S

the first father and son to be awarded the medal. He was one of only five to rise to the rank of
General of the Army in the US Army, and the only one conferred the rank of field marshal in the
Philippine Army.

Raised in a military family in the American Old West, MacArthur was valedictorian at the West
Texas Military Academy where he finished high school, and First Captain at the United States
Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated top of the class of 1903. During the 1914
United States occupation of Veracruz, he conducted a reconnaissance mission, for which he was
nominated for the Medal of Honor. In 1917, he was promoted from major to colonel and became
chief of staff of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division. In the fighting on the Western Front during World
War I, he rose to the rank of brigadier general, was again nominated for a Medal of Honor, and
was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice and the Silver Star seven times.

From 1919 to 1922, MacArthur served as Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West
Point, where he attempted a series of reforms. His next assignment was in the Philippines, where
in 1924 he was instrumental in quelling the Philippine Scout Mutiny. In 1925, he became the
Army's youngest major general. He served on the court-martial of Brigadier General Billy
Mitchell and was president of the American Olympic Committee during the 1928 Summer
Olympics in Amsterdam. In 1930, he became Chief of Staff of the United States Army. As such,
he was involved in the expulsion of the Bonus Army protesters from Washington, D.C. in 1932,
and the establishment and organization of the Civilian Conservation Corps. He retired from the
US Army in 1937 to become Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government of the
Philippines.

MacArthur was recalled to active duty in 1941 as commander of United States Army Forces in
the Far East. A series of disasters followed, starting with the destruction of his air forces on 8
December 1941 and the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. MacArthur's forces were soon
compelled to withdraw to Bataan, where they held out until May 1942. In March 1942,
MacArthur, his family and his staff left nearby Corregidor Island in PT boats and escaped to
Australia, where MacArthur became Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area. Upon his
arrival, MacArthur gave a speech in which he famously promised "I shall return" to the
Philippines. After more than two years of fighting in the Pacific, he fulfilled that promise. For his
defense of the Philippines, MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor. He officially accepted
the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945 aboard the USS  Missouri, which was anchored in
Tokyo Bay, and he oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951. As the effective ruler of
Japan, he oversaw sweeping economic, political and social changes. He led the United Nations
Command in the Korean War with initial success; however, the controversial invasion of North
Korea provoked Chinese intervention, and a series of major defeats. MacArthur was
contentiously removed from command by President Harry S. Truman on 11 April 1951. He later
became chairman of the board of Remington Rand.

Contents
 1 Early life and education
  2 Junior officer
 3 Veracruz expedition
 4 World War I
o 4.1 Rainbow Division
o 4.2 Champagne-Marne Offensive
o 4.3 Battle of Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensive
 5 Between the wars
o 5.1 Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
o 5.2 Army's youngest major general
o 5.3 Chief of Staff
o 5.4 Field Marshal of the Philippine Army
 6 World War II
o 6.1 Philippines Campaign (1941–42)
 6.1.1 Defence of the Philippines
 6.1.2 Escape from the Philippines
 6.1.3 Medal of Honor
o 6.2 New Guinea Campaign
 6.2.1 General Headquarters
 6.2.2 Papuan Campaign
 6.2.3 New Guinea Campaign
o 6.3 Philippines Campaign (1944–45)
 6.3.1 Leyte
 6.3.2 Luzon
 6.3.3 Southern Philippines
 7 Occupation of Japan
o 7.1 Protecting the Emperor
o 7.2 War crimes trials
o 7.3 Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
 8 Korean War
o 8.1 South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu
o 8.2 Removal from command
 9 Later life
 10 Death and legacy
o 10.1 Honors and awards
o 10.2 Portrayals
 11 Bibliography
 12 Notes
 13 References
 14 Further reading
 15 External links

Early life and education

A military brat, Douglas MacArthur was born 26 January 1880, at Little Rock Barracks, Little
Rock, Arkansas, to Arthur MacArthur Jr., a U.S. Army captain, and his wife, Mary Pinkney
Hardy MacArthur (nicknamed "Pinky").[1] Arthur Jr. was a son of Scottish-born jurist and
politician Arthur MacArthur Sr.,[2] Arthur would later receive the Medal of Honor for his actions
with the Union Army in the Battle of Missionary Ridge during the American Civil War,[3] and be
promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.[4] Pinkney came from a prominent Norfolk, Virginia,
family.[1] Two of her brothers had fought for the South in the Civil War, and refused to attend her
wedding.[5] Of the extended family, MacArthur is also distantly related to Matthew Perry, a
Commodore of the US Navy.[6] Arthur and Pinky had three sons, of whom Douglas was the
youngest, following Arthur III, born on 1 August 1876, and Malcolm, born on 17 October 1878.
[7]
The family lived on a succession of Army posts in the American Old West. Conditions were
primitive, and Malcolm died of measles in 1883.[8] In his memoir, Reminiscences, MacArthur
wrote "I learned to ride and shoot even before I could read or write—indeed, almost before I
could walk and talk."[9]

MacArthur as a student at West Texas Military Academy in the late 1890s

MacArthur's time on the frontier ended in July 1889 when the family moved to Washington,
D.C.,[10] where he attended the Force Public School. His father was posted to San Antonio,
Texas, in September 1893. While there MacArthur attended the West Texas Military Academy,
[11]
where he was awarded the gold medal for "scholarship and deportment". He also participated
on the school tennis team, and played quarterback on the school football team and shortstop on
its baseball team. He was named valedictorian, with a final year average of 97.33 out of 100.[12]
MacArthur's father and grandfather unsuccessfully sought to secure Douglas a presidential
appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, first from President Grover
Cleveland and then from President William McKinley.[13] After these two rejections,[14] he was
given coaching and private tutoring by Milwaukee high school teacher Gertrude Hull.[15] He then
passed the examination for an appointment from Congressman Theobald Otjen,[11] scoring 93.3
on the test.[16] He later wrote: "It was a lesson I never forgot. Preparedness is the key to success
and victory."[16]