Q: What did Marshall do? How did Marshall handle the situation [in the
Philippines], when it was clear that there was nothing they could do to stop
the Japanese.
PASCO: Well, he just sent messages to MacArthur telling him that this is what
we could do and this is all we can do and if that isn't enough, it just won't
work out. When a message would come in from General MacArthur, it would be
sent down to the War Plans Division, run by General Leonard Jareau who from two
days after Pearl Harbor, until May, Eisenhower was there as his assistant.
He'd been called in from General Krueger's maneuvers and been promoted to
General.
And, I remember every morning, they would come up to General Marshall's
office with a reply to what they called, "MacArthur's most recent purple
prose." He asked for everything and understandably so and he always ended
every message with the statement , "To deny this request would be contrary to
the fundamental principles of the art of war," signed Douglas MacArthur. And
when Marshall would read those messages, you could just see his face flush up.
It just irritated him, so unnecessary to say it. But, that was his nature, to
be flamboyant...
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