American History Hit - The Battle for the Philippines

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

The largest ever surrender of American forces occurred in May 1942. The event resulted in medals of honour for two American military leaders - one who escaped, another who became the highest ranking prisoner of war of the Second World War.In this episode, Don is joined by Jonathan Horn to discuss the loss of the Philippines, and the fight to get it back.Jonathan, who previously came onto the podcast to talk about Robert E. Lee, is a former White House presidential speechwriter and author of 'The Man Who Would Not Be Washington'. His new book on this subject is ‘The Fate of the Generals: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the Philippines’.Edited by Tim Arstall, produced by Sophie Gee. The Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want to explore even more history? Sign up to History Hit, where you will discover history from around the world. From the American Revolution to prehistoric Scotland, there is plenty to discover. With your subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries with a brand new release every week, exploring everything from the ancient world to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com slash subscribe to bring the past alive. May 1942, Allied forces have largely withdrawn from the Philippines. Only one stronghold remains, the fortress island of Corregador, standing defiantly at the mouth of Manila Bay.

Over 10,000 American and Filipino troops are now under relentless Japanese bombardment, fired from the recently captured Baton Peninsula. Corregador is a heavily armed citadel, its coastal batteries boasting 56 artillery guns that have the approaching enemy. But the island is cut off, and its defenders have been surviving on dwindling supplies since the beginning of the year. General Douglas MacArthur escaped in March, under orders, retreating to Australia. In his place, command has passed to Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright, now burdened with a fateful decision. A Japanese landing force has breached Corregulars' shores. With their superior numbers and abundant artillery, they've pushed inland and now

threaten the Molinta Tunnel, the underground bunker sheltering the last American forces, and they're wounded. Wainwright's choice is stark. Resist to the last man or surrender the final allied foothold in the Philippines and face the consequences. Greetings history hit listeners. This is American history hit. Glad you're listening today. In the days of rampant colonialism, 19th to early 20th century, when global powers built vast dominions through wars and treaties, carving up the globe was like turkey at dinner. One nation traded like a side dish was the Philippines, the remote archipelico in the South Pacific. A possession of the Spanish for 333 years, from 1565 to 1898. After the Spanish-American War was resolved, it became a protectorate of the United States, who governed it until 1941,

when the Japanese, fresh from their attack on Pearl Harbor, invaded and occupied the islands for the next several years. What made the Philippines such a strategic prize is our topic on today's episode with our guest, author and former presidential speechwriter Jonathan Horn, who very recently published a new book on the subject of the struggle over the Philippines in World War II, entitled The Fate of the Generals, MacArthur, Wainwright, and the epic battle for the Philippines. Welcome back to American History Hit. Jonathan, nice to have you. Thanks so much for having me. Listeners may recall that Jonathan Orman was with us months back to discuss the life of Robert E. Lee. We are in a whole different time in place now, aren't we? That's right. We're starting off in the, as you said, the late 19th century when the United States moves into the Philippines and World War II.

So many listeners may be cloudy on where the Philippines even are in the world and why they were so key to American strategy in the Second World War. By the time of the war, the U.S. had control over the nation for about 40 years, as I mentioned. Why did this matter in our grand scheme of global power at that time? So the United States, as you said, came into the Philippines. Philippines in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. And there was a thought, there was a philosophy of the world that great powers required great navies and great navies required refueling bases and bases for their ships. And the Philippines became the key point for the United States in the Pacific after 1898

when the United States moved in. It was actually Douglas MacArthur's father, a general named Arthur MacArthur, who led the very first American soldiers into the walled city of Manila and saw the American flag raised over the city. And of course, that war ended with the United States having a debate over what to do with the Philippines and ultimately President McKinley making a decision to annex the islands as a colony of the United States, which of course was a controversial decision for a country that itself was founded as breaking away from a mother country. But yes, we decided to go ahead and have a colony in the Pacific. And that was the Philippines.

