Interview with Dr. Roger Olaf Egeberg: General Douglas MacArthur’s Personal Physician and Aide-De-Camp

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WWII: Talk about the first time MacArthur stepped ashore on Leyte in October 1944.

Egeberg: He was very anxious to get back. During the Battle of Leyte Gulf there were tense moments. We were watching the night firing at the mouth of the gulf when we suddenly saw magnesium flares; those flares make the sun pale in comparison. MacArthur became very excited: ‘My God, they haven’t got radar! We’ll win!’

WWII: He drew that conclusion by just spotting the flares?

Egeberg: Yes, because he knew without radar the Japanese couldn’t find our ships. With radar, the enemy could have sunk our ships and annihilated our landing force.

WWII: In Leyte he delivered his famous ‘I have returned’ speech. Isn’t that right?

Egeberg: Yes. He had told our communications people that he and President Sergio Osmena (of the Philippines) would make a speech after they had landed. As he was going over his speech the night before, he said, ‘Doc, I know the term ‘I have returned’ has been said a lot, but I’ve got to say it.’ He read the speech to us, which wasn’t very long, and wanted our opinions on it. I thought it was very good until he got to one point. It said, ‘…and the tinkle of the laughter of little children will again be heard on the streets.’ I said: ‘My God, General, you can’t say that! That’s a time-honored cliché!’ The rest was straightforward, but he got sentimental at that point.

WWII: So he listened and took that part out?

Egeberg: Yes, he did. He followed my advice maybe three times. He also told me to remain with Osmena because he probably would not like the feeling of being ashore.

WWII: Why?

Egeberg: He was afraid that Osmena might want to return to the cruiser too soon. We maneuvered into a quiet grove where they could set up the communications equipment. We were to broadcast to a ship offshore and they, in turn, would broadcast his message to the world. Well, MacArthur gave his short speech and Osmena gave his. Then, as soon as he could, probably a month later, MacArthur had a ceremony on the steps of the capital of Leyte, at Tacloban. He said, ‘We are turning over the governing of this province to you, the Filipino people.’ He wanted to give them power as soon as he could.

WWII: How did the Filipino people regard MacArthur?

Egeberg: They looked on him as a leader. In fact, on Luzon, every time we would stop somewhere, people would come dragging a man in and wanting MacArthur to pull out a pistol and shoot him. They accused individuals of being collaborators with the Japanese. So MacArthur had to come to a conclusion–unless the accused man was at the governor’s level or he had become extremely wealthy during the Japanese occupation, he didn’t think that the person should be labeled a traitor or collaborator. In fact, many thought that General Manuel Roxas y Acuñia was a collaborator. But MacArthur had known him, and he didn’t think he was the kind of man to do that. He made the decision that Roxas wasn’t a collaborator. And I think MacArthur was right. Sometimes you have to deal with the enemy to save your people. MacArthur said to me, ‘You watch, Roxas will be president someday.’ And he was. Right after Osmena.

WWII: MacArthur was very perceptive at reading people, it seems. Would you agree?

Egeberg: Yes. He was a very complex individual. Some people say he separated people by different functions so that only he would know the whole picture. I don’t believe that. Hell … I lived with him in those forward headquarters. I’d say he was courageous-foolhardy at times, but courageous nonetheless.

WWII: Would you say he was trying to emulate his father? Or was he embarrassed at the circumstances surrounding his Medal of Honor as compared to the manner in which his father earned it, by charging heroically up Missionary Ridge?

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