The FReeper Foxhole Profiles General Douglas MacArthur - June 14th, 2003

http://korea50.army.mil/history/biographies/macarthur.shtml ^ | Thread work by SAMWolf

[snippy_about_it]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

FReepers from the The Foxhole
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

.

.................................................................................................................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

.

.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

We hope to provide an ongoing source of information about issues and problems that are specific to Veterans and resources that are available to Veterans and their families.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

.

.

Resource Links For Veterans

Click on the pix

.

.

.

General Douglas MacArthur
(1880 - 1964)

.

Douglas MacArthur, the son of the high-ranking military figure, Arthur MacArthur, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on 26th January, 1880. Although previously a poor scholar, in 1903 MacArthur graduated first in his 93-man class, at West Point Military Academy.

General Douglas MacArthur, was commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific during World War II, commander of the Allied Forces during the occupation of Japan, and commander of United Nations (U.N.) forces during the first nine months of the Korean War. MacArthur was born in 1880, the son of Arthur MacArthur, who had been awarded the Medal of Honor during the Civil War for his exploits at Missionary Ridge. Arthur MacArthur also served in the Indian Wars, fought in the Philippines during and after the Spanish—American War and was appointed military governor of the Philippines. When Arthur MacArthur retired in 1906 he was the senior ranking officer in the U.S. Army.

Commander in Chief Far East General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.
Photo: Department of the Army.
Source: Truman Library.

Douglas MacArthur entered West Point in 1899, graduating four years later at the head of his class and setting the highest scholastic record at the academy in 25 years. His first assignment was in the Philippines, where his father had served as military governor just two years before. In 1904, he was promoted to first lieutenant and became his father’s aide-de-camp in Japan.

In 1906, MacArthur was appointed aide-de-camp to President Theodore Roosevelt and, in 1913, he was appointed to the general staff under President Woodrow Wilson. The next year, MacArthur took part in the Veracruz, Mexico, expedition. By the time America entered the European war in 1917, the talented and flamboyant MacArthur had reached the rank of major.


Appointed superintendent of West Point after the war, he instituted reforms in curriculum, teaching methods, and standards of performance that began to restore West Point to an academic respectability badly eroded by wartime policies.

MacArthur helped organize the famed 42nd Infantry Division, better known as the “Rainbow Division.” As a colonel, he served as the division’s chief of staff. In August 1918, MacArthur was promoted to brigadier general and became commander of the Rainbow Division’s 84th Infantry Brigade which he led in the St. Mihiel, Muese-Argonne and the Sedan offensives. His exploits during the war won him a number of citations and brought him to national prominence for the first time.

Following the war, MacArthur became the superintendent at West Point, the youngest officer to ever hold that post; he remained there until 1922. Following a second tour in the Philippines, he returned to the United States in January 1925, was named commander of the 3rd Corps, and then returned to the Philippines where he served as department commander.

In 1930, MacArthur returned to the United States and was named by President Herbert Hoover as chief of staff of the Army. At age 50, he was promoted to the rank of full general at a time when America was staunchly isolationist and military figures like MacArthur played a small part in the nation’s activities. In 1932, MacArthur led a force of tanks, cavalry and infantry against a group of 15,000 unarmed World War I veterans who had camped in Washington to petition Congress for early payment of their service bonuses. In a violent clash precipitated by orders from MacArthur, the “Bonus Army” was dispersed. For many at that time, and for historians since, the harsh treatment of the “Bonus Army” has seemed to offer insight into the mind and character of Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur later justified his actions by improbably claiming that he had thwarted a “Communist revolution.”


West Point Cadet Douglas MacArthur and his mother, Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur. His father, Maj. Gen. Arthur MacArthur, soon to become the army’s highest-ranking officer, remained in the Philippines when his son entered West Point in 1899. His mother, however, took up a two-year residence in the West Point Hotel, rejoining her husband upon his return from the Philippines in 1901.

In 1936, MacArthur was appointed military advisor to the Philippines, where he trained commonwealth military forces and prepared the Philippine government for its coming independence. In 1937, he retired from the Army, but remained in the Philippines as an advisor to its government with the rank of generalissimo and a lavish salary and perquisites.

MacArthur built up and trained Philippine forces between 1935 and 1937, but he trained them for a conventional war—an unrealistic goal. When war came, MacArthur’s Philippine Army was poorly prepared to meet the crack invading Japanese Army in the field, and lacked the training to conduct the only real option open to it: guerrilla warfare. About the only positive conclusions that could be validly made about the Philippine Army of 1941-1942, was that it remained loyal, fought bravely on occasion, and in distinct contrast to other Asian “colonial” armies, it could boast native officers up to the highest ranks.


