In late January 1945, MacArthur sent a small force to Manila with orders to bypass Japanese strong points and secure Santo Tomas Internment Camp and hold it until the rest of Sixth Army made its way to the city. If MacArthur had not pressed his forces in the drive to Manila in January 1945, against the better and correct judgment of his Sixth Army Commander, LGEN Walter Krueger, the fate of the Bilibid and Santo Tomas internees might have been different.
Soon after the 11th Airborne Division’s invasion at Nasugbu, Luzon, just south of Manila in late January 1945, MacArthur pressed Eight Army Commander LGEN Robert L. Eichelberger to put together an operation to free the civilian internees at Los Banos Internment Camp. The battle of Manila was Eichelberger’s top priority, but MacArthur insisted the operation to free the internees be made immediately. Had MacArthur not pushed, the fate of the Los Banos internees might have been different
As there is a special bond between the Baguio internees of Bilibid Prison and their 37th Division liberators; the Santo Tomas internees and their liberators of the 1st Cavalry Division, 44th Tank Battalion, and Philippine guerrilla forces; the Los Banos internees and their 11th Airborne Division, 672nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, and Philippine guerrilla liberators; there is a special bond between all of them and Douglas MacArthur.