There's an island. Called Fort Drum, also known as "the concrete battleship", is a heavily fortified island situated at the mouth of Manila Bay in the Philippines, due south of Corregidor Island. The other name is El Fraile Island 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭
@@cranehero11 In the 70's I met retired Army Colonel who was on MacArthur's staff during WWII. He did not like him at all, said he was so full of himself he would not listen to anyone's opinion.
I was an HM (Navy medic) in '80. Had a patient that was only 60, yet looked far older - beat up and used - as many veterans do. Heard a nurse say 'he was at Corregidor'. All I knew about Corregidor was that was the place McArthur promised to return. He was good-natured, always smiling, yet never talked of war. WWII Vets: All gave some, some gave all
I know, my grandfather was a US Army Feild Surgeon in Front Line Feild Hospital in the European Campaign and had to decide who they would attempt to save, and who they couldn't or shouldn't try to save. Which he explained that he had to kill more than most soldiers only they were mostly Allied, saying "what can you do with a boy who set off the landmine he was trying to disarm, no face, no eyes, no mouth, no hands, what can you do???". He was also the only physician of the original eight that he trained with to return from Europe, as he even had stray bullet spray his face with the brains, blood & bone of the Army Nurse who was assisting him in an amputation, and had to get another nurse to clean off his glasses so he could finish the job...
My grandfather was there as well. He survived the Bataan death march and Corregidor. He's passed away now, but growing up I heard many stories about it while he was still around. Just crazy what happened.
@@tomhernonjr it was the death march was before the fall of corregidor, no one on the island or nearby Fort Drum was involved in the death march the tour guides on the island will even tell you that.
Those who surrender in Bataan were the one who experienced the Death March not the one in Corregidor. They were transferred in Manila and later in Cabanatuan or Palawan
My uncle was on Corregidor as a part of the Navy radio intercept group. Their job was so secret that it wasn’t until the mid 1980’s that it was declassified. He was in the second of three groups that was submarined out before the Island fell to the Japanese.
@@jameskosusnik1102 a little. I'm no history buff, and I honestly never heard of most of the battles on this channel. Even though I'm living in the outcome, hearing the retelling has me on the edge of my seat. I know we won in the end, but I can only imagine what it was like back then to see such a defeat and not know if your sacrifice would bear fruit.
Legacy of Heroes. The Story of Bataan and Corregidor - got a detailed and great documentary here made by the Philippine Government with host and interviews from US and Filipino veterans themselves th-cam.com/video/ennb2ihsTR8/w-d-xo.html
I was born in the Philippines, 1978 when my dad was stationed there the first time and met my mom. We went back when I was 5, 83-88. It was pretty cool growing up on Clark Air Base. We would alway be digging up WW2 artifacts. We would just be digging in the yard like kids do and start finding bullets, live ammunition, even a bayonet. The Fort Statsenburg Museum there had all kinds of interesting things. There was also the Bataan death March, the POW camp at Combanatuan, and Subic Bay. I remember while we were there, they were cutting back the jungle by the Post Office and found 3 big mounds That turned out to be mounds of .30 cal brass from 3 machine positions. Also, either right before or right after we left, they were extending one of the runways and found 2 stone obelisks buried at the end of the runway. The used to stand at the front gate to the base but the Japanese used them as landfill when they worked on the runway. They were restored and now sit on the parade ground. I never got to see Ft. Drum while I was there. When my daughter is old enough to appreciate it, I plan on going back.
@@Turtleproof There was one place we weren't allowed to go. Lilly Hill was down the street from my neighborhood. It was completely fenced off with signs saying it was a restricted area. There was a road on the backside leading to a water tank that you were allowed on. I remember there was a buried concrete structure up there that might have been an old bunker. We were told that the hill was off limits due to possible boobytraps and unexploded ordinance in the jungle. It's crazy that Lilly Hill Middle School was near the bottom of the hill.
Unfortunately. Fort Drum is left to rot and looted by scrap dealers. The barrels from the big guns are cut down to be sold by scrap dealers. Here is a documentary here in the Philippines about Fort Drum or El Fraile island. th-cam.com/video/nxwDhYHEhKs/w-d-xo.html
Great video! Please do the recapture of Corregidor as well, my grandfather helped recapture it with the 503rd. It was the most dangerous combat jump in American history given the casualty rate and the high winds on the the jump. The bonzai charges on the mtn the battle for Malinta tunnel, tough fight. This island fortress was the key to the Manila bay and the Philippines. Would be honored to see a recapture video.
american pour gasoline on malinta tunnel top airvents.japanese wont surrender.they locked them selves up so american light them up.some committed hara kiri while the tunnel was burning.
This might interest you. It's the start of series that follows the 503rd's exploits on the island of Negros in 1945. th-cam.com/video/TksW3f_O3lo/w-d-xo.html
This was a very impressive defensive battle, knowing they are surrounded by japanese forces around 70thousand vs 10thousand combined american and filipino forces, salute to these brave soldiers, our heroes..
I’ve had the honor of touring numerous well-known WW2 sites around the world, and Corregidor was one of them. It is extremely humbling to see what’s left there, attempting to imagine the utter hell that had taken place. Very sobering.
I went to Corregidor back around 1990 when I was Sailor. The tour guide was an historian with a PhD. She said the island had so much ferrous metal on it from the shelling (The US took it back at the end of the war, so both sides shelled it) that Boy Scouts compasses don't work there.
It was so nice of Doug to run away and tell the troops to hold the line. The more I hear about him the more I despise him. When he also promised he would return come back to the phillippines he showed his true nature again. He didn’t care about the regular soldier at all. Because of his ego many men lost their lives. There was no need to go back there. The tide of the war had shifted and it was only a matter of time before Japan surrendered. Another very important thing about this prima Donna is he wanted to use nukes during the Korean War. Thank god Truman said no and relieved him of command.
And earlier MacArthur was arguing against accepting the Japanese surrender because he wanted the distinction of being the conqueror of Japan. The US military is STILL using the Purple Hearts that were made in anticipation of casualties from Operation Downfall, which Dugout Doug fought tooth and nail to implement.
Roosevelt ordered MacArthur by name to evacuate. Yes Mac did want to use nukes on the Chinese. It would have saved a lot of American and Korean lives. Truman fired him because he knew there were Russian advisers on those bases. So did MacArthur but he wanted to win not play politics. The war "ended" when Eisenhower essentially threatened to do what MacArthur wanted to do. As for the Philippines. MacArthur saw the Philippines not just as a way of interdicting Japanese supply lines but as a moral imperative. The Philippines was the land of semi american citizens (or allies atleast) AND POWs that surely would have been massacred if by passed.
@@navyreviewer yes Roosevelt fired him but rather that put up a fight with Roosevelt he wasted no time and got out of dodge. What leader in the military runs like that? The Philippines still cost more in lives by taking it back than just continuing with the island hopping.
@@kevintate768 Roosevelt didn't fire him that was Truman in the Korean war. Roosevelt told him "I'm your superior officer (commander-in-chief) and I'm ordering you out of the Philippines." And yes MacArthur did fight him on it. You're irrational hatred is making you unreasonable. Did the taking of the Philippines cost more lives than it would have cost in POWs and Philippinos being "revenge killed?" We dont know that. Either way. It didnt happen so any answer is a guess. It's like asking how many American lives would the invasion of Japan have cost? You can make an educated guess but it's still a guess. What we do know is it would have meant "bypassing" POWs and the Philippine people. That's like say POWs and our long time allies aren't worth fighting for. Are you ready to say that?
