The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-11-25


 tery goes to the doorstep of three gentlemen so high-up that no- body can do much about them. Franklin Roosevelt, General Mac Arthur and Admiral Halsey.
 In the opinion of a good many naval experts, the Battle of the Philippines, although a very def mite victory, was not as big and overwhelming as the three above named gentlemen made it out to be.
 In fact, when Admiral HalSey sent his first dramatic communi- cation to the Navy Department telling how he had decimated the Jap fleet, the Department cabled back that they didn't believe his victory was as great as he claimed and they advised him to put the lid on news releases.
 However, the Halsey dispatch was sent as a mater of routine to the White House, where it went first of all to ROOsevelt's Chief of Staff, Admiral Leahy. troubled about it, advised that Ever-caut1ouS Leahy also was the news be played down rather than up.
 But even while he held the dispatch in his hand and was dis cussing it with others in the White House, news came over the ticker that General MacAr- thur had announced great naval victory. AS the top commander in the Philippine theater, Mac thur has the right to issue any communique-even regarding na- val victories, though the Navy doesn't and, in this case, certain ly didn't like it.
 Following the MacArthur an- nOuncement, the President went out whole hog. Calling special press conference, he announced the greatest naval victory of the war.
 Although a real victory, the chief of Navy press relations prob- ably was more accurate when, last week, he expressed the cold opinion that the Battle of the Philippines had not materially shortened the war in the Pacific. EASY TO UNDERESTIMATE
 The first enthusiastic announce mentS from the Philippines are understandable. It is easy to over estimate damage to the enemy.
 During the first stage of the battle, for instance, 8 U. s. plane reported that 1t had struck the giant Jap battleship Yamamoto, named for the late Jap admiral, and that 8 great burst of flame and smoke had Spurted forth, convincing the aviator that the battle-wagon had been seriously, perhaps motrally injured.
 Later, Admiral HalSey report ed that the same battleship YamamOto was engaging in combat With him. Apparently what happened was that the YamamOto was struck on the deck, setting off some ammu- milton. But it takes more than deck hits to sink a modern bat tleship.
 Probably the most interesting phase of the Navy's communique on the Battle of the Philippines was its alibi on why Admiral Halsey "diverted part of his force sOuthward." This gave way the hitherto unpublished fact that Halsey had chased wing of the Jap fleet south and was not near Leyte to help Admiral Ki-- caid make the final kill.
 Admiral Kincaid had in his fleet the old battleships West Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, California and Pennsylvania, badly damaged at Pearl Harbor but repaired. Ad- miral Halsey's fleet consisted of bigger, more modern, more pow erful vessels. Part of the strategy was to lure the JapS in to at tack Kincaid's older vessels; then Halsey, with his more modern fleet, would come in for the kill.
 But Halsey got Iured away. An admiral with fewer victories to his credit might have been disciplined, though any officer in the heat of battle makes mis- takes.
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