spotes wrote:
I'm hardly a big MacArthur fan, but I feel I need to take you to task on his behalf on a couple of points:
First, President Roosevelt ORDERED him out of the Philippines. Not asked. Not suggested. Ordered. And even at that he stretched his escape until about a month later at the last possible moment to keep helping with troop coordination.
Second, his CMH was a political call by his boss George Marshall. Mac may not have deserved it, but it certainly doesn't appear in my readings to have been actively campaigned for by him. Besides, he had already been nominated once or twice before in his life, so it's not like we're dealing with a coward or blazing incompetent here.
Third, I've read differing accounts regarding the general state of readiness of his command on 12-8-41. One thing, though, is certain; roughly half of his air forces were destroyed on the ground. I contend that they could not have possibly swung the tide, The Japs were going to take the Philippines one way or the other. Their timing of coordinated attacks also prevented any possible organized escape of US troops en masse. Too many there to get out quickly and safely, but not enough to hold position. I'm not sure exactly how you think Mac could have prevented this situation.
Fourth, Mac made a bold move at Inchon and would have most likely ended that conflict if a million Chinamen hadn't come screaming across the Yalu river. Even then his command held the line against vastly superior numbers. I think a pinch of "helluva try" might be in order here.
Truman replaced him because Mac was an insufferable ass and a prima donna. Not because of his acumen. If you just want to dislike him for his readily apparent character flaws, not even I could find fault in that logic.
But his martial achievements and ability to adapt through the massive changes that took place in the world of war during his career deserve some begrudging respect.
Okay SPOTES, I will have to agree with most of what you said in defense of MacArthur. Yes, Roosevelt did order him to abandon his troops on the Bataan Peninsula, and seeing that he had his family there with him, I guess leaving made sense. (I vaguely recall that Roosevelt's order for him to leave, had something to do his position as Commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East, and if he was captured by the Japanese, he might have been forced to surrender all of the troops under his command. I could be wrong about this.) I should add that Roosevelt told him to change his famous "I shall return" speech to "We shall return". MacArthur ignored Roosevelt, and stayed with "I".
I will also say that MacArthur's island hopping strategy in the South Pacific was very wise, and greatly reduced the number of both U.S. and Japanese casualties.
Another feather in MacArthur's cap would be the tremendous job he did in normalizing things in post war Japan. This is something that I do respect him for.
The Inchon Landing in Korea was a bold stroke of genius, even though it was extremely risky, because of the extreme and rapid change of tide levels there. However, Truman was less impressed with MacArthur's military acumen, than he was concerned with his big mouth, that kept spouting out things that would only rile up the Chinese. When Truman got off the plane in Korea to talk to him about this, MacArthur didn't salute his Commander in Chief. Truman finally relieved him of command, after he persisted in making public statements in direct disobedience to what the President had told him.
The guy wasn't stupid, and had an excellent military mind. However, he was a pompous ass, who spent a great deal of time promoting himself and his legacy. As I understand it MacArthur had his own public relations unit that numbered something over 100 officers.
Yeah, MacArthur wound up on a U.S. postage stamp, but he will always remain a vain, pompous ass, who should have declined to accept the Congressional Medal of Honor, for me.
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