Jonathan M. Wainwright (general)

Jonathan Wainwright was born at Fort Walla Walla on 23 August 1883 to Josephine and Robert Powell Page Wainwright. Josephine's father was civil engineer Edward W. Serrell. Robert was the third generation of a prominent family. His grandfather was Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, an episcopal bishop in New York City. Robert's father was Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright II, a lieutenant in the United States Navy, who was killed in action during the 1 January 1863, Battle of Galveston in the American Civil War. Robert Wainwright was a United States Army officer who was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1st Cavalry in 1875, rose to the rank of major, and commanded a squadron of the 5th Cavalry Regiment in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish–American War. He was posted at Walla Walla, Washington Territory, when Jonathan was born. Robert gave his father's name to his son, emphasizing the family tradition of military service. Jonathan Wainwright graduated from Highland Park High School in Illinois in 1901 and from the United States Military Academy in 1906. He was 6 ft, 2 in, but weighed only 125 pounds when he arrived at West Point, which gave rise to the nickname "Skinny". Wainwright was commissioned in the cavalry. Like his father, he served with the 1st Cavalry Regiment. In 1906, he was stationed in Texas. In 1908, the regiment transferred to the Philippines. Wainwright saw combat on Jolo during the Moro Rebellion. ==World War I==

During World War I, Wainwright was promoted to major in August 1917 and sent to Camp Devens to serve with the 76th Division. In February 1918, he was ordered to France. In June, he became assistant chief of staff of the U.S. 82nd Infantry Division, with which he took part in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. During the latter battle, an explosion permanently damaged Wainwright's hearing. He was breveted to lieutenant colonel in October 1918. After the war, Wainwright remained in Europe on occupation duty with the 3rd Army at Koblenz, Germany. ==Inter-war period==

After a year as an instructor at the Cavalry School at Fort Riley, Wainwright was attached to the general staff from 1921 to 1923 and assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Myer, Virginia, from 1923–25. In September 1940, Wainwright was assigned to command the Philippine Division, a force of Philippine Scouts led by American officers. On 1 October, just after transiting the Panama Canal on his way back to the Philippines, he was notified of his promotion to major general. ==World War II==

Combat On 8 December 1941, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan launched their invasion of the Philippines. When their first bombs started to drop on Clarke Field, Wainwright was at Fort Stotsenburg, where he spent the previous day enjoying a polo match and watching a movie. That is precisely where the Japanese established a beachhead on 22 December. MacArthur relentlessly lobbied Washington for reinforcements, hoping to go on the offensive. By 27 January, Wainwright's position on Bataan was insecure enough that he requested permission from MacArthur to shorten the front he had to defend. His men were starving on less than half rations. They slaughtered carabao for meat, and eventually the cavalry had to eat their horses. at Cabcaben, Bataan (6 May 1942). Major General Edward P. King was left in control on Bataan as the situation grew hopeless. Wainwright warned Washington that the troops would be starved into submission by 15 April. MacArthur insisted they attack the Japanese to break out of Bataan. On 8 April, Wainwright gave King a modified version of MacArthur's order, knowing it was an impossible task. Japanese General Masaharu Homma was irate King's surrender did not include Corregidor. Wainwright surrendered at noon on 6 May. War Plan Orange estimated the positions on Bataan and Corregidor could be held for six months at most. Wainwright nearly managed to last that long. Time depicted him behind barbed wire on the cover of the 8 May 1944 issue. Wainwright was transferred two more times on Formosa, and his treatment improved as the Japanese needed propaganda victories in the face of the Allies' island-hopping advances. Wainwright then returned to the Philippines to receive the surrender of local Japanese commander General Tomoyuki Yamashita. Before he returned to the United States from captivity, Wainwright was inundated with offers for a book deal. He agreed to a $155,000 contract with a publishing syndicate that serialized his memoir before Doubleday published it as a bestselling book. On 13 September, he received a ticker-tape parade in New York City. He assumed command of the Eastern Defense Command/Second Service Command at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York, on 28 September 1945. ==Post-war years and retirement==

