<P> As early as 1907, U.S. naval and military planners had concluded that it would be impractical to repel an invasion of the Philippines . The best that could be hoped for was that the garrison could hold out on the Bataan peninsula until help arrived . In the 1920s it was estimated that they could do so for about 60 days . By the 1930s, the planners had become decidedly pessimistic in view of the increased capability of aircraft, and by 1936 they were agreed that the Philippine should be written off . But in July 1941, this decision was abruptly reversed, and it became the policy of the U.S. government to defend and hold the Philippines . This was based, at least in part, in the belief that Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress bombers could deter or defeat an invading force . </P> <P> Soon after the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941, MacArthur, in accordance with the pre-war plan, declared Manila an open city, and ordered his forces on Luzon to withdraw to Bataan . The Philippine government, the High Commissioner's office and MacArthur's USAFFE headquarters moved to Corregidor Island . Although the dependents of U.S. military personnel had been sent back to the United States, MacArthur was, until his recall from retirement, a Philippine government employee, so his family had remained in the Philippines . MacArthur's wife, Jean MacArthur, and young son, Arthur MacArthur IV, went with him to Corregidor . Arthur celebrated his fourth birthday on Corregidor, on 21 February 1942 . When an aide asked about Arthur's possible fate, MacArthur replied: "He is a soldier's son ." </P> <P> Most of the United States Asiatic Fleet retired to the south of the Philippines . A small force was left behind under the command of Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell consisting of the submarine tender USS Canopus, the submarine rescue ship Pigeon, gunboats Oahu, Luzon and Mindanao, minesweepers Finch, Tanager and Quail, five tugboats, three small patrol boats, and the PT boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three . The loss of Manila and the U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay meant that fuel and spare parts became scarce . The PT boats relied on Canopus and the floating dry dock USS Dewey for assistance with maintenance . Despite this, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three continued to patrol . On 17 December, PT - 32, PT - 34 and PT - 35 rescued 296 survivors from SS Corregidor, which had been carrying refugees to Australia when it struck a mine and sank in Manila Bay . A week later, PT - 33 ran aground while patrolling south of Manila Bay, and was set on fire to prevent her being salvaged by the Japanese . PT - 31 met a similar fate a month later, after its engines failed and it drifted onto a reef . The PT boats attacked enemy barges off Luzon on the night of 23 January 1942, a small Japanese warship on 1 February, and a small vessel, probably a fishing trawler, on 17 February . </P> <P> In a message to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C., on 11 February, MacArthur announced that he and his family intended to "share the fate of the garrison". This meant surrender at best; MacArthur knew that death from artillery fire or an air raid was also likely . Three days later, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, George C. Marshall, urged MacArthur to send his family away, but MacArthur ignored this part of the message . Singapore, once considered impregnable, fell on 15 February, and in Washington, the possibility that Corregidor would also fall and MacArthur would be taken prisoner was considered . MacArthur was America's most experienced general, but would be of little use in a prisoner of war camp . Moreover, he had become a living symbol of Allied resistance to the Japanese . The brave but doomed defense of Bataan had captured the imagination of the American public, who saw MacArthur as the only Allied general who knew how to fight the Japanese . Walter R. Borneman noted that: </P>

Who said i shall return upon evacuating the philippines