Douglas MacArthur: What Greater Honor (Heroes of History)

Because the Japanese were not expecting an attack, the garrison was weak, and Allied casualties were correspondingly light.

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However, the terrain turned out to be less suitable for airbase development than first thought, forcing MacArthur to seek better locations further west. Moreover, while bypassing Japanese forces had great tactical merit, it had the serious strategic drawback of tying up large numbers of Allied troops in order to contain them, and Adachi was far from beaten. In the Battle of Driniumor River , he would bring on "the New Guinea campaign's bloodiest and most strategically useless battle.

MacArthur emphasized the moral and political issues involved in a decision to liberate or bypass Luzon. He also spoke briefly of his plan to use the Australian Army to liberate Indonesia. Although the issue was not settled, both Roosevelt and Leahy were convinced of the soundness of MacArthur's plan.

Opposition was feeble and Halsey concluded that Leyte was "wide open" and possibly undefended, and recommended that projected operations be skipped in favor of an assault on Leyte. That afternoon he arrived off the beach. The advance had not progressed far; snipers were still active and the area was under sporadic mortar fire. When his whaleboat grounded in knee-deep water, MacArthur requested a landing craft, but the beachmaster was too busy to grant his request.

MacArthur was compelled to wade ashore. People of the Philippines: By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil — soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come dedicated and committed to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people. Since Leyte was out of range of Kenney's land-based aircraft, MacArthur was entirely dependent on carrier aircraft for cover.

MacArthur enjoyed staying on Nashville ' s bridge during air raids, although several bombs landed close by, and two nearby cruisers were hit. MacArthur attributed the near-disaster to command being divided between himself and Nimitz. The timing of the assault so late in the year forced the combat troops, pilots, and the supporting logistical units to contend with heavy monsoonal rains that disrupted the airbase construction program. Adverse weather and valiant Japanese resistance slowed the American advance ashore. MacArthur was forced to ask Nimitz to recall the carriers to support the Sixth Army but they proved to be no substitute for land-based aircraft, and the lack of air cover permitted the Japanese Army to pour troops into Leyte.

MacArthur's next move was the invasion of Mindoro , where there were good potential airfield sites around the San Jose area. Willoughby estimated, correctly as it turned out, that the island had only about 1, Japanese defenders. The problem this time was getting there. A parachute drop was considered, but the airfields on Leyte lacked the space to hold the required transport aircraft.

Kinkaid balked at sending escort carriers into the restricted waters of the Sulu Sea , and Kenney could not guarantee land based air cover. The operation was clearly hazardous, and MacArthur's staff talked him out of accompanying the invasion on the Nashville. As the invasion force entered the Sulu Sea, a kamikaze struck Nashville , killing people and wounding more, including the task force commander, Brigadier General William C.

The landings were made unopposed on December 15, , and within two weeks Australian and American engineers had three airstrips in operation, but "not since Anzio had the navy experienced so much difficulty supporting an amphibious operation after the initial landing. The way was now clear for the invasion of Luzon. This time, based on different interpretations of the same intelligence data, Willoughby's G-2 Section at GHQ estimated the strength of General Tomoyuki Yamashita 's forces on Luzon at ,, while that of Sixth Army estimated it at , Eddleman attempted to lay out the reasons for the Sixth Army's assessment, but MacArthur's response was "Bunk!

He felt that even Willoughby's estimate was too high. However, all the estimates were too low: Yamashita had more than , troops on Luzon. General MacArthur is in personal command at the front and landed with his assault troops. MacArthur's primary concern was the capture of the port of Manila and the airbase at Clark Field , which were required to support future operations. He urged his front line commanders on.

Mudge , to conduct a rapid advance on Manila. On February 3, it reached the northern outskirts of Manila and the campus of the University of Santo Tomas where 3, internees were liberated. The Battle of Manila raged for the next three weeks. Although MacArthur had no specific directive from the Joint Chiefs to do so, and the fighting on Luzon was far from over, he committed the Eighth Army, Seventh Fleet and Thirteenth Air Force to a series of operations to liberate the remainder of the Philippines from the Japanese.

A series of 52 amphibious landings were made in the central and southern Philippines between February and July En route back to his headquarters in Manila, he visited Davao , where he told Eichelberger that no more than 4, Japanese remained alive on Mindanao. A few months later, six times that number would surrender. In July , he set out on Boise once more to be with the Australian 7th Division for the landing at Balikpapan.

