Maj. Gen. Rapp Brush commanding the 40th Inf Division until Jul 1945, he was in command when the 40th Infantry Division invaded Panay Island, Philippines on March 18, 1945.

When Major General Rapp Brush led the veteran 40th Infantry Division into the Philippine liberation campaign, he began retracing the steps of his youth.

On the day the 40th liberated the city of Lingayen, General Brush rode through its shell-pocked streets. “This doesn’t look like much of a playground for a boy,” he remarked.

As a boy in Lingayen, where his father was Military District Commander in 1901, the leader of the “Sunburst” Division had taught Filipino youngsters to play baseball.

When General Brush had led his Doughboys in a lightning, 10-day liberation of the island of Panay, he established his headquarters in Iloilo, where his father once served as commanding general.

The thorough knowledge of the country owned by General Brush, plus the blazing combat spirit of his men, made the 40th a terror to the Japanese.

From Fighting Divisions, Kahn & McLemore, Infantry Journal Press, 1945-1946.

https://www.sonsoflibertymuseum.org/40th-infantry-division-ww2.cfm




By December 1944, the Soldiers of the 40th Infantry Division were preparing to depart toward the Philippines for their first major battles of the war, Delk wrote. On Dec. 1, 1944, Maj. Gen. Rapp Brush sent the following message to the Soldiers of the 40th Division:

“We are now entering the most important period in our lives and in the history of our division. The operation in which we are about to participate constitutes the culmination of three long years of war in the Pacific. I am sure that every member of the division is proud that we have been selected to participate in the spearhead attack on this vital objective.

“Through long periods of rigorous training we have molded and hardened ourselves into a highly efficient combat team. Those periods are now behind us. We are about to receive the real test. I feel that we are fully prepared to meet this test and bring the operation to a speedy and successful conclusion. I have the utmost confidence in you.

“Good luck and God bless you. THIS IS IT!”

Indeed, it was. The division attacked the Japanese at Luzon, Panay and Negros in the Philippines.

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2013/January/40th-ID-History/