Posted on 02/25/2016 4:56:21 PM PST by sparklite2
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Donald Trump admires the late Douglas MacArthur and George Patton, both World War Two generals. They were winners, unpredictable, and not especially nice guys, he says in campaign speeches. But Trump's pledge to imitate their styles sets modern-day military experts on edge.
Born in 1946, a year after World War Two ended, Trump often praises MacArthur and Patton for the blunt ways he says they commanded respect. "George Patton was one of the roughest guys, he would talk rough to his men," Trump told an audience last week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "His men would die for him," Trump added. "We don't have that anymore." He said Patton would wipe out Islamic State without hesitation were he still in command.
But military historians and retired generals say Trump has an inflated view of the two military men and especially their relevance to an era of modern warfare when armies rely more on technology and when battle successes and failures and civilian casualties are communicated far more rapidly than when MacArthur and Patton commanded troops 70 years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at oann.com ...
There isn’t anything “conservative†about this article.
since I am not Establishment doesn’t really apply to me.
Patton I understand. But MacArthur got caught flatfooted three times. And got his men killed each time.
Of course our Politicians in Uniform would say this.
lol, I was hoping he had fixed both.
Down, boy. I didn’t defend the article. And OAN is the last “conservative” news network standing, given the ongoing trashing of Fox. So “we” may not have any good right-wing outlets left.
I’m not much of a fan of MacArthur, either. But Patton and Admiral Nimitz RULE.
No, you make my point better than I could.
Lucky he survived. Lots of MacArthur’s troops didn’t.
Was he senior enough to make the Bataan bugout with Dugout, or was he later for the retreat from the 38th parallel or the Manchurian ambush?
MacArthur was never caught flat footed.
If you are referring to his air force being attacked in the Philippines, read the whole story and you realize that he was going to extraordinary lengths to keep his planes in the air.
Absolutely astounding that the Japanese came in at the exact moment when he was forced to bring them down for refueling.
He wanted the Chinese to attack and wanted to use nuclear weapons to wipe them and Chairman Mao out. If we had done so there would be not Chinese Commies now.
I hope you are not referring to his being abandoned in the Philippines.
MacArthur’s landing at Inchon may have been the greatest success ever, especially since every other general opposed it.
For real.
Quite applicable in our current financial situation...
So far as the stature of Patton and McArthur are concerned, it's worth knowing that:
a. Patton's opponents, the Germans, considered him the most dangerous Allied general. A special unit was devoted to studying his tactics and trying to anticipate his moves. That is "respect".
b. McArthur's Southwest Pacific command suffered the lowest rate of casualties of any Allied command -- despite some of the most difficult fighting conditions in the war (jungle, disease, an opponent that fought to the death).
What does that even mean? Is it like "behavioral experts" who have never raised kids and only wreck them? Or "financial experts" who never predict the market or trends correctly? Those kinds of experts? Notice that the article gives no names. Just unverifiable attributions. Completely worthless
Patton was the best we had in Europe and MacArthur the best we had in the Pacific.
You see very few if any monuments to Ike or Bradley in France. Everywhere you turn you see Patton. The French people still revere him! He was a unique individual and his men worshiped him. I know a few and one told me” Patton would walk on water and we could, thanks to him, walk on water too.”
Patton fired up his men with his tough speeches. He was way ahead on psychological mind set and used it to encourage the will to win. He was brash and brutal and often foul mouthed, yet he was one of the most religious soldiers who ever lived. His trust and belief in God is well documented.
Patton was sacrificed by Eisenhower and Bradley on the altar of Political Correctness. Bradley owed everything he knew to Patton, yet he (Bradley) was a jealous, imperfect soldier. He hated Patton for his success and his pattern of ignoring orders he felt were ridiculous. Patton was up front with his men instead of in a command post many miles to the rear.
I am very glad Trump admires Patton and MacArthur. They were the very best.
you said “his pattern of ignoring orders he felt were ridiculous” If Trump is that type of president, how can anyone say what the man will do, and that was my point.
He was there for the Pusan breakout.
There’s no comparison between the bonus marchers and the state of veteran care plus today’s GI Bill. Absolutely none.
Run through honesty filter:
But I was able to find some unnamed generals who disagreed with my own likely hostile paraphrase of Trumps view of the men
I am a big fan of Guderian. But Manstein is Guderian on a much larger scale. His first great offensive achievement was the conquest of France which at the time had an army larger than Germany. Defensively, he was able to re-establish a line for Army Group South after the defeat at Stalingrad and the subsequent Soviet offensive.
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