Evening star., 1951-04-19
Thousands Acclaim
Macarthur. as He
Arrives al Airport
By John A. Giles

SOUN -. SuSS
Thousands of cheering and
surging spectators welcomed Gen.
Macarthur on his arrival at Ma
tional Airport early this morning.
The greeting was loud and affec-
tionate and there was no military
pomp.
The official estimate of the
number of people who went out
for the posr-midnight welcome was
$4,000.
A few minutes before the Mac
Arthur'S plane, Bataan, TAXED
up to the Military Air Transport
Terminal, a hastily summoned
ceremonial detail of Is soldiers
dressed in brilliant blue uniforms
and carrying rifles with fixed
bayonets were lined up to form
q passageway. And Defense Sec
retary Marshall, who outranks
Gen. Macarthur by one day, led
Gen. Bradley and the Joint Chiefs
of Staff single file down to the
ramp.
But as soon as the ouSted Far
Eastern commander stepped on
the apron. the tremendous surge
of the crowd shattered the forma-
ton. The soldiers ranks were
broken and they found themselves
pushed and showed about.
Greeted by. Marshall.
Gen. Marshall finally managed
to make his way to grasp Gen.
Macarthur hand and receive the
greeting Hello. George. how are
you?" The Secretary's reply was
drowned out by the noise.
The generals wife Jean, 19I
years his junior, was the first to
come down the ramp from the
glistening plane which had flown
nonstop from San Francisco and
landed here at 1891 am. She
was dressed in a purple dress and
was smiling happily.
Gen. Macarthur was just be-
hind her. He was wearing his
famous self-designed cap with
gold braid and a trench coat. He
looked happy, too, and proclaimed
"It feels wonderful to be back"
as he pushed his way through the
milling crowd.
Behind the general and his wife
was their 13-year-old son Arthur,
grinning and wearing a blue cap.
1t is his first visit to the Nations
Capital.
Details Planned Carefully.
There was no 17-gun salute and
no honor guard to be reviewed.
The Defense Department had TAX
en- the position earlier that such
ceremonies would be withheld un-
til later today at the Monument
Grounds.
But the Army had carefully
planned the scene. A diamond
shaped area was laid out with one
point at the ramp from the plane
and the other at the spot where
the general would get into a wait
ing car to be whisked to his Hotel
Statler suite.
On the uppersleft hand side of
the diamond were jammed the
news and radio reporters. On the
lower left side Of the diamond,
perched on a fat trailer and ar
rayed along the ground, were the
still photographers and on the
lower right-hand side were the
television and newsreel camera
men. The area to the upper
right of the diamond was reserved
for minor VIPS-"very important
persons" And there were micro
phones in the middle.
It was nicely arranged and by
all orders and regulations should
have worked perfectly. The Air
police. under strict orders not to
repeat their performances at
Honolulu when several Gamer
men were manhandled, could do
little to hold back the milling
crowd.
Hurley Among Dignitaries.
But "Old China hands"-as the
military terms soldiers and sailors
who have served in the Far East
managed to shake their hero's
hand and wish him luck
There was Maj. Gen. Patrick
j. Hurley, former Ambassador to
China; Let. Gen. Walter Kruger,
who commanded the 9Th Army
in the Southwest Pacific under
Gen. Macarthur, and Gen. Jona-
than Wainwright. the thin, gaunt
officer who stayed behind on
Corregidor to hold for a while
and then become captive of the
invading japanese, and many
others. Although now retired,
both Gems. Kruger and VAIN
wright wore their uniforms for the
ceremonial occasion-the latter
with the bright blue ribbon of the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
Hello, John, I'm glad to see you
you don't look a bit older" ex-