advanced the U.S. military frontier 7,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean, a statement unto itself right there. Manila is 1,500 nautical miles from Japan, 5,000 from Hawaii, 7,000 from the United States. It is out there. A crucial base, as you say, for power in the Pacific and eventually defending it against Japanese expansion. I was really surprised to learn that the two parties had agreed to a non-aggression policy, that Japan would get Korea as a protection. and leave the Philippines to the United States. How familiar with that are you? What I would say is that we thought the Philippines initially after the Spanish-American War was going to be a way of projecting American power into the Pacific and maybe serving as a gateway to China. But as you said exactly that, as strategists look at the archipelago in the

years leading up to World War II, they realized that in the event of war with Japan, it was going to be very difficult to defend these islands. And the reason is exactly what you said. It's just simple geography. The Japanese would be able to be able to. to bring large numbers of troops to the Philippines before the United States could bring reinforcements across the world's largest ocean. And so it's actually, Theodore Roosevelt, who initially is very keen on the idea

of the Philippines being part of the United States, comes to realize that instead of serving as a protection for the United States and our interests in the Pacific, there actually, as he puts it, are a heel of Achilles. But Douglas MacArthur's father, Arthur MacArthur, teaches a very different lesson to his son. He says, basically, that the Philippines are the key,

position to America's future as the Pacific Powerhouse. And that might have been true if the American people were willing to make the investments necessary in a large military. But as you know, the United States was not willing to bear those burdens in the years before World War II. Well, it was the dichotomy of our foreign policy in terms of colonial possessions or protectors, whatever you want to call them, has always been a thorn in our side, you know, as far as how to operate elsewhere other than our mainland. Anyway, it's all canceled out on December. 17th, 1941. The Philippines are part of the entire campaign as the Japanese hit us in Pearl Harbor at the same time over the next nine hours, all these other things are happening, including

the takeover the Philippines. Can you describe this day? It's pretty extraordinary. It is extraordinary, and it's actually December 8th, 1941 in the Philippines, for a simple reason of the international date line, the Philippines is in the other side. So Pearl Harbor really takes place on that day. and for reasons that are still very much debated, American bombers, the America's Air Force, was basically caught on the ground at Clark Field by Japanese bombers coming from Taiwan. So that very first day, America's air power in the Philippines was really wiped out. Douglas MacArthur, who was in charge of the defense of the Philippines for the United States, had thrown out years of strategic thinking and replaced it with his own plan to defend the Philippines,

with a plan to defend the coastlines of the islands. His Switzerland plan is, you know, he has this idea for training camps, and he's going to have a certain number of Philippine citizens pass through these training camps every year. And the event of war with Japan, he believes he'll be able to call out this army, and he'll be able to offer finally a viable alternative to war plan orange, which was the retreat to baton. But some people point out very early on, first of all, that the Philippines is very different from Switzerland. And this is an archipelago.

These are islands. It would be very difficult to defend without naval forces. But basically, he's built a conscript army of Philippine civilians. He's going to call them out. And his hope is he's going to defeat the Japanese at the beaches. But that doesn't happen when the Japanese make their main landing on December 22nd, 1941 at Lingayan Gulf. The big thing that happens is that this conscript army, through no fault of their own, just simply does not have the training and does not have. the supplies necessary to mount a defense against an experienced veteran army like Japanese.

It becomes very clear, very early on, that America is going to have to revert back to an older plan called War Plan Orange. Under that plan, instead of trying to defend the full Philippines, you're just going to retreat and hold two key positions. And these are the positions necessary just to hold the entrance to Manila Bay. And one is called the Baton Peninsula. And the other is called Corregador, which is the tabpole-shaped island off the tip of baton. And of course, those names are echo into American history ever after. For sure. This whole thing is about 105 days, a fateful battle that takes place from January 7th until April 9th, 1942. In May, 1942, Corregador is defeated as well. This involves epic moments for the American military and American history,

not least of which is the death march, the baton death march. March, which results in enormous loss of life. Take us through sort of a sketch of those six months and how that unfolds, leading to eventually the defeat of Corrigador. So yes, exactly. Very quickly after the Japanese land, America reverts back to Warplan Orange, and the job of leading the retreat to baton falls to a general name General Jonathan Wainwright, who is essentially the highest-ranking American field commander in the Philippines. He's junior only to Douglas MacArthur. And this is a very deep. difficult operation, which he carries out, if you can believe it, with the help of the 26th cavalry.

