Synopsis: Secret War in the Pacific

The usual perception of WWII in the Pacific is that General Douglas MacArthur was defeated in the Philippines by the Japanese. He was able to escape from that country by a combination of PT Boats and B-17s, and arrived in Australia where he uttered his famous promise: “I shall return.”

This documentary is the story behind that story; it is an account of how the resistance movement began in the Philippines, how it came to be supplied regularly by a group of Special Mission (or “Guerrilla”) Submarines out of Australia; and how it eventually became such a force that it enabled MacArthur to “return” to the Philippines and fulfill his promise.

The film documents the life of the man who was perhaps the single most important person in this equation between MacArthur's GHQ to the South, and the Philippine destination: a middle-aged Manila businessman and Naval Reserve officer, Charles “Chick” Parsons, who first had to engineer a daring escape for himself and his family from Japanese-held Manila; and then who joined MacArthur and became his liaison with the guerrillas and resupply man in the Philippines. How he managed to enter and re-enter the islands on numerous occasions, how he brought much-needed supplies and radios to set up coast   watcher stations is told here.

Viewers will find out why General MacArthur called Chick Parsons “the bravest man I know.”

The documentary was produced by one of Chick Parsons' sons, Peter Parsons, who can be contacted at ppars@aol.com