Douglas MacArthur was an American general born on 26th January 1880 and died on 5th April 1964. He is best known for his influence and role in Asia during, and after the end of World War II. MacArthur was the son of General Arthur MacArthur who was a civil war hero. Douglass grew up on an army base where his father lived, making it easy for him to be accepted in the US military academy based at West Point in 1898. He graduated in 1903 as the first in his class.

During World War II, Douglas served with the 42nd division in France. While in France under the same division, he was promoted to brigadier general, an award he received as the youngest ever in the history of US army. He took up the task as 84th infantry brigade commander. During the inter-war period, he served on different assignments, especially in Philippines. In 1937, he left the US army to command the Philippines army, though returned later on in July 1941 as US forces commander in Philippines.

During World War II, Douglas MacArthur fought against Japan in South East Asia. His weak forces were defeated in Philippines, and later on he was made Supreme Commander of Allied forces based in Southwest Pacific. He took command of British, American and Australian forces that defended Australia. These forces mainly fought in Solomon Islands, as well as New Guinea, which was a larger island. In 1944, the allied forces under MacArthur overran Japanese resistance. Thereafter, in October 1944, they took over Philippines. In September 1945, he received a formal surrender from Japan on its surrender; this led to the end of the World War II. He continued to serve as the Allied Powers Supreme Commander based in Japan till June 1950.

In 1950, there was a surprise attack of the North Korean communist army which led to Korean War. The United Nations General Assembly, which was five years old, sanctioned UN forces to quickly re-unify the Korean Peninsula. This was to be done in October. MacArthur is said to have led the UN coalition that was mainly made of American military as well as troops from another 21 UN member countries that had accepted the challenge to release their forces. This coalition force derived the use of counter offensive and amphibious landing at the back of North Korean army lines at Inchon. As the UN forces led by MacArthur approached the China-Korea border, China warned that it would get involved. On 25th October 1951, PLA attacked transversely Yalu River forcing UN military to retreat. He sought to extend the conflict into China and in April 1951, Truman relieved him off his duties. He was replaced by Matthew B. Ridgway, who was instrumental and stabilized the situation at the 38 parallel.