Devastating blow to the United States and to general douglas macarthur. By 1945, in the minds of many americans and filipinos, corregidor, the rock, was not just a military target. It was the sight of a military defeat that had to be redeemed. In february, 1945, a daring mission was launched to recapture this island. Author Kevin Maurer joins us tonight to discuss this mission. He is the author of several books, including no easy day, the firsthand account of the mission that killed osama bin laden, and hes covered the military for more than ten years, traveling through iraq, afghanistan, east africa, and haiti to tell the stories of american soldiers. His latest work, Rock Force, tells the story of 1945 retaking of corregidor. Please join me in welcoming Kevin Maurer. Hello, welcome. Thank you very much for the center for having me. Lets talk about Rock Force, a sort of homecoming for me. My family still lives there. Im familiar with what you guys do there and i appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. So Rock Force is an interesting book only and that i had no Idea Anything about corregidor, the final third. And i was in my Editors Office in new york, brett howard, and his grandfather jumped corregidor on. We are talking about doing a book together, finding a topic. He mentioned corregidor and thought it would make for a great book. In this one, at that point, i had no idea. The only familiarity i had was with Rock Force, there is a mannequin in the special operations of one of the paratroopers. I knew they jumped in the pacific. For me, this book was as much of a journey discovering as anything. What i found i think was really an overlooked operation that doesnt get the same sort of fanfare like the operations do. Particularly the airborne operations in europe. At the end of the day, i think its an amazing story, and im going to walk you through a little bit of what i found in some of the characters and folks who will meet that as you read Rock Force, so we need to read it, you are better and more well versed in the battle that i was when i first started Rock Force. First off, lets talk about corregidor, the island. Its more than four miles in length, shape like a tadpole and sits in the mouth of the Manila Bay. The Islands Name comes from Spanish Word for magistrate or correct or. Thats because when the spanish took over the philippines, the island was converted into the first stop for ships entering. Youd go, get your manifest checked, and everything. The name stuck. Once a volcano, the island became a fortress. When the spanish where there, they put candidates on it to defend the bay, and after the spanish american war, the americans turned into gibraltar the pacific, and thats when it came a force. They dug these massive tunnels and build massive, bunkers giant coastal guns that were built to protect the bay. The head of the tadpole, as we see, on the left side of the map, is called topside. And this is built up. It looks like its sticking its head out of the water. Thats where the was made. And the base around the tail, theres a little hump, and that is the main tunnel built there as a storage tunnel, but later you will find japanese lay siege to the island and it becomes a headquarter for general macarthur and a refuge for the last known survivors. Three years later, becomes a last refuge for the japanese. So why is corregidor . Important. Why doesnt hold this mythology in american military history. In late 1941, general macarthur was caught off guard by the japanese invasion to the philippines. He was forced to retreat to corridor. Months later, under orders from President Roosevelt he [inaudible] on boats in the dark of the night, leaving the defenders there. It was a bitter pill for him, a huge humiliation to the american military. U know, its fun it haunted ames into the winter of 1945. As he read the book, the paratroopers know it happened at the time and they understood this mission to be somewhat of getting back at the japanese. Because when the japanese took corregidor, it was a tremendous blow. General mcarthur was convinced it was ready to surrender with forces there, but he was taken out under order by President Roosevelt for the express reason that he was viewed as a general of allied forces against the japanese. So to take back the island, mcarthur calls of the parachute regiment, that was commanded by a highly trained veteran by the name of george jones. The mission is to jump out of the island, hemmed in by sheer cliffs, we and rested from the japanese defenders. Fully armed, ready to fight. They West Point are and an early graduate of parachutes. He was stationed as a Company Commander before taking full command of the first battalion. That assignment earned him the Nickname Panama jones which sticks with him for the rest. While the 82nd airborne division stood out in that fight in europe, it was his that was sent to in australia of 90 42 and it was general macarthurs reserve. As you go through the book, one of the first guys you will meet is a guy named Bill Calhoun. At 21 22, first lieutenant Bill Calhoun was a veteran parachute robert. He had a purple heart. At the time, ordered to take corregidor, and he was the leader of the first platoon. In this picture, he is holding a Machine Gun. The Books Narrative is built on this unpublished memoir. The second copy i got was printed with his handwritten notes on it, and that came from his family. His mom or is the back bone of the narrative of Rock Force and gives you the character to