+1
Mac was one of the greatest generals the USA ever produced (starting with his record as a cadet at West Point), and unlike some of his famous contemporaries (who shall not be named here) waged war effectively in a way that saved many of his soldiers lives.
Mac was LOVED by Americans in the 40's-50's & 60's.
Today he has fallen out of favor for his willingness to stand up to politicians ....and his "ego.
But (I believe) the denigration of his memory was started mostly by ideological enemies who didn't like his loyalty to the Army and soldiers above his loyalty to politicians - and they slowly began undermining his memory with the usual character assassination technique that political types are good at.
Personally I am definitely in the pro MacArthur camp - he was what we needed, had integrity, and courage....we could use fewer career politicians IMHO.
ORIGINAL: Trugrit
.....
I think you need to look at MacArthur’s entire career instead of cherry picking a handful
Of acts which today we all agree are wrong. You need to see him in the context of his age.
For instance in 1914 he was considered a national hero for his service at Vera Cruz.
In one instance he was in a face to face gunfight with 15 Mexican bandits in which he killed
Four of them with his pistol. He was as brave as a lion.
In fact, MacArthur was in more face to face gunfights and killed more men than Wyatt Earp.
Today, most people just see MacArthur as a rumpled middle age old fogy who told an American president to go screw himself.
He was much more than that.
MacArthur was a product of the 19th century. Born in 1880 in Apache territory his vision of duty
Was very different from what is considered proper today when someone can lose their job or have
Their entire career ruined for telling a single off color joke.
The West Point of MacArthur’s era did not train officers to be social justice warriors.
In this day and age they are actually digging up the graves of Confederate soldiers and moving them
To another location as if that will make people “feel better” about the Civil War.
It is very popular today to denigrate military men of achievement.
I’m very upset by what has been done to the reputation of Winston Churchill
who was the “indispensable man of the 20th century”.
As for MacArthur, my father served under him in the Philippines and worshiped the ground
He walked on. My father saw him in person twice on Luzon.
My father’s most vivid memory of MacArthur was in combat.
My father was in the artillery and his unit was expecting an attack by the Japanese.
They were told the Japanese were bringing up tanks to destroy their position and he said
They had their 105mm howitzers leveled and trained point blank across a clearing into the jungle.
He said the situation was very tense when they heard the sound of a vehicle approaching
and a jeep came roaring out of the jungle on their right flank and crossed directly in
front of the gun line. MacArthur was standing up in the jeep looking around.
The jeep crossed the clearing at high speed and disappeared into the jungle on the left flank.
The expected Japanese attack did not occur.
I’m glad my father won’t be alive when they dig up MacArthur’s grave.
I think you would benefit from reading more about this remarkable soldier.
You need to get inside his shoes and walk around some.
Get a feel for the violent world he lived in.
