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Greater attention urged on Pacific
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Simms: MacArthur wants status clarified on next phase of war in Pacific
His task ends with Philippines drive
By William Philip Simms, Scripps-Howard foreign editor
WASHINGTON – Official Washington is saying that there is much more between the lines of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s “Manila-has-fallen–on-to-Tokyo!” statement than in the lines themselves which, of course, is saying a great deal.
The fall of Manila, said the General, marked the end of “one great phase of the Pacific struggle and set the stage for another” – the final phase which, no doubt, will end in the Son of Heaven’s palace in the heart of the Jap capital.
But, it is asked, who will command the Allied forces in this final “great phase”? Gen. MacArthur, himself, seems to be asking the same question. In effect, he says that his Southwest Pacific task being largely accomplished, he is ready for further assignment. “We are ready in this veteran and proven command when called upon,” he said.
Wants status clarified
Gen. MacArthur is supreme commander of Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific – land, sea and air. This includes everything from Australia up to and including the Philippines. But Adm. Chester W. Nimitz commands the Army and the Navy northward of the Philippines. Thus, China and the main islands of Japan are outside Gen. MacArthur’s theater of operations.
For these and other reasons, the General’s pronouncement is widely regarded as a strong hint that he would like to have his future status clarified. There remains, of course, much work to be done in the Southwest Pacific but, barring the unexpected, it should be mostly of a mop-up nature which does not require the permanent supervision of a five-star general.
Gen. MacArthur’s capture of Manila in 94 days from his landing on Leyte has amazed the experts. When he went ashore on October 20, most of them were convinced the war in Europe would be over before he even landed on Luzon.
Knows the Far East
Aside from his military qualities, one reason for Gen. MacArthur’s success is his thorough knowledge of the Far East, its terrain and the workings of the Oriental mind. He went to the Philippines immediately after graduating from West Point in 1903, then on to Tokyo where his father, a lieutenant general, was attaché. As his father’s aide, he was sent on a number of missions elsewhere in the East and acted as observer in the closing phases of the Russo-Japanese War.
He served several tours of duty in the Philippines after the First World War – as commander of the District of Manila, then of the whole Philippine Department, and finally, on loan from the United States, as marshal of the islands in charge of national defense under the late President Manuel Quezon.
Has flair for dramatic
Critics charge that Gen. MacArthur has a flair for the dramatic. There is some truth in this. In 1918, for instance, while his command, the famous “Rainbow Division,” was marking time, he penetrated the German lines with a small patrol. His only weapons were a pair of pliers and a swagger stick. He returned with a Boche colonel as his prisoner, prodding him along with his little stick.
Gen. MacArthur is tall, well dressed and distinctly handsome. Some people object to this. His first year at West Point was made hell for him on that account. However, through sheer ability, he won the respect of the academy, graduating with the finest scholastic record in 25 years.
These items seem to be symbolic of the man and his life. Like the late Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France, he may be dramatic, but he usually brings home the bacon. And his victories seem to have been won at a minimum of human life.
Filipinos cry: ‘Burn Tokyo’
By Rodolfo Nazarino, United Press staff writer
The following dispatch was written by a veteran Filipino member of the United Press staff in Manila whose home was among those burned by the Japs.
MANILA, Philippines (Feb. 6, delayed) – Widespread fires touched off by the cornered Japs in a final orgy of destruction left thousands homeless in Manila today.
The joy of liberation for Filipinos after three years under the Jap heel remained undimmed by this final catastrophe, however. Even as refugees left their burning homes with bundles and domestic animals, they cheered advancing American troops.
Cries of “Burn Tokyo!” were raised.
The largest fire started in the Escolta business district and swept northward, occasionally branching out to the east and west as the wind changed.
Stores, offices and residences on more than 20 streets were destroyed. Frequent explosions were heard as the flames reached dynamite or time bombs planted by the Japs.
Few persons were believed injured, however, because the fire began in daylight.
Refugees crowded into the American-held northern part of Manila, creating a major relief problem. Food was scarce.
Reliable reports said the Japs arrested officers of the Manila Fire Department to prevent them from putting out the fires.
Editorial: MacArthur
Manila is Gen. MacArthur’s victory. Americans and Filipinos personalize it. That does not detract a bit from the glory due his officers and men. But his departure from the Philippines had been the symbol of our defeat. His promise to return was the symbol of our hope. His arrival back in Manila has all the glamor, compensation and justice which we yearn for in life but usually find only in fiction. His instinctive ability to dramatize a situation makes it about perfect.
Not that his colorful personality carried him back to the Philippines from Australia. That was military genius. He is a great general. Few ever have doubted that and none lately. He had to contend with almost every conceivable obstacle – including, in the beginning, divided authority and grossly inadequate weapons. Only a superb commander could have gone so far on so little.
Though the enemy knew his objective to be the Philippines and though the route he had to take was clear of all, nevertheless he managed repeatedly to surprise the Japs. He did that all the way from the tip of New Guinea to Manila.
Another characteristic of the superior commander is ability to get maximum results with a minimum expenditure of lives. We cannot recall any major campaign in which American casualties were so low, either absolutely or relative to enemy losses.
An outstanding feature of this campaign – and an unexpected one in view of Gen. MacArthur’s earlier training and experience as a ground general – has been the brilliant use of airpower. With his air chief, Gen. Kenney, he did things with airborne troops and planes which seemed impossible at the time and which since have been followed on other fronts.
But perhaps his major achievement, if one can be singled out, was to weld three brave but highly individualized – and sometimes mutually jealous – forces of land, sea and air into a unified amphibious team. Without that one-for-all-and-all-for-one operation none of the battles of this campaign could have been won, and the Stars and Stripes would not be whipping proudly in the Manila breeze today.
Under the circumstances, the public hardly is prepared for recent hints that Gen. MacArthur has finished his job and earned retirement. His reaction to that is: “On to Tokyo. We are ready in this veteran and proved command when called upon. God speed the day!”
Just what part Gen. MacArthur is to play next in the many-sided campaign required to knock-out Japan, of course, is not for him or for the admiring public to decide. That is for the Commander-in-Chief to determine, on recommendation of the chiefs of staff and their overall strategy in cooperation with our allies. There are plenty of hard jobs ahead, including reconquest of the vast Southwest Pacific.
But, whatever his future assignment, we should be assured that it will be an important one. To drop a winner would be unthinkable.