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"The 1st Marine Division lost over 6,500 combatants and would only fight again on the invasion of Okinawa," the woman looked at everybody. Their eyes didn't lie. The numbers had mesmerized them, as always. "The 81st Infantry Division lost around 3,300 combatants. It took the soldiers over 1,500 rounds to kill each Japanese defender. To be more precise, the U.S. expended 13.32 million rounds of .30-calibre, 1.52 million rounds of .45-calibre, 693,657 rounds of .50-calibre bullets, 118,262 hand grenades, and approximately 150,000 mortar rounds, a promised three-day win that lasted more than two months. And can someone tell me why?"
Of course, no one answered. After all, it was a rhetorical question.
"No one?" The woman provoked.
Again, complete silence.
"Why does the Battle of Peleliu, aka Operation Stalemate II, happened? Why was there such an effort?"
"To protect?" Someone answered. He was ashamed, his voice so low that some of the other people in the room didn't even hear him.
"That may be the official reason, but it isn't the truth. Actually, it's far from it," the woman smiled. Ripping the lies was her life. She was committed to the truth. It didn't matter, and she didn't care for who she would hurt in the process.
The silence became even louder.
"The bitterest battle of the war for the Marines, and I'm quoting the National Museum of the Marine Corps here, happened solely for one purpose: feed the ego of one man."
Everyone in the room held their breaths. She was known for that specific attack, but even if everyone knew what to expect, the way she conducted everybody to that point was unique enough to change the known information into something brand new. She made everybody forget what everybody knew.
"Ego is a funny thing. If you have one that is big enough, you can convince anyone of everything. Admiral Chester Nimitz was right. Bypass the Philippines and go straight to Okinawa and Taiwan would have saved American lives. But the man that convinced Franklin Delano Roosevelt that the Philippines were important had been defeated there and swore to go back and avenge his defeat. He needed to go back. He needed to keep his word. Fulfil his promise. His ego needed the massage. And so, using his charm, General Douglas MacArthur made the U.S., in a single battle, lose more lives than all others amphibious operations during the Pacific War."
Everyone was openmouthed. MacArthur was a war hero. The Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area. Aboard USS Missouri, he was the man that officially accepted Japan's surrender. No man dared to say anything about him.
She wasn't a man.
"If the U.S. had lost, MacArthur would be trialled by this operation. And during the trial, he would try the answer an impossible question: did you really believe that a single photo was worth all those lives?"
The question was both hypothetical and to the students. No one answered. Everyone answered. No one said a word. There was no need for it. The answer was in everybody's face, "No!"
The woman smiled. She did her job. She left the room, leaving the students asking themselves if General Douglas MacArthur was a hero or just an egoistic war criminal.
The truth is, he was both.
But it would take years for the students to understand such a complex answer. In reality, most of them would never fully comprehend for a series of reasons. The U.S. had won the war. WWII was the war of good vs. evil. But mainly because General Douglas MacArthur, and his ego, were bigger than life.
THE END
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The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the United States military, was fought between the U.S. and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Campaign of World War II, from September 15 to November 27, 1944, on the island of Peleliu.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Peleliu
