American commander Douglas MacArthur: biography

There are people whose destiny is connected with a single star. Having chosen the path as a child, they continue to follow it until their death. It is to such an American American Douglas MacArthur. As a son of a military man, he linked his fate with the war, having spent most of his conscious life on the world fronts and having achieved the highest rank - "army general".

Childhood future general

Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880 in a small town called Little Rock in the state of Arkansas. His father Arthur MacArthur, Jr. took part in the famous war of the South and North and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. My mother's name was Mary Pinkey, she was born in Virginia.

All the childhood of MacArthur is connected with moving. The family roamed the country, and the boy had to "fit" into the new conditions of life without end, which, surely, hardened him, as a person. Or maybe their role was played by genes (father - military, grandfather - judge in Washington, great-grandfathers - representatives of the famous Scottish aristocratic clan ... Anyway, and young Douglas everywhere showed himself worthy and kept on top.

So, for example, he became a real pride of the West-Texas military academy, where he studied in the early nineties of the 19th century and achieved great successes in studies. There, in Texas, in the city of San Antonio, at that time served as the father of the boy.

Carier start

After receiving a secondary education, Douglas MacArthur becomes a student at the West Point Academy, considered the most prestigious in the United States. He received the diploma in 1903, and MacArthur had such high marks that he was recognized as the best graduate in the history of the school.

Together with the diploma, a descendant of Scottish aristocrats received the rank of junior lieutenant and was sent to the Philippines, to the engineering troops, and then transferred to the Land of the Rising Sun.

With the beginning of his career, the Russian-Japanese war coincided, which Douglas had occasion to see almost "at close range", as he accompanied his father, who at the time served as the military attache in Japan. The future General MacArthur learned a lot during these trips ...

Already in 1906 he was in his native land - in the US - and worked as a military adviser to the president. For a 26-year-old young man - a great honor!

World War I

When the fire of the First World War broke out in Europe, Douglas MacArthur did not stay on the roadside. Immediately after the States declared war on Germany in 1917, he commanded in France the division headquarters, and then headed the division itself.

To the finish of military operations, the lucky American came alive and unharmed, besides with a whole scattering of awards and in the rank of brigadier general.

Between the first and second

For some time after the war, Brigadier General MacArthur still remained in Europe, but already in 1919 he was appointed superintendent of the academy in West Point, and he set a second record, becoming the youngest head of this educational institution for the entire history of his existence.

In 1922, fate again throws MacArthur in the Philippines. This time as commander of US troops in this (then still) US colony. Since 1930, he heads the headquarters of the US Army, and after giving the Philippines independence (in 1935), MacArthur Returned to the islands as a military adviser, and a year later he was appointed field-marshal of the army of the new state.

The Second World War

The second world is Douglas MacArthur's finest hour. It was thanks to her that the American commander received a "pass" into history. In the summer of 1941, he was summoned to active duty in connection with the aggression of the Japanese and appointed commander of American forces in the Far East.

The first steps of MacArthur were a failure. For a long time he did not believe in the reality of Japan's attack on the Philippines and made a mistake after an error. Even after Pearl Harbor, the troops were not put on alert, and MacArthur did not dare to bomb Japanese airbases in Taiwan ...

But the Japanese, on the contrary, showed determination, and on December 8, 1941 bombed American airfields, destroying almost half of the aircraft and providing themselves with an "air gate" to the Philippines.

Soon they managed to occupy the capital of Manila and most of the state, and the army of MacArthur was forced to retreat. After some time, the Philippines were completely in the hands of the Japanese, and MacArthur took this defeat as a slap in his face. Becoming the last degree of despair of the commander, it was the first step to his victory.

As commander of the Southwestern part of the troops, the American general invented a unique tactic - "frog jumps." It consisted of carefully verified operations, through which one captured island after another was gradually liberated.

Thanks to the efforts of MacArthur, the Japanese managed to stop on their way to Australia, from their occupation, New Guinea was liberated , and soon the Philippines returned. Having provided practically unimpeded entrance to the Land of the Rising Sun, the military leader was already nurturing grandiose plans for her occupation. But the bombs dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the course of history and brought the war to an end.

On September 2, 1945, Missouri docked in the Tokyo Bay. On board it was and MacArthur. Japan surrendered, and the eminent general accepted her surrender.

At the finish of life

After the most terrible war in the history of mankind, a brilliant strategist and fearless commander led the reforms in Japan for some time, remaining on its lands. In fact, he was the head of this country for several years.

In the first years of the 50's he commanded the UN troops during the Korean War, having realized a lot of successful operations. In this post was until the entry into the hostilities of China. MacArthur's proposal to use nuclear weapons against this country and North Korea disliked then-US President Harry Truman, and Douglas was released from his duties.

This was the end of his career. Attempts to realize themselves in another sphere - politics - did not lead to special successes. MacArthur advised the new president, Eisenhower, wrote memoirs and rested on his laurels.

He died on April 5, 1964. He was buried in Norfolk, on the territory of the family memorial.