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MacArthur is his own pressagent. Whatever he does is done with a sense of dramatic value. As an aide to his father, who was military observer to Japan in 1905, he watched the Russo-Japanese War. At Mudken he saw the Japanese charge a Russian-held hill six times, joined them on the seventh and successful charge. In 1914 he was with Major General Frederick Funston at Veracruz. Disguised as a Mexican bum, he reconnoitered behind Mexican lines, found three locomotives for his gen eral. He remembers this escapade especially because of a young official of the Ger man Embassy who helped him : Franz von Papen.
MacArthur went on in World War I to turn in a spectacular performance as brigade commander, then divisional commander of the Rainbow Division. The striking idea of creating a division that included troops from every state in the Union was Douglas MacArthur's. While the Rainbow raced with Major General Clarence R. Edwards' 26th (New England) Division for the honor of being first to land on French soil, MacArthur was too sensible a soldier to permit his troops to put off underequipped in .order to gain that honor. The Rainbow barely nosed out the 26th to France — and had to cough up part of its equipment to less well-heeled Yankees when they arrived.
MacArthur's combat record was brilliant. Besides two wounds, one gassing and enough praise to turn a modest man's head, he picked up 13 decorations for gallantry under fire, seven citations for extraordinary valor, 24 top decorations of foreign Governments. MacArthur remained overseas for a while with the Army of Occupation. On this tour of duty he met the Prince of Wales, who was gloomy about what he considered certain German resurgence. Said MacArthur: "We beat the Germans this time, and we can do it over again." After an astringent two-year tour of duty as the youngest Superintendent in the history of West Point, he went back to the Philippines, returned to the U.S., later took charge of America's Olympic team in 1928, went back again to the Philippines as Commander of the Philippine Department, returned to be jumped by Engineer Hoover over the heads of many oldsters to the post of Chief of Staff. He was only 50 then.
As Chief of Staff, MacArthur blasted the proposal of economy-minded Congressmen to amalgamate the Army & Navy in one department ("Pass this bill and every potential enemy of the U.S. will rejoice"). He established the first self-contained air striking force in U.S. history (the GHQ Air Force), worked out the present four-Army system of U.S. continental defense to be superimposed on the old nine Army corps areas.
Perhaps the sole action of his life that MacArthur would willingly forget is the Victory of Anacostia Flats when, riding a spectacular white horse, he called out a military force to rout the haggard veterans of the Bonus army from their Washington encampments. Army men tell the inside story. When asked who was going to lead the show, MacArthur realized that any man who did would commit political suicide, wind up in a dead-end career. He decided to take the dirty job in his own hands. But at night he used to go down to the flats, distribute money to the boys of his old division.