This week’s pick salutes the first American combatants of World War II who began fighting the Japanese in the Philippines following the clandestine attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor. Bataan (1943) was directed by Tay Garnett and stars Robert Taylor (Sgt. Bill Dane, 31st Infantry Div.),Thomas Mitchell (Cpl. Jake Feingold), George Murphy (Lt. Steve Bentley), Lloyd Nolan (Cpl. Barney Todd), Lee Bowman (Capt. Henry Lassiter), Robert Walker (Musician 2nd Class Leonard Pruckett), Desi Arnaz (Pvt. Felix Ramirez), Barry Nelson (Pvt. F.X. Matowski), Phillip Terry (Pvt. Matthew Hardy), Roque Espiritu (Cpl. Juan Katigbak), Kenneth Lee Spencer (Pvt. Wesley Epps), Alex Havier (Pvt. Yankee Salazar), and Tom Dugan (Pvt. Sam Malloy).
The history surrounding the battle for Bataan and Corregidor is one of history’s greatest bookmarks. The Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, left the United States crippled and unable to protect its vital interests throughout the Pacific theater.
The Philippine Islands were one of the United States’ greatest territories which were coveted by the Japanese who wanted to capture it for symbolic purposes. Just three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched a coordinated offensive against the northern island of Luzon.
A few days later they began invading from the east and hoped to capture the capital of Manila and trap the American and Filipino forces now in retreat. To save the civilian population from total annihilation, General Douglas MacArthur, U.S. military governor of the Philippines, declared it an open city. Despite regard for it’s civilian populace, the Japanese bombed the city.
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