Douglas MacArthur’s Early Years

In April , MacArthur became commander in chief U. At the same time, Nimitz became commander of all naval forces. But I believe that the aggressiveness recently displayed not only in Korea but also in Indo-China and Tibet and pointing potentially toward the South reflects predominantly the same lust for the expansion of power which has animated every would-be conqueror since the beginning of time.

The Japanese people, since the war, have undergone the greatest reformation recorded in modern history. Politically, economically, and socially Japan is now abreast of many free nations of the earth and will not again fail the universal trust. That it may be counted upon to wield a profoundly beneficial influence over the course of events in Asia is attested by the magnificent manner in which the Japanese people have met the recent challenge of war, unrest, and confusion surrounding them from the outside and checked communism within their own frontiers without the slightest slackening in their forward progress.

I sent all four of our occupation divisions to the Korean battlefront without the slightest qualms as to the effect of the resulting power vacuum upon Japan. The results fully justified my faith. I know of no nation more serene, orderly, and industrious, nor in which higher hopes can be entertained for future constructive service in the advance of the human race.

Of our former ward, the Philippines, we can look forward in confidence that the existing unrest will be corrected and a strong and healthy nation will grow in the longer aftermath of war's terrible destructiveness. We must be patient and understanding and never fail them -- as in our hour of need, they did not fail us.

On Formosa, the government of the Republic of China has had the opportunity to refute by action much of the malicious gossip which so undermined the strength of its leadership on the Chinese mainland. The Formosan people are receiving a just and enlightened administration with majority representation on the organs of government, and politically, economically, and socially they appear to be advancing along sound and constructive lines.

With this brief insight into the surrounding area s , I now turn to the Korean conflict. While I was not consulted prior to the President's decision to intervene in support of the Republic of Korea, that decision from a military standpoint, proved a sound one, as we -- as I said, proved a sound one, as we hurled back the invader and decimated his forces. Our victory was complete, and our objectives within reach, when Red China intervened with numerically superior ground forces.

This created a new war and an entirely new situation, a situation not contemplated when our forces were committed against the North Korean invaders; a situation which called for new decisions in the diplomatic sphere to permit the realistic adjustment of military strategy. Such decisions have not been forthcoming. While no man in his right mind would advocate sending our ground forces into continental China, and such was never given a thought, the new situation did urgently demand a drastic revision of strategic planning if our political aim was to defeat this new enemy as we had defeated the old.

Apart from the military need, as I saw It, to neutralize the sanctuary protection given the enemy north of the Yalu, I felt that military necessity in the conduct of the war made necessary: For entertaining these views, all professionally designed to support our forces committed to Korea and bring hostilities to an end with the least possible delay and at a saving of countless American and allied lives, I have been severely criticized in lay circles, principally abroad, despite my understanding that from a military standpoint the above views have been fully shared in the past by practically every military leader concerned with the Korean campaign, including our own Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I called for reinforcements but was informed that reinforcements were not available. I made clear that if not permitted to destroy the enemy built-up bases north of the Yalu, if not permitted to utilize the friendly Chinese Force of some , men on Formosa, if not permitted to blockade the China coast to prevent the Chinese Reds from getting succor from without, and if there were to be no hope of major reinforcements, the position of the command from the military standpoint forbade victory.

We could hold in Korea by constant maneuver and in an approximate area where our supply line advantages were in balance with the supply line disadvantages of the enemy, but we could hope at best for only an indecisive campaign with its terrible and constant attrition upon our forces if the enemy utilized its full military potential. I have constantly called for the new political decisions essential to a solution.

Douglas MacArthur What Greater Honor (Paperback)

Efforts have been made to distort my position. It has been said, in effect, that I was a warmonger. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes. Indeed, on the second day of September, nineteen hundred and forty-five, just following the surrender of the Japanese nation on the Battleship Missouri, I formally cautioned as follows: Men since the beginning of time have sought peace.

Various methods through the ages have been attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations. From the very start workable methods were found in so far as individual citizens were concerned, but the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never been successful. Military alliances, balances of power, Leagues of Nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war.

We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past years.

It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh. B ut once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end. War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. In war there is no substitute for victory. There are some who, for varying reasons, would appease Red China.

They are blind to history's clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war.

Douglas MacArthur, A Most Successful and Unusual Military Leader

Placed in command of an American-led coalition of United Nations forces, MacArthur reversed the dire military situation in the early months of the war with a brilliant amphibious assault behind North Korean lines at the Port of Inchon. But within weeks of this great triumph he and Washington miscalculated badly.

