Q: What do you think was going through MacArthur's head when he challenged
Truman?
MAIHAFER: I think it was almost inevitable, it was almost like a Greek tragedy
that had just one ending. Here you have MacArthur who knew what you needed to
do and was convinced from the bottom of his soul that there is no substitute
for victory. And, if that meant laying his career on the line, so be it. And,
that that's the only way I can think of it, that he was trying to have the
United States give full backing to the forces in Korea. If that meant
not hamstringing him, letting hot pursuit over the Yalu River, instead of
allowing the Manchurian sanctuary to pilots, who we now know were Russian
pilots, flying Soviet migs .. And if it meant committing forces from Formosa
of Chiang Kai-shek, so be it. And, he was willing to stake his reputation and
his career on it, and all I can think that was going through his mind, that he
really believed there is no substitute for victory. And, the fact that we did
not win a victory in Korea and suffered a stalemate at best. Who knows what
the implications were years in Vietnam.
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