MacArthur Memorial Podcast

In February 2024, the MacArthur Memorial hosted an event to mark the 125th anniversary of the Philippine American War. This event was in partnership with the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society and the Council of United Filipino Organizations of Tidewater. The event featured presentations by several scholars on different aspects of the war. Dr. Brian Linn, author of The U.S. Army and Counterinsurgency in the Philippine War, 1899-1902, presented a lecture entitled: The US Army and the Philippine-American War. 

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From February 29 – May 18, 1944, a thousand troopers of the First Cavalry Division, a few United States Navy destroyers and a handful of “Fighting Seabees” defied the odds and seized the Admiralty Islands, making it possible for General MacArthur to keep his promise to return to the Philippines. The Admiralty Island Campaign was the boldest action of MacArthur’s forces in World War II. Some contemporaries called it reckless, others brilliant. MacArthur Memorial historians Amanda Williams and Jim Zobel break down the operation and discuss MacArthur's decision to accelerate a planned invasion of the islands.

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Former paratrooper, James M. Fenelon, author of Angels Against the Sun: A WWII Saga of Grunts, Grit, and Brotherhood, joined the MacArthur Memorial Podcast to discuss the story of the 11th Airborne and the liberation of the Philippines during World War II. 

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The Philippine-American War (1899-1902) was a controversial war. Many Americans did not support it, including anti-imperialists like Mark Twain. Others did. In response to the war, the English writer Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem The White Man’s Burden, in which he encouraged the United States to “take up the White Man’s burden” to maintain colonial control of the Philippines as a way to bring progress to the Filipino people. The great irony of this phrase though was that African American troops – the Buffalo Soldiers – made up part of the force used to “take up the White Man’s burden.” To discuss the service of the Buffalo Soldiers in the Philippines during this period, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Jeff Acosta, a former curator of the MacArthur Memorial and a history professor at Tidewater Community College. He is also a member of the Filipino American National Historical Society National Board of Trustees and the Filipinio American National Historical Society - Hampton Roads.


Join us for a FREE event at 10:00AM EST on February 3, 2024, as we mark the upcoming 125th anniversary of the Philippine-American War with a series of lectures and an unveiling of the MacArthur Memorial's copy of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo's 1899 declaration of independence. The Filipino American National Historical Society - Hampton Roads and the Council of United Filipino Organizations of Tidewater are co-sponsors of this event.

Event sign up:
Philippine-American War Remembrance Event

Not able to attend in person? Receive a post-event email with a link to a recording of the event and a new MacArthur Memorial Collections guide for the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War.  Email: macarthureducation@norfolk.gov. 

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The Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939 and then the 1941 invasion of Soviet occupied-Poland brought an almost unimaginable scale of suffering to the people of Poland. And yet, in the midst of such terror, there were people who risked their lives to help those targeted for extermination. One of those was a woman posing as a Polish countess. Her real name was Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg. She was Jewish AND she was operating in Lublin, Poland – at the heart of the Nazi effort to destroy the Jews. Against all odds, she saved thousands of people. To share this amazing story, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Dr. Elizabeth “Barry” White one of the authors of The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust. 

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In this MacArthur Q&A Part II, MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams answer questions posed by MacArthur Memorial Podcast listeners. 

•  When did the MacArthur family settle in America?
• What battles was General MacArthur directly involved in during the New Guinea campaign?
• How involved was MacArthur with the United States Army Military Government in Korea during the occupation period from 1945-1948?
• What was it like to work close to the General?  
• What was General MacArthur's postwar relationship with some of his peers, namely, Fletcher, Spruance, and especially Nimitz?
• During the Korean War, did General MacArthur consider putting nuclear chemicals on the borderline of the Korean Peninsula and China?
• and more!

Keep your questions coming! There will be future Q&A episodes!