Against Presidential order, General Douglas MacArthur assumed "martial law" and took over the eviction of the "Bonus Army" marchers.

In the summer of 1941, the entire Philippine Army was inducted into the Army of the United States, and MacArthur was recalled to active duty to head the new command: U.S. Forces in the Far East. The long-expected Japanese attack came at Clark Field, north of Manila, about eight hours after the initial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Most of MacArthur’s air force was destroyed on the ground by Japanese aircraft in “Pearl Harbor II.”

MacArthur committed at least one serious military blunder in the early days of the Philippine Campaign in his disastrous attempt to meet Japanese thrusts everywhere, a strategy based on his exaggerated estimate of the prowess of the Philippine Army. In addition, his failure to transfer the vast food stocks that had been earlier assembled for removal to the Bataan Peninsula resulted in the largely unnecessary hunger that so debilitated its doomed defenders.

But MacArthur retrieved his reputation by his aggressive defense at Bataan, a defense that seemed all the more the work of a military genius when contrasted to the astonishingly quick capitulation of the other colonial powers in the area, the Dutch and British at Malaya and Singapore. Although he was criticized by some of his troops for leaving the Philippines before the inevitable surrender, his orders came directly from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and this was one presidential order that MacArthur chose to obey.


Philippine President Manuel Quezon and General Douglas MacArthur, ca. 1940, from Joseph Ralston Hayden papers

MacArthur was evacuated by patrol torpedo (PT) boat to Australia in March where he was named supreme commander of the Southwest Pacific and began his plans to launch an attack on Japanese power in the Pacific.

After five months of preparation, MacArthur began a daring counteroffensive against the Imperial Japanese at New Guinea. Bypassing Japanese strongholds (such as Rabaul) and cutting off supplies to the enemy from the Japanese home islands to the north, MacArthur’s armies leapfrogged through the Solomon, Bismarck, and Admiralty islands back toward their destination of the Philippine Islands. With the support of Adm. William Halsey’s forces in the South Pacific and Adm. Chester Nimitz’s forces advancing across the Central Pacific, the Japanese were pushed back throughout 1943 and 1944. On October 20, 1944, MacArthur’s forces invaded Leyte Island in the Philippines. In December, he was promoted to the rank of five-star General of the Army. On December 15, MacArthur seized Mindoro and, on January 9, 1945, landed in force on Luzon. Through February and March, Allied forces gained control of a devastated Manila, and soon thereafter completed their conquest of the islands.


General Douglas MacArthur and Maj.Gen. Jonathan Wainwright

MacArthur was to lead American forces in the invasion of the Japanese home islands, and he was in the process of preparing for that impending and horrific operation when the atomic bomb brought an abrupt and decisive end to the war. On August 15, MacArthur was named supreme commander for the Allied powers, and in that capacity he accepted the surrender of Japan aboard the USS Missouri September 2,1945.

>From his role of military leader in time of war, MacArthur moved on to a new chapter in his life as the commander of the Allied occupation of postwar Japan. He held that position until 1951, ruling Japan through a series of orders from his headquarters in Tokyo. MacArthur is credited with restoring Japan’s devastated economy, placing the defeated nation’s political future on a sound footing, liberalizing the government, and setting Japan on the road to democracy and postwar recovery. His rule of Japan in this period (in the name of the Allied powers) is usually considered both fair and progressive, and MacArthur claimed, a greater source of satisfaction to him than his military successes.

[snippy_about_it]

MacArthur tested the waters of politics in 1948 by allowing his name to be placed on Republican Party primary ballots in a number of states in the spring and summer prior to the 1948 election. However, after a disastrous primary defeat in Wisconsin, MacArthur did not actively lend his name to any additional political activities.


Gen. Douglas MacArthur, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Adm. Chester Nimitz at Pearl Harbor, August 1944.

Still another chapter in MacArthur’s life opened when the armies of North Korea attacked South Korea June 25, 1950. On July 14, the general was named to direct U.N. Forces in the defense of South Korea. With the few and poorly trained troops that were then stationed in Japan, MacArthur fought a holding action against a powerful North Korean army. His forces were pushed down the Korean Peninsula until a defense perimeter was finally established at the southeastern segment of the Peninsula around the vital port city of Pusan.

