Posted on 01/26/2019 8:21:52 AM PST by Ozguy1945
My father served under Douglas MacArthur in World War Two when Indonesia was liberated from Japan and became an independent republic after centuries of colonisation.
MacArthur was a complex and powerful figure with monumental self confidence. He was a brilliant innovative strategist and a master of the English language.
What do other people think of him?
That is speculation intended to fortify a belief.
If MacArthur was the media whore his critics claim him to have been, where is the hard evidence such as disproportionate media mention when compared to media mention given to other commanders of comparable rank?
FYI, MacArthur didn't create the Japanese Constitution, the Japanese people did.
Initially, MacArthur took a very hands-off approach to drafting a new constitution. However, he did get more involved in the process once the deeply divided Japanese committee charged with creating a draft had completed it work which turned out to be little more than a rewording of the Meiji Constitution reflecting the views of the committee chairman.
At that point, MacArthur realized he had to become more involved and directed his staff to work with the Japanese in the creation of an acceptable draft that could be submitted to the Japanese people for review, debate and ultimate vote.
Anyone that has read the Japanese Constitution can't help but notice similarities to the U.S. Constitution.
Good reply!
From about 1900 into the 1940s, Japan copied nearly everything from England.
Post Office boxes, street cars, driving on the wrong side, etc.
Then came the General...
Japan's present system is a combination of the American executive system and the British parliamentary system.
The MacArthur plan was analogous to stopping to retake Norway from the Germans before crossing the Rhine. The Norwegians don't seem to have been particularly angry about how Ike ran his campaign.
Many of MacArthur's critics attack him for the "unnecessary" losses at Peleliu but conveniently forget that Nimitz also wanted to take the Peleliu and those portions of the Philippines necessary to secure his left flank from attack by land based aircraft.
Look at a map.
Getting to Formosa would have exposed Nimitz' left flank to attack by land based aircraft at Peleliu and a good portion of the Philippines. His right flank would have been exposed to land based aircraft on Okinawa.
That was just getting to Formosa.
Formosa unlike the Philippines had been a Japanese colony since 1895, was considered a model colony by the Japanese, was heavily fortified, contributed over 200,000 men to the Japanese military and contained a population expected to be hostile to Americans.
Think of Formosa as a much larger version of Okinawa.
In contrast, the Philippines were very much pro-American, actively resisting Japanese occupation and offered anchorage at Manila Bay exceeding that of Formosa and Okinawa combined.
Once the Philippines had been retaken, the flow of food and raw materials to Japan via the South China Sea could be completely cutoff by U.S. naval vessels and aircraft ranging out over Formosa, Mainland China, Indochina, Indonesia and Borneo.
With the oilfields of Borneo and Indonesia within range of U.S. aircraft based in the Philippines, the two could be invaded from the rear and their oilfields siezed for use by Americans in the coming invasion of Japan.
Then there was the urgency of liberating tens of thousands of American and Filipino prisoners before the Japanese could kill them.
Note how there were no newsreels of Ike or Bradley or even Patton striding up the beach at Normandy, pipes fearlessly clenched between their teeth.
Tells me all I need to know.
He and FDR were strongly advised to not take Peleliu by the Navy and Marine theatre commanders including Admiral Nimitz. They saw Peleliu and several other islands as a needless waste of men and assets and that a better plan was to take Formosa as a primary base for staging the push on Japan. MacArthur wanted that island and other small island groups because of their proximity to the Philippines so that he could further his promise to “return”. MacArthur convinced FDR to proceed with his plan. His reasoning was self-aggrandizement and bringing about his promise. The island was never used as an airfield or staging point and was a useless waste of life and costs. When he finally did invade the Philippines, his own advisors tried in vain to bypass the rest of the main island, to include Manilla. They knew that it would take too much time and cost too many lives. He refused, they were correct. Another useless campaign since the Japanese were cut off and could be picked off as targets of opportunity. Peleliu was also cut off and could not be used by the Japanese even if we had never gone there. Throughout the Pacific war we bypassed and or cut off Japanese garrisons that had no way of being resupplied or moved.
I hope you are merely repeating what you heard from someone else because what you wrote is flat out false.
The only high level opposition to taking Peleliu was made by Halsey shortly before the invasion when he advised Nimitz to bypass Peleliu and use Stalemate II resources to support MacArthuir at Leyte but Nimitz overruled Halsey.
They saw Peleliu and several other islands as a needless waste of men and assets and that a better plan was to take Formosa as a primary base for staging the push on Japan. MacArthur wanted that island and other small island groups because of their proximity to the Philippines so that he could further his promise to “return”. MacArthur convinced FDR to proceed with his plan. His reasoning was self-aggrandizement and bringing about his promise.
I'm not going to comment on what is obviously your opinion sans facts.
The island was never used as an airfield or staging point and was a useless waste of life and costs.
The island was NEVER intended to be used as a staging area. It was flank protection.
When he finally did invade the Philippines, his own advisors tried in vain to bypass the rest of the main island, to include Manilla. They knew that it would take too much time and cost too many lives. He refused, they were correct. Another useless campaign since the Japanese were cut off and could be picked off as targets of opportunity.
If I understood your grammar I might try to respond.
Peleliu was also cut off and could not be used by the Japanese even if we had never gone there. Throughout the Pacific war we bypassed and or cut off Japanese garrisons that had no way of being resupplied or moved.
How and when was Peleliu cut off?
ROTFLMAO! Lets see. On D-Day in Normandy, Ike and Patton were in England.
Bradley while at Normandy waited safely at sea four days before finally going ashore on June 10.
MacArthur was actually ashore at Leyte on D-Day just 3 and a half hours after the first assault wave. See the difference? LOL!
Yeah, and the five hundred reporters and cameramen who Dougie positioned there hit the beach before he did.
Why would a general who prior to WW2 never experienced combat self promote?
Your reply is that of someone who will not admit they were wrong in believing Ike, Bradley and Patton were ashore on Normandy on D-day and that you will not admit to having a false understanding of MacArthur nor will you admit to having a limited understanding of the war in the SW Pacific in general.
I suspect you are not serious in this comment.
Ambitious people promote themselves to gain advantage and power. Eisenhower, as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe, was in a superb position to self-promote.
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