The soldiers singing this song had not seen MacArthur crossing no-man’s-land during World War I. They had not seen him strolling out of the Malinta Tunnel during air raids on Corregidor. What they had seen were the reports crediting their courage to his leadership. But they did not fight for him. Readers back home might hear the term “fighting general” and picture MacArthur. But the boys on Bataan would say they had seen a real fighting general—the two-starred one on their side of the channel—and his name was Wainwright.