These are Philippine scouts, elite troops led by American officers, and they're fighting on horseback. So a war that ends with the atomic bomb begins with our very best troops in the Philippines as mounted warriors and horseback. And they do lead the very successful retreat to baton, but they do not find good conditions there when they get there. And if you go to baton, you can see why. It's a very thick, dense jungle.

It's the sort of place that even veteran soldiers can completely lose their bearing. Someone incredibly, a thousand Japanese troops are able to break through the main line of American resistance that they make across the width of the peninsula and just disappear into the jungle. But the main problem in Baton is never the Japanese, really. It's disease being spread by mosquitoes. It's food shortages. Very quickly, food becomes a problem, American forces. And, by the, I should say, most of the troops on Baton are Filipinos. who are fighting under the American flag.

You have to go down to half rations, and eventually they have to go down to quarter rations. That's about a thousand calories a day. That's not enough to live comfortably in bed all day to say nothing of trying to fight in a foxhole. And under these circumstances, General Wainwright has to make the heart-rending decision that the horses that I mentioned of the 26th Cavalry

have one last terrible service to perform for his army, and that is to serve as a source of food. So this is the end of the last great horse fighting unit in American history. When do they lose baton and therefore leading to the death march? So as you said, baton surrenders on April 9th, 1942. By this time, Douglas MacArthur has already been ordered out of the Philippines. He was seen as too important to go down with the ship and he makes a daring escape with his family to Australia. And the surrender of baton, most people don't realize, is the largest surrender of American forces.

in history. This is a complete military disaster. This is nearly 80,000 American forces, primarily Filipinos again, but they are fighting under the American flag, surrendering on baton. And once baton surrenders on April 9th, very quickly it becomes clear that that tadpole-shaped island of Corregador, which is off the tip of baton, and that's where the Americans have their headquarters in the Philippines cannot stand long. And it's very easy to see why. If you go to baton. The mountains of baton command the heights of Corregador. So the Japanese bring their big guns down to the tip of baton very quickly and put Corregator under 24-7 artillery assault. And that is where General Wainwright has his headquarters and we'll try to hold out for as long

as he can. But of course, the conditions are very terrible. What was the point of the march? From where to where were they marching? Well, so the Japanese, what happens after April 9th, the surrender is the Japanese want to clear the Paton Peninsula. of American and Filipino forces as quickly as they can to basically make room for their own operations against Corregador. But they end up carrying out one of the great atrocities of the Pacific War by carrying out a force march of men who are already starving. These are Americans and Filipinos who are already been living, as I mentioned, on quarter rations,

and they march them without proper supplies, without water, without food. They're beating them along. the way and they're trying to move them to a prison camp called Camp O'Donnell. They march for dozens of miles. Those who make it are then put on trains, which give deadly meaning to the term standing room only. Your crowd that's go tight. And if you make it to Camp O'Donnell, it's not like you're out of the woods because

the conditions in Camp O'Donnell are just horrendous. And basically cruelty, it becomes commonplace. And part of the reason is, and this is something that I'm American commanders will discover as the Japanese themselves don't believe in the idea of surrender. And so they have no respect for those who do surrender. And that goes some distance to explain the cruel treatment that Americans receive. So am I right to think that the numbers are about 75,000 U.S. and Filipino troops marched around 65 miles to those camps or transported to those camps. Seven to 10,000 die in this death march. Starved, shot, bayoneted,

I mean, it's a terrifying experience. Yeah, I mean, we have stories that people just describing making this march and, you know, begging to get water from springs that are being passed and not being allowed to do it. And basically people who are just collapsing on the side of the road and people drinking out of the same water that animals were defecating in. I mean, this is just cruelty. And it is one of the great atrocities of the Pacific War. And the Japanese commander afterward will claim that he basically delegated it to subordinates, but he is ultimately held responsible for it at a war crime tribunal and is put to death after World War II for not preventing these atrocities from having happened.

