Evening star., 1951-04-15

ISupGIlOIltl6S, WHICH are, 1klQ6GQ
extreme. He was first in his class
lat West Point; his performance
there was the most brilliant in
many years, and in some details
has never been surpassed. His
over-all scholastic record for foul
years was 98.14 per cent. and ir
several courses he was the only
cadet ever to have entered the
academy who made perfect marks
la fiat 100 per cent. :
He was the youngest division
commander in France in World
This is the seventh in series from Johr
Gunther's new book, The Riddle oi
Macarthur.
War I, the youngest superintend-
ent West Point ever had, the
youngest active major general in
the Army. the youngest Chief of
Staff. and the youngest man ever
to become a full general. He is
the only soldier in American his
tory whose father was also Chief
Iof Staff. and the first full general
ever to win the Congressional
Medal of Honor-his father won
lit too. He is the first American
ever to become a field marshal in
another nations army and was
the first American commander to
fly the flag of the United Nations.
Douglas Macarthur was born at
Little Rock, Arkansas. on January
26, 1880, the third son of 1t. Gen,
Arthur Macarthur, who was on
Ipost there at the time. and a lady
of good family from Virginia
whose maiden name. was Mary
Hardy. Originally the father
came from Wisconsin, and the
present Macarthur still considers
Milwaukee his home town. His
Ipaternal grandfather, a thistly
character (the family is of Scotch
origin), was a lieutenent governor
of Wisconsin, and had consider
able local fame. Young Douglas
lived in Army posts most of his
youth, and it is a matter of family
record that. as a child, he heard
the drum beats of hostile In
dams. Camp life, army life. dom
mated all his early years, and it
never occurred to him to be any
thing but a soldier when he grew
up.
Father Had Vigorous Career.
1t. Gen. Arthur Macarthur, had
an exceptionally vigorous military
career; there are pertinent SINH
laritieS between father and son.
The elder Macarthur enlisted for
service in the Civil War at sixteen,
and while still a youth won his
Congressional Medal lfor reckless
gallantry under fire) at the Battle
of Missionary Ridge. Also, like
bis son, Arthur Macarthur was
severely wounded in several en-
gagelnents, largely because he ext
posed himself with little regard
for safety. MacArtfurs are an
impetuous breed.
Again like his son, the elder
Macarthur had a great deal to
do with the Philippines. 1t was
he, in fact. who cleaned up the
last Filipino resistance after the
|Spanish-American War. and be-
came the first American military
governor of the islands. His
policy there was. like that of his
son 40 years later in Japan.
marked both by a stern sense of
justice and magnanimity. It is
a matter of great pride to the
present Macarthur that it was
his father who first introduced
habeas corpus in the Philippines,
just as he himself first brought
this most cardinal and efficacious
of democratic instruments to
Japan.
Whenever ! perform O mission
and think I have done it well,
I feel that can stand up squarely
to my dad and say, Governor,
how about it?' Gen. Macarthur
told a friend in Tokyo not long
ago.
The fathers career and char
acter put a mark on Douglas
Macarthur that nothing has ever
effaced, but he was the child of
his mother, too. He adored her;
she adored him. She deliberately
brought him up to think that he
was a child of destiny, and her
influence was illimitable: much of
his ambition comes from her. his
personal force, and his faith in
the future. When he was a cadet
at West Point, she lived nearby, so
that she could always be close to
him; similarly Sara Delano Roose-
velt took a house in Boston when
Franklin D. Roosevelt went to
Harvard. Mrs. Macarthur coached
her remarkable son, gave him love
and confidence, and taught him
to venerate his father. She OUT
lived her husband by many years
(again the analogy to Sara Roose-
velt is close) and she focused the
entire weight of her life on her
sons well-being. She died in Ma
nila in 1885, aged 80.
Drama Hangs Over MacArthurs.
The manner Of the fathers
death in 1912 has become a minor
legend. Drama hangs copiously on
the MacArthurs. The old gen.
eral, living in Milwaukee in the
evening of his life, said that he
had only one regret, that he
could not die at the head of his
troops. His regiment was about to.
hold its 50th reunion. Somebody
thought that the venerable Gen.
Macarthur, even though lie was
bedridden, might put in a brief
appearance He did so, though this
meant defiance of his doctors. He
rose to speak. and said that, con-
sidering the state of his health,
this would be the last time he
would ever be .ahle.to greet his
comrades. On finishing his speech,
he fell dead. So his last wish, that
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