WW2 Newspapers

WW2 Newspapers, a photo by Pacific Kilroy on Flickr.

HEADLINE NEWS, 1940S
WW2 Newspapers


World War II Pacific Theater Headlines of Japanese aggression as shown in newspaper extras. The parachute troops alarm proved to be false, but most of Luzon was overrun by the Japanese very quickly. By plan, the US and Philippine Armies retreated into the Bataan peninsula, but had not stored enough food and supplies to last long against a reinforced enemy. Furthermore, the "plan" called for the US Navy capital ships to come to their rescue/assistance. The ships were at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. In reality, the United States government had "written off" the Philippines as indefensible long before the war ever began; however, the government continued to send hopeful messages to the Philippines, knowing they were not going to fulfill any promises of help. While not entirely at fault, General Walter Short and Admiral Husband Kimmel were blamed for the disaster at Pearl Harbor in order to save the reputations and political careers of CNO Stark, SecNav Knox, and president Roosevelt. Just as unfairly, General Douglas MacArthur gets a lot of the blame for the disaster in the Philippines, but his military career remained intact until the Korean War. Congress and the President were much more culpable than MacArthur, and dreadfully more so than Short and Kimmel.

TEXT BY PATRICK ADAMS, PHOTO BY PATRICK ADAMS