 “The long gray line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray (my emphasis), would rise from their white crosses, thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country.” - Douglas MacArthur. General Douglas MacArthur gave his final speech (amazingly extemporaneous) to the Corps of Cadets at West point in 1962, only two years before his death in 1964. As a minor student of history I have read as much on MacArthur’s life and times as most if, perhaps not more than most. There, in my opinion, was no greater advocate for the Republican cause than he was, including his admiration of Lincoln. Only a cursory examination of sources will reveal his devotion to his family (Wisconsin roots, although as a technicality MacArthur was born down South, in Little Rock, Arkansas) and in particular, his father, General Arthur MacArthur, a Yankee who was awarded one of the earliest Congressional Medals of Honor. In fact, Douglas was awarded the same medal many decades later for his defense of the Philippines in 1942, making the two of them the first father/son awardees. MacArthur’s mother was of a Virginia family and had two brothers who fought for the Confederacy. MacArthur, himself, married a lady (Jean Faircloth) from Virginia whose grandfather was a captain in the Army of Northern Virginia. As much as Douglas MacArthur was devoted, historically, to those Yankees in Blue, he had the greatest respect and love for those men in gray who gave their lives for their homes, families and a self-governing government while opposing nationalism. But in todays political climate if some noxious voice or voices demanded that the opening paragraph, above, be edited to remove “gray,” I believe Douglas MacArthur might return again - from under his white cross, and the Mark Levins, David Hansons, Fox News et nauseum of the “media” world would be verbally closeted by a brilliant and courageous soldier who had great respect for the Confederate monuments that have been removed, and the courage and honor that went with them.
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