Us Generals of Wwii
Essay title: Us Generals of Wwii
World War II was a critical period for America, not to mention the world as well. Throughout all the fighting and bloodshed, Americans returned home successful. Over 700,000 soldiers were disabled after the war, thankful for their lives. All the success and happiness of this country wouldnt have been possible if not for the bravery, courage, and strategies of our U.S. Generals. They provided the smarts, the morale, and motivation for our soldiers, navy, and airforce to come out victorious and recognized as the best in world history. The five major generals (George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, Omar Bradley, and Douglas MacArthur) shall never be forgotten as the best generals America has ever had.
General George C. Marshall was Army Chief of Staff during World War II. General Marshall planned some important strategies against the Japanese. He was born on December 31, 1880, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and was educated at Virginia Military Institute. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry in 1901 and served in the Philippine Islands from 1902 to 1903. During World War I he served as chief of operations with the U.S. First Army in France. He became a colonel in 1918 and received wide military recognition for his handling of troops and equipment during the Saint Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne operations. From 1919 to 1924 he was aide to the U.S. commander in chief, General John Pershing, and during the next three years he saw service in China. Marshall taught in various army schools and organizations from 1927 to 1936, when he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
In 1939 Marshall was appointed U.S. army chief of staff with the rank of general. He directed U.S. preparations for war over two years, and after the nations entry into World War II in December 1941, he was chiefly responsible for the training, organization, and deployment of U.S. troops in all sectors of the fighting, and for the appointment of commanders in all major operations. As one of President Franklin D. Roosevelts principal advisers on strategy, Marshall participated in the Allied conferences at Casablanca, QuГ©bec, Tehran (Teheran), Yalta, and Potsdam. In 1944 he was promoted to the rank of General of the Army. When he retired in 1945, President Harry S. Truman appointed him special representative, with the rank of ambassador, to China. He spent two years in China attempting to mediate the differences between the Chinese Communist and Nationalist leaders, but was unsuccessful. (Alexandria, pg. 24)
One of Marshalls briefings was called Operation Downfall, which was Marshalls final blow against the city of Hirohito. This strategy had two parts in able to be accomplished. The first part was named Code Olympic and the main priority would be to send 815, 548 American soldiers to invade Kyushu, which was the southernmost part of the Japanese islands, and overwhelm anyone or anything that stood in their way. The second part was called Operation Coronet, which was the invasion of Honshu. In Code Olympic, there were 31,000 American casualties in only 30 days but this did not distract General Marshall. In the words of General George Marshall, “It is a grim fact that there is not an easy, bloodless was to victory in war.” The Japanese knew they were defeated, so both sides negotiated or peace.
On June 5, 1947 George C. Marshall created a document called the Marshall Plan. This document stated that during the post-war, America should help the infrastructure of Europe, which was facing famine and an economic crisis. This document lead to the Economic Cooperation of 1948 and it restored Europes industrial and agricultural productivity. (Stone, pg. 119)
Th Marshall plan was followed by the Conference for European Economic Co-operation and Development. The two main countries that joined this plan were Great Britain and France. The invitation was sent to the governments of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, Russia refused to be part of the plan. As time goes by, many other countries refuse to be involved. The organization held limited meetings and in March 18, 1947 they hold their final meeting. (secondworldwar.com)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (or “Ike”) can arguably be considered as the best general of World War II. On the morning of October 14, 1890, Dwight David Eisenhower was born in a two-story frame house at the corner of Lamar Avenue and Day Street in Denison, Texas. Ike was the only one of David and Ida Eisenhowers seven children born in Texas. The future leader of the free world in war and peace was born in a railroad neighborhood, with the family home nestled within a few yards of three railroad