When MacArthur was Army Chief of Staff, he had no moral qualms about rousting the bonus marchers from their encampment; despite the fact these men were veterans of WWI. In fact, MacArthur put on his full uniform, sam brown belt, medals, and posed in front of his full length mirror to determine his best profile before going out to be photographed taking charge of the operation to remove WW1 vets from D.C.
Also, your justification for MacArthur accepting the MoH is lame and probably goes against the grain of 99% of anyone who ever wore a US Army uniform.
I attended a meeting once when a man said something far less disparaging and it turned out one of the other men in the room was present for MacArthur's last speech and he had to be physically restrained.
I'm a graduate of that same institution. As you go into the mess hall (Washington Hall) through the main doors, you will see large portraits of past superintendents of the academy. MacArthur's is one of the first portraits you will see on the right as you enter. That picture is the quintessential MacArthur pose: haughty and arrogant. Its all well and good to be that way if you are a CEO or something, but it really does not inspire confidence in subordinates or a willingness to obey (see Schofield's definition of discipline - which all USMA cadets have to memorize).
I'll grant you that Doug Mac was brave and competent (he was awarded a DSC in WW1 if i recall correctly). The Inchon landing was risky and brilliant; it was an operational level envelopment with an amphibious assault. As RJS1950 correctly wrote, the planning was done by the MacArthur's G-3. RJS1950 also wrote that Doug Mac would put all the blame on the planners if the operation went wrong. I really can't comment on that. And as Reformedliberal has written, and other anecdotal thoughts from back in the time, I'm pretty comfortable to state that soldiers resented his condescending attitude.
My father’s story was about more than a condescending attitude.
Dad was Army. He was stationed in the Philippines after a tour in Europe. His unit were Engineers. They were building a road, or so they thought, when a group of Filipinos came by, laughing at them. Evidently, there was enough Spanish mixed into the taunts that they were understood by the GIs. The gist was that this was not just a road, but a private driveway leading to property owned by MacArthur. My father got pretty angry and confronted his Lt., saying that he wasn’t there to be Mac’s servant. Finally, my father threw a punch and landed in the stockade for a time. When he got out, turned out his buddies were on his side, even though he knew he shouldn’t have gotten physical with an officer.
There are real roots to a lot of the attitude on the part of the troops, but those anecdotes seem to never have made it to the histories.
Thanks but I'll wait for an Eisenhower thread before stepping through the Ike door.
When MacArthur was Army Chief of Staff, he had no moral qualms about rousting the bonus marchers from their encampment;
And the left will never forgive him for it.
despite the fact these men were veterans of WWI.
If you look into it, the genuine WWI veterans had cleared out and been replaced by assorted communists, anarchists and other rabblerousers of the sort. Not a whole lot different from the current Occupy crowd. The original Occupy group came and went long ago. What's there now are an entirely different lot from those that initially showed up.
In fact, MacArthur put on his full uniform, sam brown belt, medals, and posed in front of his full length mirror to determine his best profile before going out to be photographed taking charge of the operation to remove WW1 vets from D.C.
To what source do we attribute that vignette?
Also, your justification for MacArthur accepting the MoH is lame and probably goes against the grain of 99% of anyone who ever wore a US Army uniform.
How is it lame? It isn't as if he recommended and awarded the MOH to himself. Officers were entitled to receive the award and even civilians had received the MOH.
I'm a graduate of that same institution. As you go into the mess hall (Washington Hall) through the main doors, you will see large portraits of past superintendents of the academy. MacArthur's is one of the first portraits you will see on the right as you enter. That picture is the quintessential MacArthur pose: haughty and arrogant. Its all well and good to be that way if you are a CEO or something, but it really does not inspire confidence in subordinates or a willingness to obey (see Schofield's definition of discipline - which all USMA cadets have to memorize).
He was a 5 star general. Generals and admirals as a group are not known for their humility. Certainly pictures of Gen. Patton don't strike you as those of a humble man do they?
I'll grant you that Doug Mac was brave and competent (he was awarded a DSC in WW1 if i recall correctly).
2 DSC's, 1 DSM, 7 silver stars plus others all in less than one year of fighting in WWI. He was the most decorated American soldier in WWI.