General MacArthur was born seems doomed to war. His life was a succession of battles in various theaters of war, the First World War, part of the Rainbow Division, fought in Europe, fought in the Second World War in the Far East and, years later, he returned to the Pacific to fight in Korea .
MacArthur will not have forgotten the words spoken by the then Secretary of State for Defence American, Elihu Root, on 11 June 1903, when he finished the course at the Military Academy at West Point: Before leaving the Army, to make Faith in History, you will be forced to fight a new war.
Born on January 26, 1880 in Little Rock, Arkansas, MacArthur had traced the ancestry of Scots MacArthur to King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. With the fantasy that it was proper, justified the MacArthur family scrolls with a Scottish old maxim: There is nothing older, except the hills, than the Mac Artair and the devil.
A military family
As is true with respect to the general de Gaulle, it is difficult to imagine other career MacArthur than the arms. His father, a former general, Douglas enrolled at the Military Academy at West Point on June 13, 1889, the property would return years later as director.
Completed the course in June 1903, was placed in the Philippines, an archipelago that again several times throughout his career and ultimately the mark, since MacArthur lived there the great moments of glory and the most tragic days.
Promoted to Lieutenant, MacArthur was transferred to Washington, being appointed aide de camp of President Theodore Roosevelt, returning to the Philippines in 1935 with his position as head of the U.S. military mission. Two years later, in 1937, leaving the active and not for the fact that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, his career would end without brightness or glory.
In June 1941 the asset returns for the moment that triggers the conflict nipo American, take command of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East.
Heroic and glorious career
Pearl Harbor and the Japanese occupation of the Philippines marks a turning point in the life of MacArthur, laying it on a heroic and glorious career at doses almost enough to satisfy his immense vanity.
He tried using the defenses that he himself created, preventing the landing nippon in the Philippines. But the Japanese force (led by a man he would eventually put to death) was comprised of 80,000 men, twice as many defenders of Luzon. Even at a disadvantage, and knowing that their efforts would be fruitless, MacArthur defended Bataan and Corregidor until the end.
One of his most famous expressions and reflects the tenacity of the American general: They may have the bottle, but the cork is me who has it.
When the situation became unsustainable received orders to withdraw from the field, leaving his men to Australia.
It hurt my heart to see men, demoralized, covered with rags ... They were dirty, full of lice, smelled bad, but I admired them.
When Marshall advised him to take his wife and son of a U.S. submarines did not hesitate in responding: She will stay with me until the end. We both drink the same cup.
At seven-thirty in the morning of March 11 a destroyer waiting for him to take you to Australia. MacArthur, dirty and exhausted had lost twelve pounds, went to the house where he lived and his wife, quietly, merely saying, Jane, it's time to leave.
The odds of arriving safely in Australia were from seven to one. That same morning, Radio Japan, Tokyo Rose said that MacArthur was caught alive would be hanged at the Tokyo Imperial Square.
