Results of MacArthur Trivia Quiz

 Q1.  How did Douglas’s mother dress him until he was eight years old? Respondents split 50/50 on choosing knickers and skirts. According to a highly reliable source (Source: Uncle John's Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader) MacArthur's mother dressed him in skirts until he was eight years old.   

 MacArthur Family 1815.  Source: MacArthur Memorial Photographic Collection    No, that is not Douglas sitting on his father’s lap.  Notice the date of the photo.  Just checking to see if you are paying attention.  

Q2  What was Cadet MacArthur’s class academic rank at graduation? Most respondents answered correctly that he achieved the top of academic rank.  A few chose Star man near top.    Even Tucker didn’t pick Goat of the Class, that’s if he took the test in the first  place. 

   Source: MacArthur Memorial Photographic Collection 

Q 3.  MacArthur was manage of which  team in the 1928 Olympics? Except for a few responses of fencing, results were split between boxing and football. 

According to the Washington Post, Aug 11, 1928: Amsterdam, Aug. 10 (A.P.). -- Americans Stage Near-Riot At Olympic Fight Decision Judges' Reversal in Daley Bout Stops Rush on Ring -- Gen. MacArthur Excited -- British and Others in Disorders The fighting spirit of the ringside fans at the Olympic boxing events made the action in the ring in the semifinal bouts look like second rate performances. Not since the Olympics started have such scenes been witnesed in the Olympic fighting pavilion. 

One of MacArthur’s succinct quotes came from this episode. General DOUGLAS MACARTHUR, president of the American Olympic committee, comment when the manager of the American boxing team in the 1928 Olympic games wanted to withdraw the team because of what he thought was an unfair decision against an American boxer.—The New York Times, August 9, 1928, p. 13. The quote:  “Americans never quit.”  

Q4  How many times did General MacArthur wade ashore on the day he returned to the Philippines? Responses where basically split into three piles: Once, twice and Five times. 

 The General seemed very aware of the fact that the landing was an historical occasion.  Some wags suggest that he staged multiple trips wading ashore to be sure that the cameras caught the action.  However, according to a photographer who shot pictures of the landing, the General made only one walk, wading in water up to his knees.  He did, however, move the site where he came ashore several hundred feet away from a steel ramp that would have allowed him to keep dry down to the area where the photos were shot.  The photographer claimed he was the only one taking pictures, yet if you look at the two shown here, you can wonder how fast the photographer must have been to move to the two different locations (or conversely, how slow the General moved/)    

Q5  How did  President Truman feel about General MacArthur? All respondents answered correctly that the President strongly disliked him.

If any of our classmates wrote something like Truman wrote about MacArthur on our 64 web sight Jack Price would have given them a suspension.  In 1945, U.S. President Harry S Truman, contemplating a final invasion of Japan, wrote:Mr. Prima Donna, if you don't think Hobie is really beastly, you are not a beast. Brass Hat, Five Star MacArthur. He's worse than the Cabots and the Lodges—they at least talked with one another before they told God what to do. Mac tells God right off. It's a very great pity we have stuffed shirts like that in key positions. I don't see why in hell Roosevelt didn't order Wainwright home and let MacArthur be a martyr. We'd have had a real General and a fighting man if we had Wainwright and not a play actor and a bunco man such as we have now.^[6]   

Michael Schaller, The American Occupation of Japan (Oxford, 1985)

About half of the respondents answered correctly a quote from General Marshall, “I have a secret and dangerous mission.  Send me a West Point football player.” I suggest that we send Bill Chescavage.       

 Q7.  How long was the Duty , Honor, Country Speech? Just like Goldilocks, a few thought it to be short, a few long, but most, just right at 34 minutes. 

Q8 What were you doing in the Mess Hall during that famous speech? A handful were nodding off, one (Hork?) was hot to trot, one wasn’t there (those tennis players had other things to do), and most were listening intently.. 

Q9. Where is the General’s final resting place? Ha, this should have been a shoe-in.  Not at West Point, nor at Arlington, as a few respondents suggested, not at San Franscisco where one respondent chose (Sit up and screw your neck in!), but at Norfolk, VA.   

   On a more serious note, read the transcript of a PBS broadcast on General MacArthur. It gives fascinating insight into that great man. 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/filmmore/transcript