PHLPost Birth Centenary of General Douglas MacArthur

PHLPost on 26 January 1980 issued a set First Day Cover stamps marking the the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of General Douglas MacArthur (U.S. Army Chief of Staff). The stamps depicted his birthplace in Little Rock, Arkansas and burial site in Norfolk, Virginia. Others showed his braided cap and corncob pipe and figure of him.

 

 

Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was the son of Arthur MacArthur, Jr., a US Army captain and recipient of the Medal of Honor for his Civil War service.  The family lived in a series of Army posts in the Old West, where MacArthur remembers he “learned to ride and shoot even before I could read or write – indeed, almost before I could walk and talk.”

When the US entered World War I, MacArthur organised the 42nd “Rainbow” Division made up of the National Guard.  MacArthur then served with distinction in France, where he was eventually promoted to brigadier general.  MacArthur participated in the Champagne-Marne Offensive, Battle of Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and was decorated with the Croix de Guerre, two Distinguished Silver Cross awards, and seven Silver Stars.

After the war, MacArthur was appointed Superintendent of the Military Academy and served again in the Philippines.  Over the next few years, he served as Chief of Staff of the US Army and created the Philippines Army.  Retiring from the US Army in 1937, MacArthur was appointed Field Marshall of the Philippine Army.

However, as the possibility of war with Japan arose in 1941, MacArthur was recalled to serve as commander of US Army Forces in the Far East.   Initial attempts there were unsuccessful, with MacArthur being forced to evacuate from the Philippines by March 1942.  He was later awarded a Medal of Honor.

MacArthur was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times, and received it for his service in the Philippines campaign. This made him along with his father Arthur MacArthur Jr. the first father and son to be awarded the medal. He was one of only five men to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the U.S. Army, and the only one conferred the rank of field marshal in the Philippine Army.

MacArthur then took command of the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific and successfully defended New Guinea.  He led the invasion of Leyte and the eventual liberation of the Philippines.  In August 1945, he presided over the Japanese formal surrender ceremonies.  After the war, MacArthur was made supreme commander of occupied Japan, to help the nation rebuild itself.

When the Korean War broke out in 1950, MacArthur was placed in charge of the United Nations coalition defending South Korea from communist North Korea.  The successful invasion at Inchon sent the North Koreans in retreat, and it looked like the war would be over by the fall of 1950.

China sent a massive army that took MacArthur by surprise and pushed UN forces back across the 38th Parallel.  The general asked President Truman for permission to conduct bombing raids in China with the possibility of using an atom bomb.  Truman refused, fearing the actions would escalate into World War III.

MacArthur publicly criticised the president, who then removed the commander from his office on 11 April 1951.  Americans disagreed with Truman’s actions and welcomed MacArthur home as a hero.  Senate hearings concluded the president had acted correctly.

In his later years, MacArthur reconciled with President Eisenhower.  He also met with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and cautioned them against a military build-up in Vietnam.  He advised Kennedy to impose a blockade during the Soviet missle transfer to Cuba in 1961. He died on 5 April 1964.  During his lifetime, MacArthur had earned more than 100 military decorations from the US and other countries.  According to his wishes, he was buried in Norfolk, Virginia, where the MacArthur Memorial was established as a museum dedicated to his lifetime of military service.

 

Source: Mystic Stamps