Jonathan Wainright - May 8, 1944
Two years after the Japanese victory in the Philippines, U.S. General Jonathan Wainright still languished as a prisoner of war. "Three vague, handprinted messages have come from him. That is all," TIME reported. "Whether he is well or ill-treated is not known." Wainright helped preside over General Douglas MacArthur's program to bolster Philippine defenses with U.S. forces over 10 years against Japan. A day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japan attacked the Philippines. Ill-equipped, Wainwright led a valiant but futile resistance against waves of attackers. Injured and stricken with disease, the general still visited the front line daily. "His tours among the starved, forgotten men . . . were almost triumphal," wrote TIME. But on May 6, 1942, the general, with a white flag and a salute, surrendered to the Japanese conquerors.