The Five Star Rank and Officers
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- čas přidán 6. 04. 2020
- In our latest Q&A session, we answer two questions. 1. Why did the U.S. military create the five-star rank in World War II? 2. How many officers held this special rank?
Keep your questions coming!
Those who held this rank were never retired and remained on Active Duty until they died, even though they no longer held any official position or command. The one difference was Eisenhower. He had to resign from the Army when he won the election for President because it is against not only Federal law but also the Constitution to be President and in the Military at the same time. After he left office the Army petitioned Congress to reinstate him, which they did. He is the only person to have held that rank, then resign from the Service and then later be reinstated.
Actually, Halsey retired as a four star, was brought back on active duty they next day as a five star.
You are correct they remained in an active duty status specially authorized by legislation for their life as a reward for WWII.
Federal law and the Constitution are the same thing.
@@tomsampson8084 The constitution is part of federal law. There are plenty of federal laws not in the constitution.
@@tomsampson8084 No they are not. Plenty of unconstitutional laws on the books.
@@TheDude1764 All laws must stem from the Constitution. You are correct that many unconstitutional laws exist. The one and only role the Supreme Court is supposed to perform is to rule on the constitutionality of a law. Unfortunately, in the past 50 years the Court has more and more been becoming a legislative body.
Let’s not forget that anytime there is a 5 star, General Washington becomes 6 star. He is always to be the highest ranking officer.
N john pershing
he is actually the equivalent of a 7 star; Dewey and Pershing had special ranks making them senior to all Army and Navy Officers making them equivalent to a 6 star
@@bob80q General Pershing was only a 4 star General, George Catley Marshall was the first to wear the 5 star insignia
@@aubreymitchell1616 wrong yet again; its Catlett and William Leahy was the first 5 star officer , Fleet Admiral USN
@@bob80q Marshall was first in US Army, i could care less about the Navy
Leahy was 70, Marshall was 65, King was 68, MacArthur was 65, Nimitz was 60. Arnold was 59. Halsey was 62. Eisenhower was the kid at 55 when the war ended with Bradley being 52 when the war ended. There is no substitute for experience.
Gen. Arnold holds two 5 star ranks in the two branches in US military, the army and the airforce. However, Gen. Mc. Arthur is the only 5 star General who holds two 5 star ranks in two countries. The General of the Army (US) and the Field Marshal (Philippines). Until now, he is the only military officer ever who holds the rank of Field Marshal in the Philippines.
That’s not true.
There are multitudes of “5-Star” (or O-11) general officer from multiple countries.
This was especially common in the 19th century when as a result of the fact that almost every monarch of Europe was related to every other. Culminating is Queen Victoria, who, by the beginning of WWI was the “grand mother of Europe” because every single Monarch on every throne was her Grand, of Great-Grand child.
Point being. The kings (not Queens, sorry ladies) often bestowed the top Military rank on other monarch of other nations as an honorable gesture and flattery..
Thanks. I forgot... Interestingly, the Convoluted Historical Relationships & Military E
@@WorshipinIdols , thank you for the additional info! Indeed, there are many 5 star Officers around the world. However, I'm just stating about the 5 stars in the US based on the video about the 5 star generals and admirals in the US...
@@ScarabKing143 its U.S Army and U.S. Air Force you twit. Also Arnolds promotion to General of the Air Force was honorary after he retired.
@@WorshipinIdols I took Scarab55 to mean the only American officer who held 5 star rank in another army. You are right about monarchs in Europe conferring honorary 5 star ranks on one another. Kaiser Wilhelm was an honorary Admiral of the Fleet of the Royal Navy. Emperor Horohito also held an honorary 5 star British rank but I can't remember whether it was in the Navy or the Army (or both?). Btw Queen Victoria died in 1901. Her grandson King George V was on the throne in 1914.
Back in the Sixties, my younger brother and I owned a number of G-I Joe dolls. We played with them quite vigorously, and one of them lost an arm. We decided he was a wounded veteran, and we promoted him to general. I had to make him a five-star general, though I knew the rank was ridiculously high for the sort of adventures our Joes engaged in. If I didn’t, my brother’s friend would promote one of his Joes above ours, and my brother could not let that happen.