follow as well as his inner. Monologuist it out to me in the snow more was how much of a toll being Combat Commander took on . How much he loved his, men but also how much he struggled with its importance, and i thought it was telling because a lot of times books are written with still a stark right and wrong, good versus evil, and i like the idea of falling calhoun through this battle and seeing how he deals with combat, and being a combat leader. Second important character is a guy named charlie bradford, Doc Bradford is with the called him because he was a second battalion surgeon. In 1926, he was part of a team of surgeons who traveled with the american during the blitz to provide medical care 1940. The two years later, he joined the army as a captain. An orthopedic surgeon, started his career in a hospital in australia. What was funny, after several broken bones from a Parachute Jumper, he thought it might be useful for the regiment to have a surgeon on staff. Even angled Jump Training in australia, got qualified and joined their team. He wrote a memoir passed around by historians quite a bit that were writing about corregidor and has been used before as a soldiers bases because a couple reasons, bradford writes beautifully. Hes got a great insight for story, and because he was the surgeon, there was a lot of guys passing around issues. He picked up stories when guys came in. Hes able to paint a broader picture of what happened on corregidor, and hes such a good right, it brings such humanity that you actually get to understand the war a little bit. He also brings great admiration. He really is a guy who saw the big picture, saw the valor he was seeing, and was able to capture it eloquently. The last point of your character i focused on was a guy named anthony lopez. Lopez was from colorado. Youngest of five brothers. Hed grown up without a father, and the army became his new family ones he enlisted in 1943. Lopez is the only man i interviewed that i wrote deeply about. He passed away since, but i was able to get one of his final and abuse battles home in colorado. Really interesting guy. Good story teller. He tells a couple great stories in the book. One about how he and his friends stole a Supply Truck and were able to find apples and lord and they were able to use with they had stolen in fresh apple pies around the holidays which was quite a hit with his mates. Whats interesting about tony lopez, his story is important because there is a part in the book, because of the sheer cliffs around corregidor, some guys missed strikes on the top and were in ravines that is where the japanese defenders were in. At one point, he goes down to those remains to save a paratrooper, and its a really moving story. A heroic story. Whats stuck with me most from my time spent with 20 lopez as he didnt want to talk much about it. He wanted to talk about the fun pranks he and his unit mates were doing. But he really is the Heart And Soul of this book. It was a privilege to get to spend some time with him. I think the guy most people will have some familiarity with is lloyd carter. Whats interesting about Lord Mcarthur he was a scout in the platoon. He and calhoun has this great relationship because calhoun handpick some to be scout. And calhoun says pretty much politely he is not going into combat without floyd mick carter, before they get on the plane, calhoun goes down to the stockade and gets carter out. Mcarthur had a habit of leaving the unit. When they werent in combat, they were waiting for the next mission. Lloyd would disappear. There is always rumors where well see, and the rumor was before corregidor, he was in new guinea fighting alongside australians, he had this fearsome reputation of being this reckless and liberal anyone who challenged him. Would make some adjusting, is Hes Sort of that classic you see infection. Hes always out in comment. Always says this reckless mentality. But such in the central part of the unit. His eyes, ears, the guys trust him. When you read the book, you will find that when they needed help the most, at one point in the book there is a Bonsai Charge and mcarthur is the one that goes out and puts themself on play and wants this charge. Mcarthur is the character thats a classic guy. He was a lumberjack in idaho, before he joined the military. Has these colorful pasts. If i invented him instead of writing about this Guy Mcarthur Youd laugh and say its over the top. Its really why nonfiction is so great. The only regret i have is i never got as much about him as i wouldve liked. Hes such a great, colorful guy, such an interesting part of the story. I never got to the depth of what i wanted to really flush him out. We back to the map, this is a tactical plan. When jones gets the mission to take corregidor, he arrives with a bomber crew. Select landing. On one of the passes, he spots to clearings on top. Side topside is double the said. At the front of the island. Right . One was a nine hole golf, course the other was the Parade Field. On another pass, he sees and theres an airfield on the Tail Section towards the back of the tail. He decides hes going to jump on the airfield. Its flat, its wide, its easy to jump on. Hes overruled. They order him to land on top side, because the japanese can set up their defenses to repel, because thats how they took the island. The prevailing idea it was if you jump with the paratroopers in the middle, they would have the high ground. So they are going to use two columns of cargo planes. The paratroopers would approach the island from the southwest, at about 400 feet. Planes over the landing fields for six seconds per Pass Meaning Theyd have to jump in six groups of paratroopers, from 68. Two aircraft at a time and go over the landing field. Six to eight guys would jump out. They would make three passes. And when they go to jump, the prevailing intelligence tells us that eight under japanese defenders where there, make a couple before the mission. And what they still think is only 800 japanese. But when they get on the ground, they realize its over 6000. 