By May 42, as I mentioned, the U.S. has lost any grip on the Philippines. MacArthur's gone. Wainwright has actually taken prisoner. They've surrendered the last bastion at Corregador at the mouth of the Medela Bay, and the Philippines are gone. You mentioned it counts as perhaps America's biggest loss, certainly in the war, right, in terms of men and supplies and treasure. Yeah, and just a word about General Wainwright's final stand, which is, you know, there was a possibility that Wainwright himself might have been able to escape. His command encompassed the full Philippine Islands, and there's a lower island called Mindenau. And if he had moved his command to Mindenau, he could have potentially hopped on a B-17 the same way General MacArthur did and made it to Australia.

But he makes this vow in his diary and on April 2nd, 1942, when he can already foresee the fall of baton, and he says, there would be no other honorable course for me but to share the fate of my men and the fate of my garrison on Corregador. And he holds to that vow, even as the Japanese put Corregator under 24-7 artillery assault. They're in this massive bomb shelter that's built into a mountain in Corregor called the Melinda Tunnel. He holds to that vow even as the walls are shaking and the water system breaks and the lights go out in the tunnel. And he holds to that vow even when the Japanese begin making their landing on Corregador. And he faces this terrible choice because he eventually will try to make a surrender of just Corregador. But the Japanese will not accept the surrender unless he includes the full Philippine Islands. And he believes the Japanese will otherwise carry out a massacre of his garrison in the tunnel.

This is more than 10,000 people, including female nurses and wounded soldiers who can't get out of their beds. And Wainwright faces this difficult decision because he knows MacArthur does not want the full Philippine Islands surrendered, but he does it to save the lives of those people in the garrison. One of the unseen aspects of this, or at least for me anyway, that this has is that it must empower the Japanese enormously to imagine that their foe, the United States, is ever going to come back to the point where they can actually fight a viable war across this great distance from the mainland. The loss of the Philippines, when there had been such an extended battle, proves that to them, I guess, that the Americans have been very weak in their planning and coordination. Well, yeah, if you look at the situation, just across early 1942, I mean, you look at the speed of the Japanese conquest of the Pacific. Very quickly, you look at Hong Kong, Singapore for the British, the Dutch East Indies. Wake Island, Guam. It's actually only in the Philippines that the Japanese face really almost any resistance. That's where the Allied forces make their great stands. As you say, it's not that long of a stand, but it's their great stand. It's the only place during the spring of 1942 where Americans can find what they so desperately want back home. And that's evidence that we are fighting back in some way against the Japanese. And that fight has become synonymous with the name Douglas MacArthur. And I think that

goes some distance to explaining why President Roosevelt and George Marshall in Washington, D.C., make the decision to order Douglas MacArthur to leave the Philippines. He's seen as a symbol of hope during this grim time too important to go down with the islands. The other aspect of this is there's no coordination with the Allies with the British specifically who are very present in the Malaysia aspect, the Malay. They've turned Singapore into a fortress. All of that, which is happening with the British, the United States chooses not to be a part of, right? Yeah, I mean, the speed of the Japanese conquest of the Pacific, and, you know, of course, Singapore falling for the British is one of the great disasters of the war, and it's sort of

