On October 20, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore at Leyte to visit the beachhead U.S. soldiers were in the process of establishing. He was also there to deliver a dramatic radio address to the people of the Philippines announcing that the much anticipated liberation of the islands was underway.
Broadcast from the beach (and from a destroyer off the coast), MacArthur’s “I Have Returned” speech generated mixed reviews among the American people. The speech was ridiculed as over-dramatic, emotional, and narcissistic. It was also criticized for having too many references to Christianity. Despite these criticisms, the speech had an electric effect on the Philippines. Couched in such a sacred way, MacArthur's speech quickly produced dividends. Soon his forces and intelligence networks began receiving pledges of support and requests for instructions from Filipinos across the islands - anxious to expel the Japanese and rally to the cause of liberation.
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