Joe & His Favorite Generals

Here is Joe with what used to be his favorite picture – a picture of Douglas MacArthur. He bought this picture sometime during high school. It’s always been on a wall somewhere in his home.

Joe writes about his favorite generals - 

I was always keenly interested in history as a young child – this interest continued throughout my life. I developed a list of favorite generals who all had something in common – aggressive leadership - but each with their own trade mark – first on the list was Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson – Confederate – aggressive leadership. John Bell Hood – Confederate, lost use of his left arm, later had his right leg amputated, but continued on as a general leading troops into battle – aggressive leadership. Erwin Rommel, German, aggressive, intelligent leader who always said to fight intelligently but,  “In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.”

I admired their high intensity, focus, and dedication.
 

Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) was an American general who commanded the Southwest Pacific in World War II (1939-1945), oversaw the successful Allied occupation of postwar Japan and led United Nations forces in the Korean War (1950-1953). A larger-than-life, controversial figure, MacArthur was talented, outspoken and, in the eyes of many, egotistical (I would translate that into “He had strong beliefs which he stood for and was unafraid to take an unpopular stand.”)

He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1903 and helped lead the 42nd Division in France during World War I (1914-1918). He went on to serve as superintendent of West Point, chief of staff of the Army and field marshal of the Philippines, where he helped organize a military. During World War II, he famously returned to liberate the Philippines in 1944 after it had fallen to the Japanese. He had announced, “I will return” when forced out by the Japanese and he did (and yes, he did pose for a picture stepping off a landing craft on to the beach). 

MacArthur led United Nations forces during the start of the Korean War, but later clashed with President Harry Truman over war policy and was removed from command. (When China came to the aid of the North Koreans he advocated invading China mainland using the Chinese Nationalists who had retreated to the Taiwan – but the UN and Truman opposed. (Looking at the history -  in the long run that might have been a good time to do it.)

That was then. Now for now. As I have grown over the years, I have a new favorite picture (along with all the family pictures) – Healing at the Pool of Bethesda. Read about it here. 

Joe

March 2014