General Douglas MacArthur

He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on January 26th, 1880. As a child he learned to ride and shoot before he could read and write. Those early days were spent in New Mexico where his father, Lieutenant General Arthur MacArthur, a Medal of Honor Recipient from the Civil War, was now commanding an infantry assigned to protect settlers and railroad workers from Indian attacks.

Douglas idolized his military father, but he also credited his mother for helping instill
the values that would guide his life, a lifetime spent in service to his country. “We should do what is right,” Pinky MacArthur told her three boys, “no matter what the personal sacrifice might be.”

After graduating from West Point Military Academy in 1903 as the class valedictorian, Douglas MacArthur went on to serve his country in the military. During a career that spanned more than half a century he earned a reputation as a brave solider with an independent streak that often annoyed his superiors. In the early days of WWII, and in the face of Japanese advancement, General Douglas MacArthur, was commanded to take his men and leave the Philippines. He famously declared, “I shall return.” Two and a half years later, serving as commander of the Allied forces, General MacArthur made good on those words, liberating the Philippines on his way to invading Japan.

In 1952, General MacArthur was relieved of his command by President Harry Truman, a controversial political action that stemmed over their opposing military opinions pertaining to the Korean War.

In today’s Southern Quote we honor a southerner who was awarded virtually every military honor his nation could bestow. General Douglas MacArthur, the man who became one of the most popular and accomplished U.S. military leaders of the 20th century once said,”Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.”