3000 paratroopers jumping in the middle sixties and japanese. Here is the view of corregidor, from the top side as theyre coming in. The light specks you see are the parishes. The long building you see there is my along barracks. Which becomes kind of a landmark on top side. It becomes the sort tour hub. The first look you see is if your paratrooper jumping out of a c 47, you see the discarded parachutes, the remains here with the jungle. Whats interesting, Theres Something special about a paratrooper if you think about it. You see the trooper there and the picture. Hes jumping out with all his gear, with about two days worth of food, all the ammunition he will need, weapons. Theres something special about paratroopers. They had this idea they could jump out of an airplane into the middle of a Combat Zone and survive for two or three days before they needed to be resupplied. That mentality is special, and unique. I had the pleasure of going overseas with the 82nd airborne, modern paratroopers now. It is the same mentality, the same idea. There is this ruggedness to the way paratroopers see the world. The way they fight, and i think it starts with the fact that they are trained, convinced that if you give them two days of food, and a healthy parachute whether not injured, they will be just fine in fighting the enemy. This is how you land. If you notice this, this is how rugged the materialists. Its how rugged the ground is. This is a crater here. This is chant. I have a great history of chat talking about his time there. He describes the landing pretty vividly as he says after the jolt of the parachute opening, nycum looked up into a full canopy. He floated for a few seconds just enough time to get his bearings. The wind pushing backwards as the wind raised up to beat him. Nycum landed hard on his back in a cloud of dust. He was in the crater. Before he could move, paratroopers from the italian Headquarters Jump next to him to help him out of his harness. Snatching his summit Machine Gun from his case, slip a magazine into the receiver. When you got to the lid of the crater he spotted an american correspondent holding a camera. At the man had filmed his landing and he learned later the footage of him in his World War ii landing made it into the News Reels. Shown all over the United States. Its sort of funny that when i was reading his oral history, i was writing it, that section of the book, i reached out to paul witman, a historian. One of the experts of corregidor, he had the picture, the part of the News Reel with Nycum Landing in the crater like he described. Okay, i mentioned it earlier, my along barracks. This is my along here. It was the worlds largest military barracks. It was assigned to corregidor. During the american invasion of the island, the paratrooper seized the barracks of the japanese. And the used it as a command post. Captain bradford, who we talked about earlier, set up a station. If you go to Visit Corregidor now it looks similar to what you see in the picture here. Its got a damaged, skeletal look. When i went to visit i was there with paul witman. And he started digging into some of the debris in front. He actually pulled out parts of a parachute. I was actually able to get parts of a parachute there. Right in front of the barracks that are still there today. If you go visit you can walk around and walk in. Once they get to corregidor, you can see how rugged the landscape is. Corregidor had been bombed for, i think, weeks before the paratroopers actually landed. The ground was shut up. There were broken trees everywhere. It wasnt like what you would expect to see when you think about the pacific. It was not thick jungle. It was a barren wasteland. The trees were all shattered by bombs. There were massive craters. The remassive tunnels and caves throughout the island. So the war and the pacific was particularly nasty. It was fought in claustrophobic tunnels and jungles. Often in close quarters. And here was no different. What was interesting to me, a little, is the more i read about this, have uncovered both the war in Iraq And Afghanistan, it was shocking how little corregidor was offered to the american side. The american marines hated the japanese, and vice versa. More so than you see over in europe. A paratrooper approaching in groups would approach tunnels and caves. They would throw grenades or shoot flame throwers endemic to get the japanese out. Theyre not going in there to get them out to fight them. They didnt have to. Much of the battle was fought their way in close quarters. Sometimes with trenches, some of the structures are concrete. You cannot shoot in there safely. There is one seen in the book where they go into a Machine Shop and the initial fight starts with someone shooting, the ricochets hit to create friendly fire. That the fight with knives and bayonet. It becomes a very savage, savage fight. It got so bad that the italian headquarters, at one point, sent out a message to the men. It said, look, we