By Episode 20 – MacArthur is Fired:
MacArthur is fired due to his criticism of US president, Truman. Although it is known that MacArthur wanted to use atomic weapons on Chinese cities, what the Truman administration didn’t want others to know is that they too agreed with the general policy of nuking China. Truman fired MacArthur partly because he wanted a reliable field commander who would “pull the trigger” when the president, and ONLY the president, ordered it. MacArthur returns to the USA, with his termination as commander becoming his “finest hour”. Secretary of the Army, Frank Pace Jr. believes that although Truman paid dearly in popularity polls for sacking Mac, Truman’s decision was probably one of the greatest achievements of his administration(!) Right wing South Koreans believe that losing MacArthur as commander dashed their hopes of reunifying Korea under their control. James Van Fleet takes over for Ridgeway, as Ridgeway takes Mac’s job. One of the heaviest battles of the war takes place as the Chinese/North Koreans challenge the Imjin River-Kapyong defensive line.
12:41 pm on August 2nd, 2009 1
Very interesting commentary, especially about the Truman administration agreeing about using the "bomb". One I have not heard before. My previous understanding is that using the "bomb" was discussed and rejected. Perhaps it may have been rejected as part of MacArthurs original request, (when the Chinese entered the war, and MacArthur paniced) but still considered an open option at this point. I suspect this may have been the situation.