General Douglas MacArthur was born January 26, 1880. His father, Arthur MacArthur, later became a general. Young Douglas at an early age wanted to be like his father. He first went to West Point in 1899 and he had the highest entrance grade in his class. He stayed there until 1903, when he graduated as captain of the corps. Right after this, he went on his first assignment in the Philippines. He was a Colonel in World War I, and he organized the Famous Rainbow Division. When MacArthur went oversees he led his troops over the top in every battle. He was gassed twice but never quit. At the end of the war, he received the "Distinguished Service Medal." At age 38, he was already the youngest brigadier general ever. He was also the youngest Superintendent at We
After this MacArthur was now a five-star general and supreme commander in charge of Japan. He stayed there until June 25 in 1950, when the communist North Korea invaded South Korea. He was now commander of the United Nations Forces. He led the Inchon invasion, which went behind the enemy lines and routed them back across the Yule River into China. The Chinese waited a while and attacked suddenly from across the Yalu River and slowly pushed his troops south. Truman and MacArthur had been disagreeing and Truman ended up firing him. General MacArthur went back to Washington where he heroically ended his 52 year long career in the Army. He was quoted as saying, "Old Soldiers Never Die they just Fade away."
At age 50, he was the youngest chief of staff ever
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