The General Who Won Every Campaign MacArthur Claimed as His Own.

Walter Krueger commanded the largest American army in the Pacific. He conducted more than a dozen amphibious operations across two thousand miles of ocean, from New Guinea to the Philippines. He liberated over seven thousand POWs and civilian internees. He never lost a campaign. MacArthur privately rated his generalship above Patton's and Bradley's. And almost no one has ever heard his name. This is the story of the general who planned and fought every major ground campaign Douglas MacArthur claimed as his own, and the publicity machine that ensured he would be forgotten. Born in Prussia, Krueger immigrated to America as a child and enlisted as a private in 1898. He rose through every rank the Army had, commanded the Sixth Army through the New Guinea campaign, the invasion of Leyte, and the brutal fight for Luzon, and was selected to lead the ground forces for Operation Olympic, the planned invasion of Japan. Along the way, he clashed repeatedly with MacArthur over intelligence, pace, and risk, and was vindicated by postwar records almost every time. His reward was obscurity. SOURCES Kevin C. Holzimmer, "General Walter Krueger: Unsung Hero of the Pacific War" (University Press of Kansas, 2007) Stephen R. Taaffe, "MacArthur's Jungle War: The 1944 New Guinea Campaign" (University Press of Kansas, 1998) Edward J. Drea, "MacArthur's ULTRA: Codebreaking and the War Against Japan" (University Press of Kansas, 1992) Edward J. Drea, "Defending the Driniumor: Covering Force Operations in New Guinea, 1944" (Leavenworth Papers No. 9, 1984) Walter Krueger, "From Down Under to Nippon: The Story of Sixth Army in World War II" (Combat Forces Press, 1953) William M. Leary, ed., "We Shall Return!: MacArthur's Commanders and the Defeat of Japan" (University Press of Kentucky, 1988) Richard B. Frank, "The MacArthur No One Knew" (HistoryNet, 2018) Nathan N. Prefer, "Soldiers: A Forgotten Hero" (Warfare History Network) Rod Paschall, "MacArthur's Forgotten Field Commander" (HistoryNet) Robert Ross Smith, "The Approach to the Philippines" (U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1953) Robert Ross Smith, "Triumph in the Philippines" (U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1963) Ronald Spector, "Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan" (Free Press, 1985) Douglas MacArthur, "Reminiscences" (McGraw-Hill, 1964) Robert Eichelberger, "Our Jungle Road to Tokyo" (Viking Press, 1950) U.S. Army Center of Military History, "New Guinea" campaign brochure William Manchester, "American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964" (Little, Brown, 1978)