Okla-homey
8/30/2006, 05:52 AM
August 30, 1945 MacArthur arrives in Japan
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2561/macarthur5dz.jpg
61 years ago today in 1945, General Douglas MacArthur landed in Japan to oversee the formal surrender ceremony and to organize the postwar Japanese government.
Born in Little Rock in 1880, the career of Douglas MacArthur is composed of multiple striking achievements, one after another. When he graduated from West Point in 1903, MacArthur's performance, in terms of awards and average, had rarely been exceeded in the institution's history.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/8364/douglasmacarthurwestpoint1af.th.jpg (http://img400.imageshack.us/my.php?image=douglasmacarthurwestpoint1af.jpg)
Cadet Douglas MacArthur
As a somewhat bizarre aside, his mother, wife of General Arthur MacArthur, went to West Point with her son Douglas and lived in the acadamy's Hotel Thayer throughout his cadet days. Academy officials never protested her presence since Mrs MacArthur's husband (and Doug's dad) had been a Medal of Honor winner and the Commander-in-Cheif of the US Army -- this was during the era when an officer could have this designation. Now that guy is called Chief of Staff of the US Army because the President is more accurately commander-in-chief of the Army per the US Constitution.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3914/wwwamacarthur1qm7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Doug's dad, Arthur MacArthur as a lieutenant general. At the age of seventeen, "Mac Senior" was commissioned 1st Lt. and Adjutant of the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He served throughout the War and was mustered out as Lieutenant Colonel of the 24th on June 10, 1865. The regiment formed part of the Army of the Cumberland, and with it he participated in the Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Atlanta and Franklin campaigns. He received the brevet rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers, March 13, 1865 (for gallant and meritorious service in action at Perryville, Kentucky, Stones River, Missionary Ridge, and Dandridge, Tennessee) and of Colonel of Volunteers on the same day for gallant and meritorious service in action at Franklin, Tennessee and in the Atlanta Campaign. The Medal of Honor was awarded him June 30, 1890, "for seizing the colors of his regiment at a critical moment and planting them on a captured work on the crest of Missionary Ridge." During that action he was grazed in the head and fell, clutching the colors. Arthur was more seriously wounded at Kennesaw Mountain and at Franklin, Tennessee, where, in a sword fight on the front steps of the Carter House he and a Confederate officer managed to bloody each other with their swords. The event ended when MacArthur was severely wounded by a shot in the left knee and another in the shoulder. "Mac Sr" died in 1912.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4069/wwww186ee2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
General Douglas MacArthur Elementary School on Ft Leavenworth. My blonde daughter briefly attended nearby General George S. Patton Junior Junior High School when your correspondent attended staff college at Leavenworth in the mid nineties.
His performance in World War I, during combat in France, won him decorations for valor and resulted in his becoming the youngest general in the Army at the time having earned his first star after only 15 years of commissioned service.
Ultimately, before he retired from active service long before the beginning of WWII, he had risen to the highest position in the US Army, that of Chief of Staff serving from 1930 to 1935. He retired from the Army in 1935, and was appointed head of the Philippine Army by its president (the Philippines had U.S. commonwealth status at the time).
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2706/macarthurdt1eg.jpg
When World War II broke out, MacArthur was called back to active service-as commanding general of the U.S. Army in the Far East. Because of MacArthur's time in the Far East, and the awesome respect he commanded in the Philippines where he was treated like a minor diety, his judgment had become somewhat distorted and his vision of U.S. military strategy as a whole "myopic."
He was convinced that he could defeat Japan if it invaded the Philippines. In the long term, he was correct. But in the short term, the United States suffered disastrous defeats at Bataan and Corregidor. By the time U.S. forces were compelled to surrender, he had already evacuated to Australia aboard a PT boat, on orders from President Roosevelt. As he left, he uttered his immortal line, [I]"I shall return."
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2199/51timedouglasmacarthur8lu.jpg
Refusing to admit defeat, MacArthur took supreme command in the Southwest Pacific, capturing New Guinea from the Japanese with an innovative "leap frog" strategy.
MacArthur, true to his word, returned to the Philippines in October 1944, and once again employed an unusual strategy of surprise and constant movement that still has historians puzzled as to its true efficacy to this day. He even "led" the initial invasion by wading ashore from a landing craft --captured for the world when it was repeated a couple times for the movie cameras and splashed (pardon the pun) on newsreel footage around the world.
