Note 12 — Chapter V · A Day: 20 October 1944

The Sixth Army had been ordered to seize and establish beachheads in the Dulag and Tacloban areas and to secure the airfields in order to provide naval and air bases; and to seize such objectives in the Panaon Strait area as would permit safe passage of naval forces through the strait to the Camotes Sea.12 To carry out the operation General Krueger had assigned the 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, to gain control of Panaon Strait; the XXIV Corps was to secure the Dulag area and its airstrip; and the 1st Cavalry Division of X Corps was to land in the Marasbaras area and, by advancing north, capture the Tacloban airdrome, the most important A-Day objective for the Sixth Army. At the same time, the 24th Division, less the 21st Infantry, of the X Corps was to seize Palo and advance rapidly to the northwest.13 The seizure of these areas would secure the important coastal airstrips for future air operations, cut off any Japanese attempts at reinforcement from the southern Philippines through the Mindanao Sea and Sogod Bay, secure the important eastern entrances into the interior, and enable the American forces to control San Pedro Bay and San Juanico Strait.