Reminiscences

Rating:
Summary: MacArthur Pleads His Case
Review: "Reminiscences" is General Douglas MacArthur's brief in support of his life and career as they stand in judgment before the Bar of History. His statement of facts is magnificent. Beginning with his immigrant grandfather, Judge Arthur MacArthur, and continuing through the career of his father, Gen. Arthur MacArthur, (see my Amazon review of "The General's General"), Douglas sets the stage for his entry into the great play of life. Growing up in the frontier army, Douglas was admitted to West Point in 1899.

Not a typical cadet or young officer, Douglas made his first appearance before a Congressional committee investigating hazing at the Academy in 1900. Graduating in 1903, his first assignment was to the Philippines, the land in which his father had won fame and where he would spend so much of his military career. In 1906 he was appointed aide-de-camp to President Theodore Roosevelt.

With U. S. entry into World War I, MacArthur bucked the prevailing wisdom that National Guard units could not function effectively in combat. It was he who conceived, promoted and implemented the concept of the Rainbow Division, consisting of National Guard units from 26 states. During his command of the Rainbow he established the legend of his fearlessness in combat.

Returning to the peace time army, MacArthur rose to Chief of Staff, a position from which, he believed, his father had been barred by political enemies. During his tenure, Douglas presided over the dispersal of the Bonus Marchers, an action which he staunchly defends in this book, and the defense the Army from the Depression-era budget cutting knife. During one meeting with FDR, MacArthur erupted with an immediately regretted remark that has become part of the MacArthur legend, "to the general effect that when we lost the next war, and an American boy, lying in the mud with an enemy bayonet through his belly and an enemy foot on his dying throat, spat out his last curse, I wanted the name not to be MacArthur, but Roosevelt." Although he claims to have immediately regretted the remark, he did find it worth reporting.

His career in the U.S. Army seemingly concluded, MacArthur retired in 1935 to become a field marshal in the Philippine Army. In this position he built the Philippine Defenses in the years leading up to World War II. In his soon to be familiar role of advocate for Pacific defense against a Eurocentered defense establishment, he struggled to obtain funding necessary to prepare the Philippines for the anticipated Japanese onslaught. When the pre-war build up began it was too little, too late.

With the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, MacArthur relates the plans for defense which culminated in the heroic stands on Bataan and Corregidor. From this narrative we realize how serious was the defenders' expectation of a relief expedition before their surrender.

The brilliant campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines are explained. Through this campaign, MacArthur shrewdly advanced his forces as rapidly as his advancing air cover would permit, isolating Japanese troops which would be starved of supplies rather than overrun by assault. By use of this technique, MacArthur conquered immense territory and neutralized massive concentrations of enemy troops while taking relatively few casualties. On the pages of this book, MacArthur takes us into the conferences in which the plans for the war in the Pacific were charted.

With Victory over Japan, MacArthur assumed the role of ruler of Japan. During the section of the book dealing with this portion of his life, we see the challenges which he confronted and the steps which reformed Japan into the nation which it is today.

The chapter "Frustration in Korea" signals a decided shift in the mood of the book. Here we read of the desperate state of defense during the early stages of the North Korean invasion, followed by the complete U.N. victory over North Korea after the landings at Inchon. With the Red Chinese invasion of Korea, the second retreat began. Again MacArthur masterminded the U.N. defense. Here criticism of the Truman Administration accelerates in the accounts leading up to and following MacArthur's dismissal from command.

In the final section, MacArthur shares with us his views of developments in America and the world. We hear of his shock at the substitution of prolonged indecision for victory as a national war goal. More than once we are reminded that "There is no substitute for victory." In digressions, we also learn his views on the employment of Nationalist Chinese Forces during the Korean War, as well as his views on relationships with Communism, the importance of freedom, the role of the income tax and other issues. His arguments leave us with the lingering thought that perhaps Red China would have been vulnerable to a determined defense in Korea, bombings and blockade of the mainland and an unleashing of the Nationalist Forces. It is one of the great "What ifs" of history. Near the end of the book we are treated to the transcripts of his address to congress and the final roll call at West Point.

Throughout this book we are reminded of the many honors and tributes received by the author. This book would be much shorter if the awards, congratulatory telegrams, decorations and testimonials were omitted. The author was certainly impressed with the esteem in which he was held by his fellow man.

While not as good of a biography of Douglas MacArthur as "American Caesar" (see my Amazon review), "Reminiscences" is a valuable window into MacArthur's world. Self adulation notwithstanding, this book gives us an insight into how Douglas MacArthur saw his role in the world. We see many of the powerfully charged issues of the World War II and Korean War eras forcefully promoted by one of their foremost partisans. I am glad that I read it. I will never look at General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and his era in the same way again.

Rating:
Summary: Very good autobiography!
Review: Autobiographies do not get better than this. Its packed with information about many of America's wars through the eyes of the greatest general in United States history. Like the previous reviewer stated, the last chapter itself its unbelievable. It contains content and predictions that could be lifted and applied to the modern present world. I could not believe that this book was written 40 years ago. MacArthur was truly ahead of his time in thinking. His recollection opf events is superb and very detailed for a man who has probably more memories that ordinary men have for a lifetime. I'd recommend this book to anyone, the last chapter is alone worth the price!