At the end of July, MacArthur flew to Taiwan for two days of talks with Chiang Kai-shek. At the end of these talks MacArthur made a vague announcement praising Chiang’s anti-Communism, but further stated that “arrangements have been completed for effective coordination between American forces under my command and those of the Chinese government.” This sounded suspiciously as though Chinese Nationalist troops were to be introduced into the Korean fighting, which was definitely not U.S. government policy. MacArthur cavalierly refused to give details of his supposed plan to the State Department, and even waited four days to report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, nominally his superiors, on this important meeting.

In spite of his embattled situation along the Pusan Perimeter, MacArthur nonetheless found the time to excoriate administration policy in his message to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) August 20. He dismissed any threat of the war’s expansion by arguing that as the most knowledgeable expert on “oriental psychology” he knew that most Asians admired his aggressive, resolute and dynamic leadership.” President Harry S. Truman forced MacArthur to withdraw the statement, but mutual ill-will continued to fester between the two leaders.


"Gen. Douglas MacArthur wades ashore during the initial landings at Leyte in the Pacific, in October, 1944.

On September 15, MacArthur, now age 70, directed the surprise amphibious landing behind enemy lines at Inchon, just west of Seoul. His plan had been opposed by most high military officers in Washington, but MacArthur was able to convince the Joint Chiefs of Staff of its feasibility and the operation succeeded famously. By the end of the month, the North Korean forces began to collapse quickly and were rolled back across the 38th Parallel. On October 8, U.N. troops pushed the enemy north into North Korea and followed in hot pursuit. MacArthur was, of course, only following the directives of the president and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The following day, he issued an ultimatum to Pyongyang, calling on the North Korean government “for the last time” to surrender immediately and inviting its people to cooperate with the United Nations in creating a “unified, independent, and democratic government of Korea.” The Stalinist premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), not surprisingly, ignored such overtures. Many North Koreans collaborated with U.N. forces, for whatever reasons, and had to be evacuated when those forces withdrew.

Elements of MacArthur’s command actually reached the Yalu River marking the border between China and Korea by late October. But these forces were divided into two commands, X Corps and Eighth Army, which had practically no communication with each other and which seemed to invite an enemy offensive to destroy them piecemeal. MacArthur refused to believe that the Chinese, firm allies of North Korea, would enter the war in any strength, and opened his “end the war by Christmas” offensive. (Later, and very improbably, he termed this offensive “a reconnaissance in force” still later and even more improbably, he claimed to have “upset the enemy’s timetable.”) Some writers have even contended that MacArthur’s intelligence was good enough that he realized that the Chinese were likely to intervene and welcomed this opportunity for a showdown with Asian Communism. A more considered appraisal of the general, however, would have to conclude that he was neither that clever nor that stupid.


Douglas MacArthur and Jonathan Wainwright reunite after the war

MacArthur’s “intelligence failure” is more understandable, however, when it is remembered that his staff was responsible for information on the current enemy, that is North Korea. Determining what other nations, such as the People's Republic of China, might do was up to the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department. The available records indicate little intelligence sharing or coordination, and blame for that failure can be apportioned all around.

On November 24, Chinese forces struck hard, and MacArthur’s divided U.N. troops were pushed back across the 38th Parallel in a matter of weeks. The once ebullient U.N. commander now seemed sunk in gloom and alarmism, which in numerous cases permeated the entire command by the end of the year. U.N. Forces retreated to well below the 38th Parallel.

The two U.N. counteroffensives of late winter and early spring 1951 were primarily the work of General Matthew B. Ridgway, General Walton H. Walker’s successor as commander of Eighth Army, although MacArthur gave Ridgway his blessing. But stiffening enemy resistance as their lines of communication shortened brought Operations Killer and Ripper to a halt near the 38th Parallel, but with the ruins of Seoul once again in U.N. hands. MacArthur again called upon the enemy commander, this time not to sign a surrender instrument but to meet with him to negotiate a cease-fire and acceptance of U.N. objectives for Korea. This move was probably designed to forestall peace proposals about to be forwarded by the Truman administration. MacArthur may well have wished to torpedo negotiations, and if so, he succeeded.



Rebuffed by the Communists, MacArthur called for an extension of the war into China that would pave the way to victory in Korea and an end to Communism in Asia. He advocated the bombing of bases in Manchuria, the blockading of the Chinese coast, and the introduction of Nationalist Chinese forces into the war. This plan was, of course, completely contrary to the policies of the Truman administration, and of the succeeding Eisenhower administration as well, for that matter. Neither, whatever their differing public expressions, had any desire to escalate the limited Korean conflict.

