There are people whose fate is associated with a single star. Having chosen a path in childhood, they continue to follow it until their death. This is exactly what the American Douglas MacArthur refers to. As the son of a military man, he linked his fate with the war, having spent most of his conscious life on world fronts and attaining the highest rank of Army General.
The childhood of the future general
Douglas MacArthur was born January 26, 1880 in a town called Little Rock, in the state of Arkansas. His father Arthur MacArthur, Jr. took part in the famous war of the South and the North and rose to the rank of lieutenant general. Mom was called Mary Pinkey, she was a native of Virginia.
MacArthur’s whole childhood is connected with moving. The family wandered around the country, and the boy endlessly had to “fit in” with new living conditions, which, for sure, tempered him as a person. Or maybe genes played a role (father is a military man, grandfather is a judge in Washington, great-grandfathers are representatives of the famous Scottish aristocratic clan ... One way or another, and young Douglas showed himself worthily and held himself up to the mark.
So, for example, he became the real pride of the West Texas Military Academy, where he studied in the early nineties of the 19th century and achieved tremendous success in his studies. There, in Texas, in the city of San Antonio, at that time the father of the boy served.
Carier start
Having received secondary education, Douglas MacArthur becomes a student at West Point Academy, considered the most prestigious in the United States. He received his diploma in 1903, and MacArthur had such high marks that he was recognized as the best graduate in the history of the institution.
Together with the diploma, a descendant of Scottish aristocrats received the rank of second lieutenant and was sent to the Philippines, to the engineering troops, and then transferred to the Land of the Rising Sun.
The beginning of his career coincided with the Russo-Japanese War, which Douglas had the opportunity to see almost “point blank”, as he accompanied his father, who was then serving as military attache in Japan. Future General MacArthur learned a lot during these trips ...
Already in 1906 he was in his native land - in the USA - and worked as a military adviser to the president. For a 26-year-old young man - a great honor!
World War I
When the First World War broke out in Europe, Douglas MacArthur did not stay on the sidelines. Immediately after the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, he commanded the division headquarters in France, and then headed the division itself.
The successful American came to the finish of the hostilities unharmed, and besides, with a whole scattering of awards and the rank of brigadier general.
Between first and second
For some time after the war, Brigadier General MacArthur still remained in Europe, but already in 1919 he was appointed superintendent of the Academy at West Point, and he set a second record, becoming the youngest head of this institution in the history of his existence.
In 1922, fate again throws MacArthur to the Philippines. This time as the commander of American forces in this (then still) US colony. Since 1930, he heads the headquarters of the United States Army, and after the Philippines became independent (in 1935), MacArthur returns to the islands as military adviser, and a year later he is appointed field marshal of the army of the newly made state.
The Second World War
World War II is the finest hour of Douglas MacArthur. It was thanks to her that the American military commander received a “pass” to history. In the summer of 1941 he was called up for active service in connection with the Japanese aggression and was appointed commander of American forces in the Far East.
MacArthur's first steps were a failure. For a long time he did not believe in the reality of the Japanese attack on the Philippines and made mistake after mistake. Even after Pearl Harbor, the troops were not put on alert, and MacArthur did not dare to bomb Japanese air bases in Taiwan ...
But the Japanese, on the contrary, showed decisiveness, and on December 8, 41 years bombarded American airfields with bombs, destroying almost half of the aircraft and securing an “air gate” to the Philippines.
Soon they managed to occupy the capital Manila and most of the state, and the army of MacArthur was forced to retreat. After some time, the Philippines was completely in the hands of the Japanese, and MacArthur took this defeat as a slap in the face. Having become the last degree of despair of the military leader, it turned out to be the first step to his victory.
As the commander of the Southwestern part of the troops, the American general invented a unique tactic - "frog jumping." It consisted of carefully verified operations, with the help of which one captured island was gradually freed after another.
Thanks to the efforts of MacArthur, the Japanese managed to stop on the way to Australia, New Guinea was liberated from their occupation , and soon the Philippines were returned. Having ensured almost unimpeded access to the Land of the Rising Sun, the military leader already hatched grandiose plans for its occupation. But the bombs dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the course of history and brought the end of the war closer.
On the second of September, the forty-fifth year, the Missouri ship moored in Tokyo Bay. On board was MacArthur. Japan surrendered, and the eminent general accepted her surrender.
At the finish of life
After the end of the most terrible war in the history of mankind, the brilliant strategist and fearless commander led the reforms in Japan for some time, remaining on its lands. In fact, he was the head of this country for several years in a row.
In the early years of the 50s, he commanded UN troops during the Korean War, realizing a lot of successful operations. In this post was up to the entry into hostilities of China. MacArthur’s proposal to use nuclear weapons against this country and North Korea did not like the then US President Harry Truman, and Douglas was relieved of his duties.
This was the finish of his career. Attempts to realize themselves in another area - politics - did not lead to particular success. MacArthur advised the new president, Eisenhower, wrote memoirs and rested on his laurels.
He died on April 5, 1964. He was buried in Norfolk, on the territory of the family memorial.