Video: 'Allied Newsreel - MacArthur Lands at Leyte, Philippines 1944'

(Friday, October 20, 1944, 1:30 p.m. local time; during the Battle of Leyte, part of the Pacific Theatre of World War II) — American forces landed on Red Beach in Palo, Leyte, today as General Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines, fulfilling his promise to return to the area he was forced to flee in 1942.

After wading ashore, MacArthur made a radio broadcast in which he declared, “People of the Philippines, I have returned! By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.”

Video: 'The World At War: Pacific 3/5' (Oct. 20, 1944, at 1:07)