It should be noted also that none of MacArthur’s plans for air or sea attacks stood any chance of execution; they lacked any basis in logic or in logistics, and it is surprising that so experienced a commander would forward them. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were well aware of the deficiencies of MacArthur’s ideas; only later, in their testimony before various Senate committees, did they claim that his ideas ran the risk of igniting World War III.

Yet, despite the perfervid rhetoric of some of MacArthur’s opponents, there is no evidence that the general had any intention of overthrowing or even challenging the American constitutional principles of civilian control of the military. MacArthur was fired for public insubordination. He also deserved at least to be quietly retired for incompetence. At any rate, MacArthur was relieved of his commands by the president April 11, 1951.

His brilliant military career at an end, MacArthur returned to the United States for the first time in 15 years. He received a hero's welcome at a number of cities throughout the country as he made his way to Washington. On April 19, MacArthur was invited by conservatives to address a joint session of Congress. In a memorable speech he defended his plan for escalating the war that had led to his dismissal, concluding with a line from an old Army ballad that has since come to be associated with him: “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”



With the exception of a brief run for the presidency in 1952, (he delivered a listless keynote address at the Republican National Convention that year) MacArthur retired to a quiet private life. He died at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., April 5, 1964, at age 84.

History has treated MacArthur as the consummate soldier, a leader of men, but a man who could give orders better than he could take them. For most, he was the genius behind America’s victory against Japan. In Korea, the legacy of MacArthur is usually expressed as much in the controversy that led to his firing as the brilliant landing at Inchon that changed for a time the entire character of the war.

[snippy_about_it]

General Douglas MacArthur

• born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on 26 January 1880
• graduated from the United States Military Academy, 1903
• was commissioned a second lieutenant of engineers and served in the Philippines, 1903-1904
• was promoted to first lieutenant, April 1904
• was an engineer officer and aide to the commander of the Pacific Division, 1904-1906
• served with the 2d Engineer Battalion, attended the Engineer School and was aide to President Theodore Roosevelt, 1906-1908
• was troop commander, adjutant, and was Army Service Schools instructor at Fort Leavenworth, 1908-1912
• was promoted to captain, February 1911
• was on the General Staff, 1913-1917
• took part in the Vera Cruz Expedition
• was promoted to major, December 1915, and colonel, August 1917
• was chief of staff of the 42d Division in France, 1917-1918
• was promoted to brigadier general in the National Army, June 1918, took part in Marne operations and commanded the 84th Infantry Brigade in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives
• commanded the 42d Division in the Sedan offensive, 1918
• served with the Army of Occupation, 1918-1919
• was superintendent of the United States Military Academy, 1919-1922
• became a brigadier general in the Regular Army, January, 1920
• married Louise Cromwell Brooks, 1922 (divorced 1929)
• was promoted to major general, January 1925
• successively commanded the District of Manila, 1922-1923, the Fourth and Third Corps Areas, 1925-1928, and the Ninth Corps Area, 1930
• was promoted to temporary general, November 1930
• was chief of staff of the United States Army, 21 November 1930-1 October 1935; stressed Army deficiencies in personnel and materiel, presided over development of plans for industrial mobilization and manpower procurement, established an Air Force headquarters, administered Army control over the Civilian Conservation Corps, and supervised eviction of "bonus marchers" from Washington
• resumed his permanent rank of major general and became military adviser to the government of the Philippines, 1935-1941
• married Jean Marie Faircloth, 1937
• retired from active service, December 1937 but continued as adviser to the Philippine government
• was recalled to active duty as lieutenant general and named commander, United States Army Forces in the Far East, July 1941
• was promoted to temporary general, December 1941
• led American forces in Pacific campaigns as Supreme Allied Commander, 1941-1945
• was promoted to temporary General of the Army, December 1944
• received the Medal of Honor for Philippine defense preparations and operations
• was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, Japan, 1945
• rank as General of the Army made permanent, April 1946
• was designated commander in chief Far East Command 1947
• upon the North Korean invasion of South Korea was designated commander, United Nations Command in the Far East, July, 1950
• was relieved of his command by President Truman, April 1951
• died in Washington, D.C., on 5 April 1964.