need intelligence. Many to capture some japanese defenders. Find out where they are, where theyre hiding, whats going on, and we will offer a Threeday Pass for every person or we get. They still really couldnt get it, they couldnt get prisoners. As this battle, the jump is a success, they try to break out from the top of topside. Its surgically arent the ravines, it becomes a daily slog through the ravines. Into the tunnels. Often in close quarters. Finally after a couple weeks the americans eventually prevail. And General Mcarthur is able to come back. After three years of being evacuated. He finally comes back. And when he stepped off the boat there was still the stench of enemy horses in the air. The stench was so bad that sailors reported smelling it as they were patrolling the waters around. When mcarthur gets to corregidor, before going up the top side, hes driving around the island. He goes to where he used to live. He goes to the tunnel where the headquarters was, where he lived before he evacuated with his family. It goes up and looks at some of the batteries. That were really wet corregidor s claim to fame was. He says is standing in front of a battery, one of the biggest coastal once and he says Gentlemen Corregidor is proof that days of the fixed fortress are over. Ive that quote in their. And that stuck with me because what he is saying, i think, is that when the japanese took it, took corregidor, they bombed it. They didnt attack it ships. Corregidor was built to fight a naval attack. To shoot back at ships. When bombs get involved, when you drop paratroopers in front of it, the idea of building a Fortress Island to protect Manila Bay is far in the past before he gets there. And i think thats telling that he recognizes it. When you some of the tour he comes up to preside over a former ceremony and there are paratroopers there. There was in full tree, they were part of the amphibious part of the assault on corregidor. He says, General Mcarthur, the capture of corregidor its one of the most brilliant captures a military history. He says i see the flag still stands. Have the troopers voice the colors to its peak. Let no enemy ever hold it down there. So the hoist the colors. And but i thought it was interesting is that bradfords memoir, he writes all the officers are standing around. Theyre watching the ceremony. And at the end of it one of bradfords friends turned to him and says, well, that ends the story of corregidor, the true story. From now on its a legend. It belongs to the scenario riders. They will make comic strip heroes out of the real men who fought here. Im glad we saw our part, they can have theirs. I thought it is interesting, even they were aware that this battle would probably go down, have its own mythology. And i think part of it is into the fact that it was such a symbolic, such a bitter loss in 42. When they finally got back, taking a back, the soldiers were aware it was going to be much bigger and trumped up a bit. That the battle they saw was not going to be the one that is going to be portrayed in history books. I think at the end of the day that quote was my North Star as i tried to really begin to giving readers a Soda Straw View of the fight. Releasing as true to the soldier, as close to what they were thinking, less about the big muscle movements of the battle. So that quote it sticks with me. It was the emphasis, in whats set up the battle. As for the 503rd, the airborne brigade, it becomes really part of corregidor. This is the patch, it served in afghanistan, iraq, its part of the one 73rd airborne brigade. For those that have seen restraint po, the documentary made by sebastian younger, those are paratroopers from the 503rd. Its nicknamed the rock now. And if you notice the patch, look at the patch carefully, you see the eagle. But you also see where looks like a tadpole. A tadpole shaped island with the rock or written in it. The path you see here was created by the World War ii paratroopers that took corregidor, specifically to honor with they did and that mission. Its still being worn today. Finally, i want to thank everybody for coming to this. I put this last slide up because at a chance to go Visit Corregidor in 2019. I mentioned poly couple times in this. He was an expert guide. We walked as many to locations as we could. If you read the book, you will notice some of the locations in the picture are in the book. One on the left is wheeler battery. Thats where im sitting. Looking at where the platoon get into a fight on the first pay. This middle one is where in the Bonsai Attack you see in the book, thats where it takes place. And the tunnel it is the tunnel we talked about, in the middle of the island where mcarthur took refuge. All these places are still there. It is an amazing battlefield to go and study. The tour is a great. More importantly, i think you get a real sense of how tough of a fight it was. And really what was accomplished by the paratroopers. Thank you very much for tuning in. I appreciate the time. Hey kevin. How are you . Very good. Thank you for the presentation. The book was great. Very glad you are able to join us tonight. We do have some questions coming in for tonight. The first one is the assault on the island was made by the 503rd parachute infantry regiment. Ive been told they used parachutes and the 511th regiment. That several of the parachutes and not deploy properly. Is this true . At the time, the 511th was fighting in the battle in manila, advancing from the south. That is a great