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In 1901, during the Philippine-American War, the Governor-General of the Philippines, Brigadier General Arthur MacArthur Jr., father of Douglas MacArthur, approved a daring plan by Frederick Funston to capture General Aguinaldo. Once Aguinaldo was in custody, Arthur MacArthur persuaded him to swear allegiance to the United States and to use his influence to help end the war. What do we know about the discussions between the two men? How did they see the future of the Philippines? How did this event influence Douglas MacArthur’s vision of Philippine independence? In this latest episode, MacArthur Memorial historians Amanda Williams and Jim Zobel discuss these questions and more.

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During World War II thousands of British cadets learned to fly at six civilian training schools across the southern United States. The first and largest of the schools was in Terrell, Texas. More than 2,200 Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Corps cadets earned their wings at the No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum in Terrell between 1941 and 1945. To explore the history of this flying school in Terrell, the MacArthur Memorial podcast hosted Tom Killebrew, author of The Royal Air Force in Texas: Training British Pilots in Terrell during World War II. 

Learn more about the No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum: Home Page (bftsmuseum.org)

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On September 10th, 1981, with the help of Mrs. Jean MacArthur, President Ronald Reagan dedicated a corridor in the Pentagon in honor of General Douglas MacArthur. Recently, MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams sat down to explore the history of the MacArthur Corridor and discuss some of the MacArthur Memorial artifacts on display there. 

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On October 20, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur kept his famous I Shall Return promise when he landed at Leyte with one of the largest invasion forces in history. From the beach, he broadcast his "I Have Returned" speech. It is a short, 2-minute speech, but it is packed with emotion. 

MacArthur had written the speech about a month before the landings, and it had gone through several drafts. On September 29, 1944, MacArthur recorded the speech in an OWI office in Brisbane in the event of technical difficulties during the landings. This podcast episode features this recorded version. 

After he gave the speech live on the beach on October 20, 1944, the content of the speech made its way around the world. It was panned by newspapers in the US and by later writers. They considered it “sacrilegious,” “flamboyant,” and as proof of “MacArthur’s supreme egotism.” As MacArthur’s air chief General George Kenney explained however, the speech was not meant for Americans or for the world. It was for the Filipino people. That audience received it well. For many, it was a new commitment from a trusted source.  - a commitment to see the liberation of the Philippines through to completion.

Just something to think about as you listen to this recording of MacArthur’s I Shall Return Speech.

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On September 30, 2023, the MacArthur Memorial opened a new 5000 sq ft exhibit entitled The Price of Unpreparedness: POWs in the Philippines during World War II. 

The opening event featured the following presentations:

• Dr. Frank Blazich, Jr. - Defeat, Death, and Defiance: The POW Experience in the Philippines
• Mary Maynard - An American Family's WWII Tail of Adventure and Survival
• Cecily Marshall - The Civilian Internee Experience
• Corey Thornton and Jim Zobel - Overview: The Price of Unpreparedness

Exhibit Guide: https://www.flipsnack.com/FE7AC7BBDC9/special-exhibit-guide-the-price-of-unpreparedness/full-view.html 

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20,000 American troops went into captivity after the fall of the Philippines in 1942. Recent scholarship indicates that half of those POWs did not survive captivity. Surviving the POW experience in the Philippines – including the hell ships and labor camps in Korea and Japan – was no easy feat. For those who did survive to liberation – how did the US Army medical system treat them? How were they reintegrated back into society? To examine the repatriation of these former POWs, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast spoke with Scott Woodard, Historian with the US Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage 

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Franklin Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur, and Winston Churchill were all very different men, but they shared a few things. One thing they shared was a common ancestor – Sarah Barney Belcher – a woman born in Massachusetts in 1771. They also all had fascinating mothers who were instrumental in their careers. To explore the roles played by Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast interviewed Charlotte Gray, author of Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt. 