A marvelous presentation that is a real teacher, I wish we had more of them and thank you ma’am for mentioning GenerallfeldMarschall Witzleban.
However, She forgot Reichmarshal Hermann Goring, who was the only German to hold that Rank.
@@KManXPressTheU correct, but Goring didn’t have actual real authority over the military. Hitler controlled all military action and what they did. Goring was the highest ranking active servicemen, but technically didn’t have much say in what they did.
@@Alextheawesification Funny that Goring was also placed in charge of the German Economy and Infrastructure; He failed at those two tasks also.
It’s Witzleben. He was in with the 1944 Stauffenberg attempt to assassinate Hitler and stripped of rank and hung to death on piano wire.
Good video. Washington was posthumously promoted to six star General of the Armies of the United States on bicentennial day, July 4 1976. This was to ensure he will never be outranked. His rank during the Revolution was 3 Star Lieutenant General.
In 1976, George Washington was posthumously promoted to General of the Armies to ensure that no one past or present would outrank him. It's theoretically a six star rank, but no six star insignia has ever been designed or worn.
There are two who been given similar rank as George Washington i.e. General of the Armies. Pershing got his title while he was in service in 1919. Then, Washington got promote in 1976 to match Pershing. Next, Grant been given the same honor this past month with bi-partisan support, an amazing feat given a divide Congresa (Dec 2022).
That's because there were no generals of the army when Pershing was promoted to general of the armies. He chose to wear four gold stars, so the color of the insignia differentiated the rank, not the number of stars. The same thing happens with first lieutenants and captains, and with majors and lieutenant colonels.
That was well presented, thanks.
Agree with you 100%
Mac Arthur was our general
..6th 🌟 General in our hearts...Love from Philippines
Surprisingly enough the Japanese loved Mcarthur after the war.
Give 10,000 Filipino soldiers and I will conquer the world. General Douglas McArthur.
Ginamit lang ng Kano ang mga Filipino para kalabanin ang mga Hapon
@@Tyambalord tama ka. Dapat pag-aari na ng Japan ang Pilipinas ngayon pagkatapos pasabugin ng US ang Hiroshima at Nagasaki ng atomic bomb. Lahat na sana diyan sa Pilipinas ay nagsasalita na ng salitang hapon.
@@williampatience9524 true. Dahil isinagawa ni McArthur ang mini Marshall Plan para mabigyan ng pundo at matulongan ang ekonomiya ng Japan. Kung hindi ginawa yon, baka naging pulobi ang bansang Japan ngayon.
What an amazing group of talented commanders. I fear this nation will not see their like again. I know Norman Schwarzkopf was proposed in the 90's and I think he might have warranted it.
I agree Norman probably should have received the promotion.
I dont think Stormin' Norman was that good if a general. Remember that the allied command had total control if the air, land, sea, communications. Command, and control. Iraq had their Republican Guards who were supposed to be die hard military. Thr US already had war plans and war gamed it. When yiu have total control of your supplies via the sea and land, air and ground, thr only question is how many casualties and how well will the Repubicaln Guards fight. We then commenced an air campaign that destroyed most of thr ground forces causing massive surrender. Our were cleaning out our cold War stock piles and war planes often it ed much if their field circling and waiting their turn to bomb the ground ground troops.
At this point, Pee Wee Herman could have commanded a winning war. It didn't take a hero, was the title of Schwarzkopf's biography and he was right. He was no hero. Now after the war it came out that he had a horrendous temper throwing ashtrays T his subordinates. Hardly the stuff of great leaders. Thr war plans were developed by the colonels in the war college and fine tuned as they ramped up. Stormin Norman sounded tough in the press releases. "Have you ever walked through a mine field." Obviously no press journalist served as a combat infantryman I'm Vietnam pretty safe rhetoric. But I. Sure ple ty of Vietnam War grunt did walk through mine fields. Or punji stick traps.
Eisenhower was also considered for a sixth star but was never voted on.
Patton deserved it.
Neither Eisenhower nor Schwarzkopf dezerved a fifth star. MacArthur was senior to Marshall before he retired to the Philippines. When he was recalled to duty FDR and others who hated him wanted to ensure he would not get the fifth star first so they promoted Marshall first, then Eisenhower and MacArthur at the same time. Of the three only MacArthur had ever seen real combat during WWI. He should have been sent to Europe to take charge there but Roosevelt knew the King would not like giving up his throne lol
This lady is amazing, in her presentation and style. Right to the point and easy on the eyes too. We want to see more of her presentations. Very informative .---Swamie
Only two officers held the rank of “General of the Armies”
General John J Pershing
And General George Washington.
