general douglas (god) macarthur was right, page-2

Oh really? "Dugout Doug"?


Published by Young Sik Kim
September 30, 1995,
Columbus, Ohio, USA


An eyewitnesses report

Gen. MacArthur's Fall

April 6, 1951 - MacArthur vents his anger and frustration of fighting a limited war in a confidential interview with the Spanish and Portuguese diplomats in Tokyo. In a nut shell, he wants a global war (under his command) with Russia - he would first drop A-bombs all over China and then move on to deal with the Russians. What about N Korea? MacArthur wants to nuke N Korea - kill every damn gook.

MacArthur is unaware that the National Security Agency (NSA) is monitoring all diplomatic transmissions in Tokyo. The main NSA station in Japan is at Atsugi Air Force Base (also the CIA OPC base). The primary mission of the NSA is monitoring Chinese command cables, but diplomatic cables are also intercepted routinely. The NSA sends the intercepted cables directly to the White House.

The cables contain MacArthur's boast that he can turn the war into war with China. Truman decides to fire MacArthur but he cannot reveal the existence of the intercepted cables for national security reasons (at this time few people know about the NSA or about its monitoring of diplomatic cables of US allies). Truman has to find other "official" reasons for firing MacArthur.

April 11, 1951 - Washington, DC: Pres. Truman fires MacArthur for insubordination (and incompetence). The order is sent to MacArthur via the military channel which happens to be less efficient than the commercial news channels. MacArthur's wife hears the news before the presidential order reaches the general. The US Secretary of Army (Page) is given the job of formally replacing MacArthur with Gen. Ridgway.

The Army Secretary Pace is given the job of asking Gen. Ridgway to take the UN Command from MacArthur. Pace is worried that Ridgway's formal attire which includes five hand grenades may hamper the new job given to the general. Pace wonders to himself - "if a hailstone hits one of those live grenades, they are going to need a new Supreme Commander and a new Secretary".

Gen. MacArthur is not a happy camper. He thinks that Truman is "suffering from a malignant hyper-tension; his affliction is marked by bewilderment and confusion of thought.". MacArthur has received this information from Truman's physician, Gen. Graham, an admirer of MacArthur.

Syngman Rhee is unhappy and sad to lose his "life" savior and master, the man who brought him from America in 1945 and kept in power ever since is gone. Rhee cries in public. Rhee has to learn to live with his new master, Gen. Ridgway.

Soon after the firing, MacArthur's godlike myth starts to crumble. All sorts of facts, suppressed while Mac was in power, surface. His WW2 nickname Dougout Dug is brought up to remind his escape from battlefields in the early days of the Pacific War. He was given a large sum of money by the Philippine politicos. He wanted to become the Field Marshall of the Philippine Army upon his retirement. His wife had numerous affairs while he was away. Mac took her to the divorce courts several times. In 1932, he attacked with tanks the poor WW1 veterans groups seeking bonuses in Washington

While serving as the Chief of Staff, Mac rented an apartment on Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC and had weird parties with several prostitutes at a time. He would not have sex with the ladies, but loved to have the girls pamper him. More seriously, Mac had spells of deep depression with suicidal tendency. He would carry a loaded pistol and go through the motion of shooting himself on the head. On one occasion, Mac was about to jump out of a moving train at a spot (Tennessee River) where his father had won a Medal of Honor.

In December 1937, after quitting the U.S. Army, Mac was hired by the Philippine Commonwealth Government to lead the Philippine Army. He was paid $33,000 per year and had the rank of 'Field Marshall' of the Philippine Army. His uniform consisted of black trousers and a white tunic with intricate designs. He was hired by the Filipinos in December, 1937. His Filipino Army was made of two under-strength infantry divisions (1st and 2nd).

When WW2 broke out, the Philippine Army was mobilized and numbered 120,000 men by December 1941. The Philippine Army included the 1st and 2nd regular divisions and mobilized reserve divisions of the 11th, 21st, 31st, 41st, 51st, 71st and 91st. Four of the Filipino divisions had Filipino commanders while the rest had American commanders. The Filipino led divisions with Filipino generals included the 1st Division-Brig. Gen. Fidel Segundo, the 2nd Division-Maj. Gen. Guillermo Flores, the 21st Division-Brig. Gen. Mateo Capinpin and the 41st Division-Brig. Gen. Alfredo Lim.

