen, Jr.
(1926-1986)
PREFACE
General Douglas MacArthurreached theendofwhatsometimesseemed
apersonalcrusadeonSeptember2, 1945. Standingonthedeckofthebat
tleship Missouri in the calmwaters ofTokyo Bay, he watched with deep
satisfactionas representatives oftheJapanese governmentsigned the in
strumentofsurrender that endedWorld War II. "Todaythe guns are si
lent,"MacArthurannouncedtotheworldonradioattheconclusionofthe
ceremony. He spoke about the winning ofa great victory, the end ofa
great tragedy, and he recalled the "long, tortuous trail from those grim
daysofBataanandCorregidor."l
The road to Tokyo Bay had begun in March 1942, when MacArthur
reachedAustraliatiredandfrustrated aftersufferingaseriesofbitterde
feats in the Philippines. The president ofthe United States, he told re
porters at Adelaide, had ordered him to leave Corregidor, but this
departure did not signalan endofthe battlefor the islands. He intended
to lead a reliefforce back to the Philippines. "I came through," he an
nounced, "andIshallreturn."2
MacArthur made good on his promise, if not as quickly as he had
hoped. He had good reason to be proudofhis triumph, andhe deserved
theacclaimthatitbroughthim, buthehadalotofhelp.
In many ways, MacArthur's subordinates were the forgotten men of
World WarII. While European battlefieldcommanders such as Bradley
and Patton becamefamiliar names to the American people, Krueger and
Eichelberger were relatively unknown. MacArthur dominated press re
leases from his theater. "Like everyone else in the Southwest Pacific,"
amphibiouscommanderViceAdmiral DanielE. Barbeylaterrecalled, "I
soonfound myselffullyintothehabitofreferringto'MacArthur'stroops,'
'MacArthur's planes,' and 'MacArthur's ships.' When General Eichel
"3
berger did receive favorable notice following the Battle ofBuna, he in
curred the wrath of his superior. Eichelberger quickly learned that
MacArthurwasnotabouttoallowanyoneto "riseupbetweenhimandhis
place in history."4Thereafterhe maintained alow profile. On the eve of
theplannedinvasionofJapan,awarcorrespondentfeltabletowriteabout