. >> they're all part of the life and times of general douglas macarthur. that's next on "war stories." ♪ >> you are looking at the u.s. military academy at west point. this is the oldest continuous operated military point in united states. welcome to "war stories." some of the greatest leaders to command on the battlefield walked these grounds as cadets. generals grant and lee, eisenhower, patton and this man, general douglas macarthur. few solders yb more admired or controversial. he was a military prodigy and a highly decorated soldier of three veteran american worse. he inspired great devotion of his men and troubled relations with several presidents. and like a figure of a greek tragedy he fell from power. come with us on this special journey into the life of this altogether too human five-star hero. ♪ >> it would be crowds lined up sometimes three to four blocks long. you'd just get a glimpse of this man. >> i do recall some comments, who does this guy think he is? >> they say i thought he was a little bit shy underneath. >> general macarthur has

had military forceses in japan under our far eastern commander douglas macarthur. the problem was that those troops and their units were badly unrestrained and the troops were badly trained and the equipment they had was carryovers from world war i. so it wasn't that useful for them. we quickly threw over some forces and the saddest episode was test forth smith and it was a battalion that was commanded by a guy named charles smith who had extensive combat experience and smith occupied a position and the soviet-built tanks roared right through it. one guy, lieutenant ollie connor fireded fireded fireded a bazooka, and needless to say, the tanks passed through and packets of them continued to pass through, eventually north korean infantry came through and smith's people were compelled to retreat. soldiers fell back and occupied a position in blue here on the map that they call the pusan perimeter and there they were able to stabilize things with the american troops and the republic of korea troops and foreign powers' troops. when the invasion took place and they pres

had military forces in japan under our far eastern commander douglas macarthur. the problem was that those troops and their units were badly under strength, the troops were badly trained and the equipment they had was carryovers from world war ii. it wasn't useful for them. we quickly threw over some forces, the saddest episode was task force smith. task force smith was a unit, a weak battalion that was commanded by a guy name charles smith who had extensive combat experience. he occupied a position and the soviet built tanks roared right through it. one guy fired fired a bazooka 22 rounds point-blank into soviet made tanks and they bounced off. needless to say that was disconcerting for the troops, the tanks passed through eventually north korean infantry came through and smith's people were compelled to retreat. soldiers fell back and occupied a position in blue here on the map that we call the pusan perimeter. they're, we're able to stabilize things with american troops, republic of korea troops and foreign powers troops. when the invasion took place, harry tr

. >> southwest pacific area commander douglas macarthur was determined to take the war to tokyo via the philippines. in may of 1943, the joint chiefs decided on a compromise. his forces would advance to new guinea, the navy was to beginning a westward push of an island hopping campaign through the solomons. >> you could say that the solomon islands was the first step on the road to tokyo. >> each island being another rung closer to tokyo. he vowed to change the name of the ladder's top tongue, rubbal to rubble. but destroying it wouldn't be easy. for the first six months of the war, the zero fighter ruled the skies over the pacific. >> it could climb like an angel and was very nimble at most speeds. the lower speed the better. so it could basically turn on a dime. >> the zero was battle tested over china more than a year before pearl harbor. it proved to be a lethal fighter. >> the place you got killed is when they were climbing out. when you got over their base before they had organized their squadrons into formation. >> 22-year-old lieutenant jack bolts saw his first zero in september

. >> they're all part of the life and times of general douglas macarthur. that's next on "war stories." ♪

had military forces in japan under our far eastern commander douglas macarthur. the problem was that those troops and their units were badly under strength, the troops were badly trained and the equipment they had was carry oefrz from world war ii. it wasn't useful for them. we quickly threw over some forces, the saddest episode was task force smith. task force smith was a unit, a weak battalion that was commanded by a guy name charles smith who had extensive combat experience. he occupied a position and the soviet built tanks roared right through it. one guy fired fired a bazooka 22 rounds point-blank into soviet made tanks and they bounced off. needless to say that was disconcerting for the troops, the tanks passed through eventually north korean infantry came through and smith's people were compelled to retreat. soldiers fell back and occupied a position in blue here on the map that we call the pusan perimeter. there we'll able to stable things with american troops, republic of korea troops and foreign powers troops. when the invasion took place, harry truman

it is likely the two men were first introduced by general douglas macarthur went he was chief of staff during the hoover administration. eisenhower was macarthur's aide at the time and was often charged with the response ability for preparing reports for two indications for the president. it is logical to assume eisenhower had had conversations with the commander-in-chief between 9049-1933 that likelihood being a knowledge, or is no record of contact between hoover and eisenhower during those years. the first document read evidence of to medication between the two men comes at the end of world war ii when hoover wrote to eisenhower about the matter close to hoover's heart. he had been an active collector of archival documentation on war resolution and peace since the years after the first world war. he believed knowledge would help prevent nations from repeatedly making the same mistakes. to further research on these issues, hoover opened a special war library at stanford university. established in 1919, the library grew into the hoover institution with its own distinctive tower in the

