Few fortunate people had the opportunity to attain the rank of General of the Army. This is the highest rank that can be achieved in any branch of the military. The rank was created to make American generals equal to that of English field marshals. Only five men obtained this rank and one of those men was Douglas MacArthur.

Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He had two brothers but both died before his seventh birthday. MacArthur, now being an only child, traveled a great deal with his father, Captain Arthur MacArthur. Douglas went to the Philippines where his father happened to be the military Governor and to the Orient where he assisted his Father in business. While Douglas MacArthur was not on tour with his father he attended West Texas Military Academy. When he graduated from the Academy he applied to go to West Point and was accepted. After four years of hard academic study and physical application, MacArthur graduated with the highest honors of First Captain at West Point. Then he was soon promoted to be First Lieutenant. Later in life, MacArthur became the superintendent of West Point and was promoted to Brigadier General permanently.

MacArthur had many assignments before World War I, but during World War I he got two that made him into a hero. First, MacArthur had been ordered to take Hill 288 and he successfully commanded his 84th brigade to take the heavily fortified point. The other assignment was to Command the 42nd Division, “Rainbow Division.” Although some erroneously believed it acquired the term because it was a mixture of National Guard units from 26 states and the District of Columbia, the truth is simply because General MacArthur had said, "It would stretch over the country like a rainbow." MacArthur was the commander when the 42nd was left by itself to hold a sector. This was the first time during the war that Americans had not been assisted by French troops - and MacArthur marched his troops to a victory in the Battle of Champagne.

MacArthur was highly awarded for his actions in both of his commanding roles during World War I. Due to MacArthur’s heroic efforts in World War I, he became the superintendent of West Point and then moved to Chief of Staff, U.S. Army.

A few years after MacArthur became Chief of Staff, the beginnings of World War II were arising. MacArthur was in command of the Philippine Army which was attacked by the Japanese in December of 1941. MacArthur was moved to Australia where he was ordered to share command with Admiral Chester Nimitz. General MacArthur used American and Australian forces to coordinate an attack which led to the Japanese surrender. The day of the surrender Brigadier General MacArthur became Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces and was promoted to General of the Army, a five-star general. MacArthur occupied Japan to help rebuild its governmental system. A devout Episcopalian, MacArthur said to a visiting group of evangelicals that "Japan is a spiritual vacuum. If you do not fill it with Christianity, it will be filled with Communism. Send me 1,000 missionaries." He asked U.S. missionary societies to send "Bibles, Bibles and more Bibles.”

Not far from Japan there was another conflict. Korea split into North and South Korea. In 1950, war broke out between these two new nations. The North crossed the dividing line and invaded South Korea and took a great deal of the resources and conquered most of the South. MacArthur was not in Japan long when he was called to command forces that were going to invade Korea. MacArthur planned an amphibious attack on Inch’on. From there he pushed the occupying forces all the way back to the Communist border of China. China joined sides with the North Koreans and helped to press back into North Korea. MacArthur asked that the war be expanded from a limited war to a general war against China. The request was denied. MacArthur wrote a letter to a congressman ridiculing some of his military and civilian supervisors. Truman severely reprimanded MacArthur by relieving him of command when he found out about the letter that he wrote to the congressman.

In April 1951, one of the most heroic generals returned home. General MacArthur was well respected with all the work that he had done during both world wars and was highly decorated for his efforts. Shortly after coming home, MacArthur resigned with the following words, “Old soldiers never die they just fade away, and like the old solider of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away.” The General retired his stars and picked up new ones. He went around the United States and talked about socialism and communism. MacArthur wanted to educate the people in the States. He spoke of the corruption in politics and the heavy taxes with which the people were being burdened. MacArthur was a prominent voice until his death on April 5, 1964. He died in a hospital room in Washington at the age of 84.

"Douglas MacArthur." Encarta. CD-ROM. Microsoft, 2002

"Macarthur, Douglas." Clements. University of Michigan. October 1, 2003 <http://www.clements.umich.edu/Webguides/M/MacArthur.html>

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