THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410240223
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICK K. LACKEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 134 lines
One of warfare's most famous returns was re-enacted Saturday at Ocean View Beach before more than 1,000 emotional viewers, at least a third of them Filipino.
Fifty years and two days earlier, Gen. Douglas MacArthur made good his resounding pledge to return to the Philippines, from which Japanese forces had driven him 31 months before.
He came back from exile in Australia angry and armed - with 738 ships, including 18 fleet carriers, then the most powerful naval force ever assembled. The landing of the general and 203,000 men on the Philippine island of Leyte on Oct. 20, 1944, marked the beginning of the liberation of the Philippines and the beginning of the end for Japan as a war power.
From Leyte beach, MacArthur began the speech heard 'round the world, ``People of the Philippines, I have returned.''
On Saturday, the general was portrayed by Eric Gibson 34, of Virginia Beach. He is president of the board of directors of the War Memorial Museum of Virginia in Newport News. Like the general, he is tall and looks impressive puffing on a pipe.
The part of Philippines President Sergio Osmena, who accompanied MacArthur on the landing, was played by Dick Dabu of Norfolk.
At noon, a landing craft chugged almost to the Chesapeake Bay shore. When the landing was re-enacted in the Philippines two days earlier, the actor playing MacArthur fell into the surf, but the MacArthur who came to Norfolk was regal as he strode through knee-deep water to a small truck on the beach.
Norfolk's MacArthur mouthed the words to the famous ``I have returned'' speech into a radio transmitter as the real MacArthur's voice played over loudspeakers.
``By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil consecrated in the blood of our two people. We have come, dedicated and committed to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people.''
To attend the re-enactment, Albina Ledesma left her Long Island, N.Y., home at 3 a.m. Saturday morning with a daughter and son-in-law. During three years of Japanese occupation, she and her five children, ages 1 to 6, escaped capture. Her husband then, Maj. Ramon Ruffy, was a key resistance fighter.
Had Albina been captured, the Japanese would have used threats against her to force Ramon's surrender.
She met the Norfolk MacArthur and was photographed with him, as were men who fought with him and hundreds of others, mostly Filipino. Mrs. Philippines of Virginia 1994, Eleanor Solis of Virginia Beach, also was photographed with MacArthur, and congressional candidates working the crowd said hello.
While portraying MacArthur, Gibson repeatedly signed MacArthur's name on programs and other pieces of paper. A mobile Postal Service under a tent in the park sold sheets of WWII-scene stamps and canceled stamps with a commemorative MacArthur cancellation, though MacArthur was misspelled ``McArthur.''
Robert P. Rusbuldt, 78, of Norfolk, began to cry when he was asked to describe MacArthur. Rusbuldt was chief machinists mate on the destroyer Aaron Ward, which bombarded Leyte before the landing. ``He was one of the greatest generals out there,'' Rusbuldt said.
``Him and Adm. Bull Halsey were my two heroes.''
Fifty years ago, Eugene Winter, 71, from St. Paul, Minn., was in the second wave to hit the Leyte beach.
Then a corporal in intelligence, he had helped build a sand box of the shoreline where the forces would land. The box was based on aerial photos of the beach. On Saturday, he photographed the re-enactment.
Retired Lt. Col. Edwin Ramsey of Los Angeles, who received the Distinguished Service Cross from MacArthur personally, also watched the re-enactment.
He survived three years of guerrilla warfare, wasting away to about 90 pounds, while sneaking information to MacArthur's headquarters in Australia.
During that period, he said, MacArthur's statement - ``I shall return'' - ``was one of our big propaganda weapons that helped keep civilians' loyalty.''
Excerpts from his 1991 book, ``Lt. Ramsey's War,'' appeared in the March 1992 Reader's Digest.
He said all of his friends in the resistance were captured and executed.
The commemorative re-enactment was presented by the MacArthur Memorial Foundation and the city of Norfolk, where the general is buried.
To hear MacArthur's speech on INFOLINE, dial 640-5555 and press 3684.
To obtain a MacArthur postal cancellation, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to MacArthur Station, P.O. Box 2898, Norfolk, VA 23501-9610 ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, as played by Eric Gibson, 34, of Virginia
Beach, strode ashore Saturday at Ocean View Beach to commemorate the
50th anniversary of the original MacArthur landing in the
Philippines.
Albina Ledesma of Long Island, N.Y., with a photo of husband Ramon
Ruffy, met Norfolk's MacArthur and was photographed with him.
Photo
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Gayle Apolonio of Newport News performed Filipino dances Saturday
with other members of a Newport News dance troupe as part of
ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of MacArthur's World War II
landing in the Philippines.
Graphic
``I SHALL RETURN''
MacArthur's speech on the beach at Leyte:
``People of the Philippines; I have returned.
``By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on
Philippine soil consecrated in the blood of our two people. We have
come, dedicated and committed to the task of destroying every
vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring
upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your
people.
``The hour of your redemption is here. Your patriots have
demonstrated an unanswering and resolute devotion to the principles
of freedom that challenge the best that is written on the pages of
human history. I now call upon your supreme effort that the enemy
may know, from the temper of an aroused people within, that he has a
force there to contend with now less violent than is the force
committed from without.
``Rally to me. Let the indomitable spirit of Bataan and
Corregidor lead on. As the line of battle rolls forward to bring you
within the zone of operation, rise and strike. Strike at every
favorable opportunity. For future generations of your sons and
daughters, strike! In the name of your sacred dead, strike! Let no
heart be faint. Let every arm be steeled, the guidance of Divine God
points the way. Follow in His name to the Holy Grail of righteous
victory.''
DOUGLAS MacARTHUR
General of the Army, U.S.A.
Leyte, Philippines, Oct. 20, 1944
by CNB