The rock of bataan💪 and the El fraile/fort drum are the last standing deffence of the philippines before its total fall by the way im proud filipino my late grandpa is one of the soldier survive the bataan death march
The Japanese were convinced that a Tunnel existed between Corregidor and the Baton peninsula, due in part to the tunnel system on the island itself and their disbelief that the defenders were able to hold out against them for so long with reinforcements and additional supplies.
General Wainwright was a board USS Missouri for the Japanese surrender. A few days later, he returned to the Philippines to receive the surrender of the Japanese forces on the Philippines and the personal surrender of General Yamashita. I would love to know what he said to General Yamashita.
With all respect and appreciation for Gen Wainwright, steeping into his shoes of my personal take would sound like this. " I would love to throw you overboard to feed the hungry sharks " But I will not lose my honor. Just saying. Peace
My Father was in Corregidor in 1942, he was an Aviator waiting his turn to evacuate. On evacuation night he and his fellow flyers were bump off the USS Swordfish to make way for Philippine President Manuel Quezon and party. He volunteered to do beach defense with the US Marines assigned in Corregidor. Losing his left arm from incoming artillery a couple of days before they were overrun , that ended his flying career immediately. Then next was brutal life as a POW.
And people condemn our nuking of Japan. Having never faced a bloodthirsty enemy, sitting in their Laz-y-boy all comfy and cozy, they spew their rubbish opinions. Such is public education today.
So if the Japanese dropped them on the USA, that would have bin okej and you wouldn't have complained? Right or wrong, how many civilians would you have murdered?
@@Lilljehook If you know the history of the war and the culture of the Japanese warrior you would have held your tongue. But you don't, and so you won't.
@@Lilljehook If you knew the history of Imperial Japan and the code of the Japanese warrior you would have held your tongue. So don't pontificate when you know nothing!
I had a customer when I work as a mechanic back in the 80’s that jumped on Corregidor. He said that they jumped out at 300 feet. I remarked that was 100 yards. He said that 300 sounded much better.
5:56 There can be no retreat as they were surrounded. Most of the fighting forces have surrendered and for those who were still fighting, they are too far away to support them. MacArthur didn't want to leave his men but he needed to. Every day that they delay the Japanese is a day for other units (or what was left of it) to reorganize and conduct guerilla tactics. In the end, it was decided to surrender than to sacrifice thousands of lives.
He was ordered out by Roosevelt, who had ignored his requests prior to Dec 7th, had told him to hold on help was coming, etc. Roosevelt did not want to hand the Japanese the propaganda victory of capturing or killing an American general as well known as McArthur
During COVID recovery I took an interest in the war in the pacific. While in college, my roommate from my hometown and another person became friends, and we eventually went on to dental school. One evening our conversation drifted to what each of our father’s did during WW2. My father landed on Omaha beach on D-Day. My high school friend’s (and college roommate) was on Corregidor when surrendered, and survived the Bataan Death March, and our 3rd friend’s father was in the 503rd that later jumped on Corregidor. I was fortunate to get to know the other 2 fathers, and even attended a 503rd annual convention in Steamboat Springs, CO in 1972. All 3 men left the military and went on to be good fathers and successful citizens. All humble, and NEVER spoke of the war. I didn’t put it all together about each of these men’s experiences and contributions. I’m a better person for having been able to have these 3 men in my life growing up and in higher education.
My grandfather was in the Navy and wound up on Corregidor after his ship was sunk very early in the war. He was captured when the island fell and spend the remainder of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese. He and other Corregidor survivors were moved to various POW camps during the war and he eventually wound up in mainland Japan. He survived his ordeal as a POW and remained in the Navy until he retired. He passed away in the late '90s, and our family only knows about his history from his service record since he never talked about his time during the war or as a POW.
In 1971 ,I was in the base defense force (SPS) that guarded Tan Son Nhut AB outside Saigon, Included in our unit was a Bataan Death March survivor, who still served in the US military. Tears come to my eyes even now 50 years later, as I recall what the death march experience had done to his mind, body and soul. As our First Sargeant said, it would take an Act of Congress to ever make him leave his home with us.
I went to Corregidor a decade ago. Sad it's not been better cared for. BTW, they have a "Liberator" .45 pistol in the little museum and called it a pilot survival pistol...... funny.
@youtube fascists This is my understanding as well. I suspect a US service member had one with him during or after the liberation in 45 and it was lost. It was rusted up pretty bad.
Yeah, don't you believe in the "ours is not to reason why"?....you will never make a good soldier mate because you have to be prepared to make the supreme sacrifice or run away and hide.
MacArthur was ordered to Australia by by Roosevelt because he thought that MacArthur being captured by the Japanese would be a political disaster for him back home.
For all his faults, and man is there a lot of that, he actually wanted to stay and hold out against Japan but the reinforcements meant for the Philippines didn't come, they were pulled out due to the Europe First decision by the government. He also got ordered to retreat to Australia because he's be able to do more for the war effort there than if he was a severed head mounted on a post.
Epic story and footage. The only discrepancy I see is that the Malinta Tunnel did not connect the three fortresses of Fort Hughes, Fort Drum and Fort Frank. The tunnel was only on the island of Corregidor on which was Fort Mills. Fort Hughes was on Caballo Island, Fort Frank was on Carabao Island and Forth Drum was on El Fraile Island. In any case, I toured Corregidor a few times a couple of years ago and it was amazing. The ruins of the barracks, gun batteries, and the story of the forgotten Japanese Graveyard (which was discovered by chance when someone recognized Caballo Island off in the distance in a picture found in a garage sale in the '70s) were simply breathtaking.
I also toured Corregidor Island many years ago and it was a great tour. One of the best tours any foreigner, especially Americans who had relatives fighting in the Pacific during WW2, can and should take when they are in Manila.
one of a very few places with the original guns still there, some with unused barrels. Some mortars (Bethlehem Steels) date back to the late 19th century. If you plan to visit, make the overnight trip, it's well worth it. One of the highlights is entering the tunnel system branches (not just the main corridor). Sadly, the tour company filed bankruptcy in the early stage of the pandemic
He didn't have a choice fdr threatened to court martial him , mcaurthur said he would fight on as a private, General Wainwright talked him into going to Australia to organize the army to fight the jappanese
Thanks for that piece of information. I was looking to see if anybody else caught the mistake about December 8th being Pearl Harbor attack day. I didn't think about the International Date Line. Thanks again.
For those who want a more detailed account, (not a slam, this was a great video) try to find a copy of the book 'Corregidor; America's 20th Century Alamo'. Well worth reading with many little known details.
a great book written by Eric Morris.He interviewed a lot of the survivors of Bataan and Corregidor before writing the book. I have multiple copies and bought most off of ebay. I always visit Corregidor and the American Military Cemetery when I go to Manila, Both are a"must see"for any visit.
Retired from Texas to Cavite, Philippines. Raising two boys here. A couple of weeks ago we were swimming at a beach with Fort Drum visible in the distance. What a great time I had telling my kids all about the "Concrete Battleship".
There was a time when it was so good. The decline began with day after day of Hitler docs then the shameful cratering into reality TV. Take heart, tho, so much time has passed shows like Modern Marvels are in sydication on other channels.
Disinformation too. For Corregidor Island is not located in the South China Sea. Neither was Japan describe back then as a "Giant" by both the US and Philippines.
yes, ur right!!! but u forget the 4-5 ad breaks in that 90 min documentary on History Channel!!! without the ads History Channel would've been history by now & NAT Geo would be making a documentary on the history of History Channel itself!!!