U.S. military leaders in Korea visit the front linres north of Suwon on 28 January 1951. General MacArthur is at the right front. General Ridgeway is in the center, third from the left. (DA photograph)

Douglas MacArthur was 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. An engineer, he held a variety of staff and academic posts, but no troop commands (albeit that he got into action during the Vera Cruz Operation), until World War I, when he helped organized the 42nd "Rainbow" Division, composed of National Guard units from several states. As a staff officer, later deputy division commander, and for two days acting division commander at the end of the war, MacArthur often went into action with the troops. After the war he reorganized West Point's academic and cadet discipline programs (he made a concerted effort to abolish hazing, which was only partially successful), served on the Billy Mitchell court martial, commanded in the Philippines, and served as chief-of-staff of the Army, during which he violently suppressed the 'Bonus March,' apparently against orders from the President.


Gen. Douglas MacArthur signs as the Supreme Allied Commander of the Pacific Theater during formal surrender ceremonies in Tokyo Bay

In 1935 he was sent to the Philippines again to help organize the Commonwealth's defense forces, and in 1937 resigned from the Army in order to continue in the service of the Commonwealth. When, in mid-1941, the Philippine Armed Forces were activated by the President and merged into the US Armed Forces, MacArthur was recalled to duty as a full general and placed in overall command. Caught napping by the onset of the war (he lost his entire air force on the ground nine hours after Pearl~Harbor), MacArthur seriously bungled the initial defense of the Philippines, but managed to salvage the situation by a belated retreat to the Bataan Peninsula. Ordered to Australia by President Roosevelt in February 1942, MacArthur assumed command of Allied forces there, and shortly began an offensive that would eventually recover New~Guinea and the Philippines. As Army Commander-designate for the invasion of Japan, MacArthur instead commanded the occupation forces, and became virtual ruler of the country for several years.

In 1950, MacArthur assumed command of U.N. force in Korea. He planned the spectacularly successful Inchon Operation, but subsequently mismanaged the pursuit of the defeated North Korean Army and totally misread Chinese intentions, with disastrous results. After repeated warnings from the President about his unauthorized political statements, MacArthur was relieved of duty in April of 1951. Despite the belief by many that he would undertake a political career, he spent the rest of his life in retirement.



MacArthur was a commander of erratic capabilities, when he was good he was brilliant, but he was often careless and self-centered, which led to errors in planning. Although generally regarded as a staunch conservative, he had no personal political principles, merely saying what seemed to please whomsoever he was speaking with (among other things he endorsed socialism and the American Civil Liberties Union). He had no friends, as he had no equals. MacArthur is buried in a pompous monument at Norfolk, Virginia.

Additional Sources:

www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
users.pandora.be
www.army.mil
www.history.navy.mil
www.umich.edu
gi.grolier.com
www.mpls.lib.mn.us
www.homeofheroes.com
www.trumanlibrary.org
americanhistory.si.edu
www.nps.gov
www.mpls.lib.mn.us

[snippy_about_it]

'I shall return'

'There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.'

'To dilute the will to win is to destroy the purpose of the game. There is no substitute for victory.'

'Americans never quit.'

'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.'

'Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. And like the old soldier in that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the sight to see that duty.'

'The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.'

'One cannot wage war under present conditions without the support of public opinion, which is tremendously molded by the press and other forms of propaganda.'

'They died hard, those savage men-like wounded wolves at bay. They were filthy, and they were lousy, and they stunk. And I loved them.'

'No man is enitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.'

-- General Douglas MacArthur

[snippy_about_it]

[snippy_about_it]

The History Of Flag Day



The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America's birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as 'Flag Birthday'. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as 'Flag Birthday', or 'Flag Day'.

On June 14, 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned appropriate ceremonies for the children of his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York. On June 14, 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration, and on June 14 of the following year, the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution, celebrated Flag Day.



Following the suggestion of Colonel J Granville Leach (at the time historian of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution), the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames of America on April 25, 1893 adopted a resolution requesting the mayor of Philadelphia and all others in authority and all private citizens to display the Flag on June 14th. Leach went on to recommend that thereafter the day be known as 'Flag Day', and on that day, school children be assembled for appropriate exercises, with each child being given a small Flag.

Two weeks later on May 8th, the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution unanimously endorsed the action of the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames. As a result of the resolution, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of Public Schools of Philadelphia, directed that Flag Day exercises be held on June 14, 1893 in Independence Square. School children were assembled, each carrying a small Flag, and patriotic songs were sung and addresses delivered.

In 1894, the governor of New York directed that on June 14 the Flag be displayed on all public buildings. With BJ Cigrand and Leroy Van Horn as the moving spirits, the Illinois organization, known as the American Flag Day Association, was organized for the purpose of promoting the holding of Flag Day exercises. On June 14th, 1894, under the auspices of this association, the first general public school children's celebration of Flag Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000 children participating.



