re: Who knew MacArthur was recalled from retirement to serve in WWII?

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MacArthur was the basis of the general in Dr Strangelove

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No shite? I didn't know that. I had always thought Gen. Buck Turgidson (George C Scott) was based on Curtis LeMay. Mostly because that's what my father told me and, because when people asked him what he did in the Air Force, he always answered, "I worked for Curtis LeMay."
(It was a joke. He was part of SAC and LeMay commanded SAC and later became AF Chief of Staff. So, technically, he worked for Curtis LeMay, just like everyone else in SAC.)

LeMay was an uber-right wing anti communist and some people thought he really WAS crazy. After the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan (early August), reporters asked LeMay how he felt about killing 100,000 civilians in one day. LeMay's answer was something like "I've been killing 100,000 a night since March (when the B-29 incendiary raids started). I feel fine"

I think LeMay was the guy who originally said "I'll bomb them back into the Stone Age."