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As the only single-volume work to offer a full account of Navy and Marine Corps actions in the Philippines during World War II, this book provides a unique source of information on the early part of the war. It is filled with never-before-published details about the fighting, based on a rich collection of American and newly discovered Japanese sources, and includes a revealing discussion of the buildup of tensions between Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the Navy that continued for the remainder of the war. U.S. Army veteran and defense analyst John Gordon describes in considerable detail the unusual missions of the Navy and Marine Corps in the largely Army campaign, where sailors fought as infantrymen alongside their Marine comrades at Bataan and Corregidor, crews of Navy ships manned the Army's heavy coastal artillery weapons, and Navy submarines desperately tried to supply the men with food and ammunition. He also chronicles the last stand of the Navy's colorful China gunboats at Manila Bay.

The book gives the most detailed account ever published of the Japanese bombing of the Cavite Navy Yard outside Manila on the third day of the war, which was the worst damage inflicted on a U.S. Navy installation since the British burned the Washington Navy Yard in 1814. It also closely examines the surrender of the 4th Marines at Corregidor, the only time in history that the U.S. Marine Corps lost a regiment in combat. To provide readers with a Japanese perspective of the fighting, Gordon draws on the recently discovered diary of a leader of the Japanese amphibious assault force that fought against the Navy's provisional infantry battalion on southern Bataan, and he also makes full use of the U.S. ship logs and the 4th Marine unit diary that were evacuated from Manila Bay shortly before the U.S. forces surrendered.

John Gordon, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army with a PhD in public policy, is a senior defense analyst at a defense think tank, and has written widely on military subjects. A resident of Gainesville, VA, he also serves as an adjunct professor at George Mason University and Georgetown University.

Praise for Fighting for MacArthur

“This is a book well worth reading…Gordon writes with great clarity and develops the story in an eminently readable style. This is a book that readers will find difficult to put down until they have finished it, despite knowing full well what the outcome will be. As an exceptionally well-crafted work of military history, this reviewer recommends it highly.”

— Naval History Book Reviews, from eReview Newsletter, Naval Historical Foundation

“Lest we forget their story, John Gordon’s Fighting for MacArthur is an absolute must-read.”

— Leatherneck, January 2012

“This is the keeper of this year’s crop, and proof there are still new stories to be told about that dangerous, desperate time. Gordon shows skill with describing the choreography of combat, and the balance of factual detail doesn’t overwhelm colorful anecdotes and streamlined storytelling.”

— Honolulu Star-Advertiser, December 6, 2011

“Gordon’s effort makes for interesting, if provocative reading…All in all, a well-written great read for all armchair strategists who have lingering questions regarding the Navy’s role in the fall of the Philippines.”

— Sea Classics, January 2012

“In this well-researched volume drawing on official and personal accounts, the author comprehensively covers the experiences of the Navy and Marine Corps in their supporting role under MacArthur to hold the Philippines during the ill-fated five-month campaign, December 8, 1941–May 6, 1942.”

—WILLIAM H. BARTSCH, author of December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor

“John Gordon is a consummate soldier-scholar. In Fighting for MacArthur he combines his deep military knowledge with exhaustive research to write the definitive volume on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps actions in the desperate fight for the Philippines at the beginning of World War II. Most importantly, Gordon also shows how Gen. Douglas MacArthur created a climate of distrust between himself and senior U.S. Navy officers that deeply affected the ability of the United States to fight a joint war against the Japanese. It is a superb contribution to the scholarship on World War II and the U.S. military.”

—COL. DAVID E. JOHNSON, USA (RET.), senior researcher at the RAND Corporation, adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and author of Fast Tanks and Heavy Bombers: Innovation in the U.S. Army, 1917–1945 and Learning Large Lessons: The Evolving Roles of Ground Power and Air Power in the Post–Cold War Era

“Long overdue, John Gordon’s study on the sailors and Marines who fought so valiantly in the early days of World War II is an apt tribute to these Americans who defiantly stood in the face of overwhelming odds. Today, few Americans know of their sacrifice or remember the names of individuals who fought so bravely. Now all will know the details that Gordon lays out so well, and the tragic story of the men who continued to battle the Japanese long after any hope of survival remained. Over the years, the saga of MacArthur and the Army has been enthusiastically told, but almost always without the role that the Navy and Marine Corps played in the fight to hold the Philippines. John Gordon has ‘righted the ship’ by providing this evenhanded volume, Fighting for MacArthur.”

—J. MICHAEL MILLER, Marine Corps archivist, author of From Shanghai to Corregidor: Marines in the Defense of the Philippines