The World War II Discussion Forum will hold its next lecture this coming Tuesday evening at 8pm ET. James Ellman will speak on his book, MacArthur Reconsidered: General Douglas MacArthur as a Wartime Commander.
In MacArthur Reconsidered: General Douglas MacArthur as a Wartime Commander, author James Ellman digs deep, connects the dots, and concludes that General Douglas MacArthur was decidedly not a military genius. One of America's most controversial generals, Douglas MacArthur’s rise through the U.S. Army’s ranks was meteoric. However, he did not lead large formations of men in combat until he assumed command of forces in the Philippines in 1941. When war commenced with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, MacArthur’s performance on the battlefield was a failure: he underestimated the Japanese, and his poorly trained forces were outmaneuvered and outfought by a much smaller invading force. However, in what became a repeating hallmark of his career, he successfully portrayed his actions to much of the American people as brilliant and heroic regardless of victory or defeat. After fleeing to Australia, MacArthur famously announced, “I will return,” and followed through on a quest to retake Manila regardless of its impact on Allied global strategy or its cost in American, Australian, and Filipino blood. Today, MacArthur still polarizes. Many biographies agree he was a great and patriotic leader marred by a few failures. Ellman argues the opposite: MacArthur was a lackluster battlefield commander who suffered stunning defeats while undermining the command structure of our military.
Here is the public zoom link for the lecture: MacArthur Reconsidered (April 9th)
You can also access the zoom link at the World War II Discussion Forum website: wwiidf.org
Please email me at
wwiidf.info@gmail.com with any questions or to be taken off this distribution list.
Hope to see you there.
Regards,
Greg
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Gregory McNiff
773-485-7191
Founder & Executive Director
World War II Discussion Forum
wwiidf.org