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/4240/douglas20macarthur6bp.gif
With the help of the U.S. Navy, which succeeded in destroying the Japanese fleet, leaving the Japanese garrisons on the islands without reinforcements, the Army defeated holdout Japanese resistance. On March 3, 1945, MacArthur handed control of the Philippine capital back to its president.
On August 30, 1945, MacArthur landed at Atsugi Airport in Japan and proceeded to drive himself to Yokohama. Along the way, tens of thousands of well armed Japanese soldiers lined the roads, their bayonets fixed. One last act of defiance-but all for naught.
MacArthur would be the man who would reform Japanese society, dictate its post-war Constitution, and approve of every facet of its post-war government and its policies.
President Harry S. Truman had given "Mac" his mission:
"You will exercise your authority as you deem proper to carry out your mission. Our relations with Japan do not rest on a contractual basis, but on unconditional surrender; your authority is supreme." MacArthur took Truman at his word and completely reformed Japan in America's image.
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2959/macarthurhirohito7cj.jpg
MacArthur ruled Japan from 1945 until 1952. Seen here with his bestest little Japanese buddy, the Emperor Hirohito, who previously had been considered a god by the Japanese people.
Upon the North Korean invasion of South Korea, was designated commander, United Nations Command in the Far East, July 1950 but was relieved of his command by President Truman in April 1951.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/2549/06c20douglas20macarthur8tm.jpg
As William Manchester wrote in his epic work of the same title, Macarthur was, "The American Caesar." He died on April 5, 1964. He's buried in a tomb within a museum dedicated to his life and career in downtown Norfolk VA. If in the area, its definitely worth a visit.
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/978/douglasmacarthurribbons9mi.gif
MacArthur's ribbon rack. From top left, they include the Medal of Honor, 3 Distinguished Service Crosses, 5 Army Distinguished Service Medals, One Navy Distinguished Service Medal, 7 Silver Stars, a Distinguished Flying Cross, 6 Bronze Stars, 2 Purple Hearts and an Air Medal followed by numerous campaign medals and unit citation ribbons.
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5874/insane7zo6hy.jpg
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2561/macarthur5dz.jpg
61 years ago today in 1945, General Douglas MacArthur landed in Japan to oversee the formal surrender ceremony and to organize the postwar Japanese government.
Born in Little Rock in 1880, the career of Douglas MacArthur is composed of multiple striking achievements, one after another. When he graduated from West Point in 1903, MacArthur's performance, in terms of awards and average, had rarely been exceeded in the institution's history.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/8364/douglasmacarthurwestpoint1af.th.jpg (http://img400.imageshack.us/my.php?image=douglasmacarthurwestpoint1af.jpg)
Cadet Douglas MacArthur
As a somewhat bizarre aside, his mother, wife of General Arthur MacArthur, went to West Point with her son Douglas and lived in the acadamy's Hotel Thayer throughout his cadet days. Academy officials never protested her presence since Mrs MacArthur's husband (and Doug's dad) had been a Medal of Honor winner and the Commander-in-Cheif of the US Army -- this was during the era when an officer could have this designation. Now that guy is called Chief of Staff of the US Army because the President is more accurately commander-in-chief of the Army per the US Constitution.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3914/wwwamacarthur1qm7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Doug's dad, Arthur MacArthur as a lieutenant general. At the age of seventeen, "Mac Senior" was commissioned 1st Lt. and Adjutant of the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He served throughout the War and was mustered out as Lieutenant Colonel of the 24th on June 10, 1865. The regiment formed part of the Army of the Cumberland, and with it he participated in the Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Atlanta and Franklin campaigns. He received the brevet rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers, March 13, 1865 (for gallant and meritorious service in action at Perryville, Kentucky, Stones River, Missionary Ridge, and Dandridge, Tennessee) and of Colonel of Volunteers on the same day for gallant and meritorious service in action at Franklin, Tennessee and in the Atlanta Campaign. The Medal of Honor was awarded him June 30, 1890, "for seizing the colors of his regiment at a critical moment and planting them on a captured work on the crest of Missionary Ridge." During that action he was grazed in the head and fell, clutching the colors. Arthur was more seriously wounded at Kennesaw Mountain and at Franklin, Tennessee, where, in a sword fight on the front steps of the Carter House he and a Confederate officer managed to bloody each other with their swords. The event ended when MacArthur was severely wounded by a shot in the left knee and another in the shoulder. "Mac Sr" died in 1912.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4069/wwww186ee2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
General Douglas MacArthur Elementary School on Ft Leavenworth. My blonde daughter briefly attended nearby General George S. Patton Junior Junior High School when your correspondent attended staff college at Leavenworth in the mid nineties.
