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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;charley, post: 6392952, member: 5372&quot;]The&nbsp; dug out Doug comment....yes, he&nbsp; was, however, that is not the history as written by the participants.</p><p><br /></p><p>At the time of the imminent Japanese entrapment and takeover of Corregidor, General MacArthur had put up a spirited defense and wanted to stay. His wife and child were in theater, yet he did not consider this as a reason to not continue to defy the Japanese, and he informed POTUS of his intent. MacArthur was viewed as the public persona of resistance of the Japanese in the Pacific. POTUS was worried his capture and inevitable propaganda tool that would happen if he was captured by the Japanese, would be very demoralizing&nbsp; to allied countries and specifically Americans. POTUS ordered him to leave. The nickname is due to visiting his forces on Bataan only once, while troops were constantly exposed. MacArthur often foolishly exposed himself to danger, in a crazed defiance and sense of presenting a figure that could not be caught. This same craziness was in play in his escape. He and his family and staff were sent a submarine to be able to evade the Japanese blockade .He declined, and ordered that the escape be by PT boat, and the staff he picked to accompany him became known as the Bataan Gang, and would be the staff that planned and executed the eventual defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific. </p><p><br /></p><p>It is easy to forget that the Japanese invasion of the Philippines was a completely unexpected surprise, and didn&#039;t just happen a few days before MacArthur was ordered to leave. He did everything he could have done. </p><p><br /></p><p>At the time, the allied forces did not have any commander of the talent and level of understanding of the Pacific theater, or of the countries and governments that would need to be coordinated if there was to be an eventual defeat of Japan. Commanders of that ability and knowledge just didn&#039;t exist.</p><p><br /></p><p>The point: he was ordered by POTUS to leave. This order was long after his 1 visit to the troops, which was the beginning of the nickname, and while it dogged him the rest of his career, was completely an incorrect and undeserved criticism.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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