"By the time of the surrender of Corregidor on May 6, MacArthur and his family had escaped to Australia under direct orders from President Roosevelt. (They left Corregidor in the PT boat of Lieutenant John Bulkely, who received the Medal of Honor for his many daring missions in the Philippines in the months from December 8, 1941 to April 10, 1942.) In ordering MacArthur to leave his command, President Roosevelt and General George C. Marshall, his Army Chief of Staff, made a political calculation. They reasoned that an inspirational figure planning a return to his command from Australia was a much more potent force than a dead hero in the Philippines. In Australia General MacArthur was presented with the Medal of Honor. MacArthur had been personally courageous in the face of the bombing attacks on Corregidor, but he did not get the medal for any single specified act of bravery. His award is one of the few of the war that could be described as "symbolic," in large part because MacArthur's Philippine army was an inspiration to the American people during those dark days. MacArthur himself acknowledged this when he accepted the medal, saying that he felt it was "intended not so much for me personally as it is a recognition of the indomitable courage of the gallant army which it has been my honor to command." (MacArthur's medal came seventy-eight years after his father, Arthur, earned a Medal of Honor for rallying Northern troops on November 25, 1863, at Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, during the Civil War. Together the MacArthurs are the only father and son both to receive the Medal of Honor.)"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
United States presidential candidates, 1952United States presidential candidates, 1948Engineers from the United StatesMilitary leaders from the United StatesPeople from Little Rock
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Above and Beyond: A History of the Medal of Honor From the Civil War to Vietnam (1985), by the editors of the Boston Publishing Company, p. 200
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Douglas MacArthur
1880 – 1964
US-amerikanischer Feldmarschall
139 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Douglas MacArthur →
Related Quotes
"The object and practice of liberty lies in the limitation of governmental power. Through the ages the constantly expa…"
"It was close; but that's the way it is in war. You win or lose, live or die — and the difference is just an eyelash."
"I came out of Bataan and I shall return!"
"I said, to the people of the Philippines whence I came, I shall return. Tonight, I repeat those words: I shall return!"
"I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil."
"I see that the flagpole still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever haul them …"
"It seems strangely difficult for some to realize that here in Asia is where the Communist conspirators have elected t…"
"I shall raise my voice as loud and as often as I believe it to be in the interest of the American people. I shall ded…"
"It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bre…"
"Only those are fit to live who are not afraid of dying."