"Everyone feared that MacArthur was plunging toward disaster, but no one had the courage to speak out. Finally, General Ridgway, who was not a member of the Joint Chiefs and therefore without a vote, asked for permission to speak. He declared that they owed it "to the men in the field and the God to whom we must answer for these men's lives to stop talking and to act." The only answer he received was silence. Later, General Ridgway buttonholed General Hoyt Vandenberg, commander of the Air Force. "Why don't the Joint Chiefs send orders to MacArthur and tell him what to do?" Vandenberg shook his head. "What good would that do? He wouldn't obey the orders. What can we do?" "You can relieve any commander who won't obey orders, can't you?" General Ridgway exclaimed. General Vandenberg gave General Ridgway a look that was, Ridgway says "both puzzled and amazed." Then he walked away without saying a word."
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United States presidential candidates, 1952United States presidential candidates, 1948Engineers from the United StatesMilitary leaders from the United StatesPeople from Little Rock
Original Language: English
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Sources
Margaret Truman, Harry S. Truman (1972), p. 491-492
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur
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Douglas MacArthur
1880 – 1964
US-amerikanischer Feldmarschall
139 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Douglas MacArthur →
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