Kamikazes Lurk Dangerously While MacArthur Lands in Lingayen

By Mortz C. Ortigoza, MPA

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The 81st Lingayen Gulf Landing Anniversary during World War II and the 19th Veterans Day have been commemorated at the beach here recently.

It was graced by Undersecretary for Civilian and Reserve Affairs of the Department of National Defense (DND) Major Gen. Pablo M. Lorenzo in lieu of DND Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Pangasinan Gov. Ramon V. Guico III, Vice Governor Mark Lambino, military delegation from the Australian Embassy, foreign veterans, and officials of the Philippine Veterans Bank and Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.

LANDING

Supreme Allied Commander for the Far East American Five-Star General Douglas MacArthur's landing in Lingayen Gulf on January 9, 1945, was the final phase of his famous promise to return to the Philippines. While his first landing was in Leyte months earlier, the Lingayen operation was the massive amphibious assault needed to retake the capital, Manila.

MacArthur traveled to the Gulf aboard the light cruiser USS Boise. He was part of a massive naval armada (Task Force 77) consisting of over 800 ships. To reach Lingayen, the fleet had to take a dangerous route through the Sulu Sea and up the western coast of Luzon, surviving heavy Japanese Kamikaze ( Japanese aircraft loaded with explosives and even gasoline while making a deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target) attacks along the way.

At roughly 9:30 AM on January 9 (designated "S-Day"), the U.S. Sixth Army began hitting the beaches. Unlike the bloody resistance at Normandy in France, the Japanese commander, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, had opted to withdraw his forces into the Cordillera’s mountains rather than fight on the shore here. This meant the initial waves of 68, 000 Americans and allied troops like the Australian troops landed with relatively little opposition.

MacArthur did not land with the first wave. He arrived later that afternoon, around 2:00 Pm to 2:15 Pm.

As his landing craft (a Higgins boat) approached the shore, it couldn't get close enough to the dry sand. Instead of waiting for a pier or a smaller boat, MacArthur—intent on a dramatic and purposeful return—stepped off the ramp into knee-deep water and waded the rest of the way to the beach.

The pipe chomping Ray Ban’s Aviator sunglasses sporting American Caesar’s MacArthur waded knee deep the Red Beach here there for dramatic entrance that became an iconic photo not only for posterity but for perpetuity for the future lovers of history. He was accompanied by Philippine Commonwealth President Sergio Osmena (who succeeded President Manuel Quezon who died of tuberculosis in the U.S), Lieutenant General Richard Sutherland, ‘Dwarf’, Bright, legendary Filipino writer and Palace official Brigadier General Carlos P. Romulo (who married a pretty Yank journalist Beth Day), Major GeneraL Courtney Whitney, Sergeant Francisco Salveron, and CBS Radio’s correspondent William J. Dunn.

SHIPS DAMAGED

Ships damaged by Kamikazes on January 3 to 11 on the way to Lingayen included the battleships USS Mississippi, New Mexico and California (the latter was also accidentally hit by friendly fire), the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, the light cruiser USS Columbia, and the destroyer minesweepers USS Long and USS Hovey. Following the landings, Lingayen Gulf was turned into a vast supply depot for the rest of the war to support the Battle of Luzon (The Invasion of Luzon – Battle of Lingayen Gulf, January 1945". Navy Heritage Command on Invasion of Lingayen Gulf. US Navy History and Heritage Command)

DEADS

While not the highest in U.S. casualties, the subsequent Battle for Luzon was the highest net casualty battle U.S. forces fought in World War II, with 192,000 to 217,000 Japanese combatants dead, though some sources quote losses as high as 380,000 for the entire conflict including non-combat casualties (mostly from starvation and disease).