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

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

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General Douglas MacArthur
(1880 - 1964)

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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.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Maxwell's Siver Hammer

[SAMWolf]

Siver = Silver

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. I don't have that one yet, but I know what your saying. hahahahaha!

[SAMWolf]

That's ones a hard one to find.

[SAMWolf]

The MacArthur Memorial

The final resting place for General Douglas MacArthur and his wife.

Beautifully landscaped MacArthur Square in downtown Norfolk, Virginia is the site of the four buildings that comprise the General Douglas MacArthur Memorial.

The Memorial's theater contains several special exhibit galleries and continuously shows a twenty-four minute film on the life and times of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, one of the most colorful and controversial men in American history. The Jean MacArthur Research Center (named after the General's widow) houses the library and archives, an education wing, and the administrative offices for the MacArthur Memorial and the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation. The gift shop displays General MacArthur's 1950 Chrysler Imperial limousine which he used from 1950 to the end of his life.

The museum proper is housed in Norfolk's stately nineteenth century City Hall. A monumental rotunda is the General's final resting place where he lies surrounded by inscriptions, banners, and flags heralding his long and glorious career. Nine separate galleries arranged in two levels circle the rotunda and portray the principal periods of the General's life.

A visit to the MacArthur Memorial provides a unique glimpse into the 20th century and can renew your faith in those American values of Duty-Honor-Country, values which motivated Douglas MacArthur as he served our nation through some of its greatest crises and finest hours.

[PhilDragoo]

MacArthur was correct about the press and propaganda.

The U.N. was desired by Stalin and proven worthless in this first military venture.

Who Lost China? was the topic du jour. Answer: the pink State Department, the same one responsible for China intel.

Hank Holzer took over after the war as Army intel responsible for the Chinese order of battle for Eighth Army.

He says MacArthur didn't see the Chinese as his recon was to the northwest.

The Roosevelt Myth by John T. Flynn, originally published in 1948, was reissued on its 50th anniversary in 1998 with a foreward by Ralph Raico, history professor at my alma mater Wabash College during my four years picking cotton.

There is much to indicate Roosevelt was trolling for trouble if not inviting an attack. His failure to relieve the Bataan defenders is unconscionable.

What has been gained by Truman's and LBJ's timidity vis a vis China?

The PRC has our missile guidance courtesy its butt boy traitorrapist42, and our warhead data from Wen Ho Lee, subject of Freeper ntrulock (Notra Trulock) Codename Kindred Spirit.

The Inchon landing--despite the liberal revisionism--was daring and incisive.

The cowardice of Truman and succeeding administrations to destroy Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il has killed millions of North Koreans.

How many tens of millions died at the hands of old green-teeth, opium-stoned harem master of comfort women, Mao?

One point three billion are forbidden access to the world press and internet.

Remember Tiananmen: June 4, 1989: massacre of thousands.

"There is no substitute for victory" -

Douglas MacArthur, USMA 1903

[snippy_about_it]

Good Night SAM

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks Phil. Well said. Great Pics. Goodnight.

[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy. Good song to end the day on, see ya tomorrow.

[SAMWolf]

Good Evevning PhilDragoo.

Great pictures of the Inchon landings.

We should have taken on the Chinese (and for that matter the Russians like Patton wanted to) when we had the advantage. It would have saved the world a lot of grief in the long run.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks for posting the Army birthday patches - I just wish it didn't have that "Army of One" slogan on it! :)

[Robersabel]

I recently discovered a Disposition Form dated 1952 describing General MacArthur recommending the CIB be awarded to all those who acted as Infantry in defense of the Philippine Islands. (Please note: All WWII recipients of the CIB are entitled the prestigious Bronze Star Medal).

The Army ignored his recommendation and denied veterans based on a guideline after the fact, dated 1944. The campaign occurred from 7 December 1941 to 10 May 1942 under two guidelines retroactive on or after 6 December 1941.

Today, decisions by civilian members of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) continue to reflect denials based on guidelines after the fact. Local attorney (retired USAFR Colonel Jarvi, former JAG Officer) stated in a five page letter of legal opinion such action by the military is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

I have even seeked assistance from an American VFW Chapter located on the Philippine Islands.

If you have any avenues to assist, please share. Someone in this country needs to enforce the law.

[Robersabel]

I recently discovered a Disposition Form dated 1952 describing General MacArthur recommending the CIB be awarded to all those who acted as Infantry in defense of the Philippine Islands. (Please note: All WWII recipients of the CIB are entitled the prestigious Bronze Star Medal).

The Army ignored his recommendation and denied veterans based on a guideline after the fact, dated 1944. The campaign occurred from 7 December 1941 to 10 May 1942 under two guidelines retroactive on or after 6 December 1941.

Today, decisions by civilian members of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) continue to reflect denials based on guidelines after the fact. Local attorney (retired USAFR Colonel Jarvi, former JAG Officer) stated in a five page letter of legal opinion such action by the military is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

I have even sought assistance from an American VFW Chapter located on the Philippine Islands.

If you have any avenues to assist, please share. Someone in this country needs to enforce the law.