DF
SDonell73@aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 12/19/02 10:43:12 PM Pacific Standard Time, ChosinMead@aol.com writes:
Does anyone really believe that Roosevelt ordered him out?
I do.FDR commented that he saw MacArthur as one of the two most dangerous men in the United States. And it was to his advantage to keep Mac out of the U.S. But the Australians had recently told Churchill, that they would no longer support his war aims, but would put their trust in the United States. So, Mac was a strong figurehead around which to rally the Allied cause.
It has always seemed curious to me that the means of extraction of Mac and his party was by PT boat, when most of the leaders of the Philippines and other American officials were being removed by submarine. A PT boat has little means of defense, other than speed, and a low silhouette with which to hide in the shadows of the many islands. What if the PT boat were to be sunk by some Japanese patrol or other naval vessel. There would be little left of the boat to provide a clue as to its contents. Could that have been FDR's hope?
As one respondent to that question on a WW II message board suggested, Mac and his ego couldn't both fit into the cramped quarters of a submarine.
Sandy