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Douglas MacArthur Biography

Key leader of the Allies with significant impact in the Pacific Theater:
Douglas MacArthur commanded the Pacific in WW2. He oversaw the Allied occupation of Japan after WW2. MacArthur was born in 1880 at Little Rock Barracks in Arkansas. He eventually graduated from West Point at the top of his class. In WW1, MacArthur helped lead the 42nd Rainbow Division in France and was promoted to brigadier general.

Between wars he served as a superintendent of West Point, Chief of Staff of the Army, and field marshal of the Philippines. He was a man of high stature as he was tasked with creating an armed forces for the Philippines. When he found out he would be scheduled to return for duty in the United States, he resigned from the military, stating that his mission wasn't finished.

Once WW2 started, MacArthur was recalled to active duty and named the commander of US Army forces in the Far East. Still in the Philipines he defended the base there. It was about to be overrun by a Japanese invasion when Franklin Roosevelt called MacArthur to come back to the US. MacArthur promised to the citizens "I shall return" after he left. Philippine forces fell to Japan 2 months later.

April 1942: MacArthur was appointed supreme commander of Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific. The next two and a half years under his control was spent island hopping across the Pacific. He eventually famously came to liberate the Philippines in October of 1944. Once he was wading ashore he said,  "I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil". He was later given command of all Army forces in the Pacific.

Septemper 2, 1945: MacArthur accepted Japan's surrended in Tokyo Back aboard the USS Missouri. He then oversaw the Japanese occupation by US forces, restoration of the economy, drafting a new constitution, and demobilization of Japan's military forces from 1945 to 1951.

Source:
https://www.history.com/topics/douglas-macarthur

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