On August 23, 1945, the gates of a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Manchuria, China, swung open to advancing Russian troops. Among the gaunt, starving prisoners they freed was Lt. Gen. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV , the man who had commanded American and Filipino forces during the desperate defense of the Philippines.

Once nicknamed “Skinny,” he was now skeletal, his hair white, his body broken by more than three years of captivity. He believed America had forgotten him, perhaps even blamed him for surrendering Corregidor in 1942.

Instead, his return marked a moment of redemption and honor.

A Career Forged in Service

Born on August 23, 1883, in Fort Walla Walla, Washington, Wainwright came from a family with a deep military tradition.

After graduating from West Point in 1906, he j

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