2 best U.S Generals ever
Thank you young lady!
Good job. To the point, succinct, informative, and well presented. All the 5-stars you mentioned would have expected no less.
Thank you for the posting this video, I appreciate you.
Any fan of military history should visit MacArthur Memorial in the heart of Norfolk. A great place to learn more about this great man who shaped post-WWII peace in Asia.
Have to respectfully disagree with you about MacArthur. I think you might have forgotten how MacArthur was shocked and did NOTHING for hours after Peal Harbor was attacked. Or how he failing to initially failed to follow WP Orange resulting thousands and thousands of tons of supplies and rations not going to Bataan and falling into Japanese hands. Or how he and MG Almond ignored and pressed MG Smith to continue North even after countless PRA Army captured troops reported that the Communist Chinese where about to attack. In terms of his tenure as directing Post War Japan z lot of other Allied officers serving the same mission in the ETO did just as well with a hell more difficulties facing them. Yes Inchon was brilliant. Everyone lucks out once in a while.
@@geeeeeee3 Don't disagree with anything you note. Have always thought of him as if it was a Shakespearian play. The hero has a fatal flaw. Bucking the CIC was the last straw.
Thanks for the info. I was in the service and I only knew 3 of them. All in theaters.
Glad I found your channel, love it.
That was a terrific presentation. Clear and very informative. I had wondered about this but no one was able to give me a concise answer. Many thanks.
Terrific?
Learned in boot camp that one star and five star were war time ranks only. However I didn't know why. This lady gave an excellent presentation. Now, here I am, 50+ years later, in the know!
George B. McClellan and U.S. Grant were both General-in-Chief, and a case could be made that this should be considered a distinct rank. While on active duty both Washington and Grant were Lieutenant Generals, but Grant had the authority to command U.S. naval units, so in this regard he had the type of authority that the 5-stars of World War II had.
Interesting analysis......Grant as sort of a 20th century CINC of a unified command.
McClellan was commander of the Army of the Potomac and was a Major General (2 star) while Grant Was made Lieutenant General (3 star) and commander of all US armies.
@@martinmcnamer4081 he comanded the northern army of the USA, we Confederates had our own General, Robert E Lee, who was offered Grants roll as Gen of US Army, but refused and joined the Confederate Army
Very informative and succinct explanation with not one wasted word, nor one surplus. A model presentation.
Thank you for posting this wonderful video.
You did a super job with the research and presentation of this video! Thank you!
Honorable men who fought honorably for our country.thank you gentlemen for your service
Wasn't MacArthur dictator of Japan after WW2?
@Hoa Tattis no argument from me, there main job was to look at a situation and then order the grunts into the most often worse situations, with the exception of a few that actually ran into battle with thier men. And for MacArthur being gen. Of Japan, well at that time the Japanese still considered us as enemy, so someone had to act as commander of japan to ensure a somewhat peaceful transition, but still agree with your statement.
This is such a wonderful understanding that they moved from one rank to the other from the army to the Navy and the Air Force it's just beautiful and my daughter is home from the Navy she went in gentlemen when she was only 17 she joined it early before she was 18 my oldest daughter thought she was 18 when she graduated from the Navy that was September 1st 2010 she's an E3 engineer off the Lincoln she got married last year in May 2021 she married a marine down in Dallas she's my little girl and she's home now yes you have a blessed and wonderful day thank you so much for sharing🌈✨🌟✨🌎🌏🌍💟💟🙏🤝🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸💯💌📬🤳💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞
Enjoying your videos! Would love to visit your museum
Excellent, thank you.
Interesting and inspiring!!!
Well presented. Informative and very interesting. More please.
Good stuff!! Thanks!
Thank you.
Regarding 3:01, Field Marshals in other countries were awarded with ornately decorated ceremonial batons as authoritative symbols of their supreme military rank @ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baton_(military)
Well done. Bravo Zulu from an ol sailor.
Great succinct history thanks!
