I have returned. 10/20/44

[Ultradog MN]

That's probably one of the most famous 3 word phrases in history.
Today marks the day of MacArthur's return to the Phillipines at Leyte Gulf.
Give a thought to him today.
Whether you love him or hate him, he was one of America's greatest generals and we were lucky to have such a man on our side.
Click here

 

[Billy Shafer]

I know a few guys that would disagree with you.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 06:18:16 10/20/17) That's probably one of the most famous 3 word phrases in history.
Today marks the day of MacArthur's return to the Phillipines at Leyte Gulf.
Give a thought to him today.
Whether you love him or hate him, he was one of America's greatest generals and we were lucky to have such a man on our side.
Click here

ould have saved the world a lot of future problems if the politicians would have let him do what he wanted to do.

 

[JF in MI]

Leyte Gulf; the biggest naval battle in history.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Yes.
But read of his generalship on and around New Guniea, how he constantly shocked the enemy with his maneuvers, kept them off balance, starved them, killed them, bypassed their strongholds, kept them guessing as to his plans instead of formulating their own and ultimately defeated them and you will see a man who was a gifted general.
That he was a man of many faults and idiosyncracies is true. It is those personal faults his detractors always focus on. But those faults pale when compared to his accomplishments - in that war, its aftermath and in Korea. At least they do for me.

 

[oldtanker]

(quoted from post at 03:18:16 10/20/17) That's probably one of the most famous 3 word phrases in history.
Today marks the day of MacArthur's return to the Phillipines at Leyte Gulf.
Give a thought to him today.
Whether you love him or hate him, he was one of America's greatest generals and we were lucky to have such a man on our side.
Click here

Oh boy does this open a can of worms! There is no question that he was one of the best minds in the military. His actions in the Philippines at the beginning of the war will always be controversial. Others still claim that there was no need to retake the Philippines. I would suggest to those who hate him to research what he did both good and bad. To those who love him? Do the same.

Then when you are sitting there asking questions about some of his decisions you have to take into account the military thinking of the day. Most of the senior Navy Brass on 6 Dec 1941 didn't believe in Naval air power and still thought that the battleship was the king of the oceans. We had very darned little intel on the size or capability of the Japanese Navy at the time too. The very idea that Japan could attack Pearl Harbor one day and invade the Philippines the next? All while involved in a major land war in China? On 6 Dec 1941 they would have laughed at you if you told them it would happen. They would have laughed at you had you said that an air attack, launched from carriers was going to just about destroy Pearl Harbor too. In 1938 if you told France and England that Germany would defeat France in 6 weeks they would have laughed, right before they had you committed to a mental institution.

In other words it's easy to sit back after the fact and point out errors. It's doing it before hand that's the trick.

Rick

 

[dhermesc]

Agreed. My dad was Korean War vet and always said his sons would have go back and fight the war they were not allowed to win. Looks like it will be his grandsons doing the fighting instead.

 

[Billy Shafer]

No denying he was a great general. But he also was hated by many that served under him. My first girl friends father. Survived the death march. Weighed 88 pounds when the war was over. You couldn't mention his name around him without him going into a fit. Screaming and crying how they were left to die.My grandfather,three uncles and my father all hated him.

 

[dr sportster]

MacArthurs best quote " I have just returned from the front and there is no finer fighting force than the U.S. Marines"

 

[ss55]

MacArthur was truly great with tactics, and truly terrible with politics.
Ultimately all wars are fought for political goals.

 

[dhermesc]

Agreed they were left to die, but Mac had nothing to do with that decision. That was pure Roosevelt and the Germany first policy.

 

[dhermesc]

And if you had said the Germans would advance to outskirts of Moscow in the first 6 months of the war and then end up losing to the Soviets you would also have been laughed at.

 

[oldtanker]

(quoted from post at 11:36:56 10/20/17) Agreed they were left to die, but Mac had nothing to do with that decision. That was pure Roosevelt and the Germany first policy.

That had nothing to do with the German first policy and everything to do with capabilities. We did not have the naval forces needed to secure stable supply lines to reinforce the Philippines by the time it fell. Heck they had a very difficult time keeping Guadalcanal supplied several months after Wainwright surrendered the Philippines and didn't have complete control of the seas around Guadalcanal till right at the end. There was real concern right up to Roosevelt that the Marines were going to get pushed into the sea for a while. What do you think would have happened had they tried to reinforce the Philippines with the Japanese in complete control of both the sea and the air? Roosevelt had no choice but to order Mac out and to let the Japanese take those islands.

Everyone goes on about the German first policy. But what did we do to the Germans in 1942? The north African invasion in Nov 42. By the time that had happened we had launched the Doolittle raid, Battle of the Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal and Santa Cruz Islands all before we invaded North Africa. So much for the German first policy! I think that was more of a public announcement to convince the Brits to hold out longer. Sure didn't work out that way. I mean sure we were starting to build up an air arm in England and fighting to get convoys through but we also set up air operations in the China Burma area, the Pacific and conducted unrestricted sub warfare from day 1 against the Japanese.

Rick

 

[rlp in Co.]

They call him old cut and run McCarther. My cousin survived the death march and was put on a prisoner ship to Japan. Our own planes sunk that ship. They claim it wasn't marked as a prisoner ship. I still have the clipping of the incident.
A few of our men refused to obey the order to surrender and fought a gurella war till the end.
A good general would have stayed with his troops.

 

[oldtanker]

(quoted from post at 14:04:32 10/20/17) They call him old cut and run McCarther. My cousin survived the death march and was put on a prisoner ship to Japan. Our own planes sunk that ship. They claim it wasn't marked as a prisoner ship. I still have the clipping of the incident.
A few of our men refused to obey the order to surrender and fought a gurella war till the end.
A good general would have stayed with his troops.

A good soldier, no matter his rank OBEYS orders. Mac didn't cut and run. According to some on his staff he actually thought of resigning his commission and going into the ranks on Bataan as an infantry PVT. Mac was ordered out, that's not the same as cutting and running. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he was as good as those who worship him claim. But he was no where near as bad as those trying to smear him claim either.

Yea the story of Wendell Fertig and the others who refused to surrender or escaped who formed as guerrilla fighters is amazing! Now Mac did screw that one up. He made a speech in Australia and stated that "guerrilla operations in the Philippines are not feasible at this time" right before the guerrilla forces got a radio operation and got in contact with outside forces. Mac's response at first was to ignore them. Later he called them his guerrillas fighting in the Philippines. It was under orders from Roosevelt the OSS people went in and established contact and they started to bring in supplies via sub and later made airdrops.

Rick

 

[Destroked 450]

MacArthur was a good tactician but he was also a arrogant sob,
my dad fought under Patton.
He thought Patton was twice the general that MacArthur was.