Was the taking back of the Philippines worth it or was it mainly to satisfy MacArthur's ego?...these kinda questions will always exist but we don't live in the times and will never truly know.
to Satisfy MacArthur's ego.....so said one of my grand mother's brothers who served on his staff.... and is one of the guy in the photo shoot of him wading ashore, with his " I will return' promise to the Phillipinos...
it was a waste of time, money and loss of life, just to float his ego.... Japan couldn't even support or resupply the troops left there.. it was a right off...
in fact the Philippines gave the Japanese people pride in the fact that the troops there could tie up so much American resources there, with very little ..
if the US had so many troops tied up there, then the invasion of Japan would be put off for a year or more and allow Japan to build up more defenses and equipment to fight to save the homeland...
Intelligence would tell MacArthur's staff about seeing 10 Japanese troops running up a mountain in the Jungle... he'd order a thousand troops sent after them...and with orders to keep after them until they captured or killed every one of them....our casualties from Jungle fever to crotch rot, were way more than just the loss of 10 Troops...
MacArthur was a self centered pompous dick head...his ego was more important than American lives...at least to him....
