Customer Rating: 
Summary: Assualt From The Sky.
Comment: "Corregidor: The Rock Force Assault" is the story of the island by that name which has played a prominent role in the defense of Manila Harbor. This book gives a good history of the island and the troops who recaptured it in 1945.The book begins with the story of the conquest of the Philippines by American Forces in 1898 during the Spanish American War. It then continues with the military fortifications of the island during the American Administration. The Japanese conquest of the Philippines culminating in the Fall of Bataan and Corregidor in 1942 set the stage for the American reconquest.
Flanagan does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the assault forces, the 503d Parachute Regimental Combat Team and the 3rd Battalion Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Division. We become familiar with the preparations of the 503d in the U. S., Australia and in its jumps at Nadzab in New Guinea and onto Noemfoor Island.
With the invasion of the Philippines proceeding successfully the hour for the redemption of American honor at Corregidor arrived. The small available drop zones on the island made the airborne assault most unlikely and, therefore, a total surprise to the Japanese defenders. Flanagan takes the reader through the challenges met by the assault force, the means of attack by air, sea and land, the Japanese resistance and the descriptions of the ambient conditions which add to the hellish atmosphere of war. The fanatical Japanese resistance captures our amazement while the cave by cave extermination of the enemy brings to mind contemporary reports form Afghanistan.
The emotional climax of the book is Gen. MacArthur's triumphant return to Corregidor, by PT boat, just as he left three years before, during which he orders: "I see the old flag pole still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak and let no emery ever haul them down."
"Corregidor" is an excellent choice for anyone with an interest in the details of combat or the history of the War in the Philippines.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Impossible Mission
Comment: An amazinf feat of daring by a group of outnumbered Paratroopers, less than 3000, fighting against the best Japan had, namely Japanese Imperial Tiger Marines. Their strength was said to be over 6800. Only 21 Japaneses surrendered , 17 lived surviving their wounds. A tale of total disregard of human life. Corregidor was a small island fotress built by the US prior to WW2 and carried 56 major cannon emplacements behind concrete walls over 25 feet thick in parts and some sited over 600 feet above some of our forces. At the end of the battle over 6000 Japanese bodies covered the ground and fostered billions of flies and maggots entering our mouths while trying to eat or talk. A horrible experience which cannot be described in mear words. I was there.
