Duty Honor Country- Douglas Macarthur
Duty, Honor, Country
“And through all this welter of change and development, your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable: it is to win our wars,” this statement embodies Douglas Macarthur’s Speech “Duty, Honor, Country”. It was given in 1962 in acceptance of the Thayer Award, “The Award given… citizen of the United States, whose outstanding character, … comparison to the qualities for which West Point strives, in keeping with its motto - Duty, Honor, Country.” (AOGUSMA) It has been presented to other distinguished leaders such as Former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Regan, all of who upheld American values and the pillars, Duty, Honor and Country of the US Army. General Douglas Macarthur was one of four Men to reach the position of General of the Armed forces while serving in World War One, World War two, and the Korean War. His Credentials are long including involvement in over 20 different campaigns. Throughout his career he was known as a decisive leader with a humanitarian mindset. Often referred to as the “Warrior as a Wordsmith,”(Duffy 86) he spoke in a convincing manner, playing to the audience and reusing effective statements from earlier speeches.
The quotation cited at then beginning of this paper resonates on some of the strongest points in his speech, such as change, the strength and balance of a soldier, and war. Similarly, my thesis is: in his final deliberative yet demonstrative speech, General Douglas MacArthur re-instills pride, and balance in a morally, and politically damaged Army while providing a clear focus and guidance for all Americans to change by. By using parallel construction, constitutive rhetoric, and strong American ideographs, General Douglas Macarthur effectively creates a social cry for understanding and recommitment to the American dream. In this historical situation, he confronts what he calls the “ Unbelievers”, or the growing class of “civilian voices [who] argue the merits or demerits of government…and
“And through all this welter of change and development, your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable: it is to win our wars,” this statement embodies Douglas Macarthur’s Speech “Duty, Honor, Country”. It was given in 1962 in acceptance of the Thayer Award, “The Award given… citizen of the United States, whose outstanding character, … comparison to the qualities for which West Point strives, in keeping with its motto - Duty, Honor, Country.” (AOGUSMA) It has been presented to other distinguished leaders such as Former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Regan, all of who upheld American values and the pillars, Duty, Honor and Country of the US Army. General Douglas Macarthur was one of four Men to reach the position of General of the Armed forces while serving in World War One, World War two, and the Korean War. His Credentials are long including involvement in over 20 different campaigns. Throughout his career he was known as a decisive leader with a humanitarian mindset. Often referred to as the “Warrior as a Wordsmith,”(Duffy 86) he spoke in a convincing manner, playing to the audience and reusing effective statements from earlier speeches.
The quotation cited at then beginning of this paper resonates on some of the strongest points in his speech, such as change, the strength and balance of a soldier, and war. Similarly, my thesis is: in his final deliberative yet demonstrative speech, General Douglas MacArthur re-instills pride, and balance in a morally, and politically damaged Army while providing a clear focus and guidance for all Americans to change by. By using parallel construction, constitutive rhetoric, and strong American ideographs, General Douglas Macarthur effectively creates a social cry for understanding and recommitment to the American dream. In this historical situation, he confronts what he calls the “ Unbelievers”, or the growing class of “civilian voices [who] argue the merits or demerits of government…and
Citations: Duffy, Bernard K. and Ronald H. Capenter Douglas MacArthur: Warrior as Wordsmith. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1997 Kelly, Frank. MacArthur: Man of Action. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1951. Perelman, Chaim and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca, tr John Wilkinson and Purcell Weaver. The New Rhetoric: A Treatise On argumentation. Notre Dame, IN : University of Notre Dame Press, 1969. Richards, Jennifer. Rhetoric, the New Critican Idion. New York: Routlidge, 2008 Rielly, Edward J. American Popular Culture Through History: The 1960s. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003. Association of Graduates United States Military Academy- West Point. Sylvanus Thayer Award. http://www.aogusma.org/aog/awards/TA/thayer.htm