Marvelous. Thank you.
Great video and information. Glad to see a young lady as the face of the channel. I received the General Douglas MacArthur Award in 1985.
'' 5 STAR GENERAL PATTON '' WAS AN ABSOLUTE EXCELLENT STRENGTH IN WORLD WAR 2 !! '' ONE THAT WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN '' !!
Bravo Zulu, and, Thank You, for the I2( Information and Intelligence) on The Rank and Paygrade of General of the Army and Admiral of the Fleet.🇺🇸🦅🗽⚔️
Well done 👍🏻 Thanks so much..!
That was a awesome presentation 👏👏
Grant only held 3 star rank during the civil war and was general of the army. He received his 4th star in 1866.
Grant was a Lieutenant General, then the highest rank in the US Army. Up to that time, no one other than Washington had ever held that rank.
The service academies had a color guard on standby for Bradley's eventual funeral, which I was on in 72-73. Don't ask why they assigned me, it was a mystery. But I was glad he survived a number of years beyond then.
Great explanation!
Thank you that was very informative. I have always wondered about the 5 stars since I am a General George S. Patton buff.
It's a pity that Patton didn't receive the promotions that he should have received, when he should have received them. Also I believe he is one of the few Generals who should have been promoted to the 5 star rank posthumously
Patton did not fit into the New World Order, so they killed him.
@@johnharris6655 Patton's keep was hit by a drunk nco in another jeep, just a freak accident. If they really did want him around they'd have asked him to retire his commission, as often happened
@@kingofthejungle3833 That is what they want you to believe.
very informative and concise. thanks.
I just subscribed to your channel. This was a nice presentation.
General Black Jack Pershing was promoted to the rank of General of the Armies during WWI and wore four Gold Stars. It is argued that General of the Armies out ranks the Five Star generals.
I TOTALLY agree with the argument that a General Of The Armies does outrank a 5 star one ! Most people don't know that the rank of General Of The Armies has ever existed, but it has!
@@phillipholladay4981 Actually twice. Washington was posthumously promoted in 1976.
He was still outranked by Petain and Foch. As Marshal (Marechal) of France, they wore seven stars.
Obviously you're confused - the subject was concerning AMERICAN Generals - not European armies ! Plus, when our troops arrived in Europe, the British and French demanded that our troops submit to THEIR command and "fill out" their decimated divisions , " BLACKJACK" told them basically HELL ,NO , and told them that the DOUGH BOYS would be fighting as wholly American Units , commanded by American Officers !
@@phillipholladay4981 also the French and British commanders wanted out troops to join theirs in the trench lines. Pershing wanted nothing of stalemates. His idea of fighting a war was fire and maneuver.
This vid is a lot of help
Thank you madam for clarifying the origin and role of the five star rank of the US Armed Forces.
Thank you
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur had also served as Field Marshal in the Philippine Commonwealth's Army after his first retirement from the US Army as its Chief of Staff with the rank of General (four stars). After the start of World War II, he was reinstated into active duty in the US Army as a four-star general before his promotion to General of the Army.
Macarthur was only given the rank of supreme commander of pacific forces, never general of the army!
Macarthur should also have remained retired in the philippines, he was a showboat asshole who didn't deserve any recognition from US forces! He was a nobody piece of garbage!
@@wpetercampbell4372 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_of_the_Army_(United_States)
@@wpetercampbell4372 You are wrong. The original post by Selwyn is correct. For the curious: MacArthur’s Philippines uniform insignia as a Field Marshall was 4 silver stars. I guess he was more modest than he gets credit for.
Good Job. Ray Spruance should have been added to the group but I guess they had to stop somewhere. She is very nice looking.
Halsey's political supporters fought Spruance's promotion. They viewed it as a competition between the two, even though Halsey and Spruance didn't have issues with each other.
@@EliteF22 Spruance was quoted as saying that had he also been promoted to Fleet Admiral along with his friend Bill Halsey, Spruance would have been satisfied with the promotion, but that if he had been promoted to Fleet Admiral and Bill Halsey had not been promoted, Spruance would have been “very unhappy about it”.
Ray Spruance : a remarkable admiral and leader. I have always admired his modesty and unassuming manner. He rightly belongs to this list.