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The US Army Veterinary Corps (VC) has a fascinating history. Created in 1916, by WWII its activities were chiefly centered on food inspection to ensure animal products going to feed the Army were being sanitarily procured, produced, and transported. The VC also had responsibility across theatres for about 56,000 horses and mules, thousands of war dogs, and pigeons used by the Signal Corps. On December 8, 1941, there were 12 VC officers stationed in the Philippines. As the Japanese invaded the islands, they played an important role in trying to feed the beleaguered defenders, as well as caring for military animals and even human patients. When the Philippines fell to the Japanese in the spring of 1942, these men went into captivity – applying their unique skillset to the challenges of the POW experience. To share these stories, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Jon Frank, the son of Charles B. Frank, a VC officer who survived the POW experience in the Philippines. 

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In 1942, US Army dental officer, Roy L. Bodine, became a POW when Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.  He spent 41 months as a POW - surviving the Bataan Death March, POW camps, Hell Ships, and labor camps. One month after VJ Day, he was liberated from a labor camp in Korea. Throughout his captivity, he kept a diary which was later used as evidence in war crimes trials after WWII. 
To discuss Bodine's POW experience and later life, MacArthur Memorial Archivist Jim Zobel interviewed Major General Patrick Sculley (USA, Retired). General Sculley knew Bodine and has spent many years researching Bodine's POW experience.  

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Throughout World War II, Allied leaders met in a series of conferences to discuss and decide joint military and political goals. The Casablanca Conference, held in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14-24, 1943, was the third of these meetings. And as with the other conferences, the personalities, the debates, and the eventual agreements are absolutely fascinating.  To explore the Casablanca Conference, the MacArthur Memorial hosted James B. Conroy, author of The Devils Will Get No Rest: FDR, Churchill, and the Plan that Won the War.

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When the Philippines fell to the Japanese in the spring of 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino troops became POWs. Approximately 1 in 3 (possibly more) of the Americans did not survive captivity. Their treatment by their captors and their limited access to medical care/supplies is often highlighted by historians. To discuss this in more depth and to highlight the experiences of US Army medical personnel held captive in the Philippines, Andy Watson, Chief of the U.S. Army Medical Department Center of History and Heritage, joined the MacArthur Memorial Podcast.

Learn more about US Army Medical history and heritage:  Home | AMEDD Center of History & Heritage (army.mil)

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On June 6, 1944, the Allied invasion of Normandy began. D-Day, as the first phase of this invasion has come to be known, was a critical moment in the liberation of Europe. It did not mark the end of the war, but 11 months later, the sacrifices of June 6 would lead to the total defeat of Nazi Germany.

John Long, Director of Education at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA joined the MacArthur Memorial Podcast to provide an overview of D-Day and "The Bedford Boys."

Learn more about the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA. 

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Between 1943-1945, the US Navy operated Naval Air Station Wildwood in Cape May, NJ as a training center for dive bomber squadrons. Thousands of pilots were trained there and during the peak training months of mid 1944 – early 1945, the air station was home to over 200 warplanes. From a historical perspective, NAS Wildwood is a fascinating study in American mobilization and US naval warfare doctrine. Jim Krombach, a naval aviation historian and a member of the Board of Trustees for NAS Wildwood, joined the MacArthur Podcast to share the story of NAS Wildwood.

Learn more about the NAS Wildwood Aviation Museum: NAS Wildwood Aviation Museum | (usnasw.org)

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World War II was a total war. That required it to also be a media war. Media coverage mattered. The opinions and impressions of citizens on the home front and of citizen soldiers on battlefield had to be considered. But exactly how did the nexus of media and public opinion effect military decision making during the war? Did media coverage fundamentally shape Allied strategy? Was media a tool for commanders, or did it encourage commanders to pursue prestige prizes over better military objectives?  To answer these questions, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Dr. Alexander Lovelace, a Scholar in Residence at the Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University and the author of The Media Offensive: How the Allied Press and Public Opinion Shaped Allied Strategy during World War II. 

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