The Alamo Scouts, Sixth Army's Special Reconnaissance Unit of World War II, provided intelligence-gathering and tactical reconnaissance in the Pacific Theatre. During the war, they performed over 106 successful missions in the Admiralty Islands, New Guinea and the Philippines, most deep behind enemy lines. The Scouts took part in liberating two POW camps. The Scouts evolved from a simple reconnaissance unit to a sophisticated intelligence unit supplying and coordinating large-scale guerilla operations on Leyte and Luzon. They did this without losing a man, killed or captured. The Scouts are now recognised as forerunners of the modern Special Forces.

[Includes 16 charts, 54 maps and 196 illustrations] Triumph in the Philippines is the story of the largest joint campaign of the Pacific phase of World War II. Devoted principally to the accomplishments of U.S. Army ground combat forces and to the operations of major organized Philippine guerrilla units that contributed notably to the success of the campaign, the volume describes the reconquest of the Philippine archipelago exclusive of Leyte and Samar. The narrative includes coverage of air, naval, and logistical activity necessary to broad understanding of the ground combat operations. The strategic planning and the strategic debates leading to the decision to seize Luzon and bypass Formosa are also treated so as to enable the reader to fit the Luzon and Southern Philippines Campaigns into their proper perspective of the war against Japan. For the forces of General MacArthur’s Southwest Pacific Area the reconquest of Luzon and the Southern Philippines was the climax of the Pacific war, although no one anticipated this outcome when, on 9 January 1945, Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger’s Sixth Army poured ashore over the beaches of Lingayen Gulf. Viewed from the aspect of commitment of U.S. Army ground forces, the Luzon Campaign (which strategically and tactically in-chides the seizure of Mindoro Island and the securing of the shipping lanes through the central Visayan Islands) was exceeded in size during World War II only by the drive across northern France. The Luzon Campaign differed from others of the Pacific war in that it alone provided opportunity for the employment of mass and maneuver on a scale even approaching that common to the European and Mediterranean theaters. The operations of Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger’s Eighth Army, both on Luzon and during the Southern Philippines Campaign, were more akin to previous actions throughout the Pacific, but the southern campaign, too, presented features peculiar to the reconquest of the Philippine archipelago.

A fascinating view of the Pacific War by the victorious commander of the US Sixth Army, who led his men through the islands and jungles against the Imperial Japanese Army to final victory in recapturing the Philippines. “ALTHOUGH NEARLY EIGHT YEARS have passed since the end of the war with Japan, the story of the conspicuous part Sixth Army played in it remains to be told. Instead of publishing my personal reminiscences of the events in which I participated, I decided to write the story of Sixth Army. I felt that I owed this to all who served under me there—in particular to the many thousands who laid down their lives. The result is an unadorned narrative of the long trek of Sixth Army “from Down Under to Nippon”; of much bitter fighting; of hardships and shortcomings, as well as outstanding performances; of luck and of victory. The story is based upon my own official reports and those from my subordinate units, and upon my own notes and recollections. It stresses the bold and brilliant strategic plans of our Commander in Chief, General Douglas MacArthur, which charted our course to victory in the Southwest Pacific and which were effectively carried out by his Army-Navy-Air Forces team, of which Sixth Army formed an essential part.”—From author’s Foreword “History has not given him due credit for his greatness. I do not believe that the annals of American history have shown his superior as an Army commander. Swift and sure in the attack, tenacious and determined in defense, modest and restrained in victory—I do not know what he would have been in defeat, because he was never defeated.”—General MacArthur

World War II changed the face of the United States, catapulting the country out of economic depression, political isolation, and social conservatism. Ultimately, the war was a major formative factor in the creation of modern America. This unique, twelve-volume set provides comprehensive coverage of this transformation in its domestic policies, diplomatic relations, and military strategies, as well as the changing cultural and social arenas. The collection presents the history of the creation of a super power prior to, during, and after the war, analyzing all major phases of the U.S. involvement, making it a one-stop resource that will be essential for all libraries supporting a history curriculum. This volume is available on its own or as part of the twelve-volume set, The American Experience in World War II . For a complete list of the volume titles in this set, see the listing for The American Experience in World War II [ISBN: 0-415-94028-1].

From the liberation of the Philippines to the Japanese surrender, the final volume of John C. McManus's trilogy on the US Army in the Pacific War “Brilliant [and] riveting… a truly great book.”—Gen. David Petraeus • “Triumphant [and] compelling.”—Richard Frank • “McManus is one of the best—if not the best—World War II historians working today.”—World War II magazine The dawn of 1945 finds a US Army at its peak in the Pacific. Allied victory over Japan is all but assured. The only question is how many more months—or years—of fight does the enemy have left. John C. McManus, winner of the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History, concludes his magisterial series, described by the Wall Street Journal as being “as vast and splendid as Rick Atkinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Liberation Trilogy,” with this brilliant final volume. On the island of Luzon, a months-long stand-off between US and Japanese troops finally breaks open, as American soldiers push into Manila, while paratroopers and amphibious invaders capture nearby Corregidor. The Philippines are soon liberated, and Allied strategists turn their eyes to China, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Japanese home islands themselves. Readers will walk in the boots of American soldiers and officers, braving intense heat, rampant disease, and a by-now suicidal enemy, determined to kill as many opponents as possible before defeat, and they will encounter Japanese soldiers faced with the terrible choice between capitulation or doom. At the same time, this outstanding narrative lays bare the titanic ego and ambition of the Pacific War’s most prominent general, Douglas MacArthur, and the complex challenges he faced in Japan’s unconditional surrender and America’s lengthy occupation.