Tacloban, Leyte Island, Philippines • December 30, 1944 The island of Leyte, the first island in the Philippine archipelago captured by returning GIs, was securely in U.S. hands by this date in 1944. It only remained for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area, to announce the end of organized Japanese unit resistance,…
Mindoro Island, Philippines • December 15, 1944 On October 17, 1944, the naval, air, and land forces of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area, began their assault on the Japanese-held Philippine island of Leyte. Three days later MacArthur and his staff, accompanied by Philippine president Sergio Osmeña, waded onto Palo Beach (Red Beach),…
Mindoro Island, Philippines • December 15, 1944 On October 17, 1944, the naval, air, and land forces of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area, began their assault on the Japanese-held Philippine island of Leyte. Three days later MacArthur and his staff, accompanied by Philippine president Sergio Osmeña, waded onto Palo Beach (Red Beach),…