In Memoriam - Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II

Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II died Nov. 15 at Georgetown University Hospital after a stroke and a heart attack. He was 88. Amb. MacArthur was a long time friend of the movement and had supported True Parents on numerous occasions, particularly with the Summit Council for World Peace and the World Media Association.

This is the eulogy for Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II given by Dr. Bo Hi Pak, Chairman of the Board, The Washington Times, November 20, 1997 at the Christ Church Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

My dear Laura MacArthur, esteemed guests, ladies and gentlemen. We gather together this morning to remember and to give tribute to the life and accomplishments of one of America's most respected diplomats and public servants, a great champion of freedom and democracy. He was a righteous man, one who used his abundant God-given abilities for the sake of others, and to accomplish God's will as best he understood it.

We gather to say farewell to this great gentleman and friend to us all-and to send him onward, to be with his beloved wife, Laura-whom he never referred to by any other name than "Wahwee," her nickname from childhood.

Patriotism and principle was the determining force and guiding light of his entire existence. It originated in the long-standing tradition of his family and from his early youth; it inspired all his actions and determined all his decisions. Whether he was a diplomat, a peace-negotiator, a prisoner of war or a distinguished member of society, his love of country was foremost in his mind.

There was an innate nobility in his demeanor and will to action. There was no act of his that did not have the imprint of his character. Whether he was sitting in the high Councils of State or in the intimacy of his home, that nobility transcended his action and gave a characteristic tone to his whole career.

We who loved him know he never forgot his heritage. "If you were a MacArthur," he once remarked, "from the time you were in your cradle, the responsibilities of duty, honor and country came with your mother's milk." He took great pride in the accomplishments of his celebrated "Uncle Doug"-as he always referred to him-and to the place in history occupied by the famous general who the Korean people think of as the savior of our freedom and our lives. I can testify that I am alive today only because of a timely rescue by one of General MacArthur's armored divisions.

During the spring offensive of a massive Chinese Army during the Korean War in 1951, I was a company commander who was left behind the enemy line for 7 days. I was saved by the U.S. 3rd Division. I literally kissed the American tanks and shouted, "Thanks General MacArthur."

Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II lived and served his country through the most tumultuous and yet promising time of human history, from the rise of Nazi Germany through the post-Cold War era. The namesake of his uncle and great war hero, Amb. MacArthur II will especially be remembered, both here and in Asia, as the man who raised postwar Japan to an equal footing with the United States after 15 years of subordination following its defeat in World War II. The U.S.-Japan mutual security treaty, signed in 1960 while he was U.S. ambassador to Tokyo, remains today the bedrock of American policy not only toward Japan, but toward all Asia. Time magazine then called Amb. MacArthur "the principal architect of present-day U.S. policy toward Japan." Without his painstaking efforts and patient diplomacy, the very foundation for Japan's postwar economic miracle-and in turn Asia's economic miracle-would not have been laid. For this we all owe Amb. MacArthur an enormous debt of gratitude.

Ambassador MacArthur played an instrumental role in the Summit Council for World Peace of which I serve as president emeritus. He was a key player in the formulation of the Summit Council's International Commission for the Reunification of Korea. The work of the Commission included several historical trips to North Korea and meetings with former president Kim Il Sung and the current leader, Kim Jong Il. It allowed the Summit Council to work behind the scenes and help unlock the nuclear stalemate that existed between this country and North Korea.

I, as a chairman of the Washington Times, personally owe a debt of gratitude to Amb. MacArthur for his immense contribution as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Washington Times at the inception of the paper and the World Media Association. I worked with him for 10 years as founding president.

It is quite natural for those of us left behind, to lament the loss of a departed loved one. But in the case of Amb. MacArthur, the sadness is eased by a large measure of gratitude, and even joy. That's right, joy-for death is a tragedy only if one's life has been misspent in selfishness or if one has died so young as to be unable to fulfill life's promise.

Neither of those cases apply to Amb. Douglas MacArthur II, as he passes on to be greeted amid cheers and welcoming embraces by Wahwee, his Uncle Doug and so many others who were companions in his enviable life-rich with adventure, interwoven in intimate detail with the history of the world of the twentieth century.

Ambassador MacArthur has begun his everlasting life in the righteousness of the almighty with abundant peace, tranquillity and joy.

The greatest praise one can pay him is to say that in the highest sense, he was a true American, a great patriot, and my personal hero. The name MacArthur is inscribed twice in world history-one by an Uncle Doug, and now by a Nephew Doug, the Second.

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