名人軼事60:Douglas MacArthur: Born to Be a Soldier

Douglas MacArthur: Born to Be a SoldierWritten by Paul Thompson

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ANNCR: Now, the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today Rich

Kleinfeldt and Sarah Long tell about one of the most unusual and successful

American military leaders, General Douglas MacArthur.

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VOICE ONE:

General Douglas MacArthur was a most unusual man. He was extremely intelligent

and very demanding. He expected his orders to be followed exactly. Yet he had

problems all his life following the orders of those who were his commanders.

Douglas MacArthur was very intelligent and could remember things that others

would easily forget. He could design battle plans that left the enemy no

choice other than surrender and defeat. His battle plans defeated the enemy

and saved as many of his own men as possible.

At other times, he would make simple mistakes that made him appear stupid. He

often said things that showed he felt important. Many people made jokes about

him. Some of his soldiers sang songs that made fun of him. Others believed he

was the best general ever to serve in the United States military.

General Douglas MacArthur was extremely brave in battle, sometimes almost

foolish. It often seemed as if he believed he could not be killed. He won

every medal and honor the United States can give a soldier. However, at the

end of his life, he rejected war and warned American political leaders to stay

away from armed conflict.

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VOICE TWO:

Douglas MacArthur was born to be a soldier. His father, Arthur MacArthur, was

a hero of the American Civil War and continued to serve in the army after the

war ended in eighteen sixty-five. He became the top officer of the army in

nineteen-oh-six.

Douglas was born on an Army base near the southern city of Little Rock,

Arkansas in January, eighteen eighty. He grew up on army bases where his

father served. He said the first sounds he could remember as a child were

those of the Army: the sounds of horns, drums and soldiers marching.

VOICE ONE:

There was never any question about what Douglas MacArthur would do with his

life. He would join the army. He wanted to enter the United States Military

Academy at West Point, New York. The Academy is a university that trains

officers for the United States Army. School officials rejected him two times

before he was accepted. He finished his four years at West Point as the best

student in his class.

VOICE TWO:

Douglas MacArthur began his service in the Army by traveling to several Asian

countries including Japan, and to the Philippines, then an American territory.

He also served at several small bases in the United States. He became a

colonel when World War One began. He led troops on very dangerous attacks

against the enemy. He won many honors for his bravery and leadership. After

that war, he served as head of the West Point Military Academy. He became a

general. During the nineteen thirties, President Herbert Hoover appointed him

Chief of Staff of the Army, one of the most important jobs in the American

military.

In nineteen-thirty-five, General MacArthur was appointed military advisor to

the Philippines. He was to help the government build an army for defense

purposes as the Philippines began planning for independence. He had retired

from the army. He was the chief military advisor to the Philippine military

forces when the United States entered World War Two in December, nineteen

forty-one.

VOICE ONE:

Japanese aggression in the Pacific developed very quickly. Japanese troops

began arriving in the Philippines on December eleventh, nineteen forty-one.

The fighting was extremely fierce.

President Roosevelt

The Japanese were defeating the Philippine and American forces. General

MacArthur had been recalled to active duty by President . President Roosevelt

ordered MacArthur to leave the Philippines to command American forces in the

South Pacific. General MacArthur finally agreed to leave for Australia before

the Philippines surrendered to Japan. But he made a promise to the Philippine

people. He said, "I shall return."