Douglas MacArthur facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Douglas MacArthur
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![]() Douglas MacArthur in Manila, Philippines
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Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Service/ |
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Rank | ![]() Field Marshal (Philippine Army) |
General Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 - April 5, 1964) was an American General who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Twice forces under his command suffered large defeats.
In 1941 he became Commander of United States Army forces in the Far East. From December 1941 to April 1942 the Japanese Army conquered the Philippines. He fled, but later returned leading a victorious army.
In 1950 he led United Nations forces in Korea. The Chinese defeated them at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. After making several comments towards superiors questioning their actions, he was relieved from command in April 1951 by President Harry S Truman He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1880 and died in Washington, D.C., in 1964.
Images for kids
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MacArthur was an engineer for the first 14 years of his military career. He received these golden castle pins as a gift upon graduation. He carried these pins with him for over 40 years and in 1945 gave them to Major General Leif J. Sverdrup, whom he thought was more deserving to wear them. Sverdrup gave them to the Chief of Engineers in 1975. Every Chief of Engineers since then has worn MacArthur's pins.
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General Pershing (second from left) decorates Brigadier General MacArthur (third from left) with the Distinguished Service Cross. Major General Charles T. Menoher (left) reads out the citation while Colonel George E. Leach (fourth from left) and Lieutenant Colonel William Joseph Donovan await their decorations.
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Australian prime minister John Curtin (right) confers with MacArthur
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Senior Allied commanders in New Guinea in October 1942. Left to right: Mr Frank Forde (Australian Minister for the Army); MacArthur; General Sir Thomas Blamey, Allied Land Forces; Lieutenant General George C. Kenney, Allied Air Forces; Lieutenant General Edmund Herring, New Guinea Force; Brigadier General Kenneth Walker, V Bomber Command.
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"I have returned" – General MacArthur returns to the Philippines with Philippine President Sergio Osmeña to his right, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Carlos P. Romulo at his rear, and Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland on his left. Photo taken by Gaetano Faillace. This iconic image is re-created in larger-than-life statues at MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park
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American military officers off Leyte Island in the Philippines, October 1944: Lieutenant General George Kenney, Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland, President Sergio Osmeña, General Douglas MacArthur
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MacArthur signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri. American General Jonathan Wainwright and British General Arthur Percival stand behind him.
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MacArthur and the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito, at their first meeting, September 1945
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MacArthur speaking at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1951
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MacArthur's sarcophagus at the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk
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MacArthur was the subject of two different legal tender commemorative coins in the Philippines in 1947. Filipino coins of MacArthur were also struck in 1980, the 100th anniversary of his birth and in 2014, the 70th anniversary of the Leyte landings.