The Battle for Manila with John McManus-Episode 402

Comments · 294

• SE

  @seanbigay1042 · 2 years ago

  My mom, who was a teenager during the war, befriended the commander of the Japanese garrison in her hometown of Baliuag. She described the poor guy as a stranger in a strange land, hated by the Filipinos, held in barely insubordinate contempt by his own soldiers. It must have been a relief for him to be able to confide in my mom&apos;s family, especially one day in 1942 when he told them what had happened to his country&apos;s navy at Midway.<br>The commander returned the favor with interest in late 1944 or early 1945. His men were going crazy, on the ragged edge of going into a berserk rage and tearing into the townsfolk of Baliuag, when the commander on his own initiative rounded them all up and bundled them all off to Manila. That was the last my mom ever saw or heard of him. It&apos;s likely he died with his men fighting MacArthur.

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• WI

  @wileyjb2112 · 4 months ago

  My grandfather was in the 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry in the 6th Division. He was up on the Shimbu Line after having come back from the Bataan operation. He was at Lone Tree Hill in New Guinea, and had many stories to tell about that operation. He never talked about Luzon. I knew very little about it until I saw these last few podcasts. Apparently, his entire squad was wounded by a Japanese machine gun, him being squad leader as an E-6. He was point, as he always was, and lost his right arm, being mostly severed by two 7.7 bullets. His entire squad survived. I got to meet a few of them who come to visit him after a sixth division reunion while I was in high school.None of them would talk about Luzon. He was wounded in the engagements that MG Edwin Patrick, his division commander, was killed.

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• BL

  @blockmasterscott · 2 years ago

  My Filipina grandmother told me of how she was so happy to see the Americans come back. She loved Americans until she died, and her brother flew an American flag in front of his house until he passed away. <br><br>I’ll never forget her telling me of seeing Japanese soldiers bayoneting babies when she was a teenager, or an American corpsman giving her chocolate and her father medical supplies and food.

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• GL

  @glennricafrente58 · 2 years ago

  My mother&apos;s family was in the southern portion of Manila, south of the Pasig River. They had to hunker down in the burnt out ruin of their family house while fires and explosions erupted in the neighborhood. They hid my mother&apos;s teenaged sisters under sheets of corrugated roofing to prevent them from being raped by the Japanese. When they saw soldiers coming down the street, they thought they were done for, but they were actually GIs who had crossed the river. They finally made their way north, crossing the Pasig River, to find sanctuary among relatives in the liberated part of the city. My mother was around seven at the time. She was too small to cross the river herself, so her uncle carried her on his shoulders in the crossing.

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• MA

  @Matt-416 · 2 years ago

  &quot;Delta lies like MacArthur&quot;<br>I need that T-shirt! &nbsp;<br>🤣

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• FE

  @fettfan91 · 2 years ago

  Respect to Seth, Bill and John once again for covering an often overlooked aspect of the Pacific War. Manila and the Philippines Campaign have been waiting in the wings, time to give them their due!

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• LO

  @Lowandslowaviator · 2 years ago (edited)

  My grand father who is currently 95 remembers watching 3rd fleet aircraft dive bombing japanese ships from the top of the Old Manila City Hall.<br><br>He survived the battle of Manila from inside the city proper.

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• RO

  @RobertPaskulovich-fz1th · 2 years ago

  My Father fought in the liberation of Manila in January 1945 and was awarded a Gold Star.

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• SC

  @scottcasey4359 · 2 years ago

  I teach a kid in a year 12 Modern History class whose family is from Manila. She had never heard of this battle and massacre.. interesting how the Filipino people treat it in terms of their historiography

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• WI

  @WilliamAllen-qd1jh · 2 years ago

  West Texas Deputy here. &nbsp;Doing a stakeout watching for mailbox thieves. &nbsp;This podcast helps me make it through the long night.<br><br>My great uncle was in the 96th ID. &nbsp;Seth, he was a Fighting Texas Aggie, drafted while he was in the Corps of Cadets to fight in the Pacific. &nbsp;In 1942, the entire Corps of Cadets was drafted.<br><br>Y’all do phenomenal work, gentlemen. &nbsp;Thank you so much.

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• NO

  @nomdeguerre7265 · 2 years ago (edited)

  San Miguel is a Pilsner averaging about 5% similar to European pilsners. &nbsp;The Japanese owned another brewery in the PI. &nbsp;After the war the war San Miguel, which had acquired the Japanese brewery prior to war, refused to sell any product that had been produced under Japanese control but instead gave it for free to U.S. and PI forces. &nbsp;This was completed within two weeks…

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• CH

  @christianlim772 · 2 years ago

  I can’t lie - I’ve watching and waiting since Season 1 for you to get to Manila. I hate watching the destruction of the Pearl of the Orient in all documentaries but it needs to be told and shown so it is not lost to time.<br><br>Thank you for giving the Stalingrad of the Pacific its just due. Well done gentlemen.

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