Adults, too, participated in patriotic programs. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary if the Interior, delivered a 1914 Flag Day address in which he repeated words he said the flag had spoken to him that morning: "I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself."

Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 - was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.

[snippy_about_it]

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Morning Everyone!


If you would like added or removed from our ping list let me know.

[snippy_about_it]

Since its birth on 14 June 1775-over a year before the Declaration of Independence-the United States Army has played a vital role in the growth and development of our nation. Soldiers have fought 10 wars, from the American Revolution through the Cold War, the Gulf War, to the current War on Terrorism. This 228th Birthday is a recognition of The Army’s history, traditions, and service to the Nation. The Army--At War and Transforming.





Read more about the Army's birthday

[snippy_about_it]

My mistake in the removed post above. Hey, it's early. :)

[E.G.C.]

Good Morning, Snippy.

The weather was quiet here last night. There a chance for rain today but no severe weather is anticipated.

They had some flooding in the Abilene Texas area yesterday.

[snippy_about_it]

I'll bet if we lived in Southern California we'd have no weather to report. lol.

We had thunderstorms move in last night, it was raining when I awoke, again. We had flood warnings last night, however I am on high ground. It's just that everything is damp. Hellooooo, it's mid June!!! Where is the sun?

[maestro]

Great article, postings,and......pictures!

Thank You!!

[snippy_about_it]

Great article, postings,and......pictures!

You're welcome and thank you for your post.

[Northern Yankee]

Good Morning!

Beautiful day setting up here in Wisconsin.

Enjoyed your history of MacArthur.

Little known fact... MacArthur lost fewer men under his command in the Pacific then in the ETO. His strategy was to let the Japanese come to them, rather than the other way around.

Thanks for doing a great job on this thread. I don't always get here, but I appreciate all that is done.

Just picked up Mike Durant's book, In the Company of Heroes. Great story about the Somilia battle, and his survival.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you.

I can't take any credit other than posting it for SAMWolf, he did the thread work and I'm posting it for him while he has in-laws visiting. We're glad you enjoyed it, and glad you had a chance to stop in.

Thank you for sharing the information on MacArthur and Mike Duran'ts book.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on June 14:
1736 Charles-Augustin de Coulomb physicist (formulated Coulomb's Law)
1811 Harriet Beecher Stowe author (Uncle Tom's Cabin)
1820 John Bartlett US, editor (compiled Familiar Quotations)
1855 Robert Marion La Follette Wisconsin, pres candidate (Progressive)
1856 Andrey Markov Russia, mathematician (Markov Chain)
1864 Alois Alzheimer Germany, psychiatrist/pathologist (Alzheimer Disease)
1868 Karl Landsteiner immunologist/pathologist (Nobel 1930)
1874 Edward Bowes radio host (Major Bowes Amateur Hour)
1906 Carl Esmond Wien (Vienna) Austria, actor (Smash-Up)
1906 Gil Lamb Minneapolis, actor (Hit Parade of 1947, Riding High)
1908 John Scott Trotter Charlotte NC, orch leader (George Gobel Show)
1909 Burl Ives Hunt Ill, folk singer/actor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
1910 Rudolf Kempe Niederpoyritz Germany, conductor (Tonhalle Orch 1965-72)
1917 Lash La Rue Gretna La, cowboy actor (Lash of the West, Wyatt Earp)
1918 Dorothy McGuire Omaha Neb, actress (Old Yeller, Summer Magic)
1919 Sam Wanamaker Chic Ill, actor (Holocaust, Competition, Raw Deal)
1921 Gene Barry NYC, actor (Bat Masterson, Name of the Game, Burke's Law)
1925 Pierre Salinger newsman (ABC)/press secretary (John Kennedy)
1928 Ernesto (Che) Guevara Latin American revolutionary
1929 Cy Coleman [Seymour Kaufman], songwriter (Witchcraft, Sweet Charity)
1931 Marla Gibbs Chicago Ill, actress (Florence-Jeffersons, Mary-227)
1933 Jerzy Kosinski novelist (Painted Bird, Being There)
1940 Ben Davidson LA Calif, actor (Rhino-Ball Four, Code R)
1940 Jack Bannon LA Calif, actor (Art-Lou Grant, Trauma Center)
1943 Muff Mervyn Winwood singer (Spencer Davis Group-Gimme Some Lovin)
1946 Donald Trump master builder (Trump Towers/Plaza/Castle)
1946 Ralph McAllister Ingersol II NYC, newspaper publisher
1949 Bob Frankston programmer (VisiCalc)
1949 Rochelle Firestone Kansas City MO, actress (Hellhole)
1952 Eddie Mekka Worcester Mass, actor (Carmine-Laverne & Shirley)
1954 Will Patton Charleston SC, actor (No Way Out, Ballzaire the Cajun)
1958 Carina Persson Stockholm Sweden, playmate (August, 1983)
1958 Eric Heiden Wisc, .5/1/1.5/5/10K speed skater (Olympic-5 golds-1980)
1961 Boy George O'Dowd androgynous rock musician & druggie (Culture Club)
1969 Steffi Graf West Germany, tennis player (Grand Slam 1988)
1970 Simone Fleurice Eden Arcadia Ca, playmate (Feb, 1989)
2160 Montgomery Edward Scott Aberdeen, Scotland (Star Trek)

