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directed toward stopping Adolf Hitler and Germany over in Europe, rein- forcements and supplies were not forthcoming. By early April, the troops in the Philippines were forced to surrender. Death March The Philippine surrender was the largest in US history. The number of sol- diers was so great that it took the Japanese by surprise. They expected far fewer than even half the number of the 76,000 men. Unsure what to do with POWs, they forced the men to walk from Bataan to a detention center at Camp O’Donnell, more than 60 miles (96 km) away. It was dusty, dry, “I Shall Return” In the spring of 1942, the Philippine island of Corregidor was the last line of defense between the Allied forces and full control of the Philippines by the Japanese. Corregidor’s location at the entrance to Manila Bay in the southwest part of the main Philippine island of Luzon, plus an elaborate system of tunnels and fortifications, enabled it to hold off enemy forces longer than the rest of the nation. But with defeat looming, General Douglas MacArthur—commander of the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE)— and his family were evacuated from Corregidor in March 1942. By boat, they evaded the Japanese Navy through 560 treacherous miles (901 km) to the island of Mindanao, and then were flown to Australia. There, MacArthur was given charge of the Allied forces in the southwest Pacific and famously promised “I shall return” to the Philippines. Two-and-a-half years later, he did. He put together the plan that retook the Philippines from the Japanese.

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