MacArthur Memorial Podcast

Peter Eisner, author of MacArthur's Spies, spoke at the MacArthur Memorial in May 2017. MacArthur's Spies tells the story of several people who resisted the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. Through espionage and sabotage, they helped pave the way for MacArthur's return to the Philippines in 1944. Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text message! (...

Bill Lascher, author of Eve of a Hundred Midnights, spoke at the MacArthur Memorial in March 2017. Eve of a Hundred Midnights recounts the meteoric rise of Melville Jacoby, a dashing foreign correspondent who fell in love not only with a country - China - but with Annalee Whitmore, a whip-smart Hollywood scriptwriter-turned journalist. Together they covered the opening days of World War II, report...

January 26 marks the birthday of General Douglas MacArthur. It is also Australia Day. On January 26, 2017, the MacArthur Memorial partnered with Air Vice-Marshal Alan Clements, Head of Australian Defense Services (Washington), to mark each of these significant occasions. As part of the program, MacArthur Memorial Archivist James Zobel gave a very short address on General MacArthur and the ties bet...

During World War II, the Japanese recruited dozens of English speaking women to be part of a propaganda broadcast aimed at lowering the morale of Allied troops in the Pacific. The broadcasters would report Japanese successes and describe the overwhelming advantages of Japanese forces. Often these reports were false, and most Allied troops knew it, but shows with the female broadcasters were just s...

Dr. Theresa Kaminski, author of the book Angels of the Underground: The American Women Who Resisted the Japanese in the Philippines in World War II, spoke at the MacArthur Memorial’s 2016 WWII Symposium. During her presentation, Dr. Kaminski explored the lives of four different women who survived the fall of Manila and the several years of Japanese occupation that followed. Relatively unknown toda...

James Duffy, author of the book War at the End of the World: Douglas MacArthur and the Forgotten Fight for New Guinea, 1942-1945, spoke at the MacArthur Memorial’s 2016 WWII Symposium. During his lecture, Duffy outlined the epic four year fight for New Guinea and explained why New Guinea was one of the most hostile battlefields of the entire war. Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text m...

Walter Borneman, author of the book MacArthur at War: War in the Pacific, presented his latest research at the MacArthur Memorial’s 2016 WWII Symposium. During his lecture, Borneman traced MacArthur’s evolution as a leader during the war and discussed the General’s mastery of combined operations. Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text message! (Note: we can only read the texts, we can&#...

In April 1943, American intelligence officers intercepted the flight plans and travel itinerary of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. The plans indicated that the admiral would be traveling through zone that could be reached by American fighter planes. Yamamoto was a high level target for a variety of reasons. He had been instrumental in the Pearl Harbor attack, at Wake Island, the Dutch East Indi...

In November 2000, the Memorial's Archivist was asked to look at four letters purportedly written by Douglas MacArthur shortly after World War I. The letters were authenticated and today they provide a window into a previously unknown chapter of MacArthur's life. The letters were written to Herta Heuser, a young German Red Cross worker who helped nurse MacArthur back to health during the...

General MacArthur’s biographers often note that he was regarded with admiration by both John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Generally the MacArthur/Nixon relationship is marginalized in MacArthur biographies, while the MacArthur/Kennedy relationship is highlighted. Nixon however had a long history of being publically pro-MacArthur. He even described MacArthur as “a hero, a presence, an event.” In t...

Episode Fifty-Nine: The Five-Star Rank (December 2015) On December 14, 1944, Congress approved the creation of the grade of "General of the Army” and “Fleet Admiral.” Over the next two weeks, seven officers in the American Army and Navy were promoted to these newly authorized ranks. The reason for these promotions was simple. American senior commanders needed to be able to work on equal terms...

When ordered to leave the Philippines in 1942, General MacArthur handpicked a small number of officers to take with him. The “Bataan Gang” as these men were later known, formed the core of his inner circle for the rest of World War II. Major General William Marquat was a member of General Douglas MacArthur’s “Bataan Gang.” A highly decorated officer of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War...

