re: #347 Barefoot Grin

Also, much of the Pacific Theater was won by others in places like Midway, right?

Yes, but that shouldn’t be held against MacArthur. He knew as well as anyone that the one critical task of the Pacific Theater he could not take the lead on was the elimination of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and he accepted this. But at the same time, he was correct in believing that his Return to the Philippines on Leyte in October of 1944 would prompt the IJN to give battle and thus hand the uSN the chance to finish the Japanese off. So it proved when the USN triumphed in the 4-part Battle of Leyte Gulf, but it was a narrow run thing.