War and Resistance in the Philippines, 1942-1944 repairs the fragmentary and incomplete history of events in the Philippine Islands between the surrender of Allied forces in May 1942 and MacArthur's return in October 1944. No book has comprehensively examined the Filipino resistance during this crucial period. Here, James Kelly Morningstar provides for the first time a comprehensive history of the protracted fighting by 260,000 guerrillas in 277 units across the archipelago. Beginning with the Japanese occupation, the collapse of the United States Forces, Far East (USAFFE), and the simultaneous rise of the complex, diverse Philippine guerrilla movements, Morningstar exposes the inadequacy of MacArthur's conventional plans while revealing his inchoate preparation for guerrilla resistance. Morningstar then recounts in detail the impromptu resistance led by refugee American and Filipino soldiers, local politicians, and social revolutionaries left to battle the Japanese--and each other--with emphasis on how Japanese, American, and Filipino actions influenced and proscribed each other. From a distance, MacArthur contacted select guerrillas and organized agents to deliver supplies and radios to them by submarine. In this way he empowered some to gain power as part of a united framework under his leadership. This not only kept alive the resistance that denied the Japanese exploitation of the Philippines while setting the conditions for MacArthur's return, it also ensured that no one guerrilla leader could challenge America's supremacy. MacArthur's selective support to guerrilla groups that encouraged continued Filipino dependence on the United States would prove fatal for the incipient Maoist social revolution on Luzon. Even so, the Filipinos' shared sacrifice in their act of resistance fueled a national consciousness that created a sense of deserved nationhood. War and Resistance in the Philippines, 1942-1944 concludes with a brief discussion of legacies of the guerrilla resistance. MacArthur's return reestablished the power of American and Filipino political elites. Guerrillas and other citizens who had experienced exceptional hardship now had to fight for recognition. However, the war had resulted in a more united Philippine national identity along with new political institutions to repair the divisions between the formerly exiled government, the collaborationists, and the members of resistance. These momentous years of struggle in the Philippines changed the tide of history and challenge our understanding of war and resistance.

The New York Times bestselling author of Fly Girls shares the riveting story of an unsung World War II hero who saved countless American lives in the Philippines. When Florence Finch died at the age of 101, few of her Ithaca, NY neighbors knew that this unassuming Filipina native was a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, whose courage and sacrifice were unsurpassed in the Pacific War against Japan. Long accustomed to keeping her secrets close in service of the Allies, she waited fifty years to reveal the story of those dramatic and harrowing days to her own children. Florence was an unlikely warrior. She relied on her own intelligence and fortitude to survive on her own from the age of seven, facing bigotry as a mixed-race mestiza with the dual heritage of her American serviceman father and Filipina mother. As the war drew ever closer to the Philippines, Florence fell in love with a dashing American naval intelligence agent, Charles "Bing" Smith. In the wake of Bing's sudden death in battle, Florence transformed from a mild-mannered young wife into a fervent resistance fighter. She conceived a bold plan to divert tons of precious fuel from the Japanese army, which was then sold on the black market to provide desperately needed medicine and food for hundreds of American POWs. In constant peril of arrest and execution, Florence fought to save others, even as the Japanese police closed in. With a wealth of original sources including taped interviews, personal journals, and unpublished memoirs, The Indomitable Florence Finch unfolds against the Bataan Death March, the fall of Corregidor, and the daily struggle to survive a brutal occupying force. Award-winning military historian and former Congressman Robert J. Mrazek brings to light this long-hidden American patriot. The Indomitable Florence Finch is the story of the transcendent bravery of a woman who belongs in America's pantheon of war heroes.

War and Resistance in the Philippines, 1942-1944 repairs the fragmentary and incomplete history of events in the Philippine Islands between the surrender of Allied forces in May 1942 and MacArthur's return in October 1944. No book has comprehensively examined the Filipino resistance during this crucial period. Here, James Kelly Morningstar provides for the first time a comprehensive history of the protracted fighting by 260,000 guerrillas in 277 units across the archipelago. Beginning with the Japanese occupation, the collapse of the United States Forces, Far East (USAFFE), and the simultaneous rise of the complex, diverse Philippine guerrilla movements, Morningstar exposes the inadequacy of MacArthur's conventional plans while revealing his inchoate preparation for guerrilla resistance. Morningstar then recounts in detail the impromptu resistance led by refugee American and Filipino soldiers, local politicians, and social revolutionaries left to battle the Japanese--and each other--with emphasis on how Japanese, American, and Filipino actions influenced and proscribed each other. From a distance, MacArthur contacted select guerrillas and organized agents to deliver supplies and radios to them by submarine. In this way he empowered some to gain power as part of a united framework under his leadership. This not only kept alive the resistance that denied the Japanese exploitation of the Philippines while setting the conditions for MacArthur's return, it also ensured that no one guerrilla leader could challenge America's supremacy. MacArthur's selective support to guerrilla groups that encouraged continued Filipino dependence on the United States would prove fatal for the incipient Maoist social revolution on Luzon. Even so, the Filipinos' shared sacrifice in their act of resistance fueled a national consciousness that created a sense of deserved nationhood. War and Resistance in the Philippines, 1942-1944 concludes with a brief discussion of legacies of the guerrilla resistance. MacArthur's return reestablished the power of American and Filipino political elites. Guerrillas and other citizens who had experienced exceptional hardship now had to fight for recognition. However, the war had resulted in a more united Philippine national identity along with new political institutions to repair the divisions between the formerly exiled government, the collaborationists, and the members of resistance. These momentous years of struggle in the Philippines changed the tide of history and challenge our understanding of war and resistance.

