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Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
21 Named Campaigns were recognized in the Asiatic Pacific Theater with Battle Streamers and Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medals.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1942
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories 4 Jan 1945 Dad says he was among the first ashore at Lengaian Gulf and they met no resistance, although there were air raids and P.T. boat raids in the harbor. As the 37th Division came to a river in the city of Manila the Japs put up a stiff defense and we were having a hard time trying to get across. We finally got some men across and they had as their first objective a tall building next to the river. It had "signs" on it in big letters but they were in Filipino and we could not read them so had no idea what it contained. As the first squad entered they saw large vats, 75 ft tall, reaching from the floor to the ceiling and covered with ice. Someone knocked a hole in one with his rifle butt. Out came stream of ice cold brown liquid. One man tasted it and discovered it was ice cold Filipino beer. The word went out and all "river crossings" lead to the "tall building". Dad said the war was held up for three days. One day to consume all the beer they could, and two days to get over the "trots" it caused. As our troops came to the inner city they saw the walled city which was really a fort built by the Spanish long ago. The Japs occupied it and had to be removed. How to do it? No problem say our artilliary men. They line up a few 105?s and fire a salvo, no effect. They try again with the same result. The Spanish must have know what they were doing for the walls withstood all of our bombpardments. The enemy had to be removed by flame thrower and fire fights.