MacArthur Memorial Podcast
The MacArthur Memorial Podcast covers a variety of topics related to the life and times of General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964). From the triumphs and controversies of MacArthur's career to the latest scholarship on the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War, the World Wars, the Occupation of Japan, and the Korean War, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast is constantly exploring fascinating history. The MacArthur Memorial is located in Norfolk, VA and is dedicated to preserving and presenting the legacy of General MacArthur and the millions of men and women who served with him.
Episodes
The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when North Korean forces invaded South Korea, aiming to unify the peninsula under communist control. The conflict rapidly escalated, prompting a United Nations response led by the United States. When the war started, MacArthur, then Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan, was overseeing the post-World War II occupation and reconstruction of Japan. In this episode, MacArthur Memorial ...
On May 8, 2025, the MM in partnership with the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Virginia Holocaust Museum, hosted Dr. Roger Loria, a holocaust survivor.
The event was particularly poignant – it was held on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day – the day the Allies defeated Nazi Germany.
A video of the presentation is also available via YouTube: https://youtu.be/nltcQ4eKIgU?si=qsTn9-DI2gZ5qp-u
On April 11, 1951, at 1:00AM ET, President Harry S. Truman announced General Douglas MacArthur was relieved of command. Millions of people heard the news on the radio before MacArthur himself heard. How did he find out? MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams discuss this and his reaction to the news.
A bonus Q&A of listener questions was also added to the end of this episode.
Douglas MacArthur drew inspiration from mentors, role models, and a personal "pantheon" of historical figures throughout his life. On March 7, 2025, MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams discussed who was included in this "pantheon" and solicited questions from the audience about this topic. This Q&A, recorded on March 12, 2025, was added as a bonus to this episode.
General Douglas MacArthur’s iconic cap, one of the most amazing artifacts in our museum, is a finalist for a conservation prize from VAM – the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM). Currently the cap is on VAM’s Virginia Top 10 Endangered List. The list helps raise public awareness of amazing artifacts in Virginia museums and the importance of preserving these artifacts.
General MacArthur's cap is an internationally recognize...
To date, the 1945 Battle of Manila remains the US military's largest and most intense experience of urban warfare. It resulted in 6500 American military casualties, 16000 Japanese military KIA, and a staggering number of civilians were killed and wounded. Manila, the Pearl of the Orient was destroyed. Even against the general WWII backdrop of tremendous worldwide suffering, horror, and millions of civilians and military casual...
The MacArthur Memorial is in Norfolk, VA, the hometown of General MacArthur’s mother, but General MacArthur was not born in Norfolk. He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the Little Rock Barracks. Today that building houses the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. To discuss MacArthur’s birthplace, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Stephan McAteer, Museum Supervisor of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military Hist...
By 1944, as the Americans got closer to the Philippines, the Japanese accelerated their efforts to ship POWs held in the Philippines to other parts of their empire to work as forced laborers. POWs would be packed by the hundreds in the dark holds of transport ships. With little to no food or water, and no proper sanitation, the holds of these ships became another hellscape for the POWs. It is impossible to really explain the horror...
On October 26, 2024, the MacArthur Memorial and the Hampton Roads Naval Museum commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf with a series of presentations.
Dr. Peter Mansoor, a retired US Army officer and the General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Chair in Military History at Ohio State University, presented a lecture entitled The Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf. If you would like to see the slides he used, you can also find his ...
On October 26, 2024, the MacArthur Memorial and the Hampton Roads Naval Museum commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf with a series of presentations.
Thomas Cutler, a retired USN officer and a preeminent naval historian, presented a lecture entitled The Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf. If you would like to see the slides he used, you can also find his presentation on the MacArthur Memorial’s YouTube channel. Link:...
General Douglas MacArthur’s forces began landing at Leyte on October 20, 1944. That’s the day MacArthur took the famous picture wading ashore at Leyte, but there was a lot more to the operation than that. Why was Leyte chosen over Mindanao? How prepared were Japanese commanders for the invasion? How did the Japanese army and navy try to repel the invasion? Did MacArthur really hope to take part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf aboard th...
During World War II, as many young men joined the military, many college basketball programs in the United States were suspended. The US Military Academy at West Point was one of the schools that continued its basketball program. Army’s 1943 season was not a great season – but the 1944 season was spectacular. Against a backdrop of war, Army delivered a perfect season and then many of the key players on that team went from basketbal...
When most people think about the battles in the Pacific during World War II, they probably think of Guadalcanal, Okinawa, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Leyte Gulf, Midway, etc. It was a very long and difficult war though, and there were dozens of other battles. One of the lesser-known battles is the Battle of Morotai, which began on September 15, 1944. Part of the Halmahera Island group, Morotai is a small island in what is now Indone...
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was one of the most popular and successful relief programs during the Great Depression. Between 1933-1942, it put 3 million men to work throughout the United States. These young men worked on conservation and transportation projects on Federal, State, and local government lands.
The CCC was the brainchild of President Franklin Roosevelt and his liberal New Deal advisors. In large part...
On November 29, 1952, a 22-year-old CIA operative named Jack Downey was shot down over China while taking part in an air drop. Four successive Administrations refused to acknowledge his connection to the CIA. Without this acknowledgement, Downey spent 21 years as a POW - the longest-held POW in American history. His treatment in prison was largely dictated by the events of the Korean War and the Cold War. Barry Werth, author of Pri...
In late July 1944, President Roosevelt met with General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The future of the war in the Pacific was discussed at this Pearl Harbor Conference, or Pacific Strategy Conference as it is also called. It was not a "real" conference in the sense that it did not include Admiral Ernest King or General George Marshall, but it was a very consequential meeting. Recen...
In this latest episode, MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams answer some of the more popular and/or unique questions about General MacArthur we have received from MacArthur Memorial Podcast listeners and on social media.
Follow us on:
Twitter: @MacArthur1880; @AEWilliamsClark
Facebook:...
On June 18, 1945, one month shy of his 59th birthday, Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. became the most senior US military officer to be killed by enemy fire in World War II. At the time, he was leading the Tenth Army on Okinawa. Buckner kept a diary from January 1, 1944, to June 17, 1945. That diary has only recently been fully published. It is an important addition to our understanding of Buckner and the Pacific War. T...
In 1942, John D. Bulkeley, commander of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 and skipper of PT-41, spirited MacArthur and his family off Corregidor. Bulkeley received a Silver Star for his role in MacArthur's escape and was later awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in Philippine waters from 7 December 1941 to 10 April 1942. His service did not end in the Pacific though. Bulkeley went...
The Occupation of Japan after World War II is often considered a masterclass in civil affairs. It was not perfect, but it was successful. General Douglas MacArthur’s primary mission was to demilitarize Japan. Before he even arrived in Japan however, he was convinced that a sustainable peace would require significant legal and social changes – particularly in terms of the status of Japanese women. The MacArthur Memorial Podcast has ...
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