---

Deaths which occurred on June 14:
1144 Aboe 'l-Kasim Mahmoed ibn Omar al-Zapowersjari, theologist, dies at 69
1801 Benedict Arnold Revolutionary War general, dies in London
1828 Charles Duke of Prussia, dies at 70
1962 Anna Sleasers first Boston Strangler victim
1965 H.V. Kaltenborn newscaster (Who Said That?), dies at 86
1977 Alan Reed actor (Mr Adams & Eve/voice (Fred Flintstone), dies at 69
1977 Robert Middleman actor (Barney-The Monroes), dies at 66
1982 Marjorie Bennett actress (Blossom-Dobie Gillis), dies at 87 of cancer
1986 Alan Jay Lerner Broadway librettist, dies in NY at 67
1986 Jorge Luis Borges Argentine author, dies in Geneva at 86
1986 Marlin Perkins "Wild Kingdom" host, dies near St Louis at 81

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 GUARINO LAWRENCE N. NEWARK NJ.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 MC MANUS KEVIN J. BABYLON NY.
[02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 MECHENBIER EDWARD J. DAYTON OH.
[02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1969 GRACE JAMES W. NEW IBERIA LA.
1969 KAHLER HAROLD LINCOLN NE.
1971 WILSON RICHARD JR. CRAWFORDSVILLE AR.
1972 DAVIS FRANCIS J. MONTROSE IA.
1973 MC LEOD DAVID V. JR. JACKSONVILLE FL.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

