How long was macarthur in the military

But Truman did fire MacArthur, whose complaints against the commander in chief had grown louder and more public. MacArthur wanted to expand the war against China, which had entered the Korean fighting in late MacArthur complained that the president was tying his hands by forbidding the bombing of China, thereby sacrificing American lives and endangering American freedom.

The last thing Truman wanted was a wider war in Asia, which would weaken the American position in Europe. The joint chiefs contradicted him. The Senate hearings were closed to the public, but a transcript was released each day including all but the most sensitive comments. Yet it was the statements that were not made public that did the real damage to MacArthur. Not until the s was the secret testimony declassified, and even then it languished in the archives, overlooked by all but a few specialists in a topic time seemed to have passed by.

The rule of excision in the hearings was to delete testimony that might compromise American security. Such testimony included remarks related to American knowledge of Chinese and especially Soviet arms and war readiness; revealing what the American side knew might tip the communists as to how the Americans knew it.

Nine of them are in the Vladivostok area; four in the Port Arthur-Dairen area; three in Sakhalin; two in the Kurile Islands; one near Kamchatka; and 16 others scattered along the railway from Lake Baikal on east.

Another category of excisions revealed American vulnerabilities in a larger war. Byrd asked about the broader consequences of Russian intervention. Bradley knew that this alarming estimate might sound defeatist, but he thought the senators needed to hear it.

He insisted that the exchange be deleted before the transcript was released to the newspapers and published the next day. American air power, in particular, was stretched very thin. The air defense forces are, I would judge, about 20 percent.

Many Americans, and much of the world, imagined the United States had boundless military capacity. MacArthur had suggested as much, regarding air power, when he had told the committee that the U. Omar Bradley responded that George was quite mistaken—and, by implication, that MacArthur was quite misleading. A recipient of the Medal of Honor and 17 other medals, he distinguished himself as a talented, brave, and able military commander.

The son of Lt. Arthur MacArthur Jr. After a childhood on the frontier and in Washington, D. Military Academy at West Point on June 11, MacArthur served as an engineering officer in the Philippines and aide-de-camp to his father, the commander of the Pacific Division. After the death of his father on September 5, and his promotion to captain, MacArthur participated in the Veracruz Expedition.

He led raids on German trenches and helped organize resistance to enemy assaults. He gained a reputation as a fearless leader and regularly exposed himself to danger. Throughout the s, MacArthur served in a variety of roles, including as the president of the American Olympic Committee. After he and Louise divorced in , MacArthur became chief of staff of the U. During his tenure, MacArthur presided over severe budget cuts brought on by the Great Depression. Filipino President Manuel Quezon appointed him field marshal to supervise the development of the Philippine army.

In , he retired from the Army but remained in the Philippines as a civilian appointment to the Philippine military. He promoted MacArthur to lieutenant general and named him commander of U. Army Forces in the Far East. On December 7, , the Japanese launched a surprise attack on U. Japanese forces next launched air raids on the Philippines.

The strategy succeeded and, in , the Americans prepared to take back the Philippines. MacArthur presided over war crimes trials, demilitarization, and the creation of a new Japanese constitution. After the war, MacArthur oversaw the Allied occupation of Japan.

When the Korean War broke out in , MacArthur once again returned to the battlefield, becoming commander in chief of the United Nations Command. But when he challenged President Harry S.

MacArthur returned to the United States and was acclaimed a hero by many. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Douglas MacArthur.