This is part 1 in a series about Douglas MacArthur. See part 2 here.
The Korean War in 1950 was the last battle commanded by the legendary General Douglas MacArthur. At that time, the United States Truman administration wanted to avoid direct conflict with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or the Soviet Union and ended his career.
After that, MacArthur went to Congress to deliver a classic speech: “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away,” publicly bringing his 52 years of military service to an unwilling conclusion.
After retreating behind the scenes, he initially wanted to exile himself. However, following an incident, he changed his mind, which prompted his idea of leaving a precious record for human history. Before his death, he made the prophecy that the Republic of China will regain mainland China.
Douglas MacArthur (rear), Jean MacArthur, and son Arthur MacArthur IV returning to the Philippines for a visit in 1950. (Image: via Wikimedia Commons)
In December 1952, after being dismissed, MacArthur presented a memorandum to President Eisenhower to end the Korean War. He suggested that in addition to resisting the global penetration of the Communist Party, the United States should formulate a sound China policy.
He said: “The current failure of the United States strategy towards China will cause a series of disasters, which will be the most significant political failure in the United States in a century. If we tolerate the red catastrophe, we will have to pay a heavy price in future generations, perhaps a hundred years.”
After making his final statement to the authorities, he gradually withdrew from the political arena. He was over 70, and his physical health was not as good as before. He accepted a friend’s invitation to serve as a board member of Remington Rand Corporation and became the Chairman.
In the first few years of his retirement, he hardly participated in public activities. Many publishers approached him, hoping to help him write memoirs, and some Hollywood studios offered to make an epic movie with his life for a million dollars, but he declined them one after another.
God’s revelation to MacArthur: I will come back
In January 1960, MacArthur, who had just had his 80th birthday, stayed at the hospital because of an illness. During the hospitalization, he reflected on his past life experiences and felt that he still had an unfinished mission to the world.
Douglas MacArthur Statue & Monument at the United States Military Academy. (Image: via Wikimedia Commons)
MacArthur prayed and pleaded for God’s mercy. Soon, his body healed quickly like a miracle. After he recovered from the severe illness, he said to the pastor next to him: “In the past 36 hours, I chanted the first verse of the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of John in the Bible, and then I felt that God had gifted my life again; a new life was born from death.” He said to his wife, who was waiting: “Jane! I will come back again.”
After he recovered, MacArthur began to write his memoirs. He wrote in the foreword: “This memoir may provide future historians to explore these great wars’ actions and motivations.
“At the same time, it is also for the next young generation in the United States to let them sacrifice their lives for their ideals when necessary to their own country, to understand the real value of life. It is what I expect.”
However, the authorities did not take his advice seriously. In 1962, 82-year-old MacArthur returned to the United States Military Academy at West Point to give a classic speech on “Duty, Honor, and Country.” In this hour-long public speech, he repeated the school motto (Duty, Honor, and Country).
He mentioned that the U.S. military soldiers are the noblest figures, and the process of fighting the enemy is a personal life history. No matter how the world changes in the future, the will to win is irreplaceable.
After the speech, the whole venue was silent. Many people wiped their tears away. The spirit left by MacArthur moved everyone present.
Translated by Joseph Wu and edited by Helen
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