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Summary: The best available history by a military figure
Review: Better than even Eisenhower and certainly better than Patton, MacArthur tells us a little about himself, his family and his father's legacy before seeing his first (and later decorated) action in WWI. Taking over at West Point in 1919, his book begins to expose particular weaknesses in American idealogy when it comes to the "expense of defense." As MacArthur continued his tale, I could scarcely trust my eyes. In WWII, the Pacific theater had no unified command like Europe and other theaters. MacArthur controlled only part of his forces; those not under his command were oftentimes pulled away on other missions, sometimes at the last moment. For a time he enjoyed command over his own air power, but later he lost this luxury as other missions took precedence. MacArthur's tactics and strategy are always clearly defined and easily acceptable as intelligent courses. His hope and duty to protect his men appears on every page. His objections to frontal assaults on what he termed "militarily insignificant" objectives (both to the Allies and to Japan) on Okinawa and Iwo Jima made me groan anew for the men we lost there. "Only poor commanders turn in large casualties" he wrote. His masterly reconstruction of Japan (1945-50) shows his open and fair concepts of what we now call "nation building." He knew that the reconstruction and reforms would not succeed unless authorized by the people of Japan. Shouts of rage greeted him in 1945 when he entered Tokyo; tears of sorrow witnessed his departure. In Korea, my stomach turned on almost every page, as Mac describes the indecision or timidity that put men in harm's way without a clear objective, without support, and without even the formal declaration of war. The "police action" as Truman insisted it was seemed to Mac (and to any reader or soldier) as actual war, yet the more acceptable phrase continues to be repeated today. Persons who think so today should read this book and reconsider. For instance, the mass murder in Bosnia in the 1990s was diabolically reduced to "ethnic cleansing." In the 1940s we called this "extermination." When the concentration camps ran full speed in Poland in 1945, the German clerks merely wrote "released" whenever they bothered to record names. This book gives a heroic picture of American military might and the idealogy of freedom, but also a horrid picture of inaction and misinformed policy, and a glimpse behind a curtain of US Government-propagated disinformation.

Rating:
Summary: A great story from a great soldier.
Review: I first read this book as a teenager, and loved every word. So much so that *I* dreamed of being a general. I'm older now, and can see just how self-serving the book really is. It's basically the work of a gigantic ego paying homage to itself. Lots of stress on all the things he did right, nothing about the wrong. For example, his flapper marriage is disposed of in about two sentences, and there's no explanation of how he got caught with his pants down, first in the Phillipines and then in Korea. It's almost as if he needed a crisis to be all that he could be. Anyway, de mortuis nil nisi bonum. The book's beautifully written, and Mac Arthur was a great general - probably America's best ever.

Rating:
Summary: History That Favors Me!
Review: Informative and the most self serving narration ever made by and about a single American. Live a lifetime with the general and know what it is to never have made a mistake, never willingly to have submitted to legitimate authority, and never, and I mean NEVER, to have credited anyone else for the success of what ,in most military operations are shared endeavors.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic memoir!
Review: My past understanding of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was vague and perhaps understated. This book by far has peaked my interest not only in the General himself, but also in the history of World War II as well as the history of others involved in that conflict.

General MacArthur does an excellent job covering his life from the time of his birth, to his assignment in Mexico to his command of the Rainbow Division in World War I to his leadership in World War II which lead to his appointment as Supreme Commander in the Pacific. MacArthur spends a great amount of time detailing each of his military adventures, along with noting his achievements along the way, finally ariving at the rank of 5-star General of the Army in 1944.

I was very surprised to find MacArthur to be very, what I would call, deferential in the receipt of each honor. He has been accused by some of being pompus and an egoist, but he came across as a man who, while very deserving, felt he had earned his awards through not only his own efforts, but also through the efforts of those around him.

General MacArthur also shares his experience with President Harry Truman at the Wake Island conference. Prior to reading MacArthur's memoirs, I was lead to believe that the conference was a tense undertaking with President Truman having to reign in one his "errant" Generals. MacArthur's take on the conference was completely different that what I have previously read - indicating that Mr. Truman was very complimentary toward the General and with the General returning the favor. I was surprised to read in Merle Miller's "Plain Speaking" to see that Harry Truman thought General MacArthur was a "dumb son-of-a-b****". When I contrasted the two (MacArthur and Truman), I found MacArthur to be articulate, to the point, and respectful. Truman, I have found was crude and ruthless.

I thought this was a fantastic book and would encourage its reading by anyone interested in the history of this great U.S. General.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic memoir!
Review: My past understanding of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was vague and perhaps understated. This book by far has peaked my interest not only in the General himself, but also in the history of World War II as well as the history of others involved in that conflict.

General MacArthur does an excellent job covering his life from the time of his birth, to his assignment in Mexico to his command of the Rainbow Division in World War I to his leadership in World War II which lead to his appointment as Supreme Commander in the Pacific. MacArthur spends a great amount of time detailing each of his military adventures, along with noting his achievements along the way, finally ariving at the rank of 5-star General of the Army in 1944.

I was very surprised to find MacArthur to be very, what I would call, deferential in the receipt of each honor. He has been accused by some of being pompus and an egoist, but he came across as a man who, while very deserving, felt he had earned his awards through not only his own efforts, but also through the efforts of those around him.

General MacArthur also shares his experience with President Harry Truman at the Wake Island conference. Prior to reading MacArthur's memoirs, I was lead to believe that the conference was a tense undertaking with President Truman having to reign in one his "errant" Generals. MacArthur's take on the conference was completely different that what I have previously read - indicating that Mr. Truman was very complimentary toward the General and with the General returning the favor. I was surprised to read in Merle Miller's "Plain Speaking" to see that Harry Truman thought General MacArthur was a "dumb son-of-a-b****". When I contrasted the two (MacArthur and Truman), I found MacArthur to be articulate, to the point, and respectful. Truman, I have found was crude and ruthless.

I thought this was a fantastic book and would encourage its reading by anyone interested in the history of this great U.S. General.