Stranded in the Philippines is based on the memoirs of Professor Henry Roy Bell and his wife Edna. After graduation from Emporia College in Kansas, they had gone to the Philippines in 1921 to teach at Silliman, a missionary school founded by Presbyterians in 1901. The Bell family was stranded in the Philippines after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This is their story from then until they were evacuated by a submarine on February 6, 1944. When the Japanese occupied their island of Negros, Prof. Bell first took his family into the hills to avoid Japanese soldiers on the coast. But in time, some of Bell’s recent students climbed to the Bell family’s retreat and persuaded Bell to support them in their harassment of Japanese soldiers—but only in food. Yet in time, the young men acquired enough arms on their own to clash with the nearby enemy garrison. They inflicted heavy losses and fatally wounded the garrison commander. By steps, he became fully involved with the resistance. He became a major in the island-wide guerrilla force which he helped organize an intelligence network for MacArthur’s headquarters. Despite the organizing success, the Bell’s were facing certain capture. With the help from the now well-organized guerrilla forces, the family crossed the island for evacuation by the huge cargo submarine Narwhal when it delivered arms and ammunition for the guerrillas the night of the rendezvous.

“Illuminating.… An eloquent testament to a doomed city and its people.” —The Wall Street Journal In early 1945, General Douglas MacArthur prepared to reclaim Manila, America’s Pearl of the Orient, which had been seized by the Japanese in 1942. Convinced the Japanese would abandon the city, he planned a victory parade down Dewey Boulevard—but the enemy had other plans. The Japanese were determined to fight to the death. The battle to liberate Manila resulted in the catastrophic destruction of the city and a rampage by Japanese forces that brutalized the civilian population, resulting in a massacre as horrific as the Rape of Nanking. Drawing from war-crimes testimony, after-action reports, and survivor interviews, Rampage recounts one of the most heartbreaking chapters of Pacific War history.

The reconquest of the Philippine archipelago (exclusive of Leyte), with detailed accounts of Sixth Army and Eighth Army operations on Luzon, as well as of the Eighth Army's reoccupation of the southern Philippines.

After defeating the Philippine Republic's conventional forces in 1899, the U.S. Army was broken up into small garrisons to prepare Luzon for colonial rule. The Filipino nationalists transformed their resistance into a guerrilla warfare that varied so grea

In World War II, the U.S. Army’s 44th General Hospital found themselves at ground-zero of the Japanese counterattack on the island of Leyte. As Japanese infantry infiltrated and enemy paratroopers dropped around them, the 44th’s officers faced a life-or-death decision. With over 200 patients, the Japanese surrounding them, and no option to retreat, they had to act fast. Should they uphold their oath to “do no harm”? Or do they arm the medical staff and defend themselves and their patients? Do they risk violation of the Geneva Convention or risk death or imprisonment at the hands of the Japanese? But without authorization to obtain arms, how would they defend themselves? Could the 44th hold out until infantry support arrived? Their fate would be determined in what was called “The Battle of Buffalo Wallow”. This book tells the previously unknown and controversial story of the 44th General Hospital, experienced medical professionals who were asked to perform actions over and above their expected duties. In World War II, the Philippine island of Leyte became the stage for a key battle between the United States and Japan. U.S. General Douglas MacArthur’s 6th Army invaded Leyte on October 20th, 1944. Soon afterwards, the Army’s 44th General Hospital landed to care for casualties. Untrained in combat, they were sent inland to the village of Burauen, very close to the front lines of fighting. The hospital tents were set up between three airfields that were recently taken from the Japanese. But, as the U.S. infantry advanced westward, they left the 44th and other service units behind, mostly unprotected. In a desperate move, the Japanese determined to make Leyte the decisive battle they hoped would turn the tide of the War. To counter the American advance, Japanese General Yamashita devised a bold plan. The first step would be a combined infantry and paratrooper attack to retake the airfields on Leyte. Subsequently, the attack placed the 44th and their patients in great peril. Their courage and dedication would be tested in the heat of battle. After the War, the Surgeon General of the Army called the 44th “the finest that ever served.”

A highly illustrated account of the fall of the Philippines in 1941–42, one of the least covered campaigns of World War II. In the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched an attack on the Philippines to eliminate the United States' other major Pacific naval base. Catching the US forces completely by surprise, the Japanese bombed the major airfields and quickly gained air supremacy. They followed with a full-scale invasion that quickly rolled up US–Filipino opposition and captured Manila. Meanwhile US forces, under the leadership of the Douglas MacArthur, created a series of defensive lines to try and stop the Japanese advance. Despite their efforts, they were continually pushed back until they held nothing more than the small island of Corregidor. With doom hanging over the US–Filipino forces, Douglas MacArthur was ordered to fly to safety in Australia, vowing to return. Nearly five months after the invasion began, the US–Filipino forces surrendered, and were led off on the 'Bataan Death March'. This book covers the full campaign from the planning through to the execution, looking at the various battles and strategies that were employed by both sides in the battle for the Philippines.