The choice of Leyte was the result of heated discussion at the highest levels of the US military and government. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral
Ernest J. King had forcefully advocated for an invasion of the island of
Formosa, about 300 mi (480 km) north of the Philippines, insisting that it would both bolster the morale of the
Nationalist Chinese, then fighting the
Japanese occupation of their country, and provide a much closer base for military operations against the
Japanese home islands. In the event, MacArthur's viewpoint that the United States needed to be seen as following through on its promise to liberate the Filipino people from Japanese oppression won out.
X Corps commander Franklin C. Sibert and division commander Frederick A. Irving
XXIV Corps commander John R. Hodge
Waves of men and machines near the invasion beachhead aboard powerful LCMs (landing craft mechanized) during the invasion of LeyteCoast Guard-manned LSTs on LeyteMen and equipment on Leyte beachheadUS 8-inch howitzers of the 61st Field Artillery Battalion readied near TaclobanMen of the 7th Cavalry on LeyteAmphibious craft anchored at LeyteMen of the 1st Cavalry Division on Leyte, December 1944
The choice of Leyte was the result of heated discussion at the highest levels of the US military and government. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral
Ernest J. King had forcefully advocated for an invasion of the island of
Formosa, about 300 mi (480 km) north of the Philippines, insisting that it would both bolster the morale of the
Nationalist Chinese, then fighting the
Japanese occupation of their country, and provide a much closer base for military operations against the
Japanese home islands. In the event, MacArthur's viewpoint that the United States needed to be seen as following through on its promise to liberate the Filipino people from Japanese oppression won out.
X Corps commander Franklin C. Sibert and division commander Frederick A. Irving
XXIV Corps commander John R. Hodge
Waves of men and machines near the invasion beachhead aboard powerful LCMs (landing craft mechanized) during the invasion of LeyteCoast Guard-manned LSTs on LeyteMen and equipment on Leyte beachheadUS 8-inch howitzers of the 61st Field Artillery Battalion readied near TaclobanMen of the 7th Cavalry on LeyteAmphibious craft anchored at LeyteMen of the 1st Cavalry Division on Leyte, December 1944