Good morning, Whitewater.
Monday in the city will be partly cloudy with a high of fifty-seven.
The tech industry has a style of presenting new products that’s susceptible of satire. Here’s an example, if Silicon Valley has a vegetable it wanted to promote:
On this day in 1944, Douglas MacArthur returns to the Philippines:
“I have returned” — General MacArthur returns to the Philippines with Philippine President Sergio Osmena to his right, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Carlos P. Romulo at his rear, and Sutherland on his left. Photo taken by Gaetano Faillace. Via Wikipedia.
On 20 October 1944, troops of Krueger’s Sixth Army landed on Leyte, while MacArthur watched from the light cruiser USS Nashville. That afternoon he arrived off the beach. The advance had not progressed far; snipers were still active and the area was under sporadic mortar fire. When his whaleboat grounded in knee-deep water, MacArthur requested a landing craft, but the beachmaster was too busy to grant his request. MacArthur was compelled to wade ashore.[198] In his prepared speech, he said:
People of the Philippines: I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil—soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come dedicated and committed to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people.[199]
Since Leyte was out of range of Kenney’s land-based aircraft, MacArthur was dependent on carrier aircraft.[200] Japanese air activity soon increased, with raids on Tacloban, where MacArthur decided to establish his headquarters, and on the fleet offshore. MacArthur enjoyed staying on Nashville’s bridge during air raids, although several bombs landed close by, and two nearby cruisers were hit.[201] Over the next few days, the Japanese counterattacked in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, resulting in a near-disaster that MacArthur attributed to the command being divided between himself and Nimitz.[202] Nor did the campaign ashore proceed smoothly. Heavy monsoonal rains disrupted the airbase construction program. Carrier aircraft proved to be no substitute for land-based aircraft, and the lack of air cover permitted the Japanese to pour troops into Leyte. Adverse weather and valiant Japanese resistance slowed the American advance, resulting in a protracted campaign.[203][204]
By the end of December, Krueger’s headquarters estimated that 5,000 Japanese remained on Leyte, and on 26 December MacArthur issued a communiqué announcing that “the campaign can now be regarded as closed except for minor mopping up.” Yet Eichelberger’s Eighth Army killed another 27,000 Japanese on Leyte before the campaign ended in May 1945.[205] On 18 December 1944, MacArthur was promoted to the new five-star rank of General of the Army.[206]
On October 20, 1856, Frederick Douglass speaks in Wisconsin:
On this date Frederick Douglass arrived in Beaver Dam and spoke about the brutality and immorality of slavery. His speech was also intended to generate support for the abolitionist movement in Dodge Co. and Wisconsin. A former runaway slave and leading orator and author of the abolitionist movement, Douglass is regarded as one of the most influential Americans of the 19th century. [Source: Wisconsin Local History Network]
Google-a-Day asks about a remark:
Early in Conrad’s 1903 novella, Marlow makes a comment [about] “one of the dark places on earth”. About what place does he say this?