---

On this day...
1623 1st breach-of-promise lawsuit: Rev Gerville Pooley, Va files against
Cicely Jordan. He loses (Still under appeal)
1642 1st compulsory education law in America passed by Massachusetts
1775 US Army founded
1777 Continental Congress adopts Stars & Stripes replacing Grand Union flag
1834 Hardhat diving suit patented by Leonard Norcross, Dixfield, Maine
1834 Sandpaper patented by Isaac Fischer Jr, Springfield, Vermont
1841 1st Canadian parliament opens in Kingston, Ontario
1846 California (Bear Flag) Republic proclaimed in Sonoma
1847 Bunson invents a gas burner. Lab teachers celebrate worldwide
1850 Fire destroys part of SF
1863 Battle of 2nd Winchester, Virginia
1864 Battle of Pine Mt, Gen Leonidas Polk killed in action
1870 All-pro Cincinnati Red Stockings suffer 1st loss in 130 games
1876 1st player to hit for the cycle (George Hall, Phila Athletics)
1876 California Street Cable Car Railroad Co gets its franchise
1881 Player piano patented by John McTammany, Jr, Cambridge, Mass
1900 Hawaiian Republic becomes the US Territory of Hawaii
1906 J H Metcalf discovers asteroid #600 Musa
1917 Gen Pershing & his HQ staff arrived in Paris during WW I
1919 1st nonstop air crossing of Atlantic (Alcock & Brown) leaves Nfld
1923 Pres Harding is 1st US president to use radio, dedicating the
Francis Scott Key memorial in Baltimore
1924 WOKO-AM radio begins transmitting from Albany NY
1928 Republican Natl Convention, met in KC, nominated Herbert Hoover
1931 French "St Philbert" overturned off St Nazaire France, drowns 450
1934 Max Baer KO's Primo Carnera in 11 for HW box champ in Long Island City
1934 WOQ-AM in KC Missouri goes off the air
1935 Chaco War between Bolivia & Paraguay ends
1936 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1490 Limpopo
1938 Chlorophyll patented by Benjamin Grushkin
1938 Dorothy Lathrop wins the 1st Caldecott Medal (kid books author)
1940 German forces occupied Paris during WW II
1941 Ground broken for Boeing Plant II (ex-AFLC Plant 13) Wichita KS
1942 1st bazooka rocket gun produced Bridgeport Ct
1942 Walt Disney's "Bambi" is released
1944 1st B-29 raid against mainland Japan
1945 Rod Argent, rocker (The Zombies-Never Even Thought)
1946 Canadian Library Association established
1949 State of Vietnam formed
1951 1st commercial computer, UNIVAC 1, enters service at Census Bureau
1952 Keel laid for 1st nuclear powered sub the Nautilus
1953 Elvis Presley graduates from LC Humes High School in Memphis, Tenn
1953 Yanks sweep Indians 6-2, 3-0 before 74,708 win streak at 18 straight
1954 Pres Eisenhower signs order adding words "under God" to the Pledge
1961 106øF, hottest temperature in San Francisco
1963 Valery Bykovsky in Vostok 5 orbits earth 81 times in 5 days
1965 Beatles release the album "Beatles VI"
1965 Cincinatti Red Jim Maloney no-hits NY Mets but loses in 11, 1-0
1965 John Lennon's 2nd book "A Spaniard in the Works" is published
1967 Launch of Mariner V for Venus fly-by
1967 USSR launches Kosmos 166 for observation of Sun from Earth orbit
1969 John & Yoko appear on David Frost's British TV Show
1970 Cincinatti Red Stockings loses 1st game after winning 130 straight
1975 Janis Ian releases "At 17"
1975 USSR launches Venera 10 for Venus landing
1976 "Gong Show" premieres on TV (syndication)
1976 12th Mayor's Trophy Game Yanks beat Mets 8-4
1978 Down 9-7 in 10th with 2 outs, Yanks Paul Blair hits a 3 run HR
1979 Rock group "Little Feat" disbands
1980 E Bowell discovers asteroid #2937 Gibbs, #2938 Hopi & #3160 Angerhofer
1982 Argentina surrenders to Britain on Falkland Is, ends 74-day conflict
1983 5 killed in a fire at a Ramada Inn in Fort Worth, Tx
1985 Lebanese Shiite Moslem gunmen hijack TWA 847 after Athens' takeoff
1987 4th full-duration test firing of redesigned SRB motor
1987 LA Lakers win NBA title with a 106-93, victory over the Celtics
1989 Ground breaking begins in Minn on the world's largest mall
1989 Nolan Ryan becomes 2nd pitcher to defeat all 26 teams
1989 Pistons sweep LA for NBA title, Kareem Abdul Jabber's final NBA game
1989 Rocker Carol King gets a star in Hollywood's walk of fame
1990 Detroit Pistons beat Portland, 4 games to 1 for NBA championship
1991 Leroy Burrell of USA sets the 100m record (9.90) in NYC
1991 Space Shuttle STS 40 (Columbia 12) lands

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Afgh nist n : Mother's Day
US : Flag Day (1777)
Massachusett : Children's Day - - - - - ( Sunday )
Paraguay : Chaco Peace Day (1935) - - - - - ( Sunday )
Shelby, Mich : National Asparagus Festival - - - - - ( Thursday )
Great Britain : Queen's official birthday (National Day) - - - - - ( Saturday )

---

Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of SS Valerius & Rufinus
Luth : Commem of Gregory of Nazianzus & Gregory of Nyssa, bishops
old RC, Luth, Ang : Comm of St Basil the Great, bp of C‘sarea, doc

---

Religious History
1715 Robert Norden became licensed pastor of the Baptist congregation in Prince George County -- the first Baptist church organized within the American colony of Virginia.
1940 Auschwitz, largest of the Nazi concentration camps, was first opened near Krakow, Poland. Before its liberation by the Allies in 1945, over 3 million Jews would be exterminated there.
1956 President Eisenhower signed a congressional resolution which added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. The last phrase now reads: '...one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'
1966 The Vatican announced that its 'Index of Prohibited Books' (created by Pope Paul IV in 1557) had been abolished.
1984 The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution opposing the ordination of women for ministry in the Baptist Church.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."

[manna]

Present!

[snippy_about_it]

:)

[CholeraJoe]

Good morning snippy. Great thread about MacArthur. My father served under "Dugout Doug" in the Pacific and Korea.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Joe,

I haven't heard him called that. "Dugout Doug".