Roughly 70 years ago, U.S. and Japanese military forces fought an important battle against each other in the Leyte Gulf, probably one of the biggest Naval Battles in history. In the U.S. attempt to retake the Philippine Islands, their initial assault was on the island of Leyte. Today, U.S. forces and Japanese forces are back at the same location, but this time, working together to help the Filipino people recover from the largest typhoon in recorded history. Ironic, they fought the largest battle against each other, now they fight ‘together’, as allies, against the devastation of the largest typhoon in history at exactly the same location 70 years later.
“This area of the Philippines is where the U.S. fought some of the most important battles of World War II,” Rear Admiral Mark C. Montgomery, commander of the USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group said during a visit to the battered city of Tacloban on Friday as a contingent of Japanese soldiers worked alongside U.S. Special Operations troops at Tacloban Airport. “This is where MacArthur landed,” Montgomery said, referring to Army General Douglas MacArthur’s October 20, 1944, “return” to Palo, approximately eight miles from Tacloban.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, just off Tacloban, involved more than 200 ships which included 12 aircraft carriers and 200,00 sailors according to historical accounts. Many of the airfields that the U.S. and Japanese forces use today for relief efforts are the same airfields that were built by the U.S. or Japanese forces in the war; (obviously renovated and modernized since then).
According to Joint Task Force 505, the headquarters overseeing the U.S. relief effort, nearly 850 military personnel are on the ground in the Philippines with 6,200 more offshore in the naval strike force. An extra 1,000 Marines and sailors with the 31st marine Expeditionary Unit are expected to arrive today or tomorrow.
Almost 1,200 Japanese Self Defense Forces personnel will soon be working side by side with the American forces, conducting medical activities and helping move supplies in Cebu, Manila and Tacloban according to a Japanese Joint Staff Office spokesman. 100 are already on the ground and the rest are expected to arrive soon. Japan Maritime Self Defense Force ships which include the destroyer Ise, transport vessel Osumi and supply vessel Towada, are in route for the Philippines. Japan has also deployed three CH-47’s, three UH-1s, two KC-767s, seven C-130s and one U-4 aircraft to help support airlift operations. “This is the largest deployment of SDF (Self Defense Force) personnel to an international disaster relief activity,” the spokesman said. Japan is also providing $52.1 million in disaster assistance according to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
U.S. forces will coordinate relief efforts with other foreign military units and non-governmental organizations, according to III Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. John Wissler who commands the U.S. effort from Camp Aguinaldo near Manila. “The U.S. military has a history of successfully working with international relief organizations and host nations to respond to those people affected by natural disasters,” he said.
In a statement Tuesday, Montgomery said that ground routes were opening up for aid delivery by trucks instead of just by helicopters. “Ground transportation is much more efficient and can transport a greater load of supplies over the long term,” he said. “During our initial emergency response, a vast majority of transport was carried by helicopter, while now we see 80-85 percent of relief supplies going by truck.”
By Tuesday, the Navy had delivered 417,000 liters of water and 290,000 pounds of food and transported 724 people out of the disaster zone. The duration and extent of U.S. military support will depend on the Philippine government’s needs, Wissler said.
“We will be present as long as we are needed but no longer than required,” he said.
According the recent reports, the death toll is over 5000 with as many as 1611 missing but expect the death toll could exceed over 10,000, many of which will never be found.
We continue to pray for the Filipino people who were devastated by the typhoon and for all the forces and organizations performing relief efforts.
