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General
Douglas MacArthur
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Douglas
MacArthur (1880-1964), was born in Little Rock,
Arkansas, on January 26, 1880, the son of Civil
War hero Arthur MacArthur (they constitute the
only father and son to have won the Medal of
Honor), graduated from West Point in 1903, with
some of the highest grades ever recorded.
After
an eventful and fruitful course at West Point,
where he graduated first in his class and held
the highest rank in the Corps of Cadets, Douglas
MacArthur was commissioned Second Lieutenant,
Corps of Engineers, on June 11, 1903.
Auspiciously,
his first duty assignment was to the Philippines,
where only recently his father had been military
governor. Filipino insurrectionists provided
Douglas with his first experience in military
violence.
Until
1914, Douglas MacArthur served in Army
engineering positions in The United States and
abroad. The single exception was year he spent as
aide to his father (1905 – 1906) on an
extensive tour of the Far East, including Japan
and recent battle fields of the Russo-Japanese
War. In 1914, Douglas played a notable role in
the military expedition to Vera Cruz, Mexico.
Returning to Washington, MacArthur served on the
General Staff until he joined the then-forming 42nd
Infantry Division in 1917.
 Responsible for
much of the organization and training of the 42nd
Division, MacArthur was credited with naming it
the "Rainbow Division", because it made
up of National Guard units from all over the
United States. He served as divisional Chief of
Staff, commander of the 84th
Infantry Brigade, and, briefly, division
commander. His activities with the division in
France and Germany earned him two Distinguished
Service Crosses, a Distinguished Service Medal,
and six Silver Stars, not to mention two wound
stripes (later honored by Purple Heart medals)
and promotion to Brigadier General, his first
"star", of the National Army.
After
his return to the United States in 1919, Douglas
MacArthur then became Superintendent of the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point. From 1922 to
1930, he served two tours of duty in the Philippines as well as in various cities in the
United States. In 1928, he led the U.S. Olympic
Team to Amsterdam. During the twenties, MacArthur
was married to and divorced from Louise Cromwell
Brooks.
In
1930, President Herbert Hoover appointed Douglas
MacArthur Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt retained him in this post
until the fall of 1935, when MacArthur returned
to the Philippines as military advisor to the
newly established Philippine Commonwealth.
MacArthur’s principal task was to organize
and train a Philippine Army. Although he retired
from the U.S. Army at the end of 1937, General
MacArthur remained military advisor to the
Philippine Commonwealth, and was named Field
Marshall of its army.
Meanwhile,
in April 1937, the General married Tennessee-born
Jean Faircloth. Arthur MacArthur IV the only
child of Douglas and Jean MacArthur, was born in
Manila on February 21, 1938.
Due to
the spread of the war in Europe and the
accelerating Japanese Expansion in the Far East,
the U.S. Army Forces, Far East, were created.
President Roosevelt recalled General MacArthur to
active duty to command these forces. The
President also directed that the Philippine army
be called upon to serve with United States
forces. Mobilization, planning, organization,
training, re-equipping, and supplying his command
occupied the General until Dec 8, 1941. Although
built up considerably prior to the outbreak of
war, especially in their air strength, the U.S.
– Philippine units were no match for the
combined naval-air-ground assault by the
Japanese. Having fallen back on the Bataan
peninsula and the fortress islands blocking
Manila Bay, most notably Corregidor Island, the
Americans and Filipinos under General MacArthur
brought the Japanese to a standstill.
Since
no significant reinforcement could reach Bataan
and Corregidor and the disease ravaged,
ammunition-short Filipinos and Americans could
not be expected to hold out much longer,
President Roosevelt ordered General MacArthur to
leave the Philippines and to proceed to
Australia. The General, his family, and a nucleus
staff left Corrigidor in a torpedo boat for
Mindanao, whence they flew to Australia. For his
dogged, brave defense of the Philippines, General
MacArthur was awarded the Congressional Medal of
Honor, almost eighty years after his father had
won the medal on Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga.
From
April 1942 to October 1944, General MacArthur
trained, organized, planned for, and led his
Southwest Pacific Command through New Guinea, New
Britain, the Bismarcks, and Morotai to an
enormously successful landing in Leyte in the
central Philippines. In January 1945, the General
landed with his forces at Lingayen Gulf and
marched on Manila and Bataan.
