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Originally posted by Griff
Another question... I know its not the main focus of the book but is the author giving MacArthur a pass in this book? It seems like I read that he didn't implement the standing plan to retreat into Bataan properly, using the prepositioned supplies etc.. and there's the whole thing about getting caught with his planes down after Pearl Harbor... There are reasons why the prisoners were hung out to dry, you'd think it'd be a big part of the story.
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I think there's a reluctance to pin blame on any one person. MacArthur was no more to blame than Roosevelt, who was no more to blame than the persisting notion among soldiers that the Phillipines as some kind of tropical safe haven. Pg. 38 --
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Life in the Orient is easygoing with emphasis on the manana and siesta ethic. With the tremendous military buildup here, a Jap attack seems unlikely...There's nothing going to happen here.
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When Homma sent the whole friggin army in after them, they were totally unprepared, from the foot soldier up to the commander in chief. MacArthur was a blowhard, but he felt terrible about what had happened on Bataan. (Pg. 327 has him visiting the survivors and weeping. Hibbs is quoted as saying, "I wondered whether the general's visit was a guilt trip, but his grief could not have been more genuine."
I don't think anyone really has a good cubbyhole to place MacArthur in yet. He's the central heroic figure of the Pacific War, but he was deficient in many respects.