A little known fact: Only one "truck" exists on any US Mil Base. That "truck" = the ball (on top of the main flag pole). That Truck has; a razor blade (to cut up the flag and not allow it to be captured), a single rnd (to say - that it is the last rnd [to be used in defense of the base/camp]) and a match (to burn the cut up flag - to prevent it from the enemy getting the flag in surrender). Little known fact
Without the battle of bataan and corregidor, history would have been different. If only they allowed Gen. MacArthur to make preemptive attack on taiiwan, it would have grave consequences for Japan.
When he starts talking about the defenses the Americans built on Corregidor he uses images of Intramuros, the fort constructed by the Spanish. It was started in 1590 and continued until 1871.
Was the order to surrender a lawful order? Does the individual soldier have to follow an order to surrender? What became of the wounded Americans? Some personnel had swam over from the main island. Why didn't most of them, allong with any supplies? There must have been U.S. personnel that held their ground against the Japanese. They died like warriors. Why did so many others just say, ok we quit. We'll be prisoners now. Thinking the Japanese owed them some responsibility to treat them like people. Obviously didn't work out that well.
The last bastion of freedom in Asia. The resistance may be futile, but it really messed up the war time calendar of the Japanese, thinking of a very swift victory
@@vonal67 The Wake campaign is a, well a perfect example of a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, Could American forces managed to reinforce the islands, the fact that their 5inch shore guns and 5 planes managed to sink a destroyer and repulsed an invasion, and yeah, due to sudden changes in command. Wake Islands defenders fate was just written in the wind.
My grand father's brother was one of the remaining guerilla fighters surrendered in Corregidor along woth USAFFE soldiers. He said they were treated so bad and tortured mercy killing and only giving substandard potatos each day in concentration camp in Manila.
Dugout Doug. Absolute prick of a bastard. My grand-uncle had the distinction of serving under both Patton and MacArthur. He said Patton was a SOB, but that man never asked anyone to do something he wouldn't do himself and was always up there where the fighting was. MacArthur was a tremulous little rat who wouldn't set foot near any spot on Okinawa that had had even a sniff of Japanese activity within the past week.
He was a general & a leader - we know that any fighting unit without a leader might as well be a goner (think of George Custer). He had to regroup some place safe to plan his next move. At the very least, he returned just as he promised.
corregidor the last stronghold of Philippines before it fell but it wasn't the last to fall but the fort drum the concrete battleship.... i hope you'll have a video for fort drum
My great grandfather was a guerrilla in the Philippines during ww2 after the war whenever a plane would passover head he would scream "the Japanese are coming".
retreat is impossible - for you! but it is possible for me to run away and order you, from a safe distance, to fight on. the secret of success - never sacrifice yourself, always sacrifice others and claim credits for yourself
Do you speed up your narration in post production? When I play back the video at 0.75 speed it sounds normal, but at 1x speed it sounds artificial. Any reason why you do this, or is it just a coincidence?
Funny that they thought 35 b17s was the greatest heavy bomber concentration in 1941, when at the end of the war it was a miracle if they lost only that in a day.
In retrospect, the economy of the Japanese Empire and the economy of Germany, were outmatched by levels of scale and so left their nations with slim chances of imposing their government's goals upon the world.
* As The Commander in The Pacific, *Mc Arthur, Could Not, Be Captured ! It Would Have Been Demoralizing and Bad for Troop Morale ! The Boss, in Washington, Ordered Him,To Leave !
@@AS-zq2cq Fort drum is abandoned, and has been picked apart by scrappers over 70 years. Although it is forbidden to go there, people still go out illegally.
Fort Drum was pretty well destroyed when the US took back Corregidor. Rather than fight for it the way the Japanese had, we just seized the top level, pumped gasoline into it, and lit it up.
@@Carandini Yeah I know that part, but it’s possible to at least salvage the surface layer of the fort, IE the turret and the main structure. Provided if anyone has the cash for it.
I think it telling that after MacArthur bugged out, he told the American forces to hold out against overwhelming odds. General Wainwright was recommended for rhe Medal of Honor for resisting the Japanese forces for five months with his underfed, outnumbered and poorly supplied troops. MacArthur opposed giving the MOH to Wainwright although he later changed his mind. It is a sobering sight to see the emaciated Wainwright on the deck of the Missouri as the US received the official surrender of Japan.
My study of General Douglas MacArthur leads me to consider him to be a very poorly performing general. He, (like General George S. Patton), showed a strong desire to fight aggressively, little to no desire build adequate defenses, (when defenses were appropriate) and little consideration for logistics. The result was a callous disregard for the losses of dead and wounded. The both seem to have exhibited arrogance far beyond their real ability. If either of these generals had lead Australian soldiers then the Australian soldiers (under the Australian military ethic) would have been honor bound to murder that general, (for his callous disregard for his soldiers). Both of these generals seem to have not learned the lessons taught by General Sun Su as given in "The art of war". Regards, Geoff. Reeks
On the other side, he learned it the hard way that's why he fight back. He never broke his promise to return to the Philippines after he left. Also he abled to rebuild Japan without getting divided unlike Vietnam, Germany, and Korea
I think it's more nuanced than that. While MacArthur did bungle the defense of the Philippines, his leapfrogging strategy of the Southwest Pacific campaign was a masterstroke that actually minimized American casualties while isolating major Japanese naval bases. Moreover, if we're measuring the competency of generalship on the basis of casualties, then MacArthur and Patton are no more culpable than Chester Nimitz, Omar Bradley, or any other officer who commanded sizable formations in combat for any substantial length of time. Ironically, given that Churchill was alive and well by 1940, I imagine that this Australian code of honor is more of an expression than actual practice.
Well you done a very poor job at studying him. "He showed a strong desire to fight aggressively" Yes, that is called the "Violence of Action". It's how a military should fight. " little to no desire build adequate defenses" He was fighting to get more funding for the defense of the Philippines since the early 1930's but both Hoover and Roosevelt cut military spending. This is what he said to Roosevelt in 1935 "During the next war when an American boy, lying in the mud with an enemy bayonet through his belly and an enemy foot on his dying throat, spat out his last curse, I wanted that name not to be MacArthur but Roosevelt" "Australian soldiers would have been honor bound to murder that general" That is just stupidity. "these generals seem to have not learned the lessons taught by General Sun Su" *Sun TZU Defeat in Detail? You know the tactic of isolating a large enemy force by defeating the smaller forces around it, Rabaul and Formosa for example.
@@redaug4212 I was taught in basic training and every Australian soldier is taught in basic training that if the enemy defeats us in combat then that is war, but if our mates die because our commanders make stupid mistakes then we are honor bound as Australian soldiers to murder those commanders and we have been doing it for 100 years. That has changed how our commanders lead us. We Australian soldiers claim the right to fulfil the objective, not just follow the orders. General Cosgrove gave three examples of this in his speech to the Australian Press Club upon his retirement as head of the Australian military and before he was promoted to Governor General of Australia. Regards, Geoff. Reeks
My Dad was in the 25th division on Luzon . One day he was making a low profile because there was lead in the air.Then General MacArthur came up in a jeep,he looked like he was carved in stone.The man driving was not. My old man had a healthy respect for the MacArthur,end of discussion.
Japan attacked corregidor in early 1941, it was late 1942 before American troops were sent to North Africa against the Germans. So to claim that Corregidor was neglected because US were helping the British was not true. The fact is the US vastly underestimated the Japanese as did the British, the difference was Britain was fighting alone against both Germany and Italy and had nothing to fight Japan with.
