King, Edward P., MG

Edward P. King (1884 - 1958) was a Major General in the United States Army who gained prominence for leading the defense of the Bataan Peninsula in the Battle of Bataan against the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in World War II.
 

Education

He was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1884. As the grandson and nephew of Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, King had a strong desire to be a soldier. He attended the University of Georgia where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and graduated in 1902.
 

Early military career

Initially his family wanted him to be a lawyer but this proved unfitting for King, and unhappy with his role in civilian life, he desired a more adventurous career. He applied for and received a commission in the Army in 1908. He served with distinction during World War I earning the Distinguished Service Medal. Between WWI and WWII, King held several important assignments including that of instructor in both the Army and Navy War Colleges. In 1940 he was sent to the Philippines where he was promptly promoted to Brigadier General; he served as General Douglas MacArthur's second highest ranking ground officer, after General Jonathan Wainwright.
 

World War II

On 11 March 1942, by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, MacArthur left for Australia. Wainwright was appointed to succeed MacArthur as General of the Armies of the Philippines while King became the Commanding General of the Philippine-American forces on the Bataan Peninsula. At the time, King was the commander of the artillery.
 

After months of fighting the invading Japanese Army and with food and medicine exhausted, King was forced to surrender his troops on 9 April 1942. (This day is commemorated in the Philippines as Araw ng Kagitingan "Day of Valor") A combined American and Filipino force of over 75,000 surrendered; this was the largest surrender of a military force in American history. Thousands of these soldiers would die under Japanese captivity during the ensuing Bataan Death March.
 

Wainwright and his men, numbering 10,000, held on to Corregidor until they too were forced to surrender on 6 May 1942. King spent three and half years as a captive of the Japanese and was often mistreated by them because of his rank.
 

Postwar

After the war, he returned to the United States where he retired to a home in Georgia, devoting himself to many volunteer causes, such as the Red Cross. He died in 1958.
 

On April 9, 1942 in the tropical heat of the Philippines, a weary American general put on his last clean uniform and accompanied with his staff got on his jeep and rode to the Japanese frontlines to discuss the terms of surrender to end a bloody military campaign which had gone on for four months. The grandson of a Confederate General of the Civil War, he was acutely aware of the date. Exactly 77 years ago, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. Now on this exact day, Major General Edward P. King, with a heavy heart, was forced to surrender his 70,000 troops. It would be the largest capitulation of American forces in history.
 

Edward P. King nicknamed “Ned” was born in Atlanta, Georgia to parents who wished to have him follow a career in law. However, King would have different aspirations. He enrolled at the University of Georgia where he joined Phi Delta Theta, an organization where he would remain active for the rest of his life. He graduated in 1903 at the age of 20. He obtained his law degree but sought a more adventurous career. He joined the military and quickly rose through the ranks. He would make his membership in the armed forces a career. By the time World War I came he was a Major in artillery. He fought in the war with distinction and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
 

It wasn’t until World War II where his name was recognized throughout the world. King was stationed in the Philippines when war broke out with the Japanese and as such was one of the first Americans to see action. With the Japanese intent in conquering the Philippines, King's role as the commander of the artillery on the Bataan Peninsula was particularly crucial. He was the third highest ranking officer behind General Douglass MacArthur and General Jonathan Wainwright.
 

The combined U.S. and Filipino forces were ill equipped for the Japanese invasion which started in January 1942. The allied forces would hold on for four months waiting for relief from the U.S. mainland. However, with the Pacific Fleet nearly crippled at Pearl Harbor, help would never come. The allies were beaten all the way back to the tip of the Bataan Peninsula where they made a final stand.
 

 The situation became so precarious that by the orders of President Roosevelt, MacArthur was ordered to leave the Philippines and go to Australia. Gen. Wainwright, who was at Corregidor Island which protected Manila Bay, became the new commander of all forces in the Philippines. Gen. King became the second in command and was specifically in charge of the forces on the Peninsula which numbered 70,000 men. Upon MacArthur's departure both he and Wainwright had ordered a counterattack, something King felt was an impossible order because they were not fully aware of the situation as the remaining troops could only be on the defensive. Regardless, King's men fought desperately taking high casualities.


With his front lines nearly destroyed and both flanks severely weakened, King said of the situation "in two days an army vanished into air". The troops held out as long as they could but on April 8, King sent out an urgent and hopeless signal indicating, "We have no further means of organized resistance". The allied forces were low on ammunition, virtually no medical equipment, ill-equipped and food was all but gone. Men resorted to eating anything they could find. Of the 70,000 men, more than 20,000 of them were hospitalized. An additional 75 - 80% of the troops either had malaria or dysentery.
 

