Professor Greg Jackson

Four PT boats move in a diamond formation from Corregidor to Mindanao.

Well, boat is a generous term.

Doug calls them, and I quote, 77 feet of light plywood.

They pass Japanese minefields and traverse the rainy, rough Sulu Sea.

At one point, strong winds push them within two miles of Japanese-held Cabra Island, where bonfires glow on shore.

Somehow, they go unnoticed.

Doug describes the more than 500-mile boat ride as, quote, and adds, quote,

Doug, Jean, little Arthur, and well, everyone takes turns tossing cookies into the sea.

But finally, on the morning of March 13th, the weary group arrives at Cagayan on the Philippine island of Mindanao.

Four B-17 Flying Fortresses are supposed to pick them up, but only one has arrived, and it's in bad shape.

16 in the group hop aboard, but Doug refuses to risk his family.

Instead, he sends a strongly worded message back to D.C.

to Chief of Staff George Marshall and waits at the dirt airbase.

This does the trick.

The U.S.

Navy's top brass in Australia are voluntold to do better, and three days later, on the evening of March 16th, two brand new flying fortresses arrive.

Still one plane short from what was planned, the MacArthur's only take their clothes and a mattress for little Arthur, who's feeling seasick.

This mattress generates rumors later that the general has stuffed it with gold coins that he's smuggling into Australia.

In reality, he's importing straw.

Flown by a pilot operating on eight cups of coffee and nerves, the B-17 is no better for motion sickness than the PT boats.