MacArthur's approach to the Chinese border triggered the entry of Mao's Communist Chinese, and as dawned, they faced what he called "an entirely new war. Ridgway stabilized the military situation near the prewar boundary at the 38th parallel, MacArthur's months of public and private bickering with the Truman administration soon came to a head.

On April 11, , the President relieved General MacArthur, triggering a firestorm of protest over our strategy not only in Korea, but in the Cold War as a whole. Despite his dramatic televised address to a joint session of Congress, however, the issue died quickly, and with it any hopes MacArthur had of reaching the White House in True to his word, the old soldier "faded away" from the public eye, living quietly in New York until his death in While it's questionable whether his storied life ever brought him complete satisfaction, one thing is clear: Douglas MacArthur had more than fulfilled his self-imposed destiny of becoming one of history's great men.

Never have I been able to heal the wound in my heart. Arthur was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, but at the age of four moved to Milwaukee, where his father established a law practice and soon became a star in local politics. Although just sixteen when the Civil War erupted, Arthur was determined to enlist, ignoring his father's wishes that he train for a career in the law, or at least attend West Point if he insisted on becoming a soldier. But no sooner had Judge MacArthur arranged an appointment to West Point, than his headstrong son forced him into arranging a commission as first lieutenant in the 24th Wisconsin Volunteers.

At first soldiers laughed at the "baby adjutant," but not for long. Quickly impressing others with his coolness and dedication to duty, Arthur first became a highly valued member of the unit, then a genuine hero. In an action which eventually earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor, MacArthur seized the regimental flag from the fallen color bearer and led his men up Missionary Ridge near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The commander who recommended him for the award commented that "he was most distinguished in action on a field where many in the regiment displayed conspicuous gallantry, worthy of the highest praise. Army would hold little glory. Without foreign wars, promotions were few and far between; instead, the Army was asked to make settlement of the West safe from the Indian "menace.

A voracious reader, MacArthur did his best to challenge himself intellectually, and his efficiency reports were always excellent. Nevertheless, these were difficult and frustrating years for the MacArthurs. Just three years later, his excellent work as an instructor -- and the ceaseless lobbying by him and his well-placed father -- finally paid off, and MacArthur was promoted to major and assigned to the Adjutant General's office in Washington. There, while his family enjoyed the high society that gathered around his father's table, Arthur flourished at the War Department. By the time the Spanish-American War broke out in , he was ready for a sizeable command.

Newly-minted Brigadier General Arthur MacArthur, commanding a man brigade of volunteers, arrived in Manila on August 1, three months after Admiral Dewey's navy had defeated the Spanish navy. When the American army arrived, the Spanish commander in Manila, hopelessly outnumbered by the Americans and Emilio Aguinaldo's Filipino insurgents, negotiated the surrender of his forces after a staged battle. All went smoothly at first, until suddenly MacArthur's brigade ran into heavy fire from a Spanish unit which had not received word of the understanding. Displaying "much gallantry and excellent judgment" during the skirmish, MacArthur defeated the renegade Spaniards.

Unfortunately for MacArthur, subduing the Filipinos, eager for true independence after generations of colonial domination, would prove far more difficult. In April of , in recognition for his work in managing the guerrilla war, MacArthur was appointed military governor of the Philippines, replacing General Otis. As if fighting the Filipinos wasn't hard enough, MacArthur soon faced another challenge: Resentful of what he saw as political interference in an essentially military situation, MacArthur treated Taft coolly at best.

Taft, knowing that Washington wanted only good news and the quick establishment of a civilian government, saw MacArthur as an inconvenience and successfully lobbied for his removal. Upon his return to the States in , MacArthur was first disappointed by the lack of fanfare he received, then by his assignments, which did not conform to his rigid sense of honor. The final straw came in , when he retired after being passed over for the Army's top job, Chief of Staff, despite being the highest ranking officer.

For the rest of his life he would harbor bitter resentment against what his biographer called "civilian politicians and deskbound warriors of the general staff. Always proud of his Scottish heritage, MacArthur cherished the man who established the venerable clan here, his grandfather, Judge Arthur MacArthur.

The Judge called himself a "double-distilled" MacArthur: But tragically his father, who came from a family of Highlanders, died just days before his birth in When Arthur was seven, his mother remarried, and in the family joined one of her sisters in the Massachusetts mill town of Uxbridge. It did not take long for the first-generation immigrant to succeed.

After briefly attending Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Arthur dropped out to help the family through a severe depression in , working as a law clerk first in Boston, then in New York.