Major General Edward P. King

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.