His performance in World War I, during combat in France, won him decorations for valor and resulted in his becoming the youngest general in the Army at the time having earned his first star after only 15 years of commissioned service.
Ultimately, before he retired from active service long before the beginning of WWII, he had risen to the highest position in the US Army, that of Chief of Staff serving from 1930 to 1935. He retired from the Army in 1935, and was appointed head of the Philippine Army by its president (the Philippines had U.S. commonwealth status at the time).
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2706/macarthurdt1eg.jpg
When World War II broke out, MacArthur was called back to active service-as commanding general of the U.S. Army in the Far East. Because of MacArthur's time in the Far East, and the awesome respect he commanded in the Philippines where he was treated like a minor diety, his judgment had become somewhat distorted and his vision of U.S. military strategy as a whole "myopic."
He was convinced that he could defeat Japan if it invaded the Philippines. In the long term, he was correct. But in the short term, the United States suffered disastrous defeats at Bataan and Corregidor. By the time U.S. forces were compelled to surrender, he had already evacuated to Australia aboard a PT boat, on orders from President Roosevelt. As he left, he uttered his immortal line, [I]"I shall return."
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2199/51timedouglasmacarthur8lu.jpg
Refusing to admit defeat, MacArthur took supreme command in the Southwest Pacific, capturing New Guinea from the Japanese with an innovative "leap frog" strategy.
MacArthur, true to his word, returned to the Philippines in October 1944, and once again employed an unusual strategy of surprise and constant movement that still has historians puzzled as to its true efficacy to this day. He even "led" the initial invasion by wading ashore from a landing craft --captured for the world when it was repeated a couple times for the movie cameras and splashed (pardon the pun) on newsreel footage around the world.
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/4240/douglas20macarthur6bp.gif
With the help of the U.S. Navy, which succeeded in destroying the Japanese fleet, leaving the Japanese garrisons on the islands without reinforcements, the Army defeated holdout Japanese resistance. On March 3, 1945, MacArthur handed control of the Philippine capital back to its president.
On August 30, 1945, MacArthur landed at Atsugi Airport in Japan and proceeded to drive himself to Yokohama. Along the way, tens of thousands of well armed Japanese soldiers lined the roads, their bayonets fixed. One last act of defiance-but all for naught.
MacArthur would be the man who would reform Japanese society, dictate its post-war Constitution, and approve of every facet of its post-war government and its policies.
President Harry S. Truman had given "Mac" his mission:
"You will exercise your authority as you deem proper to carry out your mission. Our relations with Japan do not rest on a contractual basis, but on unconditional surrender; your authority is supreme." MacArthur took Truman at his word and completely reformed Japan in America's image.
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/2959/macarthurhirohito7cj.jpg
MacArthur ruled Japan from 1945 until 1952. Seen here with his bestest little Japanese buddy, the Emperor Hirohito, who previously had been considered a god by the Japanese people.
Upon the North Korean invasion of South Korea, was designated commander, United Nations Command in the Far East, July 1950 but was relieved of his command by President Truman in April 1951.
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/2549/06c20douglas20macarthur8tm.jpg
As William Manchester wrote in his epic work of the same title, Macarthur was, "The American Caesar." He died on April 5, 1964. He's buried in a tomb within a museum dedicated to his life and career in downtown Norfolk VA. If in the area, its definitely worth a visit.
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/978/douglasmacarthurribbons9mi.gif
MacArthur's ribbon rack. From top left, they include the Medal of Honor, 3 Distinguished Service Crosses, 5 Army Distinguished Service Medals, One Navy Distinguished Service Medal, 7 Silver Stars, a Distinguished Flying Cross, 6 Bronze Stars, 2 Purple Hearts and an Air Medal followed by numerous campaign medals and unit citation ribbons.
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5874/insane7zo6hy.jpg