MacArthur Page #4

retaking of the Philippines.

I came through,

and I shall return.

This is General

Wainwright speaking.

Subject, surrender.

To put a stop to further useless

sacrifice of human life,

I've decided to accept,

in the name of humanity,

the formal surrender of all

American and Philippine army troops

in the Philippine Islands.

It became apparent that the garrisons

would be eventually destroyed.

This dissension

was forced upon me

by means entirely

beyond my control.

Let me emphasize there must

be no thought whatever

of disregarding

these instructions.

My assistant chief of staff will repeat

the complete text of this letter

by radio to General MacArthur.

It's a trick.

It's a Japanese deception.

No, sir. Everyone recognized

the general's voice.

He struck Old Glory

and ran up a bed sheet.

By what authority does he

issue such an unlawful order?

He's the acting

commander. He's...

The only possible explanation is

that he's temporarily deranged.

For that reason alone,

his orders have no validity.

I place no credence

on this alleged broadcast.

Everybody up there believed

him, the Japanese included.

The conditions...

If it's true, then we

should get back at once.

It's not too late to join

the guerrillas on Luzon.

General, you can't be serious.

They won't be

organized for months.

Now, we both know

that Wainwright

could not hold on indefinitely.

He was not asked to

hold on indefinitely.

His job was to defend the

island until help arrived.

That was his assignment!

He had no supplies,

no food left.

The malaria was

totally out of hand.

If he had tried to

hold out one more day,

then we would've had

a dreadful massacre.

General, would...

Yes, yes, yes.

I suppose it was

just a matter of time.

General Blamey on Line 2, sir.

I can't speak to him now.

He'll call back later.

There's some talk in Washington

about a Medal of Honor

for Wainwright.

They want you to recommend it.

Medal of Honor?

If Wainwright received it,

it would constitute an injustice

to others

who have done far more.

Send the following radio

to General Marshall.

"I believe that Wainwright has

become temporarily unbalanced,

"and that his condition renders

him susceptible of enemy use."

Unquote.

General, this

training is all well and good,

but it's just not enough.

These troops are green corn.

They won't be ready for weeks.

All soldiers are green

until their first battle.

Sh*t, sir. Excuse me, I don't

even have the transport

to supply a single

division for 24 hours.

Hell, I can't even

land them on the beach.

Harding, I want action

from you, not complaints.

If I don't get going, the

navy's gonna win this war.

Look what Nimitz did

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