Synopses & Reviews
Drawing on a rich collection of both American and newly discovered Japanese sources as well as official records and wartime diaries, Gordon chronicles the Americans' desperate defense of the besieged islands. For the first time the story of the Navy and Marine Corps in the 1941-42 Philippine campaign is told in a single volume. He also explains why the Navy's relationship with General MacArthur became strained during this campaign, and remained so for the rest of the war. Gordon offers much new information about the campaign during which the Navy and Marines, fighting in what was largely an Army operation, performed some of their most unusual missions of the entire Pacific War. Sailors fought as infantrymen alongside their Marine comrades at Bataan and on the island fortress of Corregidor. Sailors also manned Army heavy coast artillery batteries during the epic artillery duel between Corregidor and the Japanese guns that were massed on Bataan following the fall of the Peninsula. In these pages, Gordon recounts the only time in history when the Marine Corps lost a regiment in combat when the 4th Marines surrendered on Corregidor, and includes the most detailed account of the attack on Cavite that has ever been published.
Review
"[A] fine book."
-- Naval Books of the Year column in Warship, 2013
Synopsis
As the only single-volume work to offer a full account of Navy and Marine Corps actions in the Philippines during World War II, this book provides a unique source of information on the early part of the war. It is filled with never-before-published details about the fighting, based on a rich collection of American and newly discovered Japanese sources, and includes a revealing discussion of the buildup of tensions between Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the Navy that continued for the remainder of the war.
Synopsis
Fighting for MacArthur is a welcome addition to the scholarship on the Pacific War. Gordon makes extensive use of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps archives and interviews with veterans of the Philippine campaign. This is a well-written, engaging treatment of the steadily deteriorating position of the defenders in the Philippines.
Michigan War Studies Review.For the first time the story of the Navy and Marine Corps in the 1941 42 Philippine campaign is told in a single volume. Drawing on a rich collection of both U.S. and recently discovered Japanese sources as well as official records and wartime diaries, Gordon chronicles the Americans desperate defense of the besieged islands. Gordon offers updated information about the campaign during which the Navy and Marines, fighting in what was largely an Army operation, performed some of their most unusual missions of the entire Pacific War. He also explains why the Navy's relationship with Gen. Douglas MacArthur became strained during this campaign, and remained so for the rest of the war.
As a result of Gordon s extensive primary source research, Fighting for MacArthur presents the most complete account of the dramatic efforts by elements of the Navy and Marine Corps to support the U.S. Army s ill-fated defense of the Philippines."
About the Author
John Gordon graduated from The Citadel in 1977. Following a career in the U.S. Army he joined a Washington think tank as a defense analyst. He has written numerous articles and books on military subjects and has been researching the 1941-42 Philippine campaign for many years. He is an adjunct professor of public policy at George Mason University's School of Public Policy, teaching courses to masters program students, and an adjunct professor of security policy at Georgetown University; teaching courses in military strategy and operations