missed because we're so focused on the European battles. But Singapore falling, as you said, Singapore was seen as this impossible to conquer position for the British, and it falls because the Japanese are able to take it, and this is the great British surrender of the Pacific. The famous adage, of course, is I shall return. Douglas MacArthur says as he's leaving for Australia, which we've already mentioned. How does he plan to return? What campaign will be undertaken to do this? Well, it's so interesting because when MacArthur reaches Australia, he says those famous words, I shall return. And he later says that he would never have agreed to accept the order to leave the Philippines in the first place. Because of course, this does look like the captain deserting the sinking. ship unless he had been assured that he could return to the Philippines almost immediately to come to the relief and to prevent the surrender of the islands. Now, this is very hard to believe because Douglas MacArthur knew that the U.S. Navy had no

ability to break the blockade or very little ability to break the blockade that Japanese had formed around the islands. He should have known how few resources he was going to find in Australia and how much time he was going to be able to take to build up a force capable of making the return. But this is what he tells us. Sometimes people will say, why did he say, I shall return instead of saying we shall return? Wouldn't it have been less egotistical? Well, yeah, it would have been a lot less egotistical, but it wouldn't have made a lot of sense.

Because as we've been talking about here, American and Filipino forces were still fighting the Japanese at that time. So unless MacArthur was talking about himself and his family, because he really does make this daring escape with his four-year-old son. and his wife. It wouldn't have made a lot of sense. So it does take some time to assemble the forces, and the journey back to the Philippines is a long one for Douglas MacArthur, and it goes through the islands of New Guinea, and it is a long way back. And in many cases, he's also not just fighting the Japanese, but strategist in Washington, you question the value of returning to the Philippines at all and wonder if he can't just bypass these islands and instead focus on what they think is the main goal of the war defeating the Japanese. But that is never Douglas MacArthur's main goal. His

main goal is always returning to the Philippines. When he arrives in Australia, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. But this was largely for show, wasn't it? It was to counter the Japanese propaganda of him abandoning his troops. That's exactly it. And even George Marshall, who basically makes the decision, he's the chief of staff of the Army in Washington, admits that there are no real grounds for awarding Douglas MacArthur, the Medal of Honor. This is a very question. This our nation's highest military honor. It is reserved for feats of courage that are above and beyond the call of duty, usually at the risk of life, almost always at the risk of life.

So often people don't even survive these feats. And this one is very unusual in history because it is really given to offset Japanese propaganda about the captain deserting the sinking ship. Those remaining troops who were taken prisoner and then kept as prisoners of war, including Wainwright, those camps were elsewhere, right? They were not in the Philippines. They were in Taiwan and Manchuria. Well, that's right for Wainwright.

I mean, his experience was different because he was such a high-ranking officer. But with the cruelty that she was treated, you can get a sense of how much worse the experience of lower-ranking soldiers would have been. The Japanese moved Wainwright from the Philippines, as you said, to various different prisons in Taiwan. And then all the way to Manchuria, where Wainwright will endure temperatures as low as negative 49 degrees. the Japanese engaged in what Wayne Wright will describe as systematic starvation. I was able to use Wayne Wright's diary when I was writing my new book, and I was able to see Wainwright cataloging his weight, basically just his body is falling apart.

The Japanese beat him. This is a lieutenant general of the United States being beaten by Japanese privates. By 1945, when he's in Manchuria, he doesn't think he's going to make it. We think of 1945, and we think the war is almost over. You're almost there. But he was so cut off from the outside. outside world that he had no idea that was the case. I think maybe perhaps the cruelest form of torture he faced was this isolation. And he was left to wonder whether Americans would understand

the decision he had made to surrender for the sake of his men. And this really does haunt him throughout the war. Twelve thousand Americans taken prisoner of war. Sixty three thousand Filipinos. Eight thousand Americans and 26,000 Filipinos die. It's an extraordinary. ordinary ugly period of time and real atrocity, as you say. How much was this the motivation for committing to win the Philippines back? Or was it? I mean, you mentioned how McArthur was fighting against his own army's tactics or his own leadership's tactics. Was the Philippines the major objective of our fight across the Pacific? Well, you know, it's funny because as you get closer and MacArthur is making progress, he's moving up the island of New Guinea,

he's getting closer to the Philippines. And even as you get into 1944, there are still some who believe we should bypass the Philippines and that they are not important to our return to Japan. But MacArthur never sees it this way. And part of it goes to his own personal bonds

to the islands. These are the islands that his father plays such a critical role in bringing into the American Empire, as we talked about in the beginning. These are the islands where he considered his home where his only son had been born.

