She left Manus island on 27 December, and she rendezvoused with the invasion force in Surigao Strait, Leyte on 3 January 1945. The fleet assembled for the invasion of Luzon was immense, consisting of 18 escort carriers, 6 battleships, 4 heavy cruisers, and a multitude of destroyers and destroyer escorts. Almost immediately, the massive fleet was continuously harassed by Japanese kamikaze attacks. On the night of 3 January, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" dove on the escort carriers, plunging into the ocean approximately from the starboard of "Makin Island". On the afternoon of 4 January, the task force once again came under kamikaze attacks, which sunk . On the early morning of 5 January, a Japanese plane flew a scant over the carrier. Later that day, her aircraft supplemented a strike force which sunk and heavily damaged . That same day, in the evening, kamikazes damaged , , and . "Makin Island" arrived unscathed near Luzon on 6 January. For the next 11 days, she remained off of Luzon flying air support for the amphibious operation. Notably, "Salamaua" was heavily damaged by a kamikaze on 13 January. On 17 January, the escort carriers withdrew, heading back to Ulithi. During the three-week operation, the only fatality onboard "Makin Island" was a sailor on the flight deck, who died when a 3.5-inch rocket on an Avenger accidentally discharged, launching him off the carrier. A resulting search proved unsuccessful. This was despite the fact 16 of her own aircraft were destroyed through anti-aircraft fire and accidents. Her air group destroyed 10 Japanese aircraft, and her anti-aircraft guns claimed a kamikaze heading towards the task force.