名人轶事:Douglas MacArthur: Born to Be a Soldier

（单词翻译）

Douglas MacArthur: Born to Be a SoldierWritten by Paul Thompson

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ANNCR: Now, the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today Rich

Kleinfeldt and Sarah Long tell about one of the most unusual and successful

American military leaders, General Douglas MacArthur.

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VOICE ONE:

General Douglas MacArthur was a most unusual man. He was extremely intelligent

and very demanding. He expected his orders to be followed exactly. Yet he had

problems all his life following the orders of those who were his commanders.

Douglas MacArthur was very intelligent and could remember things that others

would easily forget. He could design battle plans that left the enemy no

choice other than surrender and defeat. His battle plans defeated the enemy

and saved as many of his own men as possible.

At other times, he would make simple mistakes that made him appear stupid. He

often said things that showed he felt important. Many people made jokes about

him. Some of his soldiers sang songs that made fun of him. Others believed he

was the best general ever to serve in the United States military.

General Douglas MacArthur was extremely brave in battle, sometimes almost

foolish. It often seemed as if he believed he could not be killed. He won

every medal and honor the United States can give a soldier. However, at the

end of his life, he rejected war and warned American political leaders to stay

away from armed conflict.

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VOICE TWO:
Douglas MacArthur was born to be a soldier. His father, Arthur MacArthur, was

a hero of the American Civil War and continued to serve in the army after the

war ended in eighteen sixty-five. He became the top officer of the army in

nineteen-oh-six.

Douglas was born on an Army base near the southern city of Little Rock,

Arkansas in January, eighteen eighty. He grew up on army bases where his

father served. He said the first sounds he could remember as a child were

those of the Army: the sounds of horns, drums and soldiers marching.

VOICE ONE:

There was never any question about what Douglas MacArthur would do with his

life. He would join the army. He wanted to enter the United States Military

Academy at West Point, New York. The Academy is a university that trains

officers for the United States Army. School officials rejected him two times

before he was accepted. He finished his four years at West Point as the best

student in his class.

VOICE TWO:

Douglas MacArthur began his service in the Army by traveling to several Asian

countries including Japan, and to the Philippines, then an American territory.

He also served at several small bases in the United States. He became a

colonel¹ when World War One began. He led troops on very dangerous attacks

against the enemy. He won many honors for his bravery and leadership. After

that war, he served as head of the West Point Military Academy. He became a

general. During the nineteen thirties, President Herbert Hoover appointed him

Chief of Staff of the Army, one of the most important jobs in the American

military.

In nineteen-thirty-five, General MacArthur was appointed military advisor² to

the Philippines. He was to help the government build an army for defense³

purposes as the Philippines began planning for independence. He had retired⁴

from the army. He was the chief military advisor to the Philippine military

forces when the United States entered World War Two in December, nineteen

forty-one.

VOICE ONE:

Japanese aggression⁵ in the Pacific developed very quickly. Japanese troops

began arriving in the Philippines on December eleventh, nineteen forty-one.

The fighting was extremely fierce.

President Roosevelt 

The Japanese were defeating the Philippine and American forces. General

MacArthur had been recalled to active duty by President . President Roosevelt

ordered MacArthur to leave the Philippines to command American forces in the

South Pacific. General MacArthur finally agreed to leave for Australia before

the Philippines surrendered to Japan. But he made a promise to the Philippine

people. He said, "I shall return."#p#副标题#e#

VOICE TWO:

Military history experts continue to study General MacArthur's decisions

during World War Two. He won battle after battle in the South Pacific area.

Often, he would pass islands with strong enemy forces, cut off their supplies

and leave them with no chance to fight. In nineteen forty-four, he returned to

the Philippines with an army that defeated the Japanese.

VOICE ONE:

MacArthur was chosen to accept the Japanese surrender in September, nineteen

forty-five. He was appointed Supreme⁶ Commander of the Allied⁷ Powers, the

leader of the occupation forces that would rule Japan. As an American soldier,

he had to follow the orders of the government in Washington. But in Japan,

General MacArthur ruled like a dictator⁸.

VOICE TWO:

The Japanese expected severe punishment. They saw MacArthur as a very

conservative⁹ ruler who would make Japan suffer.

MacArthur did charge some Japanese leaders with war crimes. But he did not try

to punish the Japanese people.

General MacArthur told the Japanese they must change, both politically and

socially. He began with education. Before the war, female children in Japan

received little if any education. MacArthur said education would be for

everyone, including girls and women.

He said women must have the right to vote in elections, and be permitted to

hold political office. He said Japanese women would now have the same legal

rights as men. And he said that every person had the same legal protection

under the law.

VOICE ONE:

General MacArthur told the Japanese people they were now free to form

political parties. And he ended the idea of an official government religion.

Religion would be a matter of individual choice. He also said the Japanese

government would no longer be controlled by a few powerful people.

MacArthur told Japan it would now be ruled by a parliament that was freely

elected by the people. He helped the people of Japan write a new constitution

for a democratic form of government.

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VOICE TWO:

On June twenty-fifth, nineteen fifty, North Korean troops invaded South Korea.

Within two days, the United States decided¹⁰ to send armed forces to aid South

Korea.

Douglas MacArthur was appointed commander of the United Nations forces in

South Korea. As the weeks passed, the North Korean army forced the South

Korean Army and its allies¹¹ to retreat to the southern city of Pusan.

Many military experts said South Korea was lost. General MacArthur did not

agree. He wanted to attack from the sea, deep behind the enemy troops at the

city of Inchon. MacArthur said the enemy would not be prepared. Most other

military leaders believed this would be extremely dangerous. American Marines

did attack Inchon September fifteenth. It was a complete success. MacArthur

had been right.

VOICE ONE:

General MacArthur often disagreed with political leaders. President Truman

warned him several times not to disagree with government policy. General

MacArthur continued to disagree and told reporters when he did. He often gave

orders that were not approved by the president.

President Truman   

MacArthur called for a total victory in Korea. He wanted to defeat communism

in East Asia. He wanted to bomb Chinese bases in Manchuria and block Chinese

ports. President Truman and his military advisers¹² were concerned World War

Three would start.

In April, nineteen fifty-one, President Truman replaced MacArthur as head of

the U.N. forces in Korea. Douglas MacArthur went home to the United States. It

was the first time he had been there in more than fifteen years. He was

honored as a returning hero. He was invited to speak before Congress. There

was a huge parade to honor him in New York City.

VOICE TWO:

General MacArthur retired again. Some political leaders wanted him to compete

for some political office, perhaps for president. Instead, he lived a quiet

life with his wife and son. He died at the age of eighty-four on April fifth,

nineteen sixty-four.

Today, many Americans have forgotten Douglas MacArthur. However, the people of

the Philippines built a statue to honor him for keeping his promise to return.

And, many Japanese visitors go to General MacArthur's burial place in Norfolk,

Virginia to remember what he did for Japan.

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ANNCR: This Special English program was written by Paul Thompson. Your

narrators were Rich Kleinfeldt and Sarah Long. I’m Shirley Griffith. Listen

again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.