MacArthur at Terowie: I Shall Return
He'd abandoned 78,000 troops on a doomed peninsula, escaped by PT boat under cover of darkness, and now faced a crowd of Australian reporters who wanted to know why their commander had fled. MacArthur hadn't written anything down. Standing on that dusty railway platform in Terowie, South Australia, he improvised what became the most famous promise of the Pacific War: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return." His staff wanted him to say "we," not "I"—too personal, too arrogant. He refused. Twenty-nine months later, MacArthur waded ashore at Leyte with photographers in tow, making sure everyone saw him keep his word. What looked like cowardice in March 1942 became the rallying cry that carried America across 5,000 miles of ocean.
March 20, 1942
84 years ago
Key Figures & Places
South Australia
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World War II
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Douglas MacArthur
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General
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Terowie
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Battle of the Philippines (1942)
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Bataan
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World War II
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Douglas MacArthur
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Terowie, South Australia
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Philippines campaign (1941–1942)
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Bataan
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Zgierz
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Poland
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Philippines
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South Australia
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