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| General
Douglas MacArthur (center) kept his
promise to return to the Philippine
Islands as he waded ashore at Lindgayen
Gulf in January 1945. |
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On
August 30, 1945, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur
arrived in Japan to organize the Allied
occupation of the country. Three days later,
aboard the USS Missouri
in Tokyo Bay, he presided over the official
surrender of Japan. According to the terms of
surrender, Emperor Hirohito and the Japanese
government were subject to the authority of the
Supreme Commander for Allied Powers in occupied
Japan, a post filled by General MacArthur.
With
the surrender of the Japanese on the U.S.S.
Missouri on September 2, 1945, General MacArthur
assumed his powers as Supreme Commander for the
Allied Powers (SCAP).
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General
of the Army, Douglas MacArthur reads
his speech at the at the Japanese
surrender
ceremony aboard USS Missouri
September 2nd, 1945.
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Gen.
Douglas MacArthur signs as the
Supreme Allied Commander of the Pacific
Theater
during formal surrender ceremonies in
Tokyo Bay.
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On
September 8, Supreme Commander MacArthur made his
way by automobile through the ruins of Tokyo to
the American embassy, which would be his home for
the next five and a half years. The occupation
was to be a nominally Allied enterprise, but
increasing Cold War division left Japan firmly in
the American sphere of influence. From his
general headquarters, which overlooked the
Imperial Palace in central Tokyo, MacArthur
presided over an extremely productive
reconstruction of Japanese government, industry,
and society along American models. MacArthur, his
staff, and advisers helped a devastated Japan
rebuild itself, instituted a democratic
government, and charted a course that later made
Japan one of the world's leading industrial
powers. Although admired by the Japanese people,
MacArthur never broke his promise to "never
break bread" with his former enemy, and his
wife and children often attended ceremonies and
made goodwill journeys in his place. In 1949,
MacArthur gave up much of his authority to the
Japanese government, and in 1951 the United
States and 48 other nations signed a formal peace
treaty with Japan. On April 28, 1952, the treaty
went into effect, and Japan assumed full
sovereignty as the Allied occupation ended.
In June
1950, with the North Korean Invasion of the
Republic of Korea, General MacArthur was directed
to assist the South Koreans with his resources,
including ground forces. Named
Commander-In-Chief, United Nations Command, in
July, MacArthur directed the naval, air, and
ground forces of the United States, South Korea,
and the United Nations in stopping and turning
back the Communist invaders. On September 15,
1950, the General personally directed the United
States Forces in a daring amphibious attack an
Inchon. This assault on the North Korean rear so
neutralized the Communist positions in South
Korea that the U.N. forces were able to quickly
move into North Korea and to the Manchurian
border.
 Although some
Chinese Communists had been located in North
Korea as early as late October, it was not until
late November that massed Chinese
"volunteers" openly intervened in the
Korean War. MacArthur retained control of sea and
air, but the massive Chinese ground forces could
not be held back by the United Nations. A
withdrawal commenced that gave up all of North
Korea and a portion of the Republic of Korea. By
late March 1951 the U.N. troops again pushed
across the 38th
parallel , north of Seoul, South Korea’s
capital. On April 11, 1951, President Truman
because of significant policy differences with
the General, (after Mr Truman traded 9 atom bomb
core assemblies to SAC /Air Forces via JCS for
the right to dismiss him, per R. Rhodes) relieved
Douglas MacArthur of his commands.
MacArthur
returned to the United States to a hero’s
welcome. He addressed a joint session of
Congress in a famous speech wherein he outlined
his views concerning world conditions. Although
the General never again held a military command,
he remained in public view until his death. He
toured the United States after his Congressional
address, appeared before a Congressional
investigative committee, and gave a keynote
address to the 1952 Republican National
Convention. He became Chairman of the Board of
Remington Rand (later Sperry Rand) Rand). He made
a sentimental tour to the Philippines. In 1962,
he made his final commencement address to the
cadets at West Point. In 1962-1964, he wrote and
published his "Reminiscences".
On
April 5, 1964, General Douglas MacArthur died at
Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.
After lying in state in New York And Washington,
the General was interred in the MacArthur
Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia.
