General Douglas MacArthur - Essay Example

General Douglas MacArthur Abstract General Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880 in Arkansas. His father Arthur MacArthur was an Army Officer (Biography); (History). General MacArthur was the commander of the Southwest Pacific in World War II (1939-1945). (History). He was in charge, when the Allied powers successfully occupied Japan after World War II. Moreover, he was also the leader of the UN Forces during the Korean War (1950-1953) (Biography). General MacArthur was supposedly larger-than-life, outspoken, talented and egoistic, and he often courted controversy. (History). One of his trademarks was the corncob pipe he smoked, which was custom made by ‘The Missouri Meerschaum Company’, which continues to manufacture the pipes in his honor. He graduated from the US Military Academy at the top of his class in 1903. (Biography). He was the intense American military pioneer who saved the Pacific, yet Freda Bender says General Douglas Macarthur had an astounding delicate side outside the war room. (Cardy). After Graduating at the top of his class in 1903, he was positioned in the Philippines and around the United States, served as a helper to his father in the Far East and partook in the American occupation of Veracruz, Mexico, in 1914. After the United States entered World War I in 1917, Macarthur helped lead the 42nd "Rainbow" Division in France and was elevated to brigadier general. (History). From 1919 to 1922 Douglas Macarthur served as the superintendent of West Point and founded a mixed bag of changes expected to modernize the school. In 1922 he went on to marry socialite Louise Cromwell Brooks (1890-1965). The two separated in 1929, and in 1937 Macarthur wedded Jean Faircloth (1898-2000), with whom he had one kid, Arthur Macarthur IV, the accompanying year. In 1930 President Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) named Macarthur head of staff of the Army, with the rank of general. In this part, Macarthur sent Army troops to evacuate the alleged Bonus Army of unemployed World War I veterans from Washington, D.C., in 1932. The episode was an advertising catastrophe for Macarthur and the military (History). In 1935, in the wake of completing his term as head of staff, Macarthur was tasked with making an outfitted energy for the Philippines, which turned into a republic of the United States that year (and it gained freedom in 1946). In 1937, after taking in he was planned to return for active duty in the United States, Macarthur resigned from the military, expressing that his mission wasn't done. He stayed on in the Philippines, where he served as a non military person counsel to President Manuel Quezon (1878-1944), who had designated him field marshal of the Philippines (History). In 1941, with Japan looking to expand its Empire and thus posing an ever increasing danger, Douglas Macarthur was called back to serve in the War and named leader of U.S. Armed force operating in the Far East region of Asia. On December 7, 1941, as Japan attacked US Military Bases in Pearl Harbor, America was drawn into World War II. On learning of this unprovoked attack on US soil, MacArthur was quick to realize that Philippines would be next on the Japanese forces radars and he also knew that Philippines was not ready for combat. (Haugen p.59). As MacArthur expected, the attack on Philippines came almost right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. (Haugen p.59) On December 8, 1941, his flying corps was obliterated in a shock assault by the Japanese, who soon attacked the Philippines. Despite repeated calls for help to Washington, MacArthur’s requests were ignored as Washington had adopted the policy of concentrating on Germany and ‘containing the Japanese with the limited resources available in the Pacific.’ (Haugen p. 60). Macarthur was forced to withdraw to the Bataan landmass, where his troops and he battled to survive. In March 1942, on requests from President Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945), Macarthur, his family and parts of his staff fled Corregidor Island in PT watercrafts and got away to Australia. Quickly thereafter, Macarthur made a guarantee to i, "shall return." U.S.-Philippine was lost to Japan in May 1942. (History). He soon propelled an attack in New Guinea that drove the Japanese out of Papua by January 1943. In an arrangement of operations in 1943–44, Macarthur's troops seized key focuses in New Guinea from Lae to Sansapor, while catching the Admiralties and western New Britain. The concurrent northward development of South Pacific troops in the Solomons, over whom Macarthur kept up key control, killed Rabaul and avoided numerous Japanese units. (Clayton). In the wake of being allowed to attack the Philippines next instead of Formosa, Macarthur ambushed Morotai, Leyte, and Mindoro in harvest time 1944. Not until the Leyte operations did he have the overpowering logistical help; his prior arrangements had been executed notwithstanding deficiencies of staff and materiel and with little aid from the Pacific Fleet. Macarthur genuinely addressed his bosses' choice to offer necessity to the European war over the Pacific clash and to the Central Pacific Theater over his