General Douglas MacArthur

ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF

WORLD WAR I:

1917 - 1918: Becomes Chief of Staff of the 42nd Infantry Division and is credited with naming it the "Rainbow Division". Joins the American Expeditionary Force bound for France

June 1918: Appointed a Brigadier General in the National Army and serves as Divisional Chief of Staff, 84th Infantry Brigade, and is later appointed as the Divisional Commander

1918 - 1919: Cited for extreme battlefield bravery and also is wounded in combat and gassed by the enemy. Was known for personally leading troops into battle, often without a weapon of his own. Begins to develop a negative relationship with General of the Armies John Pershing, after feeling that Pershing is wasting the lives of his troops with bad military tactics.

May 1919: Returns to the United States a hero, but is distraught over the lack of recognition his Rainbow Division receives for actions in France.

WORLD WAR II:

July 26, 1941: Recalled to active service in the United States Army as a Major General

July 27, 1941: Appointed Lieutenant General in the Army of the United States and becomes Commanding General of USAFFE (United States Army Forces in the Far East)

December 1941: Japanese attack and defeat US Air Force in Philippines

December 1941: promoted to General in the Army of the United States

December 1941-May 1942; retreat to Bataan and Corregidor in face of Japanese invasion

February 1942: Roosevelt orders MacArthur out of the Philippines; MacArthur promises, "I shall return."

1942 - 1943: rebuilds Australian morale; begins the reconquest of the island of New Guinea

1943 - 1944: argues with the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding reconquest of the Philippine Islands. Chiefs propose bypass; MacArthur appeals to President Roosevelt

October 1944: lands at Leyte and begins reconquest of Philippines

December 1944: Becomes a General of the Army and is ranked the second highest ranking officer of the U.S. Army, second only to George Marshall

1944 - 1945: Due to logistics issues the Joint Chiefs decided to invade the Philippine Islands. MacArthur again must fight to convince his superiors to invade the entire Philippine Islands, whereas initial plans call for only an invasion of the south. The Joint Chiefs at last agreed that MacArthur is to invade the Philippine Islands at Leyte Gulf and strike towards Manila.

February 5, 1945: MacArthur fulfills his promise to return and liberates Manila

Summer 1945: in Manila to plan invasions of Japan in October, 1945. Is stunned when the atomic bomb ends the war abruptly, quoted that "this apparatus will make men like me obsolete".

September, 1945: Presides over the surrender of Japan and becomes military governor of Japanese home islands. Threatens the Soviet Union with armed conflict should Red Army soldiers attempt to occupy any part of Japan

KOREAN WAR:

July 8, 1950: Following the invasion of North Korea into South Korea, MacArthur is named Commander of all United Nations forces in Korea.

July 31, 1950: Travels to Taiwan and conducts diplomacy with Chiang Kai-Shek

September 15, 1950: Leads UN forces at the Battle of Inchon, seen as one of the greatest military maneuvers in history

October 15, 1950: Meets with President Truman on Wake Island after heavy disagreements develop regarding the conduct of the Korean War. When meeting Truman, it is very noticeable that MacArthur does not salute his Commander-in-Chief but rather offers a handshake

November - December 1950: With China committed to all-out war against the US on the Korean peninsula, MacArthur advocates for the same in return against China but is prohibited. He is outraged when military leaders in Washington restrict the war to only the Korean theater, meaning that he cannot bomb even the bridges of the Yalu river over which Chinese troops, supplies, and material are streaming across. He is further restricted from bombing their bases in Manchuria. MacArthur expressed his outrage later, saying that "The order not to bomb the Yalu bridges was the most indefensible and ill-conceived decision ever forced on a field commander in our nation's history."

April 11, 1951: After several public criticisms of White House policy in Korea, which were seen as undercutting the Commander-in-Chief's position, Harry Truman removes MacArthur from command and orders him to return to the United States. Truman put up with MacArthur's high profile for some time, however, and he may have in fact exchanged MacArthur for a sound nuclear policy in Korea since he did not trust the "Brass Hat MacArthur" with nuclear weapons.

April 19, 1951: At a farewell address before Congress, MacArthur gives the famous Old Soldiers Never Die speech

May 1951: Retires a second time from the U.S. Army, but is listed as permanently active duty due to the regulations regarding those who hold Five Star General rank. For administrative reasons, is assigned in absentee to the Office of the Army Chief of Staff

DEATH AND LEGACY:

MacArthur and his second wife, Jean Faircloth, spent the last years of their life together in the penthouse of the Waldorf-Astoria. After his death Jean continued to live in the penthouse until her death. The couple are entombed together in downtown Norfolk, Virginia; their burial site is in the rotunda of a memorial building/museum (formerly the Norfolk city hall) dedicated to his memory, and there is a major shopping mall (MacArthur Center) named for him across the street from the memorial. According to the museum, General MacArthur chose to be buried in Norfolk because of his mother's ancestral ties to the city.

The couple's son, born Arthur MacArthur IV, changed his surname and now lives anonymously as a saxophonist in the New York area.

MacArthur wanted his family to remember him for more than being a soldier. He said, "By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder--infinitely prouder--to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, 'Our Father who art in heaven."

MacArthur's nephew, Douglas MacArthur II (a son of his brother Arthur) served as a diplomat for several years, including the post of Ambassador to Japan and several other countries.

MacArthur Boulevard in Maryland and Washington, D.C. is named in his honor. It runs from Great Falls Park in Potomac, Maryland into the Georgetown neighborhood of D.C.

THE WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER:

Walter Reed Army Medical Center is the U.S. Army's premier medical center on the east coast of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it serves more than 150,000 active duty and retired personnel from all branches of the military. The center is named after Major Walter Reed, an army surgeon who led the team which confirmed that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes rather than direct contact.

The U.S. President, Vice President, Senators and Representatives may all receive care at this medical center. Walter Reed Army Medical Center is considered a tertiary care center and houses numerous medical and surgical specialties. It is part of the larger Walter Reed Health Care System, which includes some ten other hospitals.

Congressional legislation authorized construction of Walter Reed General Hospital and the first patient was admitted on May 1, 1909. Since then it has grown from a bed capacity of 80 patients to approximately 5,500 rooms covering more than 28 acres (113,000 m²) of floor space.

The facility is also famous for housing a number of American Civil War artifacts, most famously the preserved leg of Union General Daniel Sickles. Sickles lost the leg on July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg when a Confederate shell exploded in the Trostle Barn, Sickles's field headquarters.