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Read American Caesar by William Manchester. It's very pro-MacArthur but it offers an interesting perspective from a Pacific war vet.

100% true

Mac was the finest allied general of wwii. He is the father of combined force modern combat. Came back from the greatest american defeat of the war to reign victorious. No other is commander could have done that except perhaps Model or Manstein…and they didn’t…they lost.

Generals have big egos. Always have and always will.

Most over rated American general? Bradley

Thank you.


And yes, PATTON.

That is puzzling. He had warning.

Patton

Patton hands down.

^^^ THIS ^^^

If only he had been given the green light to go after the commies, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today, but he wasn't so my vote also goes to Patton - one helluva' General.

Laughing. Based upon what evidence?

I'll take Ike & Bradley

My Dad served under McArthur. He thought he was a great general and that if his advice had been followed we would never have had a cold war or VietNam. Of course lots of people wouldn't have been able to make the money they do overcharging the government for defense contracts.

Patton.

My father was a sergeant in Patton's Third Army during WWII.

I'm not a big fan of MacArthur. My reasons are personal. I had a close friend who was left out in the freezing cold for 6 hours waiting by the side of the road waiting for MacAurthur to drive by. He was dressed in nothing but his Navy dress uniform. After that he was finished. I knew him in his 70's and 80's. John was a good friend and an excellent grouse and quail hunter, but he went 50 years with wrecked lungs from that fiasco.

Let me clear something up. I recently finished Clark Lee's memoir, They Call it Pacific

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JYD9MQM/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

Lee was an AP reporter who was originally stationed in China and got sent to the PI just as the Japs were set to invade. At the onset of the book, it was a Japanese General who subtly told him to get out of China. When he got to the Phillipines, everyone knew invasion was imminent, and were prepared. The defense of the PI was fairly masterful on all counts. For the longest time, we were able to keep the Japanese at bay.

The problem was resupply. The Americans kept begging for ammunition, food, etc. Every day for months, they expected an American landing or American bombing raids. It was a very purposeful decision by Roosevelt not to defend the PI and to let it fall. The crazy thing is that the Americans and Fillipinos were able to keep the upper hand for a long time. The Japs had underestimated our forces and our resolve and threw raw recruits at us with substandard arms and minimal logistical support.

I would suggest reading the book. It's a ripping good tale. Lee got out by the skin of his teeth. He was billeted close to MacArthur on the rock and provides a fairly honest, positive view of him.


My FIL served under Patton in The Bulge, and managed to get a bronze star for retrieving the company's radio under heavy German fire. He loved Patton, even though he got his ass shot off in the process.

MacArthur took his money, his wife and the president and fled his command in the Philippines leaving 7K troupes serving there to surrender and many to die. Ridgeway cleaned up the mess that Truman had Macarthur make in Korea. Presidents make pretty horrific tacticians.
Bradley, Ike and most all of the command during WWII were political hacks that couldn't understand why a rich, uncouth General could be so effective at winning the war in spite of their failings. To give an idea just how effective Patton was, consider the fact that all the Nazi command leadership were afraid of him because of his effectiveness.

I was up last night reading “Caesar’s Commentaries “.

Not a MAC fan, but he was ORDERED (we follow those whilst in uniform) to leave the PI.

Excellent post.

I think that you nailed it. Different skill sets better suited to different jobs. Both McA and Patton were egotistical publicity whores who wanted to be the center of attention wherever they were. McA seldom gave credit for the tactical success of his Army commanders Eichelberger and Krueger.