Southwest Pacific territory (Clayton). His biggest, costliest operations happened throughout the seven-month Luzon crusade in 1945. That spring he additionally attempted the recon quest of the southern Philippines and Borneo. Then, he exited the challenging wiping up operations in New Guinea and the Solomons to the Australian Army. He was elevated to general of the armed force in December 1944 and was designated authority of all U.S. armed force constrains in the Pacific four months after the fact. He was accountable for the surrender service in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945 (Clayton). As Allied authority of the Japanese occupation in 1945–51, Macarthur adequately if dictatorially coordinated the retirement of Japanese military compels, the expurgation of warmongers, the rebuilding of the economy, and the drafting of a liberal constitution. Noteworthy changes were initiated in area redistribution, training, work, open wellbeing, and ladies' rights. While he was in Japan, Macarthur likewise headed the armed forces Far East command. (Clayton). In April 1942, Macarthur was designated preeminent administrator of Allied compels in the Southwest Pacific and honored the Medal of Honor for his safeguard of the Philippines. He used the following two and a half years leading an island-bouncing fight in the Pacific before broadly coming back to free the Philippines in October 1944. Approximately fifty yards from the shoreline, MacArthur’s boat ran aground, as the beach, MacArthur got off in the knee deep waters and walked ashore on the beach near Tacloban on the island of Leyte (Darby 77). Wading shoreward at Leyte, he declared, " People of Philippines, I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil " (History) In December 1944, he was elevated to the rank of general of the Army and soon given order of all Army constrains in the Pacific. (History). Macarthur now turned his focus to attaining his desired objective: “the seizure of the Philippine Islands." To satisfy his famous promise, Macarthur wanted to move ahead along the northern shore of Northeast and Dutch New Guinea, which might have given a springboard to Leyte. Although the Japanese Eighteenth Army commandant. Lieutenant General Hatazo Adachi, who headed the protection of New Guinea, accepted that the Allies might next move to Hansa Bay or Wewak from the Sixth Army's arranging range at Milne Bay, Macarthur had different arrangements. Since Macarthur had accessed intercepts of Japanese messages (Ultra), he was mindful of Adachi's plans of strengthening the Hansa Bay-Wewak range. Therefore, Macarthur chose to sidestep this region with plans of an Alamo Force landing at Hollandale and Aitape instead. As he outlined his arrangements to his subordinates on 18 Walk 1944, Macarthur cautioned Krueger that he must be ready not just for an intrusion at Hollandia-Aitape but also support the landings rapidly with ambushes somewhere else inside SWPA. On 22 April 1944, Sixth Army executed its ambush on the three fundamental airdromes around Houandia. The U.S. 42d Infantry Division was deployed at Humboldt Bay and the 24th U.s. Infantry Division at Tanahmerah Bay, the Sixth Army directed a 'pincer movement' that took four days to finish. (Holzimmer p. 662). On September 2, 1945, Macarthur authoritatively acknowledged Japan's surrender on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. From 1945 to 1951, as Allied authority of the Japanese occupation, Macarthur regulated the effective deactivation of Japan's military drives and in addition the reclamation of the economy, the drafting of another constitution and various different changes. (History). When the North Korean armed force attacked South Korea in 1950, Macarthur was put in command of the recently made United Nations forces and rapidly drove back the ambush. Be that as it may, he did not envision approaching assaults by Chinese troops and was soon compelled to withdraw. In the repercussions of this annihilation, Macarthur was vocal about his conviction that the war ought to be extended to incorporate China, in spite of warnings from President Truman that he ought to remain quiet about his notions. Exasperated by Macarthur's refusal to do in this way, Truman at long last removed General Douglas MacArthur of his charge in April 1951. (Biography). MacArthur won Two Purple Stars for his war efforts, as well as a recommendation for the Medal of Honor. He is famous for coining the term "Rainbow Division" to stress on the fact that its members came from different backgrounds and had different characteristics as well as diversified geographical regions from the United States of America, “stretching from coast to coast ‘like a rainbow.’” (Lee) Despite the fact that he had significant military ability and accomplished huge prevalent backing in his time, Macarthur is recollected today more for his defiance to civilian authority and his being relieved from charge than for his military ability. (COL Kingseed p. 52). After his dismissal, there was great displeasure shown by the people of America. However, MacArthur remained unaware that he was part of a controversy. (Duffy & Carpenter 36). He feared the rejection of the general public. General Douglas