See Me About General MacArthur

That's what the note on my desk read. I picked up my spiral notebook and headed for the Genealogy Library. Ann showed me an ancient scrapbook about General Douglas A. MacArthur. It came from Mary McArthur Lander of Mississippi. It contained crisp, brown, disintergrating pages of old newspaper articles and pictures that dated from 1946 to 1964. One article that caught my eye was titled Why MacArthur Said: "I Shall Return." It was written by Gen. Carlos P. Romulo, special and personal envoy of the President of the Philippines to the U.S. General MacArthur was famous for a lot of things: his tall erect stature, dark aviator sunglasses and strong chin, as well as his favorite long-stemmed pipe. He fought in three major wars (WWI, WWII, Korean War). He was the central figure in a plan to stem the tide of Communist advances in the Far East and build a new first line of defense in the Pacific. He was the commander of occupation forces in Japan. Even Ripley's Believe It Or Not recognized his fame as:

• The first of his class at West Point
• The first Sergeant at West Point
• The first Captain at West Point
• The first American to be full General at 50
• The first American to become Field Marshal
• The first to be a 4-star General twice
• The first member of the Rainbow Division
• The first Chief of Staff ever reappointed
• The first son of a Chief of Staff to occupy the same post
• The first American to lead the Armies of Nation, and
• The first white man to rule over Japan in 2600 years.

And General MacArthur was famous for quoting a ballad that became his battle hymn: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away." He died April 5, 1964, at the age of 84.

You can see this great scrapbook in the Odom Genealogy Library. Be sure to look for the answers to these questions: Why did then-President Harry S Truman fire MacArthur in 1951 from his command? Why did General MacArthur say all pets, with the exception of goldfish, were banned from Army-run hotels and apartments in Japan? There's lots of interesting reading in this old scrapbook . . . . Just ask Irene or Ann where it is.