General Wainwright's last command was the Fourth Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Lieutenant General Alexander Patch's death opened the position, and Wainwright took it up on 11 January 1946. Upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 64, Wainwright reluctantly retired on 31 August 1947. He became a Freemason in May 1946 at Union Lodge No. 7. in Junction City, Kansas. In 1948, he was elected the national commander of Disabled American Veterans. He was also a Compatriot of the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). His membership application for the SAR was endorsed by General Douglas MacArthur. Wainwright served on the board of directors for several corporations after his retirement. He frequently spoke to veterans' groups. He never publicly voiced any bitterness toward MacArthur for his actions in the Philippines. When it appeared that MacArthur might be nominated for president at the 1948 Republican National Convention, Wainwright stood ready to make the nominating speech. Wainwright was laid to rest near his parents at Arlington National Cemetery. He was buried with a Masonic service and is one of the few people to have had their funeral held in the lower level of Arlington's Memorial Amphitheater. Omar Bradley, George Marshall, and Edward King attended the funeral. ==Awards==

Medal of Honor citation Rank and Organization: General, Commanding U.S. Army Forces in the Philippines. Place and date: Philippine Islands, 12 March to 7 May 1942. Entered Service at: Skaneateles, N.Y. Birth: Walla Walla, Wash. G.O. No.: 80, 19 September 1945. Citation: Distinguished himself by intrepid and determined leadership against greatly superior enemy forces. At the repeated risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in his position, he frequented the firing line of his troops where his presence provided the example and incentive that helped make the gallant efforts of these men possible. The final stand on beleaguered Corregidor, for which he was in an important measure personally responsible, commanded the admiration of the Nation's allies. It reflected the high morale of American arms in the face of overwhelming odds. His courage and resolution were a vitally needed inspiration to the then sorely pressed freedom-loving peoples of the world. Other official awards • Army General Staff Badge • Conspicuous Service Cross, State of New York • Distinguished Service Medal, Commonwealth of Massachusetts • Mexican Medal of Military Virtue, 1st Class • Polish Order of Virtuti Militari Private honors • Knights Commander of the Court of Honour (K.C.C.H.) (Freemasonry) • Grand Lodge of New York's Masonic Achievement Medal == Promotions ==

• Wainwright Hall at Ft. Myer, Virginia, the former Officers' Club in named in honor of Wainwright. • A street, Wainwright Drive, was named after him in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. • There is a street, Wainwright Drive, in El Paso, Texas named after Jonathan Wainwright, as was also an elementary school in the El Paso Independent School District; Wainwright Elementary School opened in 1949 and was closed and placed on reserve status in 2005 in light of the expansion of Fort Bliss through BRAC. It currently serves as a science education resource center; until November 2009; it also served as a student health center. • The Veterans Hospital in Walla Walla, Washington is the Jonathan M. Wainwright IV Medical Center. • There is a memorial to General Wainwright on Corregidor Island. • There is a Wainwright Drive located in Skaneateles, New York, serving as the entrance to American Legion Post 239. • There is a Wainwright Street located in the Twinbrook section of Rockville, Maryland. • There is a Wainwright Drive in San Jose, California. • There is a Wainwright Avenue in Closter, New Jersey. • There is a Wainwright Court at California State University, Monterey Bay at the former Fort Ord. • The Jonathan M. Wainwright Award is named in his honor at the Freemasonic National Sojourners Marvin Shields Camp Heros of '76, Olympic Chapter No. 539 and is awarded yearly. • There was a Wainwright School (臺南美國學校) for US Air Force dependents at Tainan Air Base, Taiwan, from 1953 to 1976. • There is a General Wainwright Drive in Lake Charles, Louisiana. • There is a housing area on Fort Hood, Texas, called Wainwright Heights. • There is a Wainwright Street in Benicia, California (1942 residential subdivision) • Wainwright VFW Post 2185 in Panama City, Florida • Wainwright Elementary School in the Houston Independent School District is named after him. == Film ==

In the 1977 film MacArthur, General Wainwright is portrayed by Sandy Kenyon. == Works ==