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"I shall return!" General Douglas MacArthur spoke those words into the dreary darkness in 1942 when he fled the Japanese invasion of the Philippine islands. Almost three years later, as U.S. forces worked to secure a route to invade the Japanese home islands, MacArthur made good on his promise. Standing in his way was a Japanese force bent on fighting to the death to prevent the Americans from retaking the Philippines. On April 17th, 2019, at 7:15 PM, the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, will host renowned author and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Mr. James M. Scott who will present a talk based on his newest book, Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manilla. Mr. Scott will discuss the 29-day battle and the U.S. military's brutal struggle against the "Tiger of Malaya," General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

After the fall of the Philippines, the conquering Japanese forces systematically subjugated the islands, turning life into a daily struggle for American Soldiers in prisoner of war camps and daily atrocities for the Filipino people. The U.S. Navy, Marines, and Army gradually turned the tide in the Pacific, and MacArthur was prepared to make good on his promise to liberate the population and Soldiers trapped under the Japanese boot heel. Scott's lecture will describe the political, military, and personal decisions made during the Battle of Manilla by General MacArthur and his nemesis, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, leading to the near destruction of the Filipino capital city and over 100,000 civilian deaths.

James M. Scott is the acclaimed author of three books on American naval history, including The War Below: The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan and The Attack on the Liberty: The Untold Story of Israel's Deadly Assault on a U.S. Spy Ship. His recent work, Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor, was named one of the best books of the year by Kirkus, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and was a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Throughout his career, Scott has been awarded with multiple honors - he is the recipient of the McClatchy Company President's Award, and was named the 2003 Journalist of the Year by the South Carolina Press Association, as well as the 2005 Young Alumnus of the Year by his alma mater, Wofford College. He is also a former Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.