THE
ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS: •Sunday Morning, October 22,"1944
Mac Arthur Keeps His
Promise, I Will Return
Editor's Note:
Here, only a little delayed, is the story of
how General Douglas Mac Arthur kept, m person, his promise to return to the
Philippines. Representing for this one occasion every American and Australian
newspaper, Bill Dickinson gives the story in simple language, without theatrics
or purple passages. It is one of the great stories of the war told calmly and
without color—a fine example of good reporting at its best.
By WILLIAM B.
DICKINSON
United Press War Correspondent
Representing Combined American
and Australian Press WITH GEN. DOUGLAS MacARTHUR IN THE PHILIPPINES, Oct.
20.—(UP)—
Fulfilling the pledge he made two
and one half years ago. Gen. Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines
today, coming ashore in brilliant sunshine on the island of Leyte only a few
hours behind the assault waves of American forces—the avengers of Bataan and
Corregidor.
With him in the barge that carried
him ashore from his cruiser, in which he traveled from his New Guinea
headquarters., were Filipino President Sergio Osmena and Brig. Gen. Carlos
Romulo, resident commissioner of the Philippines.
They were returning to lead their
countrymen as soon as the enemy invaders have been driven from the islands.
Lt. Gen. Richard Sutherland, able
American chief of 'staff who left the Philippines in the black days of 1942
with MacArthur, and Lt. Gen. George Kenney, the tough, competent commander of
the Far East Air Forces, also accompanied the' 64-year old general in the
fulfillment of' his solemn vow to return.
Kenney, boss of the Fifth Air Force,
directed-the blows which MacArthur himself has said made possible the push to
the Philippines.
MacArthur left Corregidor aboard a
tiny P-T boat which, scurried from the islands. He returned as the leader of a
vast- armada which defied challenge.
* * *
RETURN OF THE
WARRIOR
He escaped the Philippines to
Australia in a lone Flying Fortress
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
BATAAN
MURDERERS C O R N E R E D ~ ~ "
Talking- informally with me over
a chocolate soda—his first since an earlier trip aboard this ship—MacArthur
expressed complete confidence
in the success of the Leyte
operations.
The Japanese have little more
than one division on Leyte the general said and American naval and air power
will make it impossible
for them to reinforce the island.
"I am
particularly anxious to get at the division which is on Leyte," MacArthur
said. "It's the 15th, the outfit that did the dirty work at Bataan.
They've been living off the fat of the land for more than two years and I
believe they'll be a little softer now. But soft or not, we'll get them."
He returned under skies swarming
with American planes.
He left the Philippines- with •
hardly a dozen men—forced to leave-behind him for death or imprisonment the
thousands trapped on Bataan. He returned as-commander of a .force of nearly.
100,000, which will be followed by as many more thousands--as it takes to"
rescue the Pearl of the Pacific from her captors;
As a representative of the
combined American press, I accompanied Gen. Douglas MacArthur aboard the cruiser
Nashville and landed with him. • • •
The voyage from the South Pacific
might almost have been a peacetime cruise although two unsuccessful attacks were
made on another cruiser. No enemy planes or ships interfered at any time
As we entered Leyte Gulf this
morning a destroyer detected a submarine and later dropped several depth
charges far off on the horizon. Floating mines were reported at. various times
but none anywhere near our ship. At 8:20 a. m. today, the navigator was able to
report that no enemy planes: had been sighted.
Soon after dawn, American planes
were overhead and from that time on several were almost always within sight.
*
* *
SHIPS GET
TOGETHER
At the beginning of our voyage;
the cruiser and its destroyer escort zigzagged along in- the bright sunlight.
At mid-afternoon scores of transport and warship masts rose above the horizon
and we rendezvoused several hundred miles from Leyte.
Soon there were, ships on. every
side. Miles beyond them was an unbroken stream of aircraft carriers and other
warships.
Aboard ship MacArthur was completely
relaxed. His plans had been made. There was no further decisions to be taken
until his troops were ashore. With him was a skeleton staff and his offices were
set up in a cabin.
Incoming reports were tabulated
and assembled so that the general was constantly in touch with developments and
progress. Even as the hour of landing drew near he was unruffled. He. slept
well, ate a hearty breakfast, then went briefly on deck smoking his familiar corn-cob
pipe.
After talking with several
officers he. returned: to his cabin and lay down. He promptly fell asleep and
napped for about an hour. About 15 minutes before the scheduled landing at 10
a. m. the cruiser moved in towards the beach where MacArthur was to land.
* * *
GENERAL ON
BRIDGE
Then the general went to the
bridge where he stood beside Charles Honey as the ship moved slowly in towards
its anchorage.
The roar of the preliminary bombardment
-filled the air. We could see shells from the battleships exploding in the
hills beyond the prospective beachheads. Thick columns of smoke rose, in the
sky. At 9:58 .the bombardment moderated and the first .waves of 'landing craft
hit the shore one minute ahead of schedule. The warships lifted their fire and
shelled behind the advancing troops. . . . . .
Reports from the landing forces
were received almost momentarily. By 10:08 a. m. The report arrived that we
were 500 yards inland and advancing, through open country without opposition.
Our ship anchored at about'11:10
and about the same time the first reports of opposition were received. The
beaches were hit by some heavy mortar fire.
Our ships got the range on
Japanese positions and the bombardment continued at intervals.
Satisfied that everything was going
according to schedule, MacArthur went to his cabin for an early luncheon
preparatory to going ashore
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