October 14, 2006

  • World War II ravaged the Philippines. During the beginning of the war, the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), was taken by surprise. Upon the entry of the United States into the war, they immediately went to battle. However, the Japanese forces, bolstered by troops and supplies that were geographically closer than the supplies and troops from the United States, after a few months, pushed back American forces and forced General Douglas MacArthur to retreat to Australia. The United States was focusing more of its energy toward the European front of the war as well. Strategically speaking, if one remembers that the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 was going to grant independence to the Philippines in ten years, it makes sense that the United States didn't care too much of its colony that it was going to get rid of anyways.

    However, these USAFFE forces defended the lands for months before they eventually were overcome by the Japanese forces. One can read much about the Bataan Death March, the 160 kilometer march of Philippine and United States soldiers by the Japanese to put them in Prisoner of War (POW) camps. Many of these POWs were placed in the Cabanatuan camp, where a rescue occured. The rescue has recently been memorialized in moveis and books by the name of Ghost Soldier and The Great Raid.