Magazine Article

I have an article in the current issue of World War II Quarterly, 'MacArthur's Bataan Blunder'.

I didn't choose the title, its a bit harsh on MacArthur, a controversial but great general.

Bataan has always fascinated me, I guess its the impending doom. There really isn't much written about the actually campaign, its not something Americans like to pay attention to, it that is interesting as well.

The real hero of the battle of Bataan is Jonathon Wainwright, who fought a delaying action from Lingayen Gulf in the north down to Bataan. He found a way to hold things together for months afterwords. Just think about what he had to work with, thousands of half-trained Filipino troops, save the famous Scouts, and three regiments of Americans, mostly peacetime garrison soldiers.

The Americans had great artillery though, from 105mms to massive shore batteries. These exacted a heavy toll on the Japanese during their various amphibious operations from the Battle of the Points in January to the final assault on Corregidor. The famous PT Boats were also deadly in that environment, pretty much just like in They Were Expendable:

John Ford (PBUH) captures the feel of the battle, I think. The movie drips John Ford, oozes really. Talk about doom, it hangs over every scene which is exactly right.

The American garrison in the Philippines was doomed from the start.