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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 6391152, member: 101855"][ATTACH=full]1252950[/ATTACH] Before you go too far with the trashing of MacArthur, you need to look at what he accomplished. Here the MacArthur portion of an article I wrote on these coins in 2013. Douglas MacArthur (1880 - 1964) - Appears on the Five Dollar Gold Piece.       Douglas MacArthur was born into a distinguished military family. His father, Arthur MacArthur, like his son won the Congressional Medal of Honor. They are one of two father and son combinations who have received that honor. The other was Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.       After graduating at the top of his West Point class in 1903 MacArthur rose to a major leadership role in World War I when he became the brigade commander of the 42nd Division. Upon returning home in 1919 he was appointed to be the head of the West Point Military Academy. This was followed by an appointment to be Army Chief of Staff from 1930 to '35. During this period MacArthur fought to maintain the strength of the Army during The Great Depression.       After his term as the Army Chief of Staff MacArthur was stationed in the Philippines. In mid 1941 as the situation with Japan grew worse, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed him commander of U.S. Army forces in the Pacific theater. After the Japanese forced MacArthur and his forces out of the Philippines, the general moved his center of operations to Australia. Vowing to return and liberate the Philippines, MacArthur kept his promise in 1944. After the atomic bomb quickly ended Japanese resistance, MacArthur accepted their surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri. From there MacArthur began a very successful occupation of Japan during which he initiated reforms that transformed the country politically and economically. The Philippine Government Issued this MacArthur Peso and a 50 centavo piece for good reason. [ATTACH=full]1252952[/ATTACH]       On June 25, 1950 the North Koreans initiated an unprovoked attack on South Korea as they crossed the 38th parallel which marked the border between the two nations. The North quickly overwhelmed the South and gained control of almost all of the peninsula. The last stronghold was Pusan, a region in the southwest corner of the country. Despite a seemingly overwhelming victory, MacArthur noted that the North Korean supply lines were stretched and vulnerable. Rolling the dice MacArthur landed a force at Inchon, a port well north of the communist position. Within a month's time the North Koreans were forced out the South and driven to the North Korean border, the Yalu River. At that point the Chinese Communists intervened in the war and drove MacArthur's forces to a point south of the 38th parallel. MacArthur requested that he be allowed to bomb the bridges over the Yalu River. When his request was denied he took his objections public which led President Harry Truman to relieve him of his command.       MacArthur's removal was highly controversial. He added flames to the debate in a moving speech before the U.S.  Congress during which he made his most famous quote, "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."  Later he lent his support to senator Robert Taft, in his unsuccessful attempt to prevent Dwight Eisenhower from gaining the 1952 Republican presidential nomination. Following that MacArthur retired from public life. ------------------------------------MacArthur was egotistical and in the end insubordinate. Truman was correct when he relieved him of his command. BUT his military contributions and his handling of converting Japan from an imperial empire to a democracy can't be ignored. Eisenhower had already been honored with a made for circulation dollar, and a commemorative silver dollar in 1990. Perhaps Congress thought that it was time to recognize his counterpart in the Pacific War.[/QUOTE]

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