You forget to mention that “Dugout Doug” never awarded the 4th Marine Regiment the Presidential Unit Citation for their heroic defense of Corrigador. MacArthur was one of the most overrated commander in US military history. Took credit for what the Australian did in the New Guinea and was envious of Marine General Alexander Vandergrift accomplished in Guadalcanal. Especially Vandergrift’s MOH.
@@navyreviewer if you read Jim McEnry’s book “Hell in the Pacific: A Marine Rifleman’s Journey from Guadalcanal to Peleliu” he mentions it. After the war “Dugout Doug” awarded the PUC to every unit that defended Baatan and Corrigador except the 4th Marine Regiment.
The 4th Marines were awarded the PUC with oak leaf cluster by the Army for their service in the Philippines. Do we know who recommended the citations if it wasn't MacArthur?
A lot of what happened in the Philippines was due to 2 Factors! 1) Most, if not all of the Pre-WW2 planning was "at the bottom of Pearl Harbor"!! 2) There were 2 plans to hold the Philippines against Japanese Attacks, Plan A) was hold what you can with what is normally on the Islands, and Plan B) was a much stronger defense with more of the all of the Islands protected with reinforcements from the US. >>> Mac Arthur had Plan A's troop try to hold Plan B's positions!!!!! However, watch the Chieftain's Fall of the Philippines video, the defending troops did their "darnest" to adapt and improvise and when & where possible overcome! Like pulling HE shells from the P-39's ammo and replacing the AP shell from the ammo of the M-3 (light tank) Stuarts!. Having various personnel ride on the back of the M-3 Stuarts with cases of hand grenades and tossed them as they passed foxholes with Japanese troops in them! But make due only takes you so far.... Also the US Navy submarines that got vital supplies in, and various people out deserve high praise. (Including the unusual ballast of the USS Trout after she offloaded ammo! To carry more ammo, they had removed all but 2 or 4 torpedos and about 20 tons of lead ballast. Which meant that after dropping off the ammo, they couldn't dive the submarine since she was too light. The garrison on "The Rock" had pulled out everything they could out of the US Mint located in Manilla and decided to let the USS Trout leave with 20+ tons of gold and silver bars, silver coins, and other valuables rather than let it fall into the enemies hands!!!
the Japanese forces sent to attack Pearl Harbor on the way they crossed the Date Line and so the attack happened on the 7th. amazingly at the exact same time, other Japanese forces were attacking Hong Kong - but for them the date was 8 December. Time is a messed up concept isn't it!
There's an island. Called Fort Drum, also known as "the concrete battleship", is a heavily fortified island situated at the mouth of Manila Bay in the Philippines, due south of Corregidor Island.
The other name is El Fraile Island
🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭
"The unbreakable ship"
Also known as the USS No Go.
That's a nice video too
@@robertphillips6296 (or USS Never Sail)
So sad about the el fraile ( Fort drum) negleted for decades. The cannons at the side are gone sold for scrap.
Make a video on "The lost legion"
They were surrounded during the Korean war and managed to not get completely destroyed.
1:21 US (referring to 1941.) "Japan goes to war"
Japan (referring to 1941.) "Entering the fifth year of the war..."
0.75x Speed friend is back.
Bruh you should consider smoking some weed with low THC in it. :)
@Ogg the Lawgiver Prove it.
@Ogg the Lawgiver I honestly don't believe so... If it is a robot voice then I'm highly impressed. I for one enjoy the speed though.
That is Called the El Fraile During Spanish Occupation and it become Fort Drum under American Occupation
My father fought until May 5 when his left arm got blown by Japanese fire.
your father was a hero
@@hamsters247 Thanks, Yes he was a hero and even know the General. He was mentioned in a book as the small Filipino boy by another Marine.
@manuel hernaez mabuhay ang iyong ama.
@@RyeAiv07 salamat
@@manuelhernaez3542 do you know the books name?
They held out against such odds bravely regardless of dated equipment and being surrounded, kudos to the Fillipino-American troops.
My little bro is half Philippino 👍😎
@FlickeRRing Lightswitch Whoops sorry was half asleep when I wrote it😴
too bad MacArthur (and his staff) was overrated (ok he had a few good amphibious operations)
@@cranehero11 In the 70's I met retired Army Colonel who was on MacArthur's staff during WWII. He did not like him at all, said he was so full of himself he would not listen to anyone's opinion.
@@cranehero11 mac Arthur is responsible for the existence of South Korea
I was an HM (Navy medic) in '80. Had a patient that was only 60, yet looked far older - beat up and used - as many veterans do. Heard a nurse say 'he was at Corregidor'. All I knew about Corregidor was that was the place McArthur promised to return. He was good-natured, always smiling, yet never talked of war.
WWII Vets: All gave some, some gave all
I know, my grandfather was a US Army Feild Surgeon in Front Line Feild Hospital in the European Campaign and had to decide who they would attempt to save, and who they couldn't or shouldn't try to save. Which he explained that he had to kill more than most soldiers only they were mostly Allied, saying "what can you do with a boy who set off the landmine he was trying to disarm, no face, no eyes, no mouth, no hands, what can you do???".
He was also the only physician of the original eight that he trained with to return from Europe, as he even had stray bullet spray his face with the brains, blood & bone of the Army Nurse who was assisting him in an amputation, and had to get another nurse to clean off his glasses so he could finish the job...
@@davidhollenshead4892 _Hand Salute_ folks like your grandpa
Mcarrthur return after 5yrs
I was in the Navy same time as you. My uncle Julian Ponce was KIA during the Bataan death march in WW II.
Undoubtedly, he wanted very badly to forget about war, and live a happy life, but probably never ever would be able to forget.
My grandfather was there as well. He survived the Bataan death march and Corregidor. He's passed away now, but growing up I heard many stories about it while he was still around. Just crazy what happened.
Wow. G-d bless him. The debt we owe to such men can never be repaid
I thought it was the baton death march.. Corregidor held out several months after that
@@tomhernonjr it was the death march was before the fall of corregidor, no one on the island or nearby Fort Drum was involved in the death march the tour guides on the island will even tell you that.
Those who surrender in Bataan were the one who experienced the Death March not the one in Corregidor. They were transferred in Manila and later in Cabanatuan or Palawan
Makes you wonder why the GOP is turning fascist. It's a dead end street for all who have tried. . . .
My uncle was on Corregidor as a part of the Navy radio intercept group. Their job was so secret that it wasn’t until the mid 1980’s that it was declassified. He was in the second of three groups that was submarined out before the Island fell to the Japanese.
Spoilers :/
@@alastor8091 seriously?
@@jameskosusnik1102 a little. I'm no history buff, and I honestly never heard of most of the battles on this channel. Even though I'm living in the outcome, hearing the retelling has me on the edge of my seat. I know we won in the end, but I can only imagine what it was like back then to see such a defeat and not know if your sacrifice would bear fruit.
@@alastor8091 dudes telling his uncle's story about his sacrifice and you care more about spoilers... just wow... wow.
Thank heavens that he and others were so thorough and destroying the equipment and traces thereof.
You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for somebody to do a video on this subject
The battle of rock, americas last stand in the Philippines
Check out Army University Press, they have a far better video then this garbage
@Robert Sears that's because USA failed to prepare ahead of time.
