The Battle of Manila

"Douglas MacArthur had a special relationship with the city of Manila. Many years before, when he had decided to make a career in the U.S. Army-like his father-and had bounced around the globe, he kept coming back to the city. He received his first promotion in Manila and contracted malaria so severe, the Army had to send him back to the United States. The city was a constant in a life without many others. He was by any measure an exceptional soldier. At the U.S. Military Academy he earned an athletic letter in baseball, became the First Captain of the Corps of Cadets, and finished first in a class of ninety-three. Commissioned in the Corps of Engineers, he had first assignment in the Philippines"--