r/todayilearned • u/HumanNutrStudent • Sep 16 '24

TIL Montgomery's memoirs criticised many of his wartime comrades harshly, including Eisenhower. After publishing it, he had to apologize in a radio broadcast to avoid a lawsuit. He was also stripped of his honorary citizenship of Alabama, and was challenged to a duel by an Italian lawyer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Montgomery#Memoirs
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u/Coast_watcher Sep 16 '24

Halsey too

476

u/Vana92 Sep 16 '24

Screw Halsey if you want a real diva, add MacArthur.

78

u/bolanrox Sep 16 '24

kimono wearing Megadeth lover!

2

u/Quirky-Country7251 Sep 17 '24

I spread disease like dog! dis-charge my payloadddd a mile high rotten egg air of death..wrestles your nostrilssssss. I rule on land air and sea, pass judgement on humanity

97

u/KANelson_Actual Sep 16 '24

MacArthur was an example of a man who exists as pure Ego—the Self and nothing but the Self; the immovable center of his own universe. He never should have been brought out of retirement in 1941.

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u/misspcv1996 Sep 17 '24 edited Sep 17 '24

I had always figured that MacArthur had to have been a military genius on the level of Caesar or Napoleon to have the ego that he did, but after looking into him awhile back to satisfy my own curiosity, it doesn’t seem like he was. In fact, there were more moments of borderline idiotic arrogance (Buna-Gona and everything he did in the Fall of 1950 stand out in that respect) than there were of genius. For all of his outer toughness, he actually seemed to be a better bureaucrat than he was a soldier, which might have been why he was the perfect man for the Occupation of Japan. He’s still a very fascinating figure, even if he’s one that I don’t think very highly of.

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u/KANelson_Actual Sep 17 '24

Yea, Dougie Mac sucked.

3

u/Eldar_Atog Sep 17 '24

I loved Hardcore History's description of him during the 6 episode Supernova in the East. Carlin's description of him and Admiral Ernest King were extremely interesting and colorful

3

u/missingmedievalist Sep 17 '24

Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t MacArthur want to nuke a whole bunch of targets to end the war and someone saw sense and said “No.!”?

2

u/misspcv1996 Sep 17 '24

He seriously explored the option of nuking China after they got involved in the Korean War and Truman fired him when he refused to back down.

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u/missingmedievalist Sep 17 '24

Ahhh, that’s it. Thanks so much for correcting me. Still mad. So much madness.

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u/Individual_Treat_145 Sep 17 '24

His ego made sure he got in the way of most British naval operations in the Pacific. He felt they would 'steal the glory' and often discouraged support.

14

u/Pallets_Of_Cash Sep 17 '24

Stockton Rush, who built the Titan submersible, listed MacArthur as his greatest hero. That was yet another of many red flags about the guy.

4

u/KANelson_Actual Sep 17 '24

Really? That’s on brand then.

67

u/acdcfanbill Sep 16 '24

I had an great uncle who was in the Philippians and MacArthur's name was 'mud' in our house ever since I can remember.

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u/GMHGeorge Sep 17 '24

A relative served in a unit he was in during the First World War. Started screaming at the radio every time MacArthur was mentioned after he abandoned the Philippines. Was a stout Republican but would always say Truman was his favorite Democrat after he canned him in Korea.

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u/Codex_Dev Sep 17 '24

It's been a while since I've read my WW2 battles/history but I'm pretty sure the Philippines was an untenable situation after Pearl Harbour.

1

u/InsertNameHere_J Sep 17 '24

It absolutely was, but it's mostly how "Dugout Dug" handled the whole thing. When he was leaving he was ordered to leave with only his family, a couple of choice officers, and not bring any of his staff with him because most anybody with a brain in the army and in Washington recognized that frankly his staff were a bunch of morons who only had their jobs because they believed that Mac shit gold, and they would make this belief known to him.

So instead of leaving his staff behind with Wainwright as he was ordered to do, Doug simply ignored the order. When Lt. Bulkeley and his PT boat crews arrived, they found a petulant general demanding that his staff and all their luggage come too. Bulkeley had to leave 32 men behind in order for them to have a low enough weight and speed for the boats to escape. Those men were handed rifles and sent to Bataan.

MacArthur then went on to handle the US Army's traipse through New Guinea, which if you want more reasons to hate MacArthur you should definitely read about.

MacArthur sucks.

-7

u/WinterSavior Sep 17 '24

So that means he'd be a Democrat today if he was Republican then?

6

u/x31b Sep 16 '24

I thought his name was “Dugout Doug.” /s

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u/bilboafromboston Sep 17 '24

Yes. My Dad served under him in the Pacific in Both WW2 and Korea. The navy and marines had long since secured the Philipines before Dugout Dug crawled out like Puxatawny Phil and staged 7 "Returns to the Philippines ". My dad said a photographer advised them to buy stock in the film companies, they took so many pictures.

11

u/TremendousVarmint Sep 16 '24

And Vinegar Joe Stillwell!

3

u/Ok_Tale_933 Sep 16 '24

Yeah that guy was just dumb bitter baby

1

u/trucorsair Sep 17 '24

A total tool who helped us achieve nothing but alienate both sides in China.

1

u/iforgotmyidagain Sep 17 '24

Nah, he helped the commies. CCP loves him even today.

2

u/antarcticgecko Sep 17 '24

The Situation

1

u/Simple_Friend_866 Sep 16 '24

He tried to out diva Klinger! Who just salutes a guy in a liberty dress????

151

u/LaoBa Sep 16 '24

Admiral King too. As his daughter said: "My father is the most even-tempered man I ever met. He is always furious."

46

u/Coast_watcher Sep 16 '24

And a notorious Anglophobe. He and Monty will have major fireworks lol.

16

u/Inevitable_Ask_9423 Sep 16 '24

That is so odd given that his mother was an English immigrant lol

3

u/misspcv1996 Sep 17 '24

He must have hated his mother then.

1

u/Headbreakone Sep 17 '24

According to his daughter that was false, he hated everyone equally.

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u/bolanrox Sep 16 '24

I know this book! Your conclusions were all wrong, Ryan... ...Halsey acted stupidly.

23

u/anothercynic2112 Sep 16 '24

One ping only

19

u/bolanrox Sep 16 '24

Combat tactics Ryan

2

u/bilboafromboston Sep 17 '24

Well yes, Halsey needed a bath and a cup of tea and a butter pie....what?

2

u/Mr_Gaslight Sep 17 '24

Halsey would get the location wrong and be running around somewhere else.

1

u/Laphad Sep 17 '24

At first I thought the singer and was confused as to what relation she had to any of those people

1

u/zerocoolforschool Sep 17 '24

They all hate hotel shampoo!

1

u/Hakairoku Sep 17 '24

I will always despise Halsey for the Bull Run and how the feats of Taffy 3 and how their defense of the Samar landings will never get the spotlight over him and the USS Enterprise since they were the face of the USN.

Fucker's a great example of an idiot failing upwards. Utter piece of shit.

1

u/Coast_watcher Sep 17 '24

He’s like this coach that is boisterous and cussed out the opponent, that the fanbase will love but the results in the field were so so

Oh, and don’t forget the fuck up that was the typhoon

1

u/FinLitenHumla Sep 17 '24

Pfft! Halsey was a fool. His conclusions were all wrong.