question. I dont know. Im almost positive, i can double check, i dont think anybody died in a Parachute Jump as i know. I dont think anyone died there. They did have injuries. Far fewer than they anticipated. They were counting on 50 injury rate. They didnt get it. Im pretty sure they probably didnt jump with those parachutes. Im just guessing. They thought they were going to jump with it into manila. They didnt. They didnt know why they got left off. It slowly came out there were going to corregidor instead. Right, i never heard that. I knew they were going to plan to jump in nickels. And never really came off at that point. When this battle takes place, when is it in relation to the recapture of manila . The recapture of manila is still ongoing. So its going in conjunction together. Kind of right in the middle, about February 16th is the drop date. Exactly. Ten days on corregidor, about the middle. When mcarthur comes, the better of manila has pretty much ended that day. Is there anything in your book about the 503rd drop in new guinea . I make a reference to it. I make a conscious effort and we tried to write the book as close to Jest Corregidor as i could and im not a historian im more of a reporter. I tried to write it like a reporter would if i was there with them for us is a real history book. Very good, very good. Can you tell me who build the tunnel . The americans did. They dug it out after they took over corregidor after the spanish american war in 1998. A veteran once took pains to explain to me that the large part of the five authored were not professional soldiers but civilians in uniform. How do you compare the woodwork two men with those that you get to know in Iraq And Afghanistan . Heavy ever looked into the issue of Survivors Guilt . Okay, a couple parts. Now i see a lot of similarities between the soldiers. Particular paratroopers now and then. I think theres a kind of mentality with a parachute or, it stays with the. When you convince a shoulder youre going to give them everything they need to survive 48 hours on the battlefield, pushed him out of a plane, there is a certain mentality to that. I think that states regardless if your modern or World War ii. Its an interesting thing that you bring up. Its a lot of citizens shoulders in the 503rd. Colonel jones has a problem with it. As you get to the book you realize he actually holds back some of the awards for guys, not the real professional soldiers, but from the citizen shoulders. Think it wasnt that important to them. They were truly soldiers. There were still citizen soldiers. That divide is there. And Survivors Guilt, i think its everybody. I think anybody that gets through it you have a little bit of that. I know tony lopez, i spoke to him rebel for he passed away, he had it. He just didnt want to talk about what he did during the battle. He wanted to talk about things before and after. The funny thing is that he wanted to remember the guys that didnt make it. I think thats a lasting impact. Remembering the good things, and the people who are gone, yes. We see that quite a bit. Can you comment on the condition of the Battle Site Today . Is it readily accessible for tourists . I cant say more, you have been there, its an amazing place to go. I think if you can just spare a day, take the tour, you will not be disappointed. If you can spare a couple days, the great part of the battlefield is that, you know, they will let you walk around. I climbed all through the battery, a massive battery where a good chunk of the beginning of the book takes place. I crawled into the ravines. Its really cool. Its a little more overgrown than when they thought there, obviously. It is all there. There is no real, its only an american battlefield where the courted off. You cannot touch anything. You can really get in as deep as you want to. It is really cool. Yes, i agree. If i go to the philippines its the only place i really want to stay the whole time when im there. [laughs] its my favorite place on earth. How hard is it to clean out the tunnels . With all the arms in the tunnels, and must have been tough. That was towards the end of the battle and i actually we break the narrative a bit in the book and i was able, a good research with the imperial army, they found a first Person Account from a japanese defender. Thats where you get into the tunnel. You start to see it was impossible. They were pouring fuel in to the air shafts and they were burning them. Theyre not going in there to clear. It is impossible to clear and if you go on the tour you get into the tunnel and i would not want to do it. I did not like being in the tunnel and there was no trying to kill me. Exactly, now why was an airborne assault preferred after sustaining bombardment . A couple reasons, one was the americans had learned a lot from island hopping. The japanese attack of corregidor onto barges, the americans were able to hold them off for a while because of the japanese defense was ready to repel an amphibious assault. Its what made corregidor work is the fact they didnt jump on top, but into the middle of the defenses. They have the high ground. Because when you see it, it looks like a tadpole thats cresting a bit with its head. So those two hills are really difficult to fight over. The easiest way to take the island was to take it from the top. They had the perfect way to do it. Now how hard it fight to the japanese give during the recapture of corregidor . The Day Fight to the debt like they did during the battle of manila . Yes, absolutely. Lieutenant