S.
Army: "Knocking out the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor could clear the
way for Japan to conquer the Philippine Islands, without any outside
interference. Of all the Pacific territories of the United States, the
Japanese most wanted the Philippines. General MacArthur, as well as
the Japanese, believed that the Philippine Islands were the 'Key to
the Orient'; Japan would have to take the Philippines before
attempting to conquer any other countries in Southeast Asia. Some Navy
admirals had recently remarked that the 'Pacific Fleet belongs in San
Diego!' If the Japanese should sink one ship in Pearl Harbor (the
so-called Mouse Trap), they could bottle up the entire fleet. Now,
with the Pacific Fleet crippled, there could be no rescue attempt. For
several years we had been aware that in the event of an invasion, all
our defending military forces would hole-up on the Bataan Peninsula,
where supplies and equipment had previously been stored, until the
U.S. Navy, the most powerful in the world, could come to our rescue
(Orange Plan-WPO III). "
By 0530 hours, I was standing in the office of Lt. Col. John Horan,
Post Commander of Camp John Hay, waiting for instructions.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25