Total Forces under MacArthur's command were: Philippine Army-120,000 men in 9 divisions, US Army in the Philippines-18,000 men mostly air, artillery and marine units and the Philippine Scouts-a unique US Army unit consisting of 5 regiments composed of 12,000 Filipinos and 900 American officers. The Philippine Scouts was an elite unit and had the best training. Some military historians say that MacArthur fled to Australia in panic and that he had sufficient forces to hold back the Japanese - Mac lacked neither the skill or the will to face the Japanese, man to man.

During his tenure as the UN Commander, Mac lost touch with reality. He wanted credit for the battles won but blamed others for the battles lost. He acted as if he were the president of the United States and had deep contempt for his superiors (Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Defense, President, etc.). He was obsessed with "victory at any cost" even if it meant killing all humans on earth. His frequent letters and interviews with news reporters show a pattern of paranoia - supreme confidence on one moment and deep depression (Truman is letting me down) on the next varying with the battle field swings. His reliance on his own gut feelings rather than on detailed intelligence data had cost millions of human lives. If the table had been turned around, MacArthur would be labeled one of the worst war criminals in the 20th century.

Sun Tzu said:
"The art of campaign teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.

There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:

(1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction;
(2) Cowardice, which leads to capture;
(3) A hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;
(4) A delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame;
(5) Over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.

These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of campaign."

No one accuses MacArthur of cowardice (#2 on Sun Tzu's list) but the rest of the list - he is guilty of.

April 19, 1951 - The US Congress gathers to hear their war hero. MacArthur brings with him his wife and son and his old cronies. MacArthur tells the US Congress -
"I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading twilight of my life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country... I now close my military career and just fade away - an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Good-bye."

Many congressmen weep openly. A lynching party is formed to go after Truman.
Truman's response: "Nothing but a bunch of bull sh/t... Damn fool Congressmen crying like a bunch of women."

MacArthur moves into Suite 37-A of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, compliment of the hotel management (actually, at a nominal rent of $450 per month. He stayed here until his death in 1964). A Gallup Poll shows 54% of the Americans supporting MacArthur's plans for punishing China, but only 30% supporting war with China.

April 20, 1951 - Truman goes on the offensive to counter MacArthur's attacks. He leaks secret transcripts of MacArthur's statements at the Wake meeting to the New York Times. MacArthur has been making statements that contract what's been recorded in the transcripts. Apparently, he forgot about the transcripts and got caught telling white lies. The American people and the US Senate want to know the truths. Senate hearings are scheduled to hear from Gen. MacArthur and his accusers.

May 3-6, 1951 - I am fascinated by the news coming from Washington. Gen. MacArthur is hanging his dirty laundry out in the open. All sorts of unbelievable revelations hit the news. The "Plan Everready" catches my attention. This is a revised version of the "Operation Everready" devised by Muccio in 1949.

The Plan has three options:
(1) ROK troops refuse to follow UN commands,
(2) ROK troops go alone, and
(3) ROK troops and civilians turn hostile to UN forces.

Under (1), US forces would occupy major cities and military installation and place ROK units under increased (they are already being watched) surveillance.

Under (2), ROK units will be disarmed and the ROK government will be taken over by US personnel, and

Under (3) Rhee and other leaders will be eliminated and the trusted ROK commanders will be put in charge (many Korean generals, including the Chief of Staff, Gen. Kim Paik Il, are on the US payroll).

It is becoming clear how pitifully unfit this old man was for the UN Commander's job. The Senate hearings are exposing the old general for the first time and strip away the weird myths built for and by him since WW2. He was too damn old and outdated to command a modern war. He was not qualified for the job given to him by Truman.

