re: The scumbag side of General Douglas McArthur

My Dad (New Guinea -Leyte -Luzon vet, then 35 years Army) watched them film Mac's return while manning a machine gun nest. Changed clothed an while staff held up sheets and refilmed mulitple times. He absolutely HATED McArthur for wasting soldiers' lives for personal glory.

edited for spelling

Douglas Macarthur is probably my favorite American general in history. Maybe my favorite American, period. Not because I think he was the best (as if you could even quantify such a thing) but just because he is just so damn interesting and a larger than life figure of the type that we seem to have lost to history. For all of his shortcomings, and he had several, he had a lot of strengths too. He had tremendous physical courage. He loved this country. He loved the Army. And yes, he loved Doug Macarthur. He also is almost singlet handedly to thank for modern day Japan being as strong as it is and also a powerful ally.

I realize it's become almost the default now to laugh at him and talk about how terrible he was (this thread is proof), but a lot of that is a hundred years of hindsight and narratives that have been created and altered over the years. I don't profess to have any more insight or wisdom into Macarthur than anyone else, but I do think in this modern day, people tend to hone in on the negative aspects of this man while ignoring a whole lot of positive.

Downvote away, I'm sure you will, but I love General Macarthur.

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So for all you history buffs, did McArthur deserve the MOH? General Doug that is, not his father.

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He was awarded the MoH for his defense of the Philippines. The notion his performance there warranted the MoH is laughable. I’ll give two main reasons:

1. First off, even though he had several hours warning he allied the majority of his Air Force be destroyed on the ground at the start of the campaign. This gave air superiority to Japan from the start of the campaign.

2. He allowed the vast majority of his supplies, particularly food, to fall to the Japanese in the opening days of the campaign. There was so much rice left behind in warehouses, the Japanese ended up burning huge piles of it because there was nothing else to do with it. Mac’s poor planning from a logistics standpoint needlessly put his force on a path of starvation. Had he staged provisions in a more sane manner, or at least had a plan in place to evacuate the supplies, the Filipino and American forces, WHICH OUTNUMBERED THE JAPANESE, could have held out months longer. Instead, thanks to Douglas MacArthur, tens of thousands of American and Filipino troops were forced to starve.

So, no, he did not deserve the MoH. So, why’d he get it? That’s simple, in 1942 America was desperate for heros, and Mac was already both a celebrity and a hero in the eyes of the American people. That’s what it boils down to.

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His stories form the Pacific theater were immaculating

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That word....

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McArthur was right. We should have turned on the fricking commies the second the war was over.

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That was Patton, but MacArthur wanted to expand the Korean War and possibly uses nukes on China. Truman did not. Truman fired him.

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MacArthur's faults have already been enumerated here, but I'll add another one: he was chief of staff of the Army during the Bonus March and gave the order to evict the marchers at bayonet point.

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If I remember correctly, the eviction started with a cavalry charge to break up the Bonus Army. That charge would be the last on horseback for the US Army, and was led by George Patton.

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https;//www.tigerdroppings.com/MBerror.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/rant/If%20I%20remember%20correctly,%20the%20eviction%20started%20with%20a%20cavalry%20charge%20to%20break%20up%20the%20Bonus%20Army.%20That%20charge%20would%20be%20the%20last%20on%20horseback%20for%20the%20US%20Army,%20and%20was%20led%20by%20George%20Patton.%20%20%20%3Ca%20class=/

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Thanks, but about that link... lol