How did Douglas MacArthur win the Medal of Honor?

Answer 1

Some consider MacArthur an American hero. He was a good commander.

Others do not think he was worth a pile of beans. He lengthened WW II and caused many unnecessary deaths of both American and Japanese troops. He insisted that the Allies invade the Philippeans, mainly because he had told them several years before, "I shall return". It turns out that the Philippeans could have been totally ignored on the basis of MacArthur's own strategy of 'island hopping".

On the other hand, MacArthur had been stationed in Asia for years, so he had a great understanding of the Asian way of doing things, especially 'saving face'. Because of this, he was perfect in the role assigned to him to control Japan and get her economy up and working while letting them 'save face'. He understood the deep devotion that the Japanese citizens had for their emporer, and allowed the emporer to maintain his throne.

On the other hand, he later blatantly disobeyed his commander-in-chief's orders, and for this was forced to retire from the Army, saying to Congress, "Old soldiers never die . . . they just fade away."