Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964

Everyone recalls General MacArthur’s, "I shall return:’ when in 1942, he left the Philippines to escape the Japanese offensive. Less well known is that this old soldier began his military career in France during World War I. The future hero of Corregidor was in the vanguard when the 84th infantry brigade led the charge on Saint-Mihiel in September of 1918. For his his leadership and bravery - he was exposed to mustard gas and shot at - he soon became commander of the 42nd Division. After the Armistice, he became head of West Point Military Academy; he had graduated from the Academy, first in his class, just fifteen years earlier. Promoted in January of 1925, the 45 year-old native of Little Rock, Arkansas, became the youngest General in the American Army. In 1930, President Herbert Hoover appointed him Army Chief of Staff. Then, in July 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made him commanding General of U.S. forces in the Far East. But that is another story…