Corregidor, the Rock Force Assault, 1945

Gen. Douglas MacArthur, escaping Corregidor not long before it fell to the Japanese in 1942, delivered a ringing promise to the people of the Philippines: ``I shall return.'' Flanagan tells the story of the Japanese conquest of the Philippines and the recapture of the tiny island at the entrance to Manila Bay in 1945, militarily a minor but symbolically important moment in MacArthur's return. The two-week battle for Corregidor was complicated by the Americans' gross underestimation of enemy strength: expecting a few hundred demoralized defenders, they encountered more than 6000 Japanese soldiers and marines deployed in tunnels and caves, every man dedicated to the Bushido code that dictated a fight to the death. As the dust was settling, MacArthur himself came ashore and was met by the commander of the victorious U.S. Army troops. ``Sir,'' said Col. George Jones, ``I present to you the Fortress Corregidor''a stirring conclusion to a dramatic and well-told story. (June)