MacArthur fought in World War I, resigned and subsequently called back to serve in World War II as the commander to the Allied Forces operating in the Pacific region. However, his public criticism of then President Harry Truman regarding the tactics of the Korean War led to his ouster. MacArthur’s criticism of President Truman was not so much as his tactics used in the Japanese War; rather it was directed more toward the possible actions he should have taken during the Korean War. (Duffy & Carpenter 36) Macarthur came back to the United States and settled in Washington, D.C. The American Public saw him once again as a legend; however Truman kept on publicly condemning and criticizing his actions. Macarthur gave much of his time to protecting his movements in Korea and condemning Truman's inaction, blaming him for having permitted Communism to run widespread in the area. He was additionally acknowledged as a potential Republican presidential applicant, however the move never say any real action. In 1952, Macarthur met with Dwight Eisenhower, who had been chosen president, and advised him on the most proficient method to end the Korean War. His strongly amazing method, which incorporated the utilization of nuclear weapons, was rejected (History). Around this time, Macarthur and his wife moved to New York City, and he was chosen as the Chairman of the Board for Remington Rand, a producer of typewriters and early workstations. Along with fulfilling the obligations that accompanied this post, Macarthur gave his time to composing his journals, which eventually was distributed as 'Reminiscences' and serialized in Life magazine (History). He also met with presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson to prompt them on military matters (History). Douglas Macarthur passed on in Washington, D.C., on April 5, 1964, at the age of 84. He was honored with a state memorial service and was laid to rest in the Douglas MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia. The commemoration is not just the resting spot of Macarthur and his wife Jean; it is also home to a display center that documents his life and military administration amongst other things (Biography). It is also home to a gift shop and a movie theater which documents MacArthur’s life as a War Hero. His famous 1950 Chrysler Crown Imperial, which was his staff car as the top leader during the occupation of Japan after World War II also, sits pretty at the center. MacArthur had an ego, there was no doubt about it. Macarthur missed week after week tests in mathematics throughout his second year because of an ailment. When he was told that he would have to take a random and special examination with whom he thought were the "goats" of the class in order to pass the course, Cadet MacArthur went straight to the teacher and requested his name be cancelled from the schedule because of his unrivaled standing on the tests he had effectively taken earlier. Told that his stance was a challenge to an immediate order, Macarthur blatantly told the officer, "I won't take the test." The next morning MacArthur was sent an official note stating that his name had indeed been removed from the schedule. The instructor had given in to MacArthur not so much as to his emphasis regarding the test, as to not irk MacArthur’s father, who was expected to soon visit his son, which had become a well publicized affair. Through his amazingly fast ascent to the apex of the military hierarchy, this astounding leader likewise embodies the limits of unparalleled egotism and voracious desire (COL Kingseed p. 56). However, along with his somewhat arrogant and proud demeanor General MacArthur is also well known for his ‘soft’ side, which is evident in the testimony provided by Mrs. Bender, as well as some of his written works. Quotes and Poems by General Douglas MacArthur: "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." – Douglas MacArthur (History) Written in 1914 by General MacArthur The roses blossom white and red On tombs where weary soldiers lie; Flags wave above the honored dead And martial music cleaves the sky. Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel, They kept the faith and fought the fight. Through flying lead and crimson steel They plunged for Freedom and the Right (Lee) Works Cited Biography. Douglas MacArthur. 2014. 30 March 2014 . Cardy, Todd. MacArthur was a `softie'. Perth: The Sunday Times, 2012. Clayton, James D. Douglas MacArthur. n.d. 30 March 2014 . COL Kingseed, Cole C. "Fall from Grace." Army Magazine; Association of the United States Army (2012): 49-57. Darby, Jean. Douglas MacArthur. wenty-First Century Books, ISBN: 0822549018, 9780822549017, 1989. Duffy & Carpenter. Douglas MacArthur: Warrior as Wordsmith. Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN: 0313291489, 9780313291487, 01-Jan-1997. Haugen, Brenda. Douglas MacArthur: America's General. Capstone ISBN 0756509947, 9780756509941, 01-Jul-2005. History. Douglas MacArthur. n.d. 30 March 2014 . Holzimmer, Kevin C. "Walter Krueger, Douglas MacArthur, and the Pacific War: The Wakde-Sarmi Campaign as a Gase Study." The Journal of Military History Vol.59 (1995): 661-686. Lee. "In Norfolk, an old soldier never dies." Washington Post (2013). Read More