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 United
States Decorations
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Congressional
Medal of Honor
Distinguished Service Cross (Army) w/ 1
oak leaf cluster
Distinguished Service Cross (Navy)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Silver Star with 1 silver oak leaf
cluster
Bronze Star with "V" device
Air Medal
Purple Heart with 1 oak leaf cluster
Philippine Campaign Medal (1899-1903)
Mexican service Medal (1911-1917)
World War I Victory Medal w/ 5 battle
clasps
Representing the following campaigns:
Champaigne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St.Mihiel,
Meuse-Argonne, Defensive Sector
Occupation Medal --World War I (Germany)
American Defense Medal with Foreign
Service Clasp.
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 10
Bronze Stars
and an Arrowhead representing amphibious
assault landing on Leyte. |
Victory
Medal-World War II
Occupation Medal-World War II (Japan)
National Defense Service Medal
(1950-1953)
Korean Service Medal (1950-1953) with 3
Bronze Stars
and Arrowhead representing assault
landing at Inchon
Presidential Citation Badge with 6 Oak
Leaf Clusters:
(7 Citations-3 USAFFE, 3 Philippines
Department,
1 GHQ, SWPA).
The Thanks of the U.S. Senate
The Thanks of the U.S. House of
Representatives
Chief of General Staff Badge
Foreign Service Chevrons; 14 Stripes
Expert Rifleman’s Badge
Expert Pistol Shot Badge
Combat Pilot’s Wings
Combat Infantry Badge |
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The address
by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to the cadets of
the U.S. Military Academy in accepting the Sylvanus
Thayer Award on 12 May 1962 is a memorable tribute to the
ideals that inspired that great American soldier. For as
long as other Americans serve their country as
courageously and honorably as he did, General MacArthur's
words will live on.
The text of
this speech is reproduced from Department of Defense
Pamphlet GEN-1A, US Government Printing Office, 1964.
No human being
could fail to be deeply moved by such a tribute as this
[Thayer Award]. Coming from a profession I have served so
long and a people I have loved so well, it fills me with
an emotion I cannot express. But this award is not
intended primarily to honor a personality, but to
symbolize a great moral code-a code of conduct and
chivalry of those who guard this beloved land of culture
and ancient descent. For all hours and for all time, it
is an expression of the ethics of the American soldier.
That I should be integrated in this way with so noble an
ideal arouses a sense of pride, and yet of humility,
which will be with me always.
Duty, honor,
country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate
what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.
They are your rallying point to build courage when
courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems
to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope
becomes forlorn.
Unhappily, I
possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of
imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you
all that they mean.
The unbelievers
will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a
flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every
cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and, I am
sorry to say, some others of an entirely different
character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent
of mockery and ridicule.
But these are
some of the things they do. They build your basic
character. They mold you for your future roles as the
custodians of the Nation's defense. They make you strong
enough to know when you are weak, and brave enough to
face yourself when you are afraid.
What the Words
Teach
They teach you
to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble
and gentle in success; not to substitute words for
actions, not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the
stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to
stand up in the storm, but to have compassion on those
who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master
others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is
high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to
reach into the future, yet never neglect the past; to be
serious, yet never to take yourself too seriously; to be
modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true
greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of
true strength.
They give you a
temperate will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of
the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a
temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of
an appetite for adventure over love of ease.
They create in
your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of
what next, and joy and inspiration of life. They teach
you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman.
And what sort
of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable?
Are they brave? Are they capable of victory?
Their story is
known to all of you. It is the story of the American
man-at-arms. My estimate of him was formed on the
battlefield many, many years ago, and has never changed.
I regarded him then, as I regard him now, as one of the
world's noblest figures; not only as one of the finest
military characters, but also as one of the most
stainless.
His name and
fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his
youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all
that mortality can give. He needs no eulogy from me; or
from any other man. He has written his own history and
written it in red on his enemy's breast.
But when I
think of his patience in adversity of his courage under
fire and of his modesty in victory, I am filled with an
emotion of admiration I cannot put into words. He belongs
to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of
successful patriotism. He belongs to posterity as the
instructor of future generations in the principles of
liberty and freedom. He belongs to the present, to us, by
his virtues and by his achievements.
Witness to the
Fortitude
In 20
campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand
camp fires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude,
that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible
determination which have carved his statue in the hearts
of his people.
From one end of
the world to the other, he has drained deep the chalice
of courage. As I listened to those songs [of the glee
club], in memory's eye I could see those staggering
columns of the first World War, bending under soggy packs
on many a weary march, from dripping dusk to drizzling
dawn, slogging ankle deep through the mire of
shell-pocked roads to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the
wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for
many to the judgment seat of God.