This man lives in a world long past. He does not quite understand the consequences of nuclear attacks. He thinks that the A-bomb is just a large TNT bomb - he knows little about radiation and other long term effects of nuclear bombs. He has zero regards for civilians. He has no idea what will take to wage a war with Russia and China at the same time. He has never heard of the word "collective security" - the most important post-WW2 US foreign policy!

The JCS and others have repeatedly defined his job as an area commander of the Korean War, but MacArthur kept on exceeding his boundary and tried to dupe US into a wider war. His airplanes have "accidentally" bombed Chinese and Russian air bases. He had Chiang's and Japanese navy participate covertly in the war. He has sent Korean and Chinese sabotage teams to China and Russia. He has openly threatened war with China and Russia. MacArthur's statements often contradict documents prepared and signed by him.

As for his "China is incapable of intervention" assurance to Truman at Wake, MacArthur tries to pass the buck to the CIA (justified) and oddly to the Chinese statements and glosses over the mountain of evidence gathered by his own G-2. Mac's statement that "the intelligence that a nation is going to launch a war is not...intelligence that is available to a commander, limited to a small area of combat. That intelligence should have been given to me." He was given ample data, but he chose to ignore them and rely on his own instinct.

How about the "home-by-Xmas" promise? MacArthur says that at the time when he made the statement at Wake, the N Korean Army was virtually gone (actually there were 120,000 NKPA left) and no Chinese (over 200,000 in Korea) in Korea. The only 'problem' was that his request to bomb Manchurian targets was denied by Truman and therefore, Truman was responsible for the UN 'bugout' in December 1950.

The truth comes out that this old man had his head buried in sands and refused to face the reality. He states that Russians had no nuclear retaliatory capability in Korea or China, when in fact they are capable of nuking US installations in Japan, Europe and US proper. In a nutshell, MacArthur is confident that he can win a global war while acknowledging lack of the enemy and US war making capacities.

How about unleashing Chiang's army? MacArthur states that Chiang's troops are as good as any army he has seen, but the facts known to the JCS are that

"their leadership is poor; their equipment is poor; and their training is poor...The trouble of it is Chiang is not accepted by a large part of the Chinese...Chiang has had a big chance to win in China and he did not do it. From a military point of view in my (Gen. Bradley's) opinion I don't think he would have too much success in leading the Chinese now. It's true that some of them are getting tired of the Communists and might be more loyal to him now than they were before, but in my opinion he is not in position to rally the Chinese people against the Communists even if we could get him ashore."

Why not bomb the Manchurian sanctuaries? Gen. Marshall points out a fundamental fact that MacArthur and the fellow hawks fail to recognize - the communists are allowing UN sanctuaries in Japan and the rear areas on Korea. The Chinese and Russian air force volunteers have the means of hitting exposed docks in Pusan, supply transports and naval vessels, but they have not. Hitting their sanctuaries would invite retaliation. Beside China has a mutual defense treaty with Russia. More importantly, the US Air Force do not have the capability to hit targets in Manchuria -

"The air force of the Unites States...is really a shoestring air force and these groups that we have over there now doing this tactical job are really about a fourth of our total effort that we could muster today, and four times that amount of groups in that area over that vast expanse of China would be a drop in the bucket."

I remember the fear I had on Dec. 24, 1950 while waiting for evacuation at Hungnam. The port and harbor were jammed packed with exposed troops and ships. A few well-placed bombs could have wiped out some 100,000 UN troops. Gen. Collins testifies

"we were dreadfully afraid that might be the thing that would release the Russian planes...and possibly submarine attack during the perilous evacuation from Hungnam. Troops evacuating from a port of that character, in commercial ships, are terribly subject to air and underwater attacks; and in my judgment, it would be a much too risky process."

How about ROK troops? MacArthur's assessment of the ROKA varied from the worst to the best fighters - depending what he wanted. Gen. Collins states "Every time they are hit by the Chinamen, they just plain run."

May 2, 1951 - Charles Marshall of the US State travels to Hong Kong and tries to resurrect contacts with China. Marshall is to contact Chinese agents and pass on, orally, secret feelers for US-China reconciliation and peace in Korea. The CIA comes up four names for Marshall to contact including a distant relative of Mao's actress wife.