Historian John C. McManus’ latest book opens with Gen. Douglas MacArthur aboard the USS Boise plunging through the deep blue waters of the South China Sea in January 1945.
MacArthur was on his way to liberate the Philippines from Japanese control — a quest that was deeply personal to the general. It was no small task, and the number of troops serving throughout the Pacific and Asia conveyed that: nearly 1.4 million.
“He loved the Philippines and its people. He'd served there for many years on and off throughout his career. His family had ties there. His child had been born there,” explained McManus, the Curators’ Distinguished Professor of U.S. military history at Missouri S&T.
MacArthur and the soldiers under his command had also been famously defeated in the Philippines in 1942.
“I think it's important to understand that the people of the Philippines are going to take a major role in liberating themselves alongside the Americans,” McManus said. “MacArthur is then going to lead this kind of mass army to come back and fight this major liberation campaign.”
McManus’ newest book, “To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945,” paints compelling portraits of military leaders from both sides of the war and the people who fought them. The volume completes the historian’s trilogy about the Pacific theater. The first, “Fire and Fortitude,” tells the story of the war through 1943, and “Island Infernos” details the Army’s Pacific odyssey in 1944.
Related Event
What: John C. McManus book event
When: 7 p.m. May 3
Where: Ethical Society of St.. Louis, 9001 Clayton Road, St. Louis, MO 63117
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