I do not know
the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of
their death. They died, unquestioning, uncomplaining,
with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope
that we would go on to victory.
Always for
them: Duty, honor, country. Always their blood, and
sweat, and tears, as we sought the way and the light and
the truth. And 20 years after, on the other side of the
globe, again the filth of murky foxholes, the stench of
ghostly trenches, the slime of dripping dugouts, those
boiling suns of relentless heat, those torrential rains
of devastating storms, the loneliness and utter
desolation of jungle trails, the bitterness of long
separation from those they loved and cherished, the
deadly pestilence of tropical disease, the horror of
stricken areas of war.
Swift and Sure
Attack
Their resolute
and determined defense, their swift and sure attack,
their indomitable purpose, their complete and decisive
victory - always through the bloody haze of their last
reverberating shot, the vision of gaunt, ghastly men,
reverently following your password of duty, honor,
country.
The code which
those words perpetuate embraces the highest moral law and
will stand the test of any ethics or philosophies ever
promulgated for the things that are right and its
restraints are from the things that are wrong. The
soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the
greatest act of religious training--sacrifice. In battle,
and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those
divine attributes which his Maker gave when He created
man in His own image. No physical courage and no greater
strength can take the place of the divine help which
alone can sustain him. However hard the incidents of war
may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to
give his life for his country is the noblest development
of mankind.
You now face a
new world, a world of change. The thrust into outer space
of the satellite, spheres, and missiles marks a beginning
of another epoch in the long story of mankind. In the
five or more billions of years the scientists tell us it
has taken to form the earth, in the three or more billion
years of development of the human race, there has never
been a more abrupt or staggering evolution.
We deal now,
not with things of this world alone, but with the
illimitable distances and as yet unfathomed mysteries of
the universe. We are reaching out for a new and boundless
frontier. We speak in strange terms of harnessing the
cosmic energy, of making winds and tides work for us, of
creating unheard of synthetic materials to supplement or
even replace our old standard basics; to purify sea water
for our drink; of mining ocean floors for new fields of
wealth and food; of disease preventatives to expand life
into the hundred of years; of controlling the weather for
a more equitable distribution of heat and cold, of rain
and shine; of spaceships to the moon; of the primary
target in war, no longer limited to the armed forces of
an enemy, but instead to include his civil populations;
of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the
sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy; of such
dreams and fantasies as to make life the most exciting of
all times.
And through all
this welter of change and development your mission
remains fixed, determined, inviolable. It is to win our
wars. Everything else in your professional career is but
corollary to this vital dedication. All other public
purposes, all other public projects, all other public
needs, great or small, will find others for their
accomplishment; but you are the ones who are trained to
fight.
The Profession
of Arms
Yours is the
profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge
that in war there is no substitute for victory, that if
you lose, the Nation will be destroyed, that the very
obsession of your public service must be duty, honor,
country.
Others will
debate the controversial issues, national and
international, which divide men's minds. But serene,
calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war guardian, as
its lifeguard from the raging tides of international
conflict, as its gladiator in the arena of battle. For a
century and a half you have defended, guarded, and
protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom,
of right and justice.
Let civilian
voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of
government: Whether our strength is being sapped by
deficit financing indulged in too long, by Federal
paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too
arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown
too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too
high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our
personal liberties are as thorough and complete as they
should be.
These great
national problems are not for your professional
participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands
out like a ten-fold beacon in the night: Duty, honor,
country.
You are the
leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our
national system of defense. From your ranks come the
great captains who hold the Nation's destiny in their
hands the moment the war tocsin sounds.
The long, gray
line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million
ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray,
would rise from their white crosses, thundering those
magic words: Duty, honor, country.
Prays for
Peace
This does not
mean that you are warmongers. On the contrary, the
soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he
must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.
But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato,
that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have
seen the end of war."
The shadows are
lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old
have vanished--tone and tint. They have gone glimmering
through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is
one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears and coaxed and
caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but
with thirsty ear, for the witching melody of faint bugles
blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll.
In my dreams I
hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the
strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the
evening of my memory always I come back to West Point.
Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, honor, country.
Today marks my
final roll call with you. But I want you to know that
when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will
be of the corps, and the corps, and the corps.
I bid you
farewell.
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