MacArthur in Asia

The General and His Staff in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea

Hiroshi Masuda, Reiko Yamamoto

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780801449390
• eBook ISBN: 9780801466182
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: History

General Douglas MacArthur's storied career is inextricably linked to Asia. His father, Arthur, served as Military Governor of the Philippines while Douglas was a student at West Point, and the younger MacArthur would serve several tours of duty in that country over the next four decades, becoming friends with several influential Filipinos, including the country's future president, Emanuel L. Quezon. In 1935, he became Quezon's military advisor, a post he held after retiring from the U.S. Army and at the time of Japan's invasion of 1941. As Supreme Commander for the Southwest Pacific, MacArthur led American forces throughout the Pacific War. He officially accepted Japan's surrender in 1945 and would later oversee the Allied occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951. He then led the UN Command in the Korean War from 1950 to 1951, until he was dismissed from his post by President Truman.

In MacArthur in Asia, the distinguished Japanese historian Hiroshi Masuda offers a new perspective on the American icon, focusing on his experiences in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea and highlighting the importance of the general's staff—the famous "Bataan Boys" who served alongside MacArthur throughout the Asian arc of his career—to both MacArthur's and the region's history. First published to wide acclaim in Japanese in 2009 and translated into English for the first time, this book uses a wide range of sources—American and Japanese, official records and oral histories—to present a complex view of MacArthur, one that illuminates his military decisions during the Pacific campaign and his administration of the Japanese Occupation.

Table of contents

• Preface and Acknowledgments
• 1. Encounter with the Philippines
• 2. Origins of the Bataan Boys
• 3. From the Approach of War to the Evacuation from Manila, October to December 1941
• 4. The Fall of Manila and the First Offensive and Defensive Battles, Early January to Early February 1942
• 5. Planning the Escape from Corregidor, Early February to Late February 1942
• 6. The Evacuation of MacArthur from Corregidor, Late February to the Middle of March 1942
• 7. The Second Bataan Operation and the Death March, Early February to Early May 1942
• 8. From Australia to the Philippines, March 1942 to October 1944
• 9. From the Philippines to Japan, October 1944 to August 1945
• 10. The Demilitarization of Japan, August 1945 to December 1947
• 11. The Democratization of Japan, August 1945 to April 1950
• 12. Washington’s Policy Shift on Japan and MacArthur’s Resistance, January 1948 to June 1950
• 13. The Korean War and the Dismissal of MacArthur, June 1950 to April 1951
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography