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Show lifted his heal slightly and smiled to his wife and General Whitney. "I shall return," he said. . These words gave hope to Jean .MacArthur who had heard them before. They made up the famous battle slogan which MacArthur had first directed to the soldiers, sailors, and nurses on Corregidor and to the 18 million people of the Philippine Islands when he was forced to flee from the Japanese onslaught in 1942. The words were also the pledge that helped sustain the Filipinos during the ur Japanese occupation; now 7 it helped Jean believe that her husband would fight his way back to health. During his recovery, Jean, who has always "drunk of the same cup," moved into the room across the hall, where she stayed through the three months of his hospitalization. Mac-Arth- Home Life lias Been a Fortress This has always been the tone of their marriage. With his wife and son, General MacArthur has enjoyed a home life that has been its own strong fortress within any theater of war. These two his wife and his son know what Manila, Corregidor, and Inchon meant to him. They know and he knows that they know. To each of them, he, in turn, has given a sentimental devotion. This devotion to his son is reflected in a recollection of General Whitney, a frequent companion, who has seen the General weep on only three occasions. The General wept when Manila fell to the Japanese and when he told the world about the Bataan Death March. The third time he wept was when his son fell while ice skating and broke 'his arm. When the MacArthurs lived in Brisbane, Australia, early in World War II, the General used to Arplay a "boom-boogame with thur every morning. The game would start with father receiving a smart salute from Arthur. Then father and son marched about the room to the tune of "boomity, boomityfDoom," which they shouted in chorus. When Arthur reached a certain chair, he knelt and hid his eyes until his father shouted an especially loud "boom!" At that signal Arthur lookedup to see what his morning surprise was. Perhaps it was as insig- five-year-- m" IT , old nificant as a pencil or some paper clips. But on special occasions it could be a new toy. Because this morning ritual was only for father and son, the mother was never present Her part in the enterprise was to hide the boom-boo- m presents, lest the father give his son all at the same time. One boom-boo- m gift the boy cherished was a tiny American flag, the symbol of the homeland he had never seen. The General was named Father of the Year in 1942. In accepting this honor, he said: "By profes- -, sion, I am a soldier and take pride in that Jact But I am prouder infinitely prouder to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. "Tne one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life." Douglas MacArthur was as dutiful a son as he is a father. When the MacArthurs were evacuating Manila, he ran back to the family apartment to get medals won by his father, Lt. Gen. Arthur MacArthur, also a famous soldier. With his mother, Douglas MacArthur enjoyed so close an attachment that, when he was appointed military adviser to the new governor of the Philippines, he said that he would accept only if his mother, then in her middle 80s, could come with him. Come with him she did. During the voyage, Douglas MacArthur, then 57, met Jean Faircloth of Murfreesboro, Tenn., an attractive Southerner 20 years his junior. She became his second wife after an extended courtship (his first marriage to Henrietta Louise Brooks ended in divorce). To MacArthur, his wife has always been "my beloved wife; my best soldier." To Mrs. MacArthur, her husband is never 'Douglas"; she calls him "General" or more playfully, "Sir Boss." The General, Jean, and young Arthur have shared difficult and dangerous times, and their relationship still reflects these ordeals. Once, the General ordered his wife not to take the child to the barber for fear that he would catch cold. But, "best soldier" though she was, Jean defied her commander this time. In Tokyo, the MacArthurs resided in the former American embassy, a gaudy and unlivable estab too-doti- lishment When Arthur asked, "Will this be a home?" the General assured him: "Your mother will take care of us." During the Korean war, MacArthur's family shared with him the exultation of victory at Inchon and the despair and confusion that followed Red Chinese intervention! Then, on April 12, 1951, while the MacArthurs were entertaining two U.S. Senators at lunch, Mrs. MacArthur was called to the telephone. On an Armed Services Radio broadcast,' an old friend had heard the news of recall because of his demands to attack Red bases inside China. This was the end of active service for an old soldier whose earliest memory was the sound of bugles in .Fort Wingate, a lonely frontier post in the territory of New Mexico, where his parents took him as a babe in arms. But, as the senior military officer on the active rolls of the Armed Forces of the United States, a post, that ranks all other offices, he had hoped to be assigned duties by the President and to be consulted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff When no assignment and no request for consultation came, he felt that he was a resource that was being wasted. MacArthur, however, feels that his warning in Korea that "there is no substitute for victory" has proved prophetic. He believes that, as the result of our reluctance to pursue the Korean war to ultimate victory, we have allowed Red China to become a military colossus which threatens the peace ng Mac-Arthu- . r's of the world. Arthur Won't De a Soldier In the intervening years, the General's only son has become a senior at Columbia College, majoring in English. Arthur wants to be a writer and has no intention of following in his family's military tradition. A soldier and a soldier's son, the General has always encouraged his own son to nt be He is content that this gentle and intelligent boy has been drawn to the artistic rather than to the military life. When Arthur showed interest in playing the piano, however, his father watched closely, and when it was obvious the boy was only an average player, he discouraged professional ambitions. (Continued on page 12) self-relia- M I) Accompanying his father on a visit to West Point in 1951, given this dress cap by the Corps of Cadets at the Academy. Arthur-wa-s ....... .1 ., ...'. i r7 I - dignitary. Dr. Ryotaru Azuma. :: x N. V s) " " ' " V Two former soldiers, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur, meet informally before attending a White House luncheon in 1954. Family Weekly, January 22, 1961 |