Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines/archive1


 * The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by Laser brain via FACBot (talk) 15:13, 18 July 2016.

Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines

 * Nominator(s): Hawkeye7 (talk) 04:18, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

This article is about one of the more dramatic actions of World War II. Hawkeye7 (talk) 04:18, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Comments by

 * Hi, . I made a deep polishing pass through the article and made several [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Douglas_MacArthur%27s_escape_from_the_Philippines&diff=721040770&oldid=720280649 helpful edits] to put the article closer to a Featured Article promotion. I fixed a couple of typos too, but I did not put that in my edit summary. Ping me back when you are ready for my !vote. Cheers!  12:52, 19 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Checkingfax, there have been a couple of supports now, did you want to be pinged? - Dank (push to talk) 02:12, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

Support – on structure, MoS, accessibility, readability, and brilliance. 07:37, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

Image review
 * Suggest scaling up the map
 * Tried that. But it needs to be scaled up a lot before all the text becomes readable. Best to just allow readers to click on it to enlarge. When I watched the movie I got worried about my map, as it differs substantially from that shown. But our map is correct. Hawkeye7 (talk) 05:34, 21 May 2016 (UTC)
 * File:Lieutenant_J._D._Bulkeley_k13927.jpg: is there a NARA link? The current source link is dead. Same with File:Lieutenant_John_D._Bulkeley_g14252.jpg. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:13, 21 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Updated to use the current NHC link. Added one more pic down the bottom. Hawkeye7 (talk) 05:34, 21 May 2016 (UTC)

Support on prose per standard disclaimer. I've looked at the changes made since I reviewed this for A-class (almost 4 years ago). - Dank (push to talk)

Comments by Nick-D
It's good to see an article on this once-famous incident at FAC. I have the following comments:
 * "ultimately arriving in Melbourne on 21 March. This was the occasion of his famous speech in which he declared, "I came through and I shall return"" - this wording is a bit confusing given that the article notes that he actually said this while en-route to Melbourne
 * Corrected. Hawkeye7 (talk) 23:30, 25 May 2016 (UTC)
 * The second para of the lead should note that MacArthur was the commanding officer of the forces in the Philippines
 * Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 23:30, 25 May 2016 (UTC)
 * "The Philippines had no navy at all" - but there was a US Navy fleet based there - perhaps note this earlier
 * Re-worded. Hawkeye7 (talk) 23:30, 25 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Have any historians commented on the rights and wrongs of the escape? It looks somewhat indulgent to modern eyes, though probably wasn't seen as such at the time.
 * They don't seem to have. I have a lot of books on MacArthur, but none debate it. Hawkeye7 (talk) 23:30, 25 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I just read the account of this incident in The Fall of the Philippines, and it had some good details to draw on to flesh out the "Decision" section a bit - such as the military rationale for ordering MacArthur out of the Philippines (the history notes that a very senior commander was needed in a hurry with MacArthur being the logical choice) and the timing of the escape (which MacArthur delayed until the situation in Bataan was relatively stable). There's also some interesting material on the extent to which MacArthur resisted evacuating, which Morton suggests was over-egged somewhat by MacArthur's admirers, as well as MacArthur's demand that the best pilots and aircraft in the US be assigned to get him out of the Philippines. Nick-D (talk) 09:17, 24 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I have added another paragraph detailing this, sourced from Morton. Hawkeye7 (talk) 01:57, 26 May 2016 (UTC)

Support My comments are now addressed - great work with this article. Nick-D (talk) 09:55, 26 May 2016 (UTC)

Comments by jfhutson
Will return for a second read-through. --JFH (talk) 18:08, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
 * The lead: I think we need to know earlier who MacArthur is and what danger he is in. I have to infer that this escape is from something other than being taken prisoner, and not until the third paragraph do I hear about the "blockade".
 * Re-written the lead. I hope the first sentence is not too long. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:44, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
 * I think this falls in line with the second example given at WP:LEAD and I made a few changes to the first couple sentences. I'm not married to them, but it reads better in my opinion (before we might have thought the Japanese were in the PT boats, and yes it was very long).--JFH (talk) 01:47, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Seems natural enough. I moved the PT boats into the second sentence. Hawkeye7 (talk) 08:50, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
 * "share the fate of the garrison" not immediately clear what this means
 * Added a bit. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:44, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
 * "However radio broadcasts" needs a comma
 * Deleted "however" Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:44, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
 * "Rockwell was far from convinced" reader can't keep track of who's in the boat, so mention that he's in the same boat as Kelly
 * Added. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:44, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
 * "time consuming" hyphenate?
 * Added. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:44, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

Comments by Wehwalt
Support very gripping. Just a few details:
 * "he united the Philippine and United States Armies under one command." It's difficult to know how to assess this without knowing the previous state of affairs.
 * But it says that His job was to advise the Philippine government on defense matters, and prepare the Philippine defense forces for the day when the Philippines became fully independent. So we know that the Philippines was not fully
 * I guess I mean, were the Philippine forces under the nominal command of the Filipinos?--Wehwalt (talk) 01:42, 10 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Yes. Added a paragraph about the Philippine Army.
 * "MacArthur became a symbol of Allied resistance to the Japanese" this caption is ambiguous.
 * What are the two meanings? Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:49, 11 July 2016 (UTC)
 * It might be made clearer what the big picture of the pre-war plan was. For example, that the US was not in a real position to defend the Philippines immediately due to distance and other factors.
 * Added a paragraph on pre-war planning. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:49, 11 July 2016 (UTC)
 * "and had been operated for double the recommended mileage." prior to their overhaul?
 * Yes. Added. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:49, 11 July 2016 (UTC)
 * "MacArthur's chief of staff, Major General Richard K. Sutherland, " you mentioned him before simply as General Sutherland. Link and full introduction should be adjusted.
 * Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:49, 11 July 2016 (UTC)
 * But that is in a quotation, and per MOS:QUOTE: As much as possible, avoid linking from within quotes, which may clutter the quotation, violate the principle of leaving quotations unchanged, and mislead or confuse the reader. But I wanted to include his mention in the message, because it shows that he was only supposed to take his family and his chief of staff, but chose to take other staff as well. Hawkeye7 (talk) 01:15, 10 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Well, maybe pipe the name to Sutherland and then introduce as you have it. Just so the reader knows there's a link available there.--Wehwalt (talk) 01:40, 10 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Done. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:49, 11 July 2016 (UTC)
 * " A United States Army Air Corps officer, Major General Harold H. George, was requested by the United States Army Air Forces.[35]" seems to be some words missing. To be part of the expedition?
 * Changed to A United States Army Air Corps officer, Major General Harold H. George, was included at the request of the United States Army Air Forces Hawkeye7 (talk) 01:15, 10 July 2016 (UTC)
 * "Paul P. Rogers. Rogers" Rogers/Rogers
 * Tweaked the wording. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:49, 11 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Do we know why Leary changed his mind?--Wehwalt (talk) 18:35, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
 * No, but the suspicion is that Marshall spoke to Admiral King. Hawkeye7 (talk) 01:22, 10 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Added a bit from Brett's account. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:49, 11 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Is everything alright now? I wasn't sure what to do about the ambiguity. Hawkeye7 (talk) 12:40, 16 July 2016 (UTC)

Source review All sources seem to be of encyclopedic quality and are consistency cited so far as I can tell.--Wehwalt (talk) 18:38, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

-- Laser brain  (talk)  15:13, 18 July 2016 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.