it is likely the two men were first introduced by general douglas macarthur went he was chief of staff during the hoover administration. eisenhower was macarthur's aide at the time and was often charged with the response ability for preparing reports for two indications for the president. it is logical to assume eisenhower had had conversations with the commander-in-chief between 9049-1933 that 1943.9 and the first document read evidence of to medication between the two men comes at the end of world war ii when hoover wrote to eisenhower about the matter close to hoover's heart. he had been an active collector of archival documentation on war , revolution and peace since the years after the first world war. he believed knowledge would help prevent nations from repeatedly making the same mistakes. to further research on these issues, hoover opened a special war library at stanford university. established in 1919, the library eventually grew into the hoover institution with its own distinctive tower in the middle of the stanford campus. with the end of the second world war, hoover smooth

hoover took on one other task on the half of the republican ticket, to convince douglas macarthur to openly support eisenhower and to end the write-in campaigns. republican was back in the white house. victories come up first in winning the nomination and the election, were bittersweet. hoover was pleased a republican was in the white house but disappointed it was not taft. the vestiges of the 1952 campaign cast a lingering measure of entity to the new president that would never disappear in spite of eisenhower's efforts to curry favor. hoover was an optimistic man. republican would be in the white house and that gave him a certain measure of medication. he was back in washington after 20 years of exile. he was pleased with the public response to his speech. request for printed copies of the speech poured into the waldorf towers in new york. it was likely hoover believed he exhibited to the victory and ike did not dissuade the former president in that belief. he also felt vindicated as he sat on the inaugural podium on january 20, 1953. there he was with his friend, harry truman, and

. >> they're all part of the life and times of general douglas macarthur. that's next on "war stories." ♪

macarthur's removal by harry truman and civil and military relations. his class is about an hour. >> today i'm going to talk about the korean war and we'll talk about civil-military relations and last time we met we talked about the cold war and the development of containment. korea was an unusual situation in that it had been a colony of japan since

at the end of the second world war, chris, douglas macarthur in his surrender speech he talks about that we no longer have the option of war of the type that was just thought because of the scientific advancements of the use of nuclear weaponry. we would have to come up with better institutions than the ones we've had before. it's remarkable to see a president in front of the united nations blustering about the united nations. >> when i interviewed him, he seemed to not understand that you have weapons for deterrence. he said why do we have nuclear weapons if we're not going to use them. you use weapons. he didn't seem to understand they've been there since 1945 as a deterrence. >> he has no idea of america's muck triad over the course of the campaign. he zdemonstrated that. he clearly doesn't understand that we have these weapons so they will never be used. you've never seen an american president talking as loosely about nuclear weapons as you did today. >> let's watch that. that's the woe is me case. >> the united states will forever be a great friend to the world and especially to its

i was wondering what your perspective on douglas macarthur was. mr. miller: i served in macarthur's headquarters during the korean war. that is really the only thing i can talk about there. i heard in the pacific that the marines and the navy hated him. the army, some of them liked him, some of them did not, but during the korean war, he was not liked at all by anybody, i don't think. i certainly never met anybody except people that have been with him in the philippines, and he still had a lot of his people that were still with him from world war ii at that time. mike: colonel riffe, are you looking to weigh in on this as well? col. riffe: only that he was talking about the philippines, which as he indicated, japan declared war on the united states on december 8, 1941, but that same day, they started bombing the philippines. a few days later, a major army of japanese soldiers invaded, and at that time, there was about 75,000 u.s. army troops, and they were with about 30,000 filipinos. within several days, the americans and philippines got pushed back

the militarye done option in the early 1950's when douglas macarthur wanted to do it. this problem would not exist today if he had been listened to. and itthese issues well was because of the communist to the truman administration. that is jack in providence, rhode island speaking about the relationship between north korea and china. the new york times in an analysis piece talking about the awkward at timing of this nuclear test coming as chinese -- the chinese president hosted the leaders of the most dynamic countries at a summit meeting before the communist party conference. they say north korea's testing and the president important public appearances is not a coincidence. it is intended to show the leader of a world stay diminished power and prestige as the president of china. they talkome analysts to contend the latest test may have been primarily aimed at pressuring mr. g. xi. mr. kim's calculations said china had the influence to make that negotiation happen. it is in today's new york times. in portage michigan on the line for do nothing. caller: thank you for ac

macarthur et al. arranged that after world war ii and getting a hostile, not a hostile, power projection offense capability which they were purely defensive. if this happens, then china, through north korea is responsible for the remilitarization of japan. neil: quickly, captain, i was looking at the countries that have nuclear capability. of course, we have it, the russians, france, the uk, israel, china, then you get to the countries that in recent years have not been exactly stable. pakistan even kazakhstan inheriting missiles from the breakdown of the former soviet union. iran protest that doesn't include them. india. but what would the world be like with north korea having that capability, joining that exclusive club, because it would seem to be even in a cast of characters that includes pakistan and india and potentially iran, the most unstable of them all? >> it would be a far more dangerous place. here's the thing, what they're talking about a thermonuclear device. now, it took india and pakis