Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

When MacArthur left the shelter of Corregidor, the press stated that he took all his gold, jewels and silver, etc. They did a job on him.Even to this day there are people who will tell you what he did, took treasure. No such thing. The press did not mention that the General loved to read and could go through 5 books in a day. He had a library of 5,000 books. A number of them out of print. The Japanese set it on fire and destroyed it. When he landed in Manila and things were going well he wrote to his wife that in a couple of weeks he would have her come to Manila. As it would be safe. He added a PS. "By the way your silver set has been recovered." The press did not mention that and other things he allegedly took.

While I was able to study him, I did not see any character of acting or showing off. He didn't have to. He appeared to me to be someone who knew what he wanted to do and how to do it.

The Press marginalized him. And that might have been that he did not trust it. When he was young and single he had an affair with an Asian woman whom he dumped. It appears that a reporter ran into the woman. The reporter asked if MacArthur had given her anything. He hadn't. The reporter told her that he would get her some. And he held MacArthur up for $10,000.

At the time if it made the headline that he had a mistress, it would not have hurt him if it came out in the media. He paid because he loved his mother and he knew that she would be shattered if she found out. In fact, when he was admitted to West Point, she rented a room across the street so she could keep an eye on him.

I read where she got him his Captain's promotion. General Pershing who was the Commander in Chief of the country's doughboys was not too happy with MacArthur.

In WWI the war was fought a lot different. Both sides dug in. And attacks would be planned would would get out of their trenches and attack. He would go over the top with his walking stick. On the theory that if the men saw their officer go over the top, they would follow their officer. Evidently, this put Pershing in a tough position. If MacArthur was killed, the public and the politicians would have blamed Pershing for getting him killed. It was MacArthur's father that raised a lot of the officers that fought in WWI. Maybe so and they returned the thanks with his son by promoting him. I don't think so. He would have moved to the top under any circumstances.

With the Japanese in surrender we began thinking of getting home as fast as we could. So the exit out of the Army was worked out on the number of points you had. The length of time, married, etc. and you received a number and that's how we got home.I had a high number and that allowed me to get home by Christmas [ed: 1945] And I boarded a ship again. Only this time it was headed for the good, old USA. Hence I made my second crossing of the Equator. The first time I had a Sunday that lasted 48 hours. The second a Monday that lasted 48 hours. Quite an experience.

Dad, Abe, and Spruce

We docked at San Diego, I think and we had another problem. The trains, the Western system was laid out with one track. And one had to wait until the train went to its destination, and would unload and go on a turn table and head back from whence it came. It caused a lot of problems, w were upset, our families were upset, etc. So the Government resolved the problem. We would be going home by air. And our wait was a few days. My friends were Abe and Gordon Armstrong. Gordon had an uncle in California and he was not too far. He told me that his uncle was coming to pick him up and he wanted us to go with him. It was evening when he came. I was introduced and got in the car. How long we drove I have no idea. But we got there and what a welcome we got.His wife insisted on giving us a bacon and egg breakfast. It was after midnight. They had a daughter who had married a G.I. who was shot down. He was in the air corps. Gordon was asked to go with her which was ok with us. His uncle kept good company and his wife was cooking as the smell came our way.

Gordon Armstrong in front of the MacArthur residence

It was a beautiful furnished home.The living room was one that you came to and stepped down one step. It was large and the step up was semi-circle. In due course, Gordon came back with his cousin and by this time breakfast was ready. We had a nice breakfast and a nice time.The uncle was a vice president of the Union and Pacific Railroad. And asked us what plans we had. We both said to get home. He said if you two don't land jobs or don't like what you're doing, just come back here and we will see that you get a good living.

We left in the wee hours of the morning and returned to camp.No one bothered us as everyone there was scheduled to get out of the Army. Back in Manila we were asked to stay in and if we did we would get a promotion. I would have moved from a 3-striper to a 2nd sergeant which would have brought 100 plus men in my unit. No thank you.

About a day after our episode with Gordon's uncle, I was on a plane and so was he but on a different plane.

While waiting to board different flights he was going to a Western state, he told me that his cousin was interest in me. He told her that I was married. Had I been single I would have considered advances. From what I saw I would have had it made.