QUOTE: “No man is
entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.”
AUTHOR: General of the Army Douglas
MacArthur (26 January 1880 – 5 April 1964) was an American general and
field marshal of the Philippine Army who was Chief of Staff of the United
States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater
during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines
Campaign, which made him and his father Arthur MacArthur, Jr., the first father
and son to be awarded the medal. He was one of only five men ever to rise to
the rank of General of the Army in the U.S. Army, and the only man ever to
become a field marshal in the Philippine Army.
Raised in a military family in the American
Old West, MacArthur was valedictorian at the West Texas Military Academy, and First
Captain at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated
top of the class of 1903. During the 1914 United States occupation of Veracruz,
he conducted a reconnaissance mission, for which he was nominated for the Medal
of Honor. In 1917, he was promoted from major to colonel and became chief of
staff of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division. In the fighting on the Western Front
during World War I, he rose to the rank of brigadier general, was again
nominated for a Medal of Honor, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
twice and the Silver Star seven times.
From 1919 to 1922, MacArthur served as Superintendent
of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he attempted a series of
reforms. His next assignment was in the Philippines, where in 1924 he was
instrumental in quelling the Philippine Scout Mutiny. In 1925, he became the
Army's youngest major general. He served on the court martial of Brigadier
General Billy Mitchell and was president of the American Olympic Committee
during the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. In 1930, he became Chief of Staff
of the United States Army. As such, he was involved in the expulsion of the Bonus
Army protesters from Washington, D.C. in 1932, and the establishment and
organization of the Civilian Conservation Corps. He retired from the U.S. Army
in 1937 to become Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government of the
Philippines.
MacArthur was recalled to active duty in 1941
as commander of United States Army Forces in the Far East. A series of
disasters followed, starting with the destruction of his air forces on 8
December 1941, and the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese. MacArthur's
forces were soon compelled to withdraw to Bataan, where they held out until May
1942. In March 1942, MacArthur, his family and his staff left nearby Corregidor
Island in PT boats and escaped to Australia, where MacArthur became Supreme
Commander, Southwest Pacific Area. For his defense of the Philippines,
MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor. After more than two years of fighting
in the Pacific, he fulfilled a promise to return to the Philippines. He
officially accepted Japan's surrender on 2 September 1945, and oversaw the occupation
of Japan from 1945 to 1951. As the effective ruler of Japan, he oversaw
sweeping economic, political and social changes. He led the United Nations
Command in the Korean War until he was removed from command by President Harry
S. Truman on 11 April 1951. He later became Chairman of the Board of Remington
Rand.
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