The Fall of the Philippines in 1942-Episode 102

Comments · 350

• CH

  @cheesenoodles8316 · 3 years ago

  Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.  Macarthur sounded so humble when I was learning who he was.   The more I learned, the worse it got,.  There were some positive outcomes, but not much.     I had a math teacher in the 70s that survived the Battan Death March.

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• BO

  @bobnarrus3218 · 1 year ago

  Gents, sorry to be late to the party.  I just recently found your site and am going back to review all the older broadcasts.  Mac has a lot to be responsible for here.  However the most egregious thing was not leveling with Wainwright.  Great job Seth and Bill!

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• SK

  @SKILLED521 · 3 years ago

  This series is bliss. Thanks, gents.

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• RA

  @random_rich62 · 3 years ago

  Mac Arthur should have been beside, and probably even in front of, Kimmel and Short in the courts marshal and investigation.

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• TS

  @ts8538 · 3 years ago

  I am enjoying this series of podcasts. Thank you! Regardless of the competency or incompetency of American military leadership in both Hawaii and the Phillipines in 1941, it seems hard to avoid the conclusion that the remoteness of both locations from  North America made it extremely difficult for the US to adequately respond to a surprise attack (Pearl Harbor) or prevent Japanese occupation (the Phillipines).

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• FI

  @fishaddict2 · 2 years ago

  Fascinating.  I have a very different impression of the fall of the Philippines and MacArthur than I had before watching this.

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• SC

  @scottsherman6889 · 9 months ago

  Watching this for the third time in December 2025. It’s great to see you guys at the very beginning of what has become an absolutely wonderful podcast. I have shared it with so many people and I hope they are all watching as I’ve said on a comment on another episode, this is like a graduate course in Pacific war history God bless you guys!

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• CA

  @captainbinghamton1319 · 3 years ago

  Another outstanding broadcast. Please continue your WWII Pacific war analysis. They're pure gold!

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• JO

  @joebuchanan9563 · 1 year ago

  Loved "The Batling Bastards of Bataan" poem. I have heard it several times before, but as a closer for this pod cast, it was excellent!

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• RT

  @rtqii · 3 years ago

  Good job guys.  I had read all about the pacific war when I was in college.  My best friend's father was the captain of a landing ship, LST, and he had a library of books that I completely devoured.  Not one of them had anything bad to say about MacArthur, so these first two episodes were a real eye opener for me.

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• MA

  @marksimmons7972 · 2 years ago

  When Wainwright was nominated for a Medal of Honor, McArthur stopped it.

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• LO

  @Lowandslowaviator · 3 years ago

  You guys are right about how hard fought and brave the Filipinos and Americans who were left to defend Bataan. This include the pilots who flew in the USAFFE.<br><br>Just to share a story. I have a friend from our local flying club based on a grass strip near Clark Pampanga who is a legend in his own right having flown F-4 phantoms during Vietnam, got shot down and spent time in the Hanoi Hilton for 7 years. After the war he chose to retire in the Philippines. He told me a story of how one time he led an effort to locate the remains of a P-40B pilot who went missing during a dogfight over Mount Mariveles in Bataan.<br><br>Years later, witnesses came forward who claimed they last saw the aircraft in a swirling dogfight with a Japanese Nate over one side of Mt Mariveles. Both airplanes dissappeared into a large cumulus cloud that usually forms on the leeward side of the mountain on a hot afternoon. With this lead, he led a team of locals who climbed into the jungle of the mountain. A few days later, they found the remains of the Japanese Nate along with the remains of the pilot, then days after that found also the remains of the P-40B not too far from the Japanese Nate in the jungle.<br><br>It turns out the two were locked into a swirling dogfight the brought them into the cumulus cloud with both aircraft crashing onto the side of the mountain.<br><br>Both the remains of the American and Japanese were recovered and reunited with their respective families.<br><br>There are thousands of stories like these in this country and most of them will never be told. It brings me goose bumps sometimes to fly over these hallow grounds especially over the mountains of Mt Mariveles and Mt Natib in Bataan. Actually taking off from our club’s grass strip alone and seeing the majestic slopes of Mt Arayat near Clark brings awe considering the events that happened here<br><br>You guys are doing good work. Looking forward to you guys getting into the Leyte Gulf campaign. Visiting the hallow grounds of the American Cemetery in Manila where they have the names of those who were burried at sea and missing in action makes me appreciate the herosim of those who fought in the Pacific. Names like Daniel Callaghan, Norman Scott, Ernest Evans and even all 5 of the Sullivan Brothers are etched on the walls of “Those whose final resting place are known only to God”.

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