Gaetano Faillace (September 17, 1904 – December 31, 1991) was General Douglas MacArthur's personal photographer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

American occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

after World War II. During his time in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, he took many famous images including MacArthur wading ashore during the landing on Leyte, MacArthur with Emperor Hirohito, and the cover photo for MacArthur's book ''Reminiscences of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur''.

Early life

Gaetano Faillace was born September 17, 1904, in New York City to Marcello and Francesca (Sciacca) Faillace.

MacArthur's photographer

Rank

When photographers were assigned to highly ranked individuals like General MacArthur, they had to be officers, as they would be present alongside many other highly ranked men. Faillace was a sergeant before being promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

when assigned to the general. After he left MacArthur's service he went back to the rank of sergeant but his war commission had progressed during the war and when he retired he jumped ranks to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Landing at Leyte

On 20 October 1944, troops of Krueger's Sixth Army landed on Leyte while MacArthur watched from the light cruiser . That afternoon he arrived off the beach. The advance had not progressed far; snipers were still active and the area was under sporadic mortar fire. When his craft grounded in knee-deep water, MacArthur requested a landing craft, but the beachmaster was too busy to grant his request and MacArthur was compelled to wade ashore. It has often been claimed that the picture is posed but William J. Dunn who was present during the landing (the only one in the picture not wearing a helmet or hat) says that rumor "is one of the most ludicrous misconceptions to come out of that war." After landing on the beach, MacArthur gave his prepared speech, saying:

MacArthur and the Emperor

After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

on September 2, 1945, America occupied the home islands of Japan. As MacArthur took residence in Tokyo, he decided on a strategy of continuity for the Japanese people. Even though many Japanese and most of America wanted the Emperor put on trial (70% of Americans wanted him hanged) MacArthur thought that keeping the Emperor in his position would offer a symbol for the Japanese people to rally around. If the Japanese people could rally around Hirohito and he could be controlled by the Americans, then fewer troops would be required to keep the peace in Japan. MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito's staff set up a meeting for 10 am on September 27, 1945, to discuss how to save the Emperor's throne. When the Emperor and his entourage arrived, American officers offered to take his hat. This seemed to alarm Hirohito, as he was the God Emperor and his normal Japanese staff never took things from him. As the Emperor handed over his hat, MacArthur burst into the room, saying "You are very, very welcome, sir!" For the officers present, it was the first time they heard the general call anyone "sir". MacArthur then moved to shake his hand, and Hirohito bowed so deeply that because of the Emperor's small stature the handshake took place above his head. During the meeting Gaetano Faillace took three photos of the two men. One was ruined from MacArthur closing his eyes and another from the Emperor's mouth gaping open, and the final one was approved and published in Japanese and international papers. When the picture was published in Japanese papers, the Japanese censors were horrified at the image, which showed a towering and informal MacArthur and a small and very formal Emperor Hirohito. To the Japanese, the God Emperor should always be the most prominent person in a picture, and to have an American standing in his company with an air of power went against all their training. The Americans, however, who had forced the Japanese censors to publish the photo, were very pleased as the picture seemed to encapsulate the change that their occupation of Japan represented.

Retirement and death

In 1983 Faillace released a Japanese book with photographs he took from the occupation. On December 31, 1991 he died from complications of cancer in

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

.North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. ''North Carolina Deaths, 1997-2004'' (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics). At the time of his death he had family throughout America including brothers, Joseph Faillace, and Antonio Faillace in Seattle, sisters Grace Mauro of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and Angela Buscemi of

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. His children, including his daughters Dr. Deon Faillace, Denise Danaher, and Donna Faillace and his son, Douglas Faillace, lived in Detroit. He also had two grandchildren.

Bibliography

;Notes ;References * * * - Total pages: 416 * * * * * - Total pages: 175 * * - Total pages: 210 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faillace, Gaetano 1904 births 1991 deaths American photojournalists American war photographers United States Army personnel of World War II American people of Italian descent Deaths from cancer in North Carolina Journalists from New York City World War II photographers United States Army officers