endo, in the middle of the book, he organizes most of the defenders into a Bonsai Charge. And it really was the Turning Point of the battle. It forces colonel jones to compress his lines. They realize these guys were to spread out. But that battle was hinging a bit in the beginning. It had the Bonsai Charge, if it worked, it might be different book. They fought hard and until the end. It was a nastier fight because of the fact these tunnels were concrete, a lot of it was flame throwers and grenades. Theres a couple really nasty battles that theater on the edge. Yes, they were not quitting. They fought hard. Now, your book just came out today. I think a lot of people are asking questions because they havent got a chance to read it yet. This one was the five authored provided air and naval Gunfire Support . Yes, they were. And the battle with so, there were so many dead bodies on the island, the naval support, the sailors on the destroyers there were able to smell the stench on the island, they had a constant ring around them. They had a constant ever tack. There was a scene in the book where bradford, the sergeant, is on top of the mile high barracks. He watches the planes attack. He watches the bombardment. It was a constant, you know, support on that. You pointed out in your book. Definitely, almost the 15, 20 days prior to the landing, they are just bombing every square inch of the island as they are getting ready for this. The troopers would fly over with them. These bombings would go, colonel joes went. They would send other officers to go scout. To the point where they didnt think the japanese, there was only 800 there, they ended up being 6000. They believed it because they didnt see any life on the island. They were bombing it so heavily. Right, now whether any japanese prisoners of war as a result of the recapture . Werejust started your book, lo, well done. Thanks for that. Yes, there were a few. It got to the point where they had no idea how many where there. So Carl Jones sent out an order that said he will give extra three days if they can get a prisoner. Even then they just couldnt find them. There is a good scene in the book as well where you will see some of calhouns men trying to get a prisoner. It almost costs them. Actually, real quick, it goes back to what we were saying before. The japanese were fighting. They were not quitting, surrendering. I think the fact that couldnt get a prisoner, you brought it up a couple times in the book. They were fighting until the end. Thats like how the whole World War was really. Do know the height of the c 47s when the men jumped . I heard it was very low. With that done because they had jumped at a higher altitude they thought they would be shot out of the sky by the japanese . About 300 to 400 feet, they jumped because of the cross wind. They had such a small landing zone, they didnt want to miss it. If you miss it you go into the water or you go into the ravines. They knew at that point the ravines were controlled by the japanese. And i think it speaks to their training, their discipline to jump with those kind of parachutes that are not easily driven. And flown. Do hit the job zones apart from the Golf Course and a Parade Field. If you Visit Corregidor, the Parade Field looks big, but if it jumping out of a plan is not that big. You point out in the book as well, i think, after the first jump they started moving too far. The even decreased the height even more. Was that true . They actually go much lower. He talks to the pilot, the Guys Jump at i think 300 feet. I was talking to a buddy of mine, an army ranger, he marvels at that. You would want to do it with his modern parachute. Its like, one, two, you are down. How did the 503rd coordinate with the amphibious forces . How did the paratroopers coordinate with the tanks . There were very few tanks. They had radios. They had the wireless that they put in as soon as they got on there. What is interesting about the radio however is that you will find as you get to the middle of the book, endo, the japanese commander, so to get a Bonsai Charged together. They shut the radios off at night. It ends up hurting them that night when they get attacked. They cannot coordinate because the raiders are shut off. So they did have radios surrounding them, keeping track of everything. Any idea why the japanese had over 6000 on the island with the ongoing battle of manila . It seems like they wouldve been needed in manila. I think they understood the significance of it. Again, these werent total combat troops. A lot of the japanese defenders were crew from some of the ships that were sunk by americans. So you will find some of the defenders didnt have rifles, if they did, they were sharing one with another. A couple get into a fight with rebar, with a Bayonet Attention to the front of it. This was a savage, savage fight. These defenders, they werent crack defensive troops. The richest guys they had. Here is a comment from paul. He went around corregidor, he said 20 japanese pwc surrendered on january 1st, 1946. They have been concentrated at which had never been retaken. Thank you paul. He is the man. He is. I visited corregidor back in 2015, a great trip, i do not remember any flat ground on top side. Please describe the landing zone. Okay, theres two of them. In front of the mile high, the mile long barracks, you have the open field where the flag is now. Right . Thats the Parade Field. The other was on the other side of the memorial area. If thats the Golf Course there. All