Legacy of Heroes. The Story of Bataan and Corregidor -
got a detailed and great documentary here made by the Philippine Government with host and interviews from US and Filipino veterans themselves th-cam.com/video/ennb2ihsTR8/w-d-xo.html
*Filipino-American's last formal stand in the Philippines (Filipino guerrillas continued to fight even after the surrender)
The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.
Probably six of one and half a dozen of the other.
Hating what's in front of you is a big help when your locked in mortal combat with an enemy who is out to kill you.
soldiers that are sorrounded with enemies: *visible confusion*
Blitzkrieg: imma do what's called pro gamer move.
And who’s beside him.
I was born in the Philippines, 1978 when my dad was stationed there the first time and met my mom. We went back when I was 5, 83-88. It was pretty cool growing up on Clark Air Base. We would alway be digging up WW2 artifacts. We would just be digging in the yard like kids do and start finding bullets, live ammunition, even a bayonet. The Fort Statsenburg Museum there had all kinds of interesting things. There was also the Bataan death March, the POW camp at Combanatuan, and Subic Bay. I remember while we were there, they were cutting back the jungle by the Post Office and found 3 big mounds
That turned out to be mounds of .30 cal brass from 3 machine positions. Also, either right before or right after we left, they were extending one of the runways and found 2 stone obelisks buried at the end of the runway. The used to stand at the front gate to the base but the Japanese used them as landfill when they worked on the runway. They were restored and now sit on the parade ground. I never got to see Ft. Drum while I was there. When my daughter is old enough to appreciate it, I plan on going back.
So fun yet so hazardous, glad there were no landmines!
My little brother was born in the Philippines in 86, he's been there a few times, his mom owns a 🍌 plantation
@@Turtleproof There was one place we weren't allowed to go. Lilly Hill was down the street from my neighborhood. It was completely fenced off with signs saying it was a restricted area. There was a road on the backside leading to a water tank that you were allowed on. I remember there was a buried concrete structure up there that might have been an old bunker. We were told that the hill was off limits due to possible boobytraps and unexploded ordinance in the jungle. It's crazy that Lilly Hill Middle School was near the bottom of the hill.
Jonathan?
Unfortunately. Fort Drum is left to rot and looted by scrap dealers. The barrels from the big guns are cut down to be sold by scrap dealers. Here is a documentary here in the Philippines about Fort Drum or El Fraile island.
th-cam.com/video/nxwDhYHEhKs/w-d-xo.html
Great video! Please do the recapture of Corregidor as well, my grandfather helped recapture it with the 503rd. It was the most dangerous combat jump in American history given the casualty rate and the high winds on the the jump. The bonzai charges on the mtn the battle for Malinta tunnel, tough fight. This island fortress was the key to the Manila bay and the Philippines. Would be honored to see a recapture video.
american pour gasoline on malinta tunnel top airvents.japanese wont surrender.they locked them selves up so american light them up.some committed hara kiri while the tunnel was burning.
This might interest you. It's the start of series that follows the 503rd's exploits on the island of Negros in 1945. th-cam.com/video/TksW3f_O3lo/w-d-xo.html
The Herd will always remember the sacrifices of our paratroopers, THE ROCK
This was a very impressive defensive battle, knowing they are surrounded by japanese forces around 70thousand vs 10thousand combined american and filipino forces, salute to these brave soldiers, our heroes..
Great content as always
Much appreciated content agree'd.. Nice to come home to the calm voice after work
I’ve had the honor of touring numerous well-known WW2 sites around the world, and Corregidor was one of them. It is extremely humbling to see what’s left there, attempting to imagine the utter hell that had taken place. Very sobering.
Glad you used Honor without a u
yes sir it was. uh corrigador.
I went to Corregidor back around 1990 when I was Sailor. The tour guide was an historian with a PhD. She said the island had so much ferrous metal on it from the shelling (The US took it back at the end of the war, so both sides shelled it) that Boy Scouts compasses don't work there.
It was so nice of Doug to run away and tell the troops to hold the line. The more I hear about him the more I despise him. When he also promised he would return come back to the phillippines he showed his true nature again. He didn’t care about the regular soldier at all. Because of his ego many men lost their lives. There was no need to go back there. The tide of the war had shifted and it was only a matter of time before Japan surrendered. Another very important thing about this prima Donna is he wanted to use nukes during the Korean War. Thank god Truman said no and relieved him of command.
And earlier MacArthur was arguing against accepting the Japanese surrender because he wanted the distinction of being the conqueror of Japan. The US military is STILL using the Purple Hearts that were made in anticipation of casualties from Operation Downfall, which Dugout Doug fought tooth and nail to implement.
Doug doesn't have any knowledge of nukes at that time because nukes are new at that time.
Roosevelt ordered MacArthur by name to evacuate.
Yes Mac did want to use nukes on the Chinese. It would have saved a lot of American and Korean lives. Truman fired him because he knew there were Russian advisers on those bases. So did MacArthur but he wanted to win not play politics. The war "ended" when Eisenhower essentially threatened to do what MacArthur wanted to do.
As for the Philippines. MacArthur saw the Philippines not just as a way of interdicting Japanese supply lines but as a moral imperative. The Philippines was the land of semi american citizens (or allies atleast) AND POWs that surely would have been massacred if by passed.
@@navyreviewer yes Roosevelt fired him but rather that put up a fight with Roosevelt he wasted no time and got out of dodge. What leader in the military runs like that? The Philippines still cost more in lives by taking it back than just continuing with the island hopping.
@@kevintate768 Roosevelt didn't fire him that was Truman in the Korean war. Roosevelt told him "I'm your superior officer (commander-in-chief) and I'm ordering you out of the Philippines." And yes MacArthur did fight him on it. You're irrational hatred is making you unreasonable.
Did the taking of the Philippines cost more lives than it would have cost in POWs and Philippinos being "revenge killed?" We dont know that. Either way. It didnt happen so any answer is a guess. It's like asking how many American lives would the invasion of Japan have cost? You can make an educated guess but it's still a guess.
What we do know is it would have meant "bypassing" POWs and the Philippine people. That's like say POWs and our long time allies aren't worth fighting for. Are you ready to say that?
The rock of bataan💪 and the El fraile/fort drum are the last standing deffence of the philippines before its total fall by the way im proud filipino my late grandpa is one of the soldier survive the bataan death march
The Japanese were convinced that a Tunnel existed between Corregidor and the Baton peninsula, due in part to the tunnel system on the island itself and their disbelief that the defenders were able to hold out against them for so long with reinforcements and additional supplies.
General Wainwright was a board USS Missouri for the Japanese surrender. A few days later, he returned to the Philippines to receive the surrender of the Japanese forces on the Philippines and the personal surrender of General Yamashita. I would love to know what he said to General Yamashita.
With all respect and appreciation for Gen Wainwright, steeping into his shoes of my personal take would sound like this. " I would love to throw you overboard to feed the hungry sharks " But I will not lose my honor. Just saying. Peace
Yeah its like a fall short of saying "This time your ass is mine".. 😎 😁
Yama! say banzai now u little shitr
Do an episode for this!
I would love to hear more about this. Thanks for letting us know.
My Father was in Corregidor in 1942, he was an Aviator waiting his turn to evacuate. On evacuation night he and his fellow flyers were bump off the USS Swordfish to make way for Philippine President Manuel Quezon and party. He volunteered to do beach defense with the US Marines assigned in Corregidor. Losing his left arm from incoming artillery a couple of days before they were overrun , that ended his flying career immediately. Then next was brutal life as a POW.
