Philippines '44

President Franklin D. Roosevelt told the Filipinos on December 28, 1941, “In this great struggle of the Pacific, the loyal Americans of the Philippine Islands are called upon to play a crucial role. The people of the United States will never forget what the people of the Philippine Islands are doing this day and in the days to come. I give to the people of the Philippines my solemn pledge that their freedom will be redeemed. The entire resources in men and material of the United States stand behind that pledge." On October 20, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur delivered his famous “I Have Returned” speech upon landing on Leyte Island. It is one of the most iconic phrases of the war, coupled with some of the most famous photographs, that captured the moment as he waded ashore. With the return to the Philippines in 1944, both Roosevelt and McArthur’s pledges were honored, but this was to be a titanic struggle to liberate the islands for the next eight months. In Philippines ’44, as MacArth