My father was involved in World War 2 as an officer that met at times with some of the general staff mainly in the european theater. There was a question about the Pacific Theater that he never was able to get answered before his passing away years back.
We know that the Pacific Theater was mainly a naval war battled in the Pacific Ocean from Pearl Harbor westward.
When the Japanese surrender was brought to pass on a esteemed battleship, the U.S.S. Missouri, why was Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz not the one being the official representative of the United States? Instead it was General of the Army Douglas MacArthur that was running the show on the deck of that battleship.
Also why was MacArthur chosen to do the japanese reconstruction for all fo those years?
replied to: MrRogers
Replied to: My father was involved in World War 2 as an officer...
I wondered about that as well.In a response to a blog about
Iwo Jima recently, I used a quotation from Admiral Nimitz.
I identified Nimitz as "The Commander of Allied Forces in
the Pacific Theater in WW2." I was wrong.
When I saw your question about MacArthur accepting the surrender and not Nimitz, I did some research. MacArthur
was Supreme Commander of all forces in the Pacific Theater.
Nimitz commanded Naval Forces only. MacArthur was given
the rank in 1942 by Pres. Roosevelt after the Phillipines
had fallen.
MacArthurs new Headquarters were Australia, where he would
plan and direct the campaign to defeat Japan.
I think Macarthur was chosen to direct the Japanese recontruction because he was most qualified.
replied to: pHoeNixOP
Replied to: I wondered about that as well.In a response to a blog...
Because he was the Supreme Commander, Pacific, it was his privilege to accept Japan's surrender. You come to a slightly different understanding of what happened, when you consider that he wasn't "chosen" for that task, nor was he the most "qualified" or even the most responsible (except in the sense that he was the top of the food chain). He could have chosen to delegate the job to anyone within his command - like Nimitz for example - but it would have been a big shock to everyone if he didn't do it himself.
I hope that helps...
replied to: MrRogers
Replied to: My father was involved in World War 2 as an officer...
Oops - I forgot to address the second question. In 1944, MacArthur was promoted (temporarily) to 5-star General of the Army, so he outranked everyone else in the United States military except for Eisenhower. (They made the rank permanent in 1946.) That fact alone made him the first choice to oversee the reconstruction, but if you research it more you will probably find that they considered a few others.
Don't forget, they were planning the occupation and recovery of Germany and Japan at least as early as 1944. Not winning the war wasn't one of the options; it was only a question of when, and what next.
replied to: MrRogers
Replied to: My father was involved in World War 2 as an officer...
What was your fathers name,rank and Group? Who was he responsible too. Are you able to give information on dates and locations when/where he was in Europe?
I'am asking for this information from you on the understanding you are seeking information on your fathers WW2 experience.I trust this is in order.
