Jonathan
Wainwright,
the son of a cavalry officer, was
born in Walla Walla, Washington, on 2nd August 1883.
He graduated from West
Point Military Academy in 1906 (25/78). He joined the 1st Cavalry
Regiment and was sent to the Philippines
in 1909.
In
1918 Wainwright was promoted to Chief of Staff of the 82nd Infantry
Division. Later he held the same position in the 3rd US Army.
Wainwright
took over the 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Myer in 1936. Two years
later he was promoted to brigadier general and in February 1940 was
sent to the Philippines
to
serve under General Douglas
MacArthur.
Wainwright was placed in command of the North Luzon Force.
The
Japanese Air Force attacked the
US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on the
7th December 1941. The following day they carried out air strikes
on the Philippines and destroyed half of MacArthur's air force. MacArthur
was much criticized for this as he had been told to move his airforce
after the raid on Hawaii the previous day.
The Japanese
Army also invaded the Philippines and they soon held the three
air bases in northern Luzon. On 22nd December the 14th Army landed
at Lingayen Gulf and quickly gained control of Manila from the inexperienced
Filipino troops. Although only 57,000 Japanese soldiers were landed
on Luzon it had little difficulty capturing the island.
General
Douglas MacArthur
now ordered a general retreat to the Bataan peninsula. A series of
Japanese assaults forced the US defensive lines back and on 22nd February,
1942, MacArthur was ordered to leave Bataan and go to Australia.
General Wainwright remained behind with 11,000 soldiers and managed
to hold out until the beginning of May.
Wainwright was captured and took part in what
became known as the Bataan Death March. He subsequently transported
to Manchukuo where he remained a prisoner until the end of the Second
World War.
Jonathan
Wainwright
was awarded the Medal
of Honor and
on 5th September 1945 was promoted to full general. He retired from
active duty on 31st August 1947 and lived in San Antonio until his
death on 2nd September 1953.
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