On October 20, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore at Leyte to visit the beachhead U.S. soldiers were in the process of establishing. He was also there to deliver a dramatic radio address to the people of the Philippines announcing that the much anticipated liberation of the islands was underway. Broadcast from the beach (and from a destroyer off the coast), MacArthur’s “I Have Returned”...

On September 2, 1945, representatives of Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender in a ceremony aboard the USS Missouri. General Douglas MacArthur presided over this carefully orchestrated ceremony as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Many of the Allied nations had expressed dissatisfaction with the secrecy of the evening surrender of Nazi Germany in May of 1945, so there was enormous press...

Emory Upton is considered one of the most influential reformers of the U.S. Army in American history. He is sometimes referred to as the Army’s version of Alfred Thayer Mahan. A respected combat veteran of the American Civil War, today Upton is remembered for successfully leading infantry against an entrenched enemy and also for suggesting that “excessive civilian control of the military” was the...

As the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, John J. Pershing served as a mentor to a generation of generals who later led the United States to victory in World War II. Some of these young officers included: Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar N. Bradley, and George S. Patton. In 2013, U.S. Army Major Andrew Forney sat down with the Memori...

From the Scottish Highlands to America, General Douglas MacArthur's ancestors have played prominent roles in world history. As the old Scottish adage goes: "there is nothing older, except the hills, MacArtair and the Devil." This podcast tells the story of the MacArthurs from 1200 AD to the birth of Douglas MacArthur and his son. Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text mes...

General Douglas MacArthur reportedly liked Admiral William F. Halsey from the moment he met him – describing him as "blunt, outspoken, [and] dynamic." The feeling was mutual, and Halsey later referred to MacArthur as a lifelong friend. Throughout his long career, Halsey was an enormously popular commander and famously earned his Naval Aviators wings in 1935 at the age of 52. Nicknamed “B...

General MacArthur was a self-proclaimed child of the "Blue and Gray." He grew up hearing stories of his father's exploits with the 24th Wisconsin during the American Civil War and his Virginia born mother idolized Robert E. Lee. From West Point, to engineering assignments, to Mexico, parts of MacArthur's early military career would mimic Lee's early career. In 2013, U.S. A...

Today Jean MacArthur is largely in the shadow of her husband General Douglas MacArthur. By all accounts however, she was a vital member of his inner circle and many of her husband’s biographers considered her an “unusual” but extraordinary woman. Part I covered Mrs. MacArthur’s life up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Part II gives a behind the scenes look at her experiences from the flight...

Today Jean MacArthur is largely in the shadow of her husband General Douglas MacArthur. By all accounts however, she was a vital member of his inner circle and many of her husband’s biographers considered her an “unusual” but extraordinary woman. She came from a family with a deeply rooted tradition of military service and had a great personal interest in American military history. In possession o...

Are leaders born or made? Why do places like West Point seem to generate extremely high numbers of business, military, and political leaders? To answer these questions, we sat down with Major Adrienne M. Harrison - a West Point graduate and a veteran of three tours in Iraq. Major Harrison also holds a PhD in History and at the time of this interview was serving as an Assistant Professor of History...

On October 19, 2014 the MacArthur Memorial, the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation, and the Embassy of the Philippines hosted a special reception to commemorate the October 20, 1944 Leyte Landings. The Memorial's Archivist Jim Zobel gave a short lecture on MacArthur's road back to the Philippines. Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text message! (Note: we can only read the te...

On July 24, 2014, the MacArthur Memorial hosted Mark Perry – author of the book: The Most Dangerous Man in America: The Making of Douglas MacArthur. Perry addressed the Roosevelt/MacArthur relationship and MacArthur’s service during World War II – shedding new light on the General and his legacy. Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text message! (Note: we can only read the texts, we can&#...

The seizure of the Admiralty Islands in February 1944 was one of the boldest operations of MacArthur’s Southwest Pacific campaign and perhaps the war in the Pacific. By capturing the islands, the 1st Cavalry Division, U.S. Navy destroyers, and a handful of Seabees ensured that MacArthur would go on to become the Liberator of the Philippines. Have a comment about this episode? Send us a text messag...