IntroductionIn December 1941, the Japanese attacked the United States (USA) at Pearl Harbor and invaded the Philippines. Anticipating this invasion, the United States brought General MacArthur out of retirement and sent him to the Philippines. Its mission was to prepare this strategically positioned archipelago against Japanese invasion. This case study will introduce the events that led to the largest surrender of U.S. forces in history and examine the boldest rescue attempt of World War II. The article follows the planning and execution of the 6th Ranger Battalion's Great Raid on the Japanese prison camp at Cabanatuan. Finally, the events of that raid will be examined to uncover and evaluate the repercussions and lessons learned.HistoryThe main Japanese attack on the Philippines began on December 22, 1941.1 The initial objective of the Japanese was to capture the island of Luzon, which hosted both the capital Manila and most of the US forces. The initial Japanese attack on the Allied forces consisted of air raids followed by a ground assault by 50,000 men led by General Masaharu Homma.2 The Allied forces consisted of a combined U.S. and Philippine army, numbering approximately 100,000 men, led by General Douglas MacArthur .3 U.S. forces had a numerical advantage; however, the Japanese had a technological advantage. U.S. and Philippine forces were supplied primarily with World War I (WWI) and pre-WWI weapons.4 This meant that, although the Allied forces were numerically superior, the Allied forces were ultimately overwhelmed. The heavily fortified Corregidor Island, located in the mouth of Manila Bay, was the headquarters of the American forces. From here, General MacArthur ordered...... center of sheet......dAlbrecht, James, Joseph Edwards and Terrence Popravak. ""Come As You Are" Warfare: The Bataan Example." Military Review 83, no. 2 (March 2003): 84-89. http://search.proquest.com/docview/225311013?accountid=16366.Breuer, William B. The Great Raid on Cabanatuan: Rescue of the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor. New York: J. Wiley & Sons, 1994.History Channel. Shootout!: Raid on the Bataan extermination camp. 2006. USA: History Channel, 2006. DVD. Sides, Hampton. "GHOST SOLDIERS." Esquire 135, no. 5 (May 2001): 92. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 10, 2014), http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=1901b0ee-c4c7-44d1-b439-9ba86a9f71df%40sessionmgr4001&vid =1&hid=4205&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=4320782.Sides, Hampton. Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Tale of the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II. New York: Anchor Books, 2002.