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bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines, © 2026 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 29 Dec 2025
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The remaining Philippine Islands were liberated beginning in February 1945.
By February 1945, the Philippine Islands of Leyte, Samar, and Mindoro lay in American hands while the US Sixth Army was just beginning a long campaign to overcome Japanese resistance on the island of Luzon.

Lacking close supervision from Washington, MacArthur chose to use his Eighth Army to clear Japanese troops from the numerous islands of the southern Philippines rather than letting the Japanese wither on the vine as in New Guinea, the Rabaul area, and Bougainville.

The southern Philippines campaign began with the invasion of Palawan on 28 February 1945 and officially ended on 4 July. As on Luzon, pockets of Japanese soldiers held out until the war's end.
US Operations in Southern Philippines 1945
US Operations in Southern Philippines 1945
Although the Eighth Army lost 2,100 dead in the southern Philippines, the cost would have been far higher if not for the many thousands of Filipino guerrillas who supported US forces.
Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines webpage:
Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines: 08-05 - WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines: (eight dead, updated 5 Nov 2025)
† Crane, Laurence Victor, SN  39-477-434, US Army, Marion Co., OR​
  • 132nd Inf. Regt., Americal Div., Eighth Army; KIA 30 Mar 1945 Cebu, Philippines.
  • WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines
† Frits, Richard Yale, SN 37-697-896, US Army, Pott. & Decatur Cos.
  • Co. B, 99th Signal Corps Bn.; DNB (sic) 16 Jun 1945, Valencia, Mindanao, Philippines, walked into a booby-trap trip flare.
  • WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines
† McGraw, Louis Edward, SN 37-643-332, US Army, Shelby & Des Moines Cos. 
  • 132nd Inf. Regt., Americal Div.; KIA 30 Apr 1945 Cebu Is., Philippines.
  • WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines
† Petersen, Marvin Lee, SN 37-752-434, US Army, Audubon Co.
  • Medical Detachment, 182nd Inf. Regt., Americal Div.; DOW 14 Apr 1945 Cebu Is., Philippines.
  • WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines
† Ring, Clinton Ross, SN 37-752-270, US Army, Harrison Co.
  • Co. C, 182nd Inf. Regt., Americal Div.; KIA 12 Apr 1945 Cebu Is., Philippines, bullet wound
  • WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines
† Schroder, Dean Charles, SN 37-752-477, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • Co. E, 132nd Inf. Regt., Americal Div.; WIA 17 Jun 1945, probably on Cebu Is., Philippines; DNB (sic) 8 Jul 1945 at sea returning from SW Pacific.
  • WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines
† Summerville, George Stanley, SN O-1039593, US Army, Union & Cass Cos.
  • 894th Chemical Co.; DNB 26 Jul 1945 San Jose, Mindanao, Philippines; injuries from an aircraft accident.
  • WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines
† Talty, Norbert Leo, SN 30-153-755, US Army, Pott. Co. & Los Angeles Co., CA
  • Battery B, 213th Field Artillery Bn., 40th Inf. Div.; DOW 19 May 1945 Negros Is., Philippines; hit by rock kicked up by an exploding shell, d. soon thereafter;
  • WWII Japan > Philippines Liberated > Southern Philippines