Letter from Douglas MacArthur to Ralph Amato, Sr., on letterhead of Commander-in-Chief, United States Army Forces, Pacific, 25 October 1945. * 11 letters & 1 Christmas card, typed and handwritten, from Lt. Ralph Amato, Jr., in the Philippines to his sister and brother-in-law, Mr. & Mrs. C.J. Peters in Seattle, Washington, with the original envelopes. Oct. 14, 1940-Nov, 12, 1942. * 3 autograph letters from Ensign William A. Marshall to the Peters. Nov. 4, 1941-Jan. 4, 1942. * Autograph letter from Midshipman Basil. J. Parish to the Peters, Nov. 26, 1941. * Typed postcard sent to Mrs. Clayton J. Peters from Amateur Radio Station W6CUU, noting that “Your message addressed to Lt. Ralph Amato Jr. Manila cannot be forwarded. All amateur radio stations closed Dec. 7th/41 by government order.”
Significant and somewhat poignant archive highlighted by the letter from General Douglas MacArthur, but supported by the no-less significant letters from an American soldier in the Philippines in the year leading up to the outbreak of war in the Pacific. MacArthur writes to Lt. Amato’s father, “My deepest sympathy goes to you in the death of your son, Captain Ralph Amato, Jr. [evidently he was promoted after the outbreak of hostilities]. You may have some consolation in the memory that he, along with his comrades-in-arms who died on Bataan and Corregidor and in prison camps, gave his life for his country. It was largely their magnificent courage and sacrifices which stopped the enemy in the Philippines and gave us the time to arm ourselves for our return to the Philippines and the final defeat of Japan. Their names will be enshrined in our country’s glory forever. In your son’s death I have lost a gallant comrade and mourn with you. Yours faithfully, Douglas MacArthur.” Captain Amato, who died on a Japanese prison ship on January 9, 1945, was a graduate of Franklin High School and the University of Oregon, where he was on the baseball team. He was called to active duty in September, 1939, and after a year at Vancouver barracks he was transferred to the Philippines. The letters to his sister begin when he is en route to the Philippines, and end just weeks before the Japanese attack. Most are fairly lengthy, 4 to 6 closely typed pages, and replete with detail. On May 28, 1941, he writes, “Work has been going on here as usual. I got a break this week. The regiment left last Sunday on maneuvers, but the baseball team was left behind and me also. To make it legal they put me in command of the band, so all I have to do is sign a few papers in the mornings and have the rest of the day off – except baseball practice in the afternoons…” All is not fun and games, however, and on August 9, 1941, “As usual, we have been busy here. The appointment of Douglas McArthur [sic] as the bug gun, and the proposed mobilization of the Philippine Army into US service has caused lots of changes here. The personnel of different staffs has undergone complete revision in most cases…” And on November 12, 1941, his final letter, “…Now for a little news of military matters. The good old 45th is going to be broken up and incorporated into the 57th Infantry, the other infantry here at McKinley. The Philippine Division here at McKinley is going to be brought up to war strength according to the tables of organization for a motorized streamlined division in the States… Things are really mixed up at present and I will be glad when it is all straightened out which should be in about three weeks…” In about three weeks, of course, greater challenges would be at hand.