General Douglas Macarthur Character Traits

United States Army General Douglas MacArthur served as supreme commanding officer of Allied Forces in the Pacific Island in the year of 1939 through 1945. He accomplished an outstanding job during the Korean War in June 1950 that he repelled the North Korean Soldiers to South Korea, in which resulted them to step back toward the North Korean Border. In his earlier years from the year of 1919 to 1922, Douglas MacArthur served as a superintendent in the Academy of West Point New York. In 1930, General Douglas MacArthur became the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. He retired in 1937 and became the Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines. In 1941, beginning of World War II, the U. S President called General MacArthur to re-active in duty status and to sit as a Commander in the Pacific region to defend the Philippines freedom and to liberate the Filipino people from the Japanese.

General Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880 General Douglas MacArthur was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.

He had three brothers; Douglas was the youngest of all siblings. Both his parents were United States Army Officers and both were Medal of Honor recipients during the Civil War. Most of his childhood was spent living in New Mexico where Douglas said “It was here where I learned to ride and shoot even before I could read or write–indeed, almost before I could walk or talk.” (Douglas MacArthur. U.S History.com 2009) Nine year later, his whole family moved to Washington D.C where he attended the Force Public School where he also recognized as a top student in the class and received an outstanding scholarship. During this period time, he also learned the valuable life skills that his grandfather taught

him.
Upon completion of Force Public School in 1903, with the help of political connections due to his parents both being high rank officers in the United States Army, he was invited to attend the U.S Military Academy at West Point. He was a very talented, outspoken, and honored individual; he graduated with top honors averaging final points 97.98 out of 100 percent. He received the Gold Medal for Deportment of Scholarship award. In 1904, after graduating, Douglas MacArthur promoted to first Lieutenant with the achieved of excellence. Few weeks later, he was send to Philippines as his first duty assignment with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Because of his outstanding leadership in Pacific, he was recognize as a touring Asia Leader.
In 1915, Douglas MacArthur promoted to Major, because of his outstanding leadership skills and courage his name truly began to be known all over the world which led him to become one of the youngest decorated soldiers in the United States Army. After the first tour in the Pacific Far East, he was send back to the United States to be the superintendent at the Academy of West Point. He made remarkable changes as superintendent and instituted to make the forces more effective and to build strong soldiers. In 1937, after he retired as Chief of Staff in the United States Army, he went back to the Philippines to become the Military Advisory to the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines. In 1941, four years later after retirement, President Roosevelt called the former General MacArthur to active duty and made him commander in the U.S Army Forces in the Pacific Island. He gladly accepted the order of the president. Shortly Afterward, General Douglas promoted to the rank of General of the Army and appointed as a supreme commander allied forces in the Pacific Island. He returned to United States and promised to the Filipino people that Douglas said “I SHALL RETURN”.
On December 8, 1941, The Japanese forces invaded Philippines and killed thousands and thousands of people to include non-militant. The Philippines was defeated and suffered for two years until General Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines to help fight against Japanese. Upon his return to the Philippine Island, Douglas proudly said, “I have returned, by the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil” (Douglas MacArthur. U.S History.com 2009) during this time, the American air forces was being destroyed in a surprise attack by the Japanese and thousands of Filipinos and American forces were captured down south of Bataan Peninsula. In April 9, 1942, approximately 75,000 Filipino and American service-members that laid down their arms to Japanese to surrender. Those captured of both coalition forces would have to move to prison camps in Bataan City. All of them were forced to make a hardship 70-mile march to the prison camps that took anywhere from six to twelve day to complete. They were divide into several groups to March up to camp O’Donnell in Bataan City, which became known as, “The Bataan Death March”. More than 10,000 soldiers died on this Bataan Death March due to brutality treatments of Japanese to include starvation, physical abuse, and others were shots to killed, bayoneted, or ran over by Japanese tanks. After years of grueling battle, Americans dropped the heaviest nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki where their production of weapons, ammunition, and food were all destroyed, which lead to the Japanese surrendering.
In 1945, General Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines. He proudly fulfilled what he had promised to the Filipino people by helping and defending their freedom and most of all liberating the Filipino people from the Japanese. General MacArthur received over 100 military decoration from the United States and other countries. He also awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism service in the Philippines. General MacArthur passed away at the age of 84 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on 5 April 1964.