And these are the islands that he had been charged to defend on the eve of World War II, but had failed to do so. And so returning to the Philippines was always his major objective. And we have this message from George Marshall in 1944 when this was still being debated. And he's saying, you know, we need to remember the major objective of this war. And of course, this is 1944. There should be no need to clarify what that means. And yet Marshall feels the need to add a clause saying, which is defeating Japan?

Because that is never MacArthur's main objective. McCarthy's main objective is returning to the Philippines. He thinks America has been forced out of American soil at the point of a bayonet. And we have to return the same way. And we have a moral obligation. He believes to the people of the Philippines. Because in a sense, we had failed the people of the Philippines. And, you know, there is a good argument to be making for what he is saying, of course. Yeah, exactly. The early phases of the battle to win back to Philippines, well, the guerrilla resistance has been going on all the way a lot. which is driven by the Filipino forces hidden. But there are, of course, submarines off the coast there. There are U.S. soldiers who are in the jungle fighting side by side with the Philippines. But then, of course, we land at the Battle of Late, the largest naval battle in history for the United States. October 1944. How much is that a part of winning back the Philippines?

Well, it's a huge part, and Douglas MacArthur is largely a bystander for it because it is a naval battle. And essentially it shows you the battle that happens there off Lati is, in a sense, it shows you how important the Japanese think the Philippines are to them. They realize that if the Americans succeed in taking back the Philippines, they are going to cut off the Japanese from their empire to the south. And they're dependent on that for resources. It's one of the reasons they headed south to expand their empire and risk starting a war with the United States in the first place. So they really do risk a huge amount in trying to destroy MacArthur's return to Laiti. but it ends up becoming, through some luck, by the way, because their plan almost succeeds and probably becoming the largest naval battle ever fought in history and a massive Japanese defeat,

though there were moments when it looked probable that America might suffer a terrible reverse at that moment. But through some luck, Americans do prevail in this battle, and it is the largest naval battle ever fought. How are they actually won back? I mean, it takes years, as you're describing for all these various, I guess, west to east, or at least northwest efforts from Australia and so forth to get back to the Philippines. But how is the final battle won? So MacArthur makes his famous landing in the Philippines in the fall of 1944. But that's not the end of its objective either. He needs to get back to the largest and most populated island of Luzon or the city of Manila is. And he begins returning there in 1940.

And by February 1945, his forces are reaching Manila. And this has been the focal point of his return ever since leaving Manila. This is the city that he loves more than anything. And it's one of the cruel ironies of the war that his return to Manila after all this that he's gone through, the fighting in the jungle, all the different landings, ends with the Japanese carrying out another one of the most terrible atrocities of World War II. and that is the destruction of the city of Manila. They will fight block by block. MacArthur thinks for some reason

the Japanese will not fight for the city, but they do fight for the city, and they destroy anything they think could be of service to the American people as they fall back for their final stand in the city. And that includes, very sadly, the civilians of Manila, who had always remained fairly loyal

to the United States throughout this experience. And as a result, the Japanese take vengeance on them and carry out just unspeakable crimes. And it's more than 100,000 civilians will die in this terrible battle for Manila, which really, when you look at the pictures ends up, really the city is flattened at the end of this terrible fight for the city of Manila. What an extraordinary symbolism that MacArthur is able to bookend his entire journey with I have returned. I mean, is this a fable or was it really as clean a PR win for the United States and for Douglas MacArthur as it seems? Well, you know, it's certainly PR was part of it. And the PR, you can say it's about MacArthur's ego, but it did also give hope to the people, the Philippines, those words, I shall return.