Excellent presentation, thankyou
I was always taught that the 5-star rank was created to be equal to the title of Field Marshal.
I always thought the insignia was in the shape of a pentagon,. rather than a circle. (tough it does look about the same.)
I think putting the stars in a circle is just a happy coincidence (for the US) that it forms a pentagon (Pentagon).
In military parlance it is referred to as a wreath.
... a five-pointed star formed by five-pointed stars.
Very clear, TY
Well done thanks..................
They missed at least 3 military personnel. Admiral Kelso, General Powell, and General Horner should have been promoted for Desert Storm. Why weren't they?
I remember back in 1991 of promoting storming norman and Powell to 5 star rank. Then watching a segment on tv about storming norman specifically. I knew LTG Cal Waller.... he was I Corps CG and was deputy CG during Desert Storm. He told me that there were those who believed promoting both of them could make them political contenders down the line. There also a movement to promote Petraus and Spurance. The latter postumastly.
@@paratrooper629 ❓❓❓
The military was way too small in 1991 to justify a 5 star rank.
5 is enough.
I watch this to learn about the history of the American military.
This is a great video teaching material.
I own several Star Insignias, hand-built by Americans.
I remember that Admiral Sharp ordered it to be made of steel.
I was told by a U.S. congressman that General MacArthur was the only commander of all the armed forces.
Thank you very much for being able to fill in the knowledge that I didn't know.
Thank You. I knew most but not all.
4:26 Ommission in the written text ... Army Corps should read Army Air Corps.
Very impressive. Great presentation.
I wonder if we’ll ever get another 5 Star again at some point?
I hope not. It probably would mean involving the United States in a multi theater coalition war.
Hope not..requires a war
When Trump is dictator, maybe he'll get a uniform, ala Fidel Castro, and declare himself 7 star general, and Republican senators will think that is a wonderful idea.
@@mungous1000 I don't remember Trump ruling by decree like Biden with "mandates," or Republicans threatening SCOTUS if they didn't like the courts rulings.
Something we would not want to see because that would mean the world has been lit on fire with war.
5 star general's are always the ultimate but the metal of honor is the most honor and the proudest metal that any military personnel could ever ever ever receive
Well spoken on the topic...I am now a subscriber!
Many senior Naval Officers at the time thought that that Raymond Spruance, and not William "Bull" Halsey should have received the 5-Star promotion, especially in light of the decisions made by Halsey as commander of the 3rd Fleet during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Wholeheartedly agree.
“Your conclusions were all wrong, Ryan. Halsey acted stupidly.”
@@asanokatana Wasn't that line from the movie "Hunt for Red October"?
Spruance was dislikes by King. That is why Spruance remained a four star.
Also Halsey was considered the darling of the press; loud and bombastic, in contrast to the taciturn Spruance, who seldom spoke and was reserved in manner.
I may be wrong but I thought President George Washington out ranks them all.
President George Washington was posthumously elevated to the rank of 6 star General of the Armies at the same time as General John Pershing. Those were the only two to hold that rank, and it will not be used again for any new general of the army rank. Should the army find the need to have the 5 star general rank for theater wars to equal another countries field marshal, they'll use the 5 star, and nothing more.
@@wpetercampbell4372 it is not a 6 star rank, its a special grade. It was assumed that General of the Armies was a 6 star rank but it was never approved by congress
Excellent presentation!
Very good. Thanks.
Harry Truman: “You’re fired!”
Douglas MacArthur: "Harry, you're an idiot!"
@@christianpatriot7439 Harry Truman "You're an insolent son of a bitch and now you're an unemployed son of a bitch!"
@@oldcremona And you and the rest of the incompetent Democrats have given us a North Korea with nuclear weapons.
@@christianpatriot7439 - this statement has NOTHING to do with the historical facts posted in the video.
@@peterlarsen7779 The historical facts is that Truman botched the Korean War.
You missed the Admiral of the Navy George Dewey, the only Admiral of the Navy in history...
John J. Pershing held the rank
She'll talk about Dewey, Pershing and Washington in another video.
@@johnwow9613 Are you reading? I said "Admiral" Pershing is "general"
he was the EQUIVALENT of 5 stars, and later 6
Excellent presentation
Thanx Amanda....good informative video
What is missed here is the ORDER OF BATTLE and the number of stars ..