King was faced with the most difficult decision in his life. Realizing that he could be court-martialed and it would not be known how long his men would remain as prisoners of war, King offered the surrender of all forces on Bataan. King never informed Wainwright, a move which would cost him professionally. He wanted the responsibility all to himself saying: "You men remember this. You did not surrender ... you had no alternative but to obey my order". After months of bitter fighting, 70,000 troops surrendered on April 9, 1942. Wainwright and his 10,000 troops on Corregidor would hold out for another month, before they too surrendered.
 

 The ethical dilemma King faced was particularly cruel. King surrendered to give his men a chance to live and survive the war rather than face inevitable annhilation. King said of the surrender, "If I do not surrender to the Japanese, Bataan will be known as the greatest slaughter in history." He and his officers could have never known what would happen to them and their men. King asked the Japanese specifically that his men be given fair treatment. He was assured by Colonel Motoo Nakayama, who he had surrendered to that "The Imperial Japanese Army are not barbarians.” However,this would not be the case. The allied forces were forced to endure the infamous Death March and spend years in prison camp where thousands more died. King spent years in a prison camp in Manchuria. Because of his high rank, he was often mistreated at a higher degree than others. Prior to being taken to a POW camp he tearfully told his men: "We were asked to lay down a bunt. We did just that. You have nothing to be ashamed of."
 

The stand by the U.S. and Philippine forces later became critical to the overall Pacific war. Without this stand, the Japanese might have quickly overrun all of the U.S. bases in the Pacific and any thought of advancement to Australia was stopped. Bataan forced them to slow down, giving the allies valuable time to prepare for conflicts such as the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway which followed closely thereafter.

When the war in the Pacific finally ended both MacArthur and Wainwright received promotions and the Medal of Honor for their defense of the Philippines. However, Edward King had a different fate. For his actions, King received no promotions and no accolades. MacArthur even refused to see or speak to him after the war believing that he should not have surrendered. In the 1977 film "MacArthur" starring Gregory Peck, his name is not even mentioned. This however, was a sentiment not shared by the soldiers. Many veterans of the Philippines Campaign of 1941-42 were angry at MacArthur and remained bitter at him for the rest of their lives. They believed that he was out of touch with what the troops were really going through during that time. At the time of King's surrender, Wainwright disapproved but later said of King's decision that it “required unusual courage and strength of character.”
 

 Though King did not receive any recognition, he was revered by his men and continued to be remembered by veterans groups years after. He commanded the respect and admiration of those who served under him. Many believe that it was a travesty that King was never given a promotion or any recognition by the United States. In 2002, Maj. Richard M. Gordon, a Bataan veteran said of King at a speech at the American Cemetery in Manila: "If General King did not have the courage to surrender, we survivors of Bataan who are here today, would not be here. Today, General King is an ignored figure in history. Had the General not surrendered, it would have been a blood bath on Bataan."
 

King would eventually retire from the Army after the war and became involved with the Red Cross. He was also active with Phi Delta Theta occasionaly becoming a guest speaker at various alumni events. In retrospect, no other Phi Delt General endured so much physically and emotionally only to be forgotten than General Edward King. It is up to future generations to remember one of the unsung heroes of World War II.

The "Battling Bastards of Bataan" wish to dedicate this page to Major Gen. Edward P. King, a hero who must never be forgotten.
 

Edward Postell King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1884. A grandson and nephew of Confederate officers of the Civil War, he grew up wanting to be a soldier. His family, however, wanted him to be a lawyer. They sent him to the University of Georgia, where he obtained a law degree.
 

Unhappy with civilian life, he applied for and obtained a Regular Army commission. He had a brilliant career, during WW I, earning a Distinguished Service Medal, as a Chief Assistant to the Chief of Artillery. In between wars, he held various assignments, with various troops under his command. Recognized as a leader, he attended both the Army and Navy War Colleges, where he later was assigned as an instructor in both colleges.
 

Promoted to Colonel, he became Director of War Plans, at the Army War College, in 1940. Later that year, he was sent to the Philippines and there promoted to Brigadier General, as General MacArthur's second, ranking ground general, after General Wainwright.
 

On March 11, 1942: General MacArthur left for Australia, General Wainwright was appointed to succeed General MacArthur as General of the Armies of the Philippines, and General King became the Commanding General of the Philippine-American forces on Bataan. Days later, General King was compelled to surrender the largest military force in American History. This courageous act saved the lives of thousands of his troops, who would have been annihilated by the Japanese if he had not surrendered.
 

In a meeting with his troops prior to being sent to a POW Camp in Manchuria, he assured his men, in a tearful farewell, that he alone was responsible for the surrender. In General King's own words, "We were asked to lay down a bunt. We did just that. You have nothing to be ashamed of."
 

General King spent three and half years as a captive of the Japanese. He was often mistreated by Japanese, and always in his mind was the surrender on Bataan