General+MacArthur+B2

Name: General Douglas MacArthur Age: 61 Hometown: Little Rock, Arkansas Relationships: Married to Jean Marie Faircloth and has one son; Father was Captain Arthur MacArthur Ethnicity: White Birthday: January 26th, 1880 Recently I was stationed in the Philippines, where Japanese forces drove out the Allied forces and me (Danzer et al 579). We failed to defend the Philippines because I had not efficiently trained the Filipino army. Between 1935 and 1937, I built up and trained the Philippine army for conventional warfare, which was an impossible goal. The Japanese finally attacked at Clark Field, north of Manila only eight hours after they had attacked Pearl Harbor (“Douglas MacArthur”). The Japanese’s surprise attack was very effective and it destroyed my air forces in Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines. They eventually forced my army and me to the Bataan peninsula, where our survival was difficult (Oleksy). Eventually President Roosevelt ordered us to leave the Philippines. On March 11, 1942 my family and I left the Philippines, yet I still solemnly pledged to my comrades still on the islands, “I shall return” (Danzer et al 579). I left on a patrol torpedo boat to Australia, where I created a counterattack to launch against Japanese forces in the Pacific (“Douglas MacArthur”). By July we were on the offensive and took eastern New Guinea. At dawn on October 17th, 1944 the battle of the Leyte Gulf began and I fought to reclaim the Philippines (Oleksy). Now two years have passed since the Japanese drove me out of the Philippines, but now I can proudly stand on shore and announce, “People of the Philippines: I have returned” (Danzer et al 581). __Works Cited__ Danzer, Gerald, et al. __The Americans__. Evanston, Illinois: McDougal Littell Inc., 2003. “Douglas MacArthur.”__History Biographies.__ 24 October 2007.  Oleksy, Walter. "MacArthur, Douglas." __Military Leaders of World War II__. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1994. __American History Online__. Hunterdon Central Regional High School. 24 October 2007. __Picture Citation:__ http://korea50.army.mil/history/biographies/macarthur.shtml