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Book details
  • Genre:HISTORY
  • SubGenre:Military / World War II
  • Language:English
  • Series title:Philippines Disaster 12/8/41
  • Series Number:1
  • Pages:200
  • eBook ISBN:9781483567372

Philippines Disaster 12/8/41 Vol 1

The Missing Ten Hours

by Mark Douglas

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Overview
He was a Mama's Boy! Every time an emotional issue arose, he consulted his mother, especially while he attended West Point, and later, his wife, who soothed him. They were his close advisors on nearly every subject, military or diplomatic. This officer, earned and was given the Medal of Honor for events in France in World War One. Many WW I veterans bitterly remembered his actions as Army Chief of Staff during the Veterans "Rebellion" in the 20's around the Nation's Capital. In 1935, as he was in the process of retiring, the soon-to-be President of the Philippine government, learned that General Douglas Arthur MacArthur, might be interested in building the Philippines Armed Forces. Future Present Queson feared the Japanese would pounce on a peaceful, non-armed country and claim it for the Japanese Empire. Negotiations included the War Department and Congress. General MacArthur was granted his Army retirement pay, plus whatever the Philippine government would pay in gold. The new Army Chief of Staff, General Marshall, stabbed MarArthur in the back, sending him across the Pacific as a Lieutenant General, not a four-star general. LtGen Douglas MacArthur had with him on the ship, his wife and child, and his inner staff advisors, including Major Dwight D. Eisenhower as his Chief of Staff. After a round of "welcome to the Philippines" where his father had preceded him, he began the earnest task of building the Philippine Army. Many serious problems ensued. MacArthur had this internal problem: if he wasn't right or correct, the problem either did not exist or it was someone else's problem. The corollary was that if something went the way it was supposed or better, it was because of his greats leadership. And then, World War Two broke out in the Pacific.
Description

It has long been discussed as to what happened in the few days before the Japanese Imperial Army Air Force and the Navy Air Armada, struck all across the Pacific beginning on December 7th, 1941, on Oahu, Pearl Harbor, and destroyed much of the American Pacific Fleet. What is really intriguing is, there were several warnings the Japanese were about to strike somewhere in the Pacific, from both the Navy Chief of Naval Operations (who were reading some of the Japanese secret radio messages) and the War Department Chief of Staff (who were also reading some of the Japanese secret codes). As it turned out, the Navy spooks were also reading the Japanese Diplomatic code and learned the Japanese were about to strike---somewhere. CNO and Army Chief of Staff had send three war warnings to all commands in the Pacific. At Cavite Naval Base, Com16 Naval District became preparing for war. Admiral Thomas Hart issued orders to his fleet of bedraggled WW-1 ships, to move away. He also issued orders to his submarine fleet to be prepared to attack all enemy shipping. He declared an emergency and placed his command on a war footing. He advised MacArthur's headquarters of his actions. MacArthur called him a sniveling coward afraid to face the enemy. Hart ignored him and proceeded with his plan. MacArthur's plan was to proceed as though nothing would happen. All staff operations will continue peacetime processes. No special round the clock observations were necessary or tolerated. Standard communications shut down at 1700 hours daily, except fully closed on Sunday, would continue as Standard Operating Procedure. President Queson who was paying MacArthur to build his Armed Forces, was alarmed the Japanese would destroy his country. In close consultation in November '41, President Queson impressed upon his military advisor he did not want to anger the Japanese War Lords. "Take no offensive or defensive action until the first bomb strikes Philippine soil!" On December 3rd, President Roosevelt issued an execution order: "Phase 1." As seen, Admiral Hart had already begun preparing for war. When Phase 1 was issued by the President, General MacArthur, recently recalled to active duty as a Lt. Gen., was ordered to send at least one B-17 Flying Fortress on a Photo-Recon mission over the Japanese air and sea bases on Formosa. He refused to follow his orders. He ordered all his B-17's stationed at Clark Air Base, be lined up, wing to wing next to the runway. On December 7th, 0755 hours (0235 hours in Manila), when Pearl Harbor was struck, President Roosevelt quickly ordered Phase 2: that is, send 18 B-17's with full bomb loads to take out the Japanese air drones and sea ports. MacArthur refused to do that, too. At 0430 hours Manila time, he ordered his Air Commander to stand down. He was to take no action until the first bomb strikes Philippine soil! The Japanese Air Fleets began arriving over the Philippine island of Luzon about 1100 hours on December 8, Manila time. By LtGen MacArthur's deliberate inaction, thousands of people on both sides were killed.

About the author
Mark Douglas served in the US Navy for 20 years, 1949-1968, serving in 7 ships (USS Chilton APA-38, USS Hoquiam PF-5, USS Perkins DDR-877, USS Rockbridge APA-228, USS Navarro APA-215, USS Northampton CLC-1/CC-1), 4 shore stations (Naval Station Tongue Point Astoria Oregon, Naval Communications Station San Francisco-FOB CA, Naval Communications Station Guam-Finegayan, Defense Communications System Pacific-Kunia HI, and Naval Radio Station (T) Annapolis MD), and attended 3 schools (Navy Teletype School Norfolk VA, Navy Electronics School Bainbridge MD, and Heaviside Layer Radio Frequency studies Fort Monmouth NJ) retiring as a Radioman Senior Chief Petty Officer. He was employed in Silicon Valley in 6 different companies as a troubleshooter and writer for 18 years (CDC, Memorex, Fairchild Systems, Cetec Intl, Plantronics, and Britton-Lee). Following them, he became an independent technical writer for an addition 15 years. He and his wife owned an RV park in Apopka, FL (Orange Blossom RV Resort), for 9 years before retiring to Gardnerville, Nevada where they live today, and he continues to write novels today. The good Lord willing and the surf don’t rise, he has six more books in process. The first five novels are about the USS Hoquiam PF-5. MacArthur is next. SEA DEVIL was released in November ’15, and Recalled to Duty was released 12/20/15. Several more are due to be released during 2016.