You know, they had it smuggled on candy wrappers and cigarette boxes and sending them back to the people, the Philippines. And I think they did give people the Philippines hope. And of course, it's never as clean as you think it is in the sense that, as, you know, as we discussed, the battle leads to the destruction. Ultimately, once MacArthur moves to the largest island of Luzon, to the destruction of Manila, which is the city he loves. and was called the Pearl of the Orient. This is one of the great cities of the world and is just flattened. So it is not, I wouldn't say it's a clean, anything's clean. In fact, it's one of the terrible ironies of the war.

But MacArthur's vow and the fact that he keeps that vow is unique in history. I can't think of any other example of a general bending the path of an entire war on the strength of his words alone, the way MacArthur did. Right. Well, it speaks to his family legacy, doesn't it? After the war, July 4th, no coincidence there, July 4th, 1946, the Philippines are made independent. MacArthur remains a hero in all of this. It really is an amazing journey.

One downside of MacArthur is blocking the efforts to award Wainwright, the Medal of Honor. In 1942, why did he do that? You know, very shortly after MacArthur receives his own Medal of Honor under very dubious grounds in 1942, this is after he's received word of the surrender of the Philippines, and the Wainwright's decision to surrender it for the sake of his men, really. George Marshall passes along a recommendation to Australia to Douglas MacArthur to also award a Medal of Honor

to General Wainwright. And it's sort of a request that Marshall thinks MacArthur will have no objections to. But MacArthur turns out to have some objections. And he goes so far as to say that if Marshall proceeds with this award, he will have to come forward with allegations that will do. damage Wainwright's reputation. I think what he's hinting is that he'll have to say that

Wainwright was an alcoholic. I think ultimately when you look at this letter, this message that MacArthur sends, which is not a high point, I would say, in his career. I think what's really happening here is MacArthur is furious. The General Wainwright has surrendered the full Philippines. And I told you, of course, Wainwright didn't want to do that, but the Japanese would not accept the surrender otherwise and would have massacred the more than 10,000 people in his garrison. There's something else happening, too. For Douglas MacArthur, the Medal of Honor always conjured images of his father during the Civil War. His father then had just been an 18-year-old.

At the Battle of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, he had carried his regiment's flag up a ridge against pretty incredible odds and led his regiment to the top. And for Douglas MacArthur, that Medal of Honor always conjured the image of carrying the flag to the top. And the idea of it going to someone who had stayed to see the flag lowered at the sickening hour of surrender just seemed unacceptable, I think, to Douglas MacArthur. And that's one of the reasons he came out against it. But did you get a sense of what it would have meant to General Wainwright to receive the Medal of Honor? To have word of what it meant to receive the Medal of Honor during those long years of captivity? It would have meant the world to him. And you can see it when you look through his diary, how worry he is about what Americans will think about this decision.

And me personally, I think what General Wainwright did, staying with his men, someone was going to have to surrender this force. And during the humiliation of surrender, it would have been easier at that moment to die, to be perfectly honest. And I think what he did was as brave as any soldier in American history. It's saying to see it lowered, the flag lower was just as brave as carrying an upper ridge. Well, it's a fitting coda to end with the fact that after liberation, Truman awards Wainwright, the Medal of Honor in 1945, recognizing his leadership and personal sacrifice. So amends were made. Jonathan Horn is a best-selling author, former White House Presidential Speechwriter during the George W. Bush administration. He is best known for his historical biographies, including the man who would not be Washington, Robert E. Lee's Civil

War and his decision that changed American history, and Washington's end, the final years and forgotten struggle. Today we discussed his newest release, The Fate of the Generals, MacArthur, Wainwright, and the epic battle for the Philippines. Thanks again, Jonathan. It was great to see you again. Thanks so much for having me back. Thanks for listening to this episode of American History Hit. As you've made it this far, why not like and follow us wherever you get your podcasts? American History Hit, a podcast from History Hit.