overgrown. Its all overgrown. It is also very small. Without paul, and other throwback to him, he took me around, i wouldve missed it. Hes the one that pointed it out. I could not see it until he showed me. We have a couple comments from steve. He used to live on corregidor. He said about 20 died on the jump. Few gets to countries, most of the japanese were coming to the beaches. He says there is no tore right now due to covid. And he really worries about the condition of the island at this point. I think you talked about some of this in your top. Your primary source of information for research on the book . It was two things. A couple. One, i used calhouns memoir. Which i had two versions. At one that he pointed out. I got it from his daughter, from his home in texas. That had some of the handwritten notes and it. And paul, paula witman, who runs the site at corregidor, probably the greatest source of information on corregidor, he had an edited version. He edited and added context to it. I was able to merge the two with captain bradfords book. And then nycum had an oral history. I did an interview with tony lopez. I was able to weave all of them together with some of the archival documents from pauls site. Because he has all of it. He orders it. He has all of it. And that was it. There are a couple books written previously to this there were a little bit bigger, wider in scope. But this book, are really trying to focus in on only those couple guys. Giving you an intimate walk through. Its a great day by day account. Probably one of the few ive ever seen. What was the Press Reaction to the retaking of corregidor . The fall was a major news story. Was the retaking the same . Sure, this was looked at as redemption. I think its important. It was an important i think it restored some of that, what was lost in 42. That was the reason why there were correspondents, the reason why Nycum Landing is part of the News Reels. I think it was very well covered. It was a big deal, taking a back. You know how many guys were put in with the 503rd, press guys . There was a couple that made the jump with them, werent there . One of them was with lopez actually. I dont know if you recall. He shoves them out the door. I will let you read it in the book. Thats an interesting story in its own. Paul might know the number. I dont have it in my notes right in front of me. I could look it up. Right, well, we have one more comment saying its the best preserved battlefield in the pacific. I would probably have to agree with that. You know . It doesnt look like it did. But definitely the structures ours all still there. Everything is still there. Yes, most definitely. And i think now, there is another question. What role, if any, did Fort Drum, the concrete battleship, play in the battle . Not paul, if youre here, correct me if im wrong, not that im aware of. Not a major one that im aware of. In 42 it had a major role. But again, not during that point. Theres another one. Do you know the Date Mcarthur raise the flag . I think you answered it. March 2nd . The day he comes out there. Yes. Then, theres a couple questions they asked for me about research. Yes, you are correct, no role in the retaking of corregidor. Paul is right on top of it. Thank you paul very good, paul witman. [laughs] i Cant Stress enough, if this is something you are interested in, youre reading the book, youre interested in it, paul, not only does his site, corregidor dot org, have a bunch of cool stuff about the battle in 45, but the battle in 42, about the coastal guns. I mean, that site is a treasure trove. You get authentic, trust me. Hes also done a lot of cool books, a lot of cool picture books that will only supplement what im able to do in this. Paul, he flew from australia. We spent a week out there. It was great. Its like walking around wikipedia. Its corregidor pdf. For all of the interested be on the book, i urge you to go to the side. Look around, its fantastic stuff. Can you speak more about the role of the 34th infantry in their landing . They were important and that you have the twopronged attack when the Paratroopers Land on top. It takes some of the pressure off. It changes the defense. It allows you to land some of the heavy equipment you can get in by plane. They become an important because they are able to come up topside and get some of the wounded to get them back out to the peach, evacuated off the island. Its that great combined arms, to bring a lot of heavier equipment the paratroopers did not have the ability to bring with them. The alleviate some of the pressure. There is also mulling to hail, they make a big push on that. Heres another one, ive been there for five times, last time was really this, year they had to brace up the walls. And the cinema there. Even though its well preserved, its still deteriorating. I would recommend one of the overnight tours. And staying there. Yes, adding a comment about the place there. Where it is now. Steve, again, but it was brutal on Fort Drum but separate. It was a separate assault they made their. And the japanese were still resisting when mcarthur returned. But that seems to be about all the questions for tonight. We really do appreciate your time. Thanks a lot. Let us know if you are ever working on something else. I will, thank you so much jim, have a great night every one. Take care. Over 1 million african americans served in the armed forces during World War ii. Up next, washington Post Writer Deneen brown, and Education Consultant Lynn Williams discuss the