My Washington Times Review Of 'MacArthur's Spies'

The Washington Times published my review of Peter Eisner's MacArthur's Spies: The Soldier, The Singer, and the Spymaster Who Defied the Japanese in World War II.

The Bataan Death March in the Philippines in World War II that was orchestrated by the occupying Imperial Japanese Army is well documented.

The forced march of Americans and Filipinos who surrendered to the Japanese caused the death of thousands. The prisoners were denied proper food and water and stragglers were shot or bayoneted to death. Those who survived the death march were placed in military camps under inhuman conditions.

In Australia, Gen. Douglas MacArthur announced that he had been ordered by President Roosevelt to break through the Japanese blockade of the Philippines and travel to Australia in order to mount a campaign against the Japanese.

 “I came through,” the general famously told the crowd that greeted him. “And I shall return.”

But before he was able to return triumphantly to the Philippines, the general required intelligence and an organized resistance to the Japanese occupiers.

Not as well known as the Bataan Death March and Gen. MacArthur’s departure and return to the Philippines, is the story of the Americans and Filipinos who refused to surrender to the Japanese and headed to the hills to form guerrilla bands. These guerrillas and intelligence operatives defied the Japanese and performed acts of sabotage and espionage. Despite the brutal efforts of the Japanese army and the dreaded Kempeitai, the Gestapo-like Japanese military police, they were able to provide crucial intelligence to Gen. MacArthur. These brave and resourceful men and women played an important role in the war.

In Peter Eisner’s “MacArthur’s Spies: The Soldier, the Singer and the Spymaster Who Defied the Japanese in World War II” we learn about the guerrillas and spies, with an emphasis on three of them. 

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jul/25/book-review-macarthurs-spies-the-soldier-the-singe/

My Philadelphia Inquirer Review Of 'Rescue At Los Banos: The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid Of WWII'

My review of Bruce Henderson's Rescue at Los Banos: The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid of WWII appears in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. 

I was a frequent visitor to the Philippines while serving as an 18-year-old sailor aboard the USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War in 1971. On one of my shore leaves, I traveled to Manila, and the Manila Memorial Cemetery, where more than 17,000 Americans and Filipinos who died fighting Japanese forces during World War II are buried. I was impressed by the cemetery's mosaic wall maps of many great battles. One such battle was the raid on Los Banos. 

This year marks the 70th anniversary of that raid, which many historians consider one of the greatest military rescues of all time. "I doubt that any airborne unit in the world will ever be able to rival the Los Banos prison raid," said retired U.S. Army Gen. Colin Powell. "It is the textbook airborne operation for all ages and all armies." Bruce Henderson offers a fine account in Rescue at Los Banos. 

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20150726_Bruce_Henderson_s__Los_Baos___Gripping_account_of_a_brilliant_wartime_rescue.html

Note: In 1945, years before I sailed into the Philippines on the aircraft carrier the USS Kitty Hawk, my father and other U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) frogmen hit the beaches of the Japanese-held Philippines just ahead of the allied invasion force.

Thanks to my father and men like him, the Japanese were defeated and the Philippine Islands were liberated.

American Caesar: Happy Birthday To General Douglas MacArthur

As Biography.com notes, today is General Douglas MacArthur's Birthday.

General Douglas McArthur was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 26, 1880. After graduating from West Point in 1903, he fought in World War I, and in World War II was the commander of Allied forces in the Pacific. When he criticized President Harry Truman's handling of the Korean War, he was relieved of his command. MacArthur died on April 5, 1964, and was buried in Norfolk, Virginia.

You can read the rest of the piece and watch a short video via the below link:

http://www.biography.com/people/douglas-macarthur-9390257

You can learn more about General MacArthur by reading William Manchester's American Caesar.