MacArthur

Recently it came to my attention that another servicman had been awarded a Medal of Honor for action in Afghanistan.  In all likelihood, it was a well-deserved award.  Fortunately, unlike the first seven that were awarded posthumously in for action in Iraq and Afghanistan, the recipient will be present in the White House in February.

The Medal of Honor has a long but sometimes tortured history.  Congress in the early days of the award doled it out like penny candy.  Sometimes, people who didn't deserve the award at all won it.  There were even shameful instances where African- and Asian-American servicemen didn't have their applications processed our of racial bias.  Since World War I, the attention given to the award has stiffened somewhat, resulting in less questionable and controversial awards.  There have still been some mistakes, but by and large the awarding of this honor has been improved greatly.

Even so, the award to one recipient has always bothered me.  Douglas MacArthur, the pompous, self-righteous, egomaniacal general with the long and checkered military career, was awarded a Medal of Honor early in World War II.  Here's the language of the citation:

For conspicuous leadership in preparing the Philippine Islands to resist conquest, for gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against invading Japanese forces, and for the heroic conduct of defensive and offensive operations on the Bataan Peninsula. He mobilized, trained, and led an army which has received world acclaim for its gallant defense against a tremendous superiority of enemy forces in men and arms. His utter disregard of personal danger under heavy fire and aerial bombardment, his calm judgment in each crisis, inspired his troops, galvanized the spirit of resistance of the Filipino people, and confirmed the faith of the American people in their Armed Forces.

There are a few problems with this.  First and foremost, even though he'd been given advance warning of an attack in the Philippines, Dougie kept his bombers lined up in the airfields, not dispersing them to make aerial attack more difficult.  His argument was that he feared guerrilla attack.  The truth of the matter is he disdained the Asian soldier, despite the fact that the Japanese army had eight years of hard fighting under its belt by the time it attacked in late 1941. 

Dougie also did nothing to prepare the islands against invasion.  The honorable fight put up by US forces on the Bataan peninsula could have been even harder on the Japanese had Dougie made adequate preparations before they came.  Supplies weren't distributed correctly.  Force dispositions dissipated American strengths.  It's unlikely that the Japanese could have been defeated; they had the advantage of superior interior lines.  Even so, what MacArthur did was criminally neglectful and certainly not worthy of the Medal of Honor.

There's no question that Roosevelt gave MacArthur the Medal of Honor to instill pride in the United States people and to rally them around the cause.  But in so doing, he devalued the award to those men who made the ultimate sacrifice.  It was a shameful choice that only served to fuel MacArthur's ego that led to later miscalculations at Peliliu and Chosin needlessly costing brave men their lives and futures.

That MacArthur served his country is undeniable.  But that he was given the nation's highest award for valor in combat is one of the worst decisions in the long history of the Medal of Honor.

(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles