Once again for the Nth time,I opened and started at least browsing this great and priceless book which is part of my good military library collection regarding the history of warfare especially the 2 World Wars though my collection extends all the way from the great wars of the ancient times till Desert Storm in the 90s. Part of my collections were books regarding bios of great military leaders from generals down to an ordinary foot soldier. This one is an autobio of General Douglas MacArthur written a year before his passing in March 1964 where the preface was written just days before he was taken ill and died peacefully after spending most of his life in a troubled world as one if the greatest figures in world history whose decisions definitely influenced and changed the world. I have read 5 books devoted to Macarthur including The Untold Story by Frazier Hunt and American Caesar by William Manchester. I decided to pull out this dusty book once more to check and understand better several events and details that led to the Liberation of The Philippines especially of Manila and Luzon on Feb to March 1945 where we will commemorate its 70th year in accordance with the man himself as the Supreme Commander. Talking about MacArthur is like talking about a hot potato always divided into the extremes ,no middle or neutral opinion . Either you hate him or admire him,Americans ,Filipinos alike and the world . I must say Im a great Macarthur disciple not just because of his connection with us Filipinos but I have read and read and analyze and once more Im taking a dip into the life of this man of destiny. The great actor Gregory Peck when he was asked to play Mac for a movie on his life,rejected the idea because he was not a Macarthur fan though he served in World War II as a young soldier but finally accepted after a good deal. After reading books,listening to testimonies ,checking records for his Mac role ,Gregory Peck became an instant convert. Macarthur was the most decorated American soldier of all time,after receiving the highest award Medal of Honor,18 campaign stars for bravery,16 oak cluster leafs and 58 major international awards and decorations ,the highest record in West Point unbeaten in 100 years,Class of 1903,youngest general in World War I,youngest US Army Chief of Staff and retired in 1936 and served as Military Adviser to the Commonwealth of the Phil with Pres.Quezon but reactivated when World War II broke out. The Phil where his father served ,another mighty general ,Arthur MacArthur,a great Civil War hero ,a Colonel at age 19 in 1863 and earned the Medal of Honor too thus becoming the first father and son to earn such award,the greatest in US military. After graduating in West Point in 1903,his first assignment was in Leyte ,where after 41 years he would land a great army and waded ashore to fulfill his endearing promise I Shall Return and a few minutes later received a radio call that he just earned his 5th Star , General of The Army. In between West Point and Commonwealth ,he was stationed in the Phil 2x more as the Manila dept commander in 1923 to 25 then Phil.Dept Commander in 1927. Led the American Olympic team in Amsterdam in 1928 as manager and made the US a superpower in sports. His mother died here in 1937,met and courted his second wife here and his son was born here---The Philippines. When MacArthur was already fully retired in 1961 ,the Phil Govt invited him to visit again,he was met by a million Filipinos at Luneta which he dubbed as the Sentimental Journey. He transformed Japan as governor and protected South Korea against communist north where his Inchon Landing was perhaps the greatest in the annals of military strategy and planning,a MacArthur genius,even his critics saluted him and the modern generals of today are still coping up in studying that act of genius . Macarthurs ego on the other hand worked against himself,and this culminated with no less than Harry Truman,US President ,where Mac was the first UN Commander and Supreme Commander Allied Powers clashed with Truman regarding policies on the Korean War. Truman sacked him in 1952 and went home to the US after a 15 year continuous absence where he travelled to 50 cities across and met by multimillions of Americans that feared his critics in Washington DC if he becomes President ,instead,the Republicans chose Dwight David Eisenhower,the European war commander against Hitler and Mussolini,another 5 star general but served as Macarthurs aide De camp and Secretary for 9 years when Eusenhower was only a Major and George Marshall,the Chair of the Joint Chiefs in World War II was only a Colonel and Mac was their Big Boss. On his last day in the Army ,his final act was a speech in the joint session of Congress where he uttered Old Soldiers Never Die,They Just Fade Away. When Mac was reactivated ,he never saluted anybody even though Marshall was already the Big Boss because for Mac,they were just his errand boys before. When Eisenhower won as President,he was asked,What can you say about Ptesident-Elect Eisenhower? Macarthur replied As far as Im concerned ,He was the BEST CLERK that ever served in my office.. Hahhahaha Macarthur served in the military for 52 long years,the longest in US military annals.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 17:12:45 +0000
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