The Japanese only controlled 12/48 provinces because of guerilla resistance probably not because of Corregidor
And people condemn our nuking of Japan. Having never faced a bloodthirsty enemy, sitting in their Laz-y-boy all comfy and cozy, they spew their rubbish opinions. Such is public education today.
So if the Japanese dropped them on the USA, that would have bin okej and you wouldn't have complained?
Right or wrong, how many civilians would you have murdered?
@@Lilljehook If you know the history of the war and the culture of the Japanese warrior you would have held your tongue. But you don't, and so you won't.
@@Lilljehook If you knew the history of Imperial Japan and the code of the Japanese warrior you would have held your tongue. So don't pontificate when you know nothing!
@@Lilljehook read about the rape of Nanking before you cast any aspirations about Americans killing civilians.
Sino dito yung Pinoy na subscriber ng Dark Docs,Dark5,Dark Files at Dark Skies?
I guess I'm not the only one looking at TH-cam for bits and pieces of history lessons that I should have listed on my history class during school.
Ako.brod
I had a customer when I work as a mechanic back in the 80’s that jumped on Corregidor. He said that they jumped out at 300 feet. I remarked that was 100 yards. He said that 300 sounded much better.
Many japanese ships were sunk by the guns of corregidor. In fact a japanese commander committed hara kiri for his failed attacks.
I'd like to see one on the retaking of the island. the 503PRCT jumped on Topside, a drop zone so small only 8 troopers could exit per pass...
Great and Honorable content.. proud filipino here... ancestor fought until the surrender on the rock
5:56
There can be no retreat as they were surrounded. Most of the fighting forces have surrendered and for those who were still fighting, they are too far away to support them. MacArthur didn't want to leave his men but he needed to. Every day that they delay the Japanese is a day for other units (or what was left of it) to reorganize and conduct guerilla tactics. In the end, it was decided to surrender than to sacrifice thousands of lives.
But thousands of lives were lost in the end.....surrender is a high price to pay for a long odds shot at survival.
I haven’t heard of this one before, tis def a surprise for a history dork like me to not know whats goin on
Keep up the good work 👍🏻
Surely if one follows WW2 in any real sense then this retreat of The General to Australia is common knowledge?
I like how McArthur was like be brave, resist every attack........... I have a plane to catch. Good luck!!
Well he really wanted to go back....
Classic McArthur 😉
My understanding is that his superiors ordered that he leave, but I could be wrong.
It was a PT boat not a plane!
He was ordered out by Roosevelt, who had ignored his requests prior to Dec 7th, had told him to hold on help was coming, etc.
Roosevelt did not want to hand the Japanese the propaganda victory of capturing or killing an American general as well known as McArthur
During COVID recovery I took an interest in the war in the pacific. While in college, my roommate from my hometown and another person became friends, and we eventually went on to dental school.
One evening our conversation drifted to what each of our father’s did during WW2.
My father landed on Omaha beach on D-Day. My high school friend’s (and college roommate) was on Corregidor when surrendered, and survived the Bataan Death March, and our 3rd friend’s father was in the 503rd that later jumped on Corregidor.
I was fortunate to get to know the other 2 fathers, and even attended a 503rd annual convention in Steamboat Springs, CO in 1972.
All 3 men left the military and went on to be good fathers and successful citizens. All humble, and NEVER spoke of the war.
I didn’t put it all together about each of these men’s experiences and contributions.
I’m a better person for having been able to have these 3 men in my life growing up and in higher education.
My grandfather was in the Navy and wound up on Corregidor after his ship was sunk very early in the war. He was captured when the island fell and spend the remainder of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese. He and other Corregidor survivors were moved to various POW camps during the war and he eventually wound up in mainland Japan. He survived his ordeal as a POW and remained in the Navy until he retired. He passed away in the late '90s, and our family only knows about his history from his service record since he never talked about his time during the war or as a POW.
In 1971 ,I was in the base defense force (SPS) that guarded Tan Son Nhut AB outside Saigon, Included in our unit was a Bataan Death March survivor, who still served in the US military. Tears come to my eyes even now 50 years later, as I recall what the death march experience had done to his mind, body and soul. As our First Sargeant said, it would take an Act of Congress to ever make him leave his home with us.
I went to Corregidor a decade ago. Sad it's not been better cared for. BTW, they have a "Liberator" .45 pistol in the little museum and called it a pilot survival pistol...... funny.
@youtube fascists This is my understanding as well. I suspect a US service member had one with him during or after the liberation in 45 and it was lost. It was rusted up pretty bad.
High brass boogies out while giving the * die to the last for us* roll call command. Such a load of the old bollocks but that's war sadly.
Yeah, don't you believe in the "ours is not to reason why"?....you will never make a good soldier mate because you have to be prepared to make the supreme sacrifice or run away and hide.
Can you do Battle of Yuldong during Korean war ..great content
MacArthur: Y'all stay here and cover my retreat, sorry, you men are screwed. I'll lead from waaaaay back.
MacArthur was ordered to Australia by by Roosevelt because he thought that MacArthur being captured by the Japanese would be a political disaster for him back home.
For all his faults, and man is there a lot of that, he actually wanted to stay and hold out against Japan but the reinforcements meant for the Philippines didn't come, they were pulled out due to the Europe First decision by the government. He also got ordered to retreat to Australia because he's be able to do more for the war effort there than if he was a severed head mounted on a post.
Japanese:
Tenno heika banzaii!!!
Filipinos:
Mabuhay ang Pilipinasss!!!
Epic story and footage. The only discrepancy I see is that the Malinta Tunnel did not connect the three fortresses of Fort Hughes, Fort Drum and Fort Frank. The tunnel was only on the island of Corregidor on which was Fort Mills. Fort Hughes was on Caballo Island, Fort Frank was on Carabao Island and Forth Drum was on El Fraile Island.
In any case, I toured Corregidor a few times a couple of years ago and it was amazing. The ruins of the barracks, gun batteries, and the story of the forgotten Japanese Graveyard (which was discovered by chance when someone recognized Caballo Island off in the distance in a picture found in a garage sale in the '70s) were simply breathtaking.
I also toured Corregidor Island many years ago and it was a great tour. One of the best tours any foreigner, especially Americans who had relatives fighting in the Pacific during WW2, can and should take when they are in Manila.
one of a very few places with the original guns still there, some with unused barrels. Some mortars (Bethlehem Steels) date back to the late 19th century. If you plan to visit, make the overnight trip, it's well worth it. One of the highlights is entering the tunnel system branches (not just the main corridor). Sadly, the tour company filed bankruptcy in the early stage of the pandemic
Nice of McArthur to run away and expect everyone else to fight to the last man
He didn't have a choice fdr threatened to court martial him , mcaurthur said he would fight on as a private, General Wainwright talked him into going to Australia to organize the army to fight the jappanese
Mcarthur wasn’t given a choice he was ordered to leave by fdr and even then had to be talked into leaving by another general
@@wolverines5279 A fine sentiment if this was only the first time "Dugout Doug" did a runner
The dec. 8 attack in the Philippines coincided with pearl harbor (dec. 7), the Philippines is ahead by 1 day in calendar.
Thanks for that piece of information. I was looking to see if anybody else caught the mistake about December 8th being Pearl Harbor attack day. I didn't think about the International Date Line. Thanks again.
Wasn’t Singapore suppose to gibraltar of the east
For the British.
@@navyreviewer We will fight them on the beaches etc etc,,,,,we will never surrender.........what???.....how about Singapore?
