The OSS’ Operation Cardinal: Locating General Jonathan Wainwright

By John Mancini On May 6, 1942, in the Malinta Tunnel, Corregidor Island, General Jonathan Wainwright waited for the Japanese to respond to his surrender offer with a cease-fire. The courageous Army officer took the remaining time before entering into captivity to send a last message to President Franklin Roosevelt: “With broken heart and head bowed in sadness, but not in shame I report to Your Excellency that today I must arrange terms for the surrender of the fortified islands of Manila Bay. If you agree, please say to the nation that my troops and I accomplished all that is humanly possible and that we have upheld the best traditions of the United States Army. May God bless and preserve and guide you and the nation in the ultimate victory. With profound regret and continued pride in my gallant troops I go to meet the Japanese commander. Good Bye, Mr. President.” The 59-year-old professional soldier had been promoted to lieutenant general and appointed commander of all American and Filipino forces in March 1942 just prior to General Douglas MacArthur’s departure for Australia. He graduated from West Point in 1906 and followed his father’s legacy by requesting assignment to the cavalry. General Wainwright was a combat veteran of World War I and was posted to the Philippines on the eve of war in December 1941. Wainwright continued to lead American and Filipino forces in the battle for the Bataan Peninsula until overwhelmed by numerically superior Japanese units, fo