Keeping a Promise

On October 20, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled a promise.

In World War II, he worked tirelessly to keep the Philippines from falling into Japanese hands, but unable to halt the Japanese advance, in 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered him to leave. He reluctantly did so, with the declaration, "I shall return."

Over the next two years, he steadily retook Japanese-held islands in the Pacific, working his way back to the Philippines. Finally on October 20, 1944, he waded ashore announcing: "People of the Philippines: I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil."

Over the next year as it became evident that the defeat of Japan was inevitable, the Allies delivered the Potsdam Declaration to the Japanese, setting forth terms for their surrender. But they refused, determined to kill as many as possible before their defeat.

Knowing that millions of casualties would result from continued fighting, President Truman gave the order to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and then the second one on Nagasaki. Japan finally surrendered, and MacArthur attended and helped supervise the ceremony (pictured here at right). He was awarded the Medal of Honor and made a five-star general.

He then oversaw the occupation and rebuilding of Japan, openly calling for both Bibles and missionaries to be central in the effort. Some 5,000 missionaries responded. Such a request was not considered unusual, for as General MacArthur openly affirmed, "The United States is a pre-eminently Christian and conservative nation."

Under his leadership, in only seven years Japan had been rebuilt and accepted back into the world community. But it was the spiritual rebuilding of which he was most pleased, declaring that "No phase of the occupation has left me with a greater sense of personal satisfaction than my spiritual stewardship."

The life of General Douglas MacArthur, and his efforts in World War II, serve as a clear illustration of how spiritual principles were always considered inseparable from American public policies—a good reminder for us today.