For those who want a more detailed account, (not a slam, this was a great video) try to find a copy of the book 'Corregidor; America's 20th Century Alamo'. Well worth reading with many little known details.
a great book written by Eric Morris.He interviewed a lot of the survivors of Bataan and Corregidor before writing the book. I have multiple copies and bought most off of ebay. I always visit Corregidor and the American Military Cemetery when I go to Manila, Both are a"must see"for any visit.
Retired from Texas to Cavite, Philippines. Raising two boys here. A couple of weeks ago we were swimming at a beach with Fort Drum visible in the distance. What a great time I had telling my kids all about the "Concrete Battleship".
I wanted to hear about the concrete battleship fortress, Ft Drum. The turret teaser photo is on Ft Drum.
Corregidor is pronounced like "korehidor." The 'g' sounds like 'h' since it is a Spainish word.
This channel does in under 10 minutes what the History Channel can't even do over 10 episodes of 1 hour each
There was a time when it was so good. The decline began with day after day of Hitler docs then the shameful cratering into reality TV. Take heart, tho, so much time has passed shows like Modern Marvels are in sydication on other channels.
Disinformation too. For Corregidor Island is not located in the South China Sea. Neither was Japan describe back then as a "Giant" by both the US and Philippines.
yes, ur right!!! but u forget the 4-5 ad breaks in that 90 min documentary on History Channel!!! without the ads History Channel would've been history by now & NAT Geo would be making a documentary on the history of History Channel itself!!!
@@chandrachurniyogi8394 NatGeo has gone to hell as well. And not just the channel.
Its that speed talkin'.
A little known fact:
Only one "truck" exists on any US Mil Base.
That "truck" = the ball (on top of the main flag pole).
That Truck has; a razor blade (to cut up the flag and not allow it to be captured), a single rnd (to say - that it is the last rnd [to be used in defense of the base/camp]) and a match (to burn the cut up flag - to prevent it from the enemy getting the flag in surrender).
Little known fact
I'd never heard of Corregidor, and my uncle died in the Pacific theater. Good informative video. ❤
Vietnam was just a part of French Indo-China (with Laos & Cambodia) until 1954/5. Otherwise, this is good history.
So badass. Always giving us the good stuff.
Without the battle of bataan and corregidor, history would have been different. If only they allowed Gen. MacArthur to make preemptive attack on taiiwan, it would have grave consequences for Japan.
When he starts talking about the defenses the Americans built on Corregidor he uses images of Intramuros, the fort constructed by the Spanish. It was started in 1590 and continued until 1871.
Was the order to surrender a lawful order? Does the individual soldier have to follow an order to surrender? What became of the wounded Americans? Some personnel had swam over from the main island. Why didn't most of them, allong with any supplies? There must have been U.S. personnel that held their ground against the Japanese. They died like warriors. Why did so many others just say, ok we quit. We'll be prisoners now. Thinking the Japanese owed them some responsibility to treat them like people. Obviously didn't work out that well.
The last bastion of freedom in Asia.
The resistance may be futile, but it really messed up the war time calendar of the Japanese, thinking of a very swift victory
Yes, How hard the troops in the Philippines and Wake fought early in the war tends to get glossed over - They deserve more respect.
@@vonal67 The Wake campaign is a, well a perfect example of a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, Could American forces managed to reinforce the islands, the fact that their 5inch shore guns and 5 planes managed to sink a destroyer and repulsed an invasion, and yeah, due to sudden changes in command.
Wake Islands defenders fate was just written in the wind.
My grand father's brother was one of the remaining guerilla fighters surrendered in Corregidor along woth USAFFE soldiers. He said they were treated so bad and tortured mercy killing and only giving substandard potatos each day in concentration camp in Manila.
"This giant gun was its own island" is the title on this video, along with a (supposed) photo of it. But it is NOT even mentioned nor shown. Why???
Tells his men to fight to the death will he bugs out to australia
Dugout Doug. Absolute prick of a bastard. My grand-uncle had the distinction of serving under both Patton and MacArthur. He said Patton was a SOB, but that man never asked anyone to do something he wouldn't do himself and was always up there where the fighting was. MacArthur was a tremulous little rat who wouldn't set foot near any spot on Okinawa that had had even a sniff of Japanese activity within the past week.
He was a general & a leader - we know that any fighting unit without a leader might as well be a goner (think of George Custer). He had to regroup some place safe to plan his next move. At the very least, he returned just as he promised.
@@Tam0de Custer was a better general then macarthur
The US armed force has been tasked within winning a two front conflict, but that is really only possible with allies on both fronts.
Where was the giant island of guns that baited this story? Clickbait is becoming a practice on this otherwise terrific channel.
corregidor the last stronghold of Philippines before it fell but it wasn't the last to fall but the fort drum the concrete battleship.... i hope you'll have a video for fort drum
December 8th? Is that because time zones are different between Pearl and the Philippines
yes probably
Noticed that too
Why the click bait "this gun was its own island" cover image?
ok to click on this vid it claims to be about a gun turret of considerable size....
My great grandfather was a guerrilla in the Philippines during ww2 after the war whenever a plane would passover head he would scream "the Japanese are coming".
retreat is impossible - for you! but it is possible for me to run away and order you, from a safe distance, to fight on. the secret of success - never sacrifice yourself, always sacrifice others and claim credits for yourself
Dugout Doug at his finest. The Donald Trump of the American military.
Do you speed up your narration in post production? When I play back the video at 0.75 speed it sounds normal, but at 1x speed it sounds artificial. Any reason why you do this, or is it just a coincidence?
Why waste more time
Can you make about the bataan death march in the 🇵🇭? 102km US-Fil forces walk to death. A very few people knew that
You can also watch the great raid.
My great grandpa fought there. He died last 2013
Funny that they thought 35 b17s was the greatest heavy bomber concentration in 1941, when at the end of the war it was a miracle if they lost only that in a day.
In retrospect, the economy of the Japanese Empire and the economy of Germany, were outmatched by levels of scale and so left their nations with slim chances of imposing their government's goals upon the world.
@@lynnwood7205 oh definitely I was just saying that it’s crazy how much they started producing things during WWII
"Conflict with Spain."
We were taught that it was a staged conflict after the Americans bought the Philippines from Spain.
My grandfather was one of the brave guerilla fighter during ww2 he died last month at the age of 93 😥
When you are out numbered it is the only way to fight.
* As The Commander in The Pacific, *Mc Arthur, Could Not, Be Captured ! It Would Have Been Demoralizing and Bad for Troop Morale ! The Boss, in Washington, Ordered Him,To Leave !
Video seems speeded up. Needed to change to 0.75 speed to understand.
It’s sad that they haven’t preserved fort drum, or even made it into a museum or anything.
I'm pretty sure that they made it a museum. My dad would tell me stories about how he went there a while back.
@@AS-zq2cq Fort drum is abandoned, and has been picked apart by scrappers over 70 years. Although it is forbidden to go there, people still go out illegally.
Fort Drum was pretty well destroyed when the US took back Corregidor. Rather than fight for it the way the Japanese had, we just seized the top level, pumped gasoline into it, and lit it up.
@@Carandini Yeah I know that part, but it’s possible to at least salvage the surface layer of the fort, IE the turret and the main structure. Provided if anyone has the cash for it.
I think it telling that after MacArthur bugged out, he told the American forces to hold out against overwhelming odds. General Wainwright was recommended for rhe Medal of Honor for resisting the Japanese forces for five months with his underfed, outnumbered and poorly supplied troops. MacArthur opposed giving the MOH to Wainwright although he later changed his mind. It is a sobering sight to see the emaciated Wainwright on the deck of the Missouri as the US received the official surrender of Japan.
