MacArthur Memorial Podcast

Founded in 1947, the National Football Foundation (NFF) has spent more than 75 years promoting leadership, scholarship, and athletic excellence through football. In this latest episode, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Mattew Sign, Chief Operating Officer of the NFF to discuss General Douglas MacArthur’s role as a “guiding father” of the NFF and how his legacy continues to influence college f...

In this latest episode, MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams answer some of the more popular and/or unique questions about General MacArthur we have received from MacArthur Memorial Podcast listeners and on social media. This series includes: The current Palawan Massacre site dispute Why was George Kenny not picked to lead the USAF? Did MacArthur want Joe Stillwell as his ch...

In September 2025, the MacArthur Memorial and the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) hosted a free public event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Incheon Landings. Risking it All: The Incheon Landings at 75 and the Legacy of the Korean War was a dynamic two-part event featuring a historical overview of the operation, followed by a moderated discussion with three former United Natio...

In 1936, five years after occupying Manchuria, the Empire of Japan created the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department—publicly presented as a hygiene agency but secretly responsible for developing biological weapons. In this episode, Jenny Chan, founder of Pacific Atrocities Education, joins the MacArthur Memorial Podcast to discuss Unit 731, the most notorious biological warfare un...

In September 2025, the MacArthur Memoria and the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) hosted a free public event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Incheon Landings. Risking it All: The Incheon Landings at 75 and the Legacy of the Korean War was a dynamic two-part event featuring a historical overview of the operation, followed by a moderated discussion with three former United Nation...

In September 2025, the MacArthur Memoria and the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) hosted a free public event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Incheon Landings. Risking it All: The Incheon Landings at 75 and the Legacy of the Korean War was a dynamic two-part event featuring a historical overview of the operation, followed by a moderated discussion with three former United Nation...

On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial hosted a free virtual lecture by Professor Erwin Tiongson about Philippine-American heritage and history in Washington, DC. An audience Q&A will followed his presentation.  Watch the presentation on YouTube . Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text message! (Note: we can only read the texts, we can't reply) Support the show Foll...

In December 1944, as General Douglas MacArthur continued the invasion of the Philippines, Admiral William “Bull” Halsey’s Third Fleet was caught in a violent typhoon that capsized ships, resulted in the loss of hundreds of sailors, and set in motion extraordinary acts of courage and survival. Halsey faced an inquiry in the aftermath, yet this remarkable and tragic episode is often overshadowed by...

Thank you for your questions! In this episode, MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams answer listener questions about the controversial relationship between General Douglas MacArthur and Isabel Cooper. Prior to this Q&A session, the historians discussed the known documentary evidence and context of the relationship in this YouTube program: https://youtu.be/VMEEJ_QCVhs?si=s...

The relationship between Douglas MacArthur and Isabel Cooper generates a lot of interest, speculation, and confusion. It certainly was not a masterclass in dating - and there are questions about Cooper's age at the time of the relationshp. What does the documentary evidence say about their relationship? Join MacArthur Memorial historians Amanda Williams and Jim Zobel for a discussion of the r...

On July 23, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial hosted a virtual lecture by Dr. Brian Walsh, author of The "Rape" of Japan: The Myth of Mass Sexual Violence During the Allied Occupation (2024). An audience Q&A followed the presentation. View the presentation on YouTube MacArthur Committee Information: MacArthur Membership Committee Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text message!...

On April 11, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial marked the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s relief of General MacArthur with a half‑day symposium examining the event from both leaders’ perspectives and its broader significance in American history. The program featured scholars from the MacArthur Memorial, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, and Old Dominion University. This episode feature...

On April 11, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial marked the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s relief of General MacArthur with a half‑day symposium examining the event from both leaders’ perspectives and its broader significance in American history. The program featured scholars from the MacArthur Memorial, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, and Old Dominion University. This episode feature...

Just weeks after World War II ended in Europe, Allied leaders President Harry S. Truman, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin met in Potsdam, Germany, to negotiate peace and shape the post‑war world. Despite deep political differences, one unexpected force helped bridge the tension: music. Finding Peace at Potsdam, presented by the Virginia Arts Festival and the Virginia Sym...

On April 11, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial marked the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s relief of General MacArthur with a half‑day symposium examining the event from both leaders’ perspectives and its broader significance in American history. The program featured scholars from the MacArthur Memorial, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, and Old Dominion University. This episode feature...

Many listeners are familiar with the Monuments Men and Women - the Allied military personnel who protected cultural treasures during World War II and then aided in post-war restitution. Rose Valland, a French art historian at Paris's Jeu de Paume museum, was not officially a Monuments officer until May 1945. Throughout the war though, she courageously documented Nazi looting, tracked stolen a...

In the darkest days of World War II, two towering figures stood as the living embodiments of national defiance: Winston Churchill, the aristocratic bulldog of Great Britain, and Charles de Gaulle, the tall, austere French general. Both refused to surrender to Nazi Germany. Thrown together by fate and war, against great odds, they saved their nations, clashed dramatically, and helped reshape the po...

On Friday, February 19, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial hosted a virtual event featuring Dr. Frank Blazich Jr., Curator of Military History at the Smithsonian National Museum of American. Dr. Blazich shared the story of the 34th Naval Construction Battalion, the first African American Seabee Battalion in US Navy history. A Q&A followed the presentation.  MacArthur Committee Information:  MacArthu...

In this latest episode, MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams answer some of the more popular and/or unique questions about General MacArthur we have received from MacArthur Memorial Podcast listeners and on social media. This series includes: MacArthur's WWI injuries MacArthur's correspondence with his CINCINC/CINCFE successors MacArthur's favorite NFL/MLB tea...

On August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki, roughly 1600 feet away from the original Urakami Cathedral. The blast killed dozens inside the cathedral, and over 70,000 in the city. The cathedral and its smaller bell were destroyed in the blast. The larger bell survived in the rubble. In 1959 the cathedral was rebuilt but one bell tower remained empty. In 202...

Douglas MacArthur was in the Corps of Engineers from 1903 to 1917. D. Clayton James, a MacArthur biographer, titled a chapter and a sub-chapter about this period of MacArthur's career: "The Travels and Tribulations of a Young Engineer," and "The Brink of Oblivion." In this latest episode, MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams discuss MacArthur's...

MacArthur had a deep, lifelong connection to West Point. In this episode, Sherman Fleek, author of MacArthur and West Point: How the General and the Academy Shaped Each Other,  joined the MacArthur Memorial Podcast to discuss this important part of MacArthur's life and legacy. Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text message! (Note: we can only read the texts, we can't reply) Sup...

Operation Olympic was the first phase of Operation Downfall—the Allied plan to invade Japan and end World War II. Set for November 1, 1945, this massive amphibious assault on Kyushu was canceled after Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union’s declaration of war. In this episode, MacArthur Memorial historians Amanda Williams and Jim Zobel break...

On August 23, 2025, the MacArthur Memorial hosted Finale in the Pacific, a half day exploration of the end of the Pacific War. The event was a partnership between the MacArthur Memorial, the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, and the Military Aviation Museum. One of the presenters, Dr. Timothy Orr discussed some of the final air engagements of the war. Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text me...

On August 23, 2025, the MacArthur Memorial hosted Finale in the Pacific, a half day exploration of the end of the Pacific War. The event was a partnership between the MacArthur Memorial, the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, and the Military Aviation Museum. One of the presenters, historian Dennis M. Giangreco, discussed President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb.  Have a comment about this...