I think that the Bonus Army incident from 1932 has shown what kind of person MacArthur was.
Did not hear mention of the giant gun. Click bait
Build a 20 stack of infantry, or send 1 unit card of bombers..........lets send the 1 unit card of bombers. Thats a big brain move.
Retake of Corregidor by Airborne raid was also featured by historian Mr. Mark Felton.
And fictionalized by Neil Stephenson in Cryptonomicon
My great grandfather Cox served on the Rock during the Great War
If only those US generals agreed to train the 100k fil soldiers it may have a different outcome and the beauty of old manila may still be here now
I concur about your sentiment, but some photos and film clips have been uploaded in You tube. Salamat Mabuhay and Peace.
8:34 holy shit that was one hell of a jump
Big words from general who retreated and left his men behind
He never actually wanted those troops be left behind. Roosevelt effectively forced him out of there after a few times of bickering.
He was ordered to leave
it is ALWAYS more complicated than it is made to appear.
I really love this. It's just sad to see that many don't know this types of history. Unless they had loveones who was there.
My study of General Douglas MacArthur leads me to consider him to be a very poorly performing general. He, (like General George S. Patton), showed a strong desire to fight aggressively, little to no desire build adequate defenses, (when defenses were appropriate) and little consideration for logistics. The result was a callous disregard for the losses of dead and wounded. The both seem to have exhibited arrogance far beyond their real ability. If either of these generals had lead Australian soldiers then the Australian soldiers (under the Australian military ethic) would have been honor bound to murder that general, (for his callous disregard for his soldiers). Both of these generals seem to have not learned the lessons taught by General Sun Su as given in "The art of war".
Regards,
Geoff. Reeks
On the other side, he learned it the hard way that's why he fight back. He never broke his promise to return to the Philippines after he left. Also he abled to rebuild Japan without getting divided unlike Vietnam, Germany, and Korea
I think it's more nuanced than that. While MacArthur did bungle the defense of the Philippines, his leapfrogging strategy of the Southwest Pacific campaign was a masterstroke that actually minimized American casualties while isolating major Japanese naval bases. Moreover, if we're measuring the competency of generalship on the basis of casualties, then MacArthur and Patton are no more culpable than Chester Nimitz, Omar Bradley, or any other officer who commanded sizable formations in combat for any substantial length of time. Ironically, given that Churchill was alive and well by 1940, I imagine that this Australian code of honor is more of an expression than actual practice.
Well you done a very poor job at studying him.
"He showed a strong desire to fight aggressively"
Yes, that is called the "Violence of Action". It's how a military should fight.
" little to no desire build adequate defenses"
He was fighting to get more funding for the defense of the Philippines since the early 1930's but both Hoover and Roosevelt cut military spending. This is what he said to Roosevelt in 1935 "During the next war when an American boy, lying in the mud with an enemy bayonet through his belly and an enemy foot on his dying throat, spat out his last curse, I wanted that name not to be MacArthur but Roosevelt"
"Australian soldiers would have been honor bound to murder that general"
That is just stupidity.
"these generals seem to have not learned the lessons taught by General Sun Su"
*Sun TZU
Defeat in Detail? You know the tactic of isolating a large enemy force by defeating the smaller forces around it, Rabaul and Formosa for example.
@@redaug4212 I was taught in basic training and every Australian soldier is taught in basic training that if the enemy defeats us in combat then that is war, but if our mates die because our commanders make stupid mistakes then we are honor bound as Australian soldiers to murder those commanders and we have been doing it for 100 years.
That has changed how our commanders lead us. We Australian soldiers claim the right to fulfil the objective, not just follow the orders. General Cosgrove gave three examples of this in his speech to the Australian Press Club upon his retirement as head of the Australian military and before he was promoted to Governor General of Australia.
Regards,
Geoff. Reeks
@@geoffreyreeks2422 And can you share those examples that have occurred within those 100 years?
Thumbnail is kind of deceiving
I have nostalgia for those movies that used miniature ships por scenes
Ja ja ja. Yes. Before CGI.
Make one about the second Battle of Corregidor.
My Dad was in the 25th division on Luzon . One day he was making a low profile because there was lead in the air.Then General MacArthur came up in a jeep,he looked like he was carved in stone.The man driving was not. My old man had a healthy respect for the MacArthur,end of discussion.
Japan attacked corregidor in early 1941, it was late 1942 before American troops were sent to North Africa against the Germans. So to claim that Corregidor was neglected because US were helping the British was not true. The fact is the US vastly underestimated the Japanese as did the British, the difference was Britain was fighting alone against both Germany and Italy and had nothing to fight Japan with.
You forget to mention that “Dugout Doug” never awarded the 4th Marine Regiment the Presidential Unit Citation for their heroic defense of Corrigador. MacArthur was one of the most overrated commander in US military history. Took credit for what the Australian did in the New Guinea and was envious of Marine General Alexander Vandergrift accomplished in Guadalcanal. Especially Vandergrift’s MOH.
Yes, a >generalpresidential< unit citation.
@@navyreviewer if you read Jim McEnry’s book “Hell in the Pacific: A Marine Rifleman’s Journey from Guadalcanal to Peleliu” he mentions it. After the war “Dugout Doug” awarded the PUC to every unit that defended Baatan and Corrigador except the 4th Marine Regiment.
@@felixerazo9800 only the president can award the PUC..
@@navyreviewer yes...under the recommendation of the unit commander.
The 4th Marines were awarded the PUC with oak leaf cluster by the Army for their service in the Philippines. Do we know who recommended the citations if it wasn't MacArthur?
A lot of what happened in the Philippines was due to 2 Factors!
1) Most, if not all of the Pre-WW2 planning was "at the bottom of Pearl Harbor"!!
2) There were 2 plans to hold the Philippines against Japanese Attacks, Plan A) was hold what you can with what is normally on the Islands, and Plan B) was a much stronger defense with more of the all of the Islands protected with reinforcements from the US.
>>> Mac Arthur had Plan A's troop try to hold Plan B's positions!!!!!
However, watch the Chieftain's Fall of the Philippines video, the defending troops did their "darnest" to adapt and improvise and when & where possible overcome! Like pulling HE shells from the P-39's ammo and replacing the AP shell from the ammo of the M-3 (light tank) Stuarts!. Having various personnel ride on the back of the M-3 Stuarts with cases of hand grenades and tossed them as they passed foxholes with Japanese troops in them!
But make due only takes you so far.... Also the US Navy submarines that got vital supplies in, and various people out deserve high praise. (Including the unusual ballast of the USS Trout after she offloaded ammo! To carry more ammo, they had removed all but 2 or 4 torpedos and about 20 tons of lead ballast. Which meant that after dropping off the ammo, they couldn't dive the submarine since she was too light. The garrison on "The Rock" had pulled out everything they could out of the US Mint located in Manilla and decided to let the USS Trout leave with 20+ tons of gold and silver bars, silver coins, and other valuables rather than let it fall into the enemies hands!!!
philippines has the great history
4:00 holy crap what did you say?
Been to corregidor island a few years ago amazing how 80 years later you can still see the damage as well as in many places in manila.
the Japanese forces sent to attack Pearl Harbor on the way they crossed the Date Line and so the attack happened on the 7th. amazingly at the exact same time, other Japanese forces were attacking Hong Kong - but for them the date was 8 December. Time is a messed up concept isn't it!