Army ... General 4 stars **** (100,0000 men)
Corps Lt. General 3 stars *** 3 corps in an army (33,000 men)
Division Major General 2 stars ** 3 Divisions in a Corps (11,000 men)
Brigade Brigadier 1 stare * 3 Brigades in a Division (3500 men)
Regiment Colonel Eagle 3 Regiments in a Brigade (1000 men)
Battalion Major OakLeaf 3 Battalions in a Regiment (300 men)
Company Captain 2 bars 3 companies in a Battalion (100 men)
Platoon 1st Looey 1 bar 3 platoons in a company (30 men)
Squad 2nd Looey 1 bar 3 squads in a platoon (10 to 12 men)
WHY is it always 3? because all maneuvers are Left - center - Right
A column marches with Right in front and center in the center and left in the rear THUS
a column right deploys the column into position to charge (or to receive a charge)
Not sure about the officer ranks in WWII, although I don’t think they’ve changed, but you missed Lieutenant Colonel (silver oak leaf) between Major (gold oak leaf) and (bird) Colonel 😊
@@hawgbreath That is why the key phrase is "order of battle" Of course there is Lt. colonel and Lt. Commander and Chaplain and Warrant Officer and Supply clerk and Sergeant Major. The key what are the ranks that command U.S. army elements.. The general topic was FIVE STARS and they were in command of multinational "theaters," i.e., European and Asian (Ike needed 5 stars to hold Montgomery in check. Montgomery would not hesitate to send 100,000 Americans to their dead (he did it with the Australians and the Canadians). Ike and Marshall held the lid on Montgomery's dumb (witness: Market Gardens .. the dumbest loss of you soldiers ever devised) Hurtgen Forest is second dumbest. ) MacArthur was commanding Lord Mountbatten, Indian, Chinese, Australian .. and yet he had to avoid blood bath type engagements.
@@Gitfidlpickr Ok, my bad, I’m not familiar with that term as I was not in the army. But for me and others who aren’t familiar with it where does it leave the LTC?
@@hawgbreath I tiradito respond but the damned computer killed it. Iam not keyboard literate
@@hawgbreath
c Gettysburg, Lee's army. There are three corps (Jubal early, AP Hill and James Longstreet). Pickett is a Maj General reporting toe Longstreet (Lt. General) and this is the source of Pickets charge. So as you watch the explanation keep in mind left-center-right and the hierarcy of corps-division-brigade1 and even regiment.
Gettysburg cost Lee about 12000 men that he could not afford to lose.
Lee knew that the CSA has been broken at Gettysburg The CSA was out of options (it was trying to find a negotiated surrender) Grant had split the CSA and taken the Mississippi and Vickburg fell during the battle of Gettysburg .. the situation was bleak Lee is 4-star general of the Army of Northern Virginian (about 75000 men). His three corps are approx 25000 each. (Jubal early, AP Hill and James Longstreet) Notice the Order of Battle and how elements are engaged
gettysburg czcams.com/video/Km7fIGYMbuQ/video.html czcams.com/video/Km7fIGYMbuQ/video.html
George Washington was retro promoted to General of the Army. So that he would continue to be the highest ranking officer of the United States.
Just to be nit-picky, his rank is "General of the Armies" (plural), which places him above the five-star "General of the Army."
@@s51curtis Thanks and in this case it is very ok to be picky about terms used.
@@s51curtis yes, I be,I eve... I had forgotten
as was Pershing; Dewey was given the rank of Admiral of the Navies and also considered senior to all other officers
Congress awarded him the title of "General of the Armies of the United States". Although John Pershing held the same rank, the bill introduced in Congress in 1976 and signed by President Ford, introduced legislation to posthumously promote George Washington to the rank of "General of the Armies of the United States" and declared by statute that no one else could ever be ranked higher than Washington. The bill was Public Law 94-479.
Concise info, thank you...
Omar Bradley was the General of the Army when I was in. He was frail and in a wheelchair in 1976.
PS: UNLESS I'M MISTAKEN, THE EQUIVALENT RANK IN GREAT BRITAIN IS THAT OF FIELD MARSHAL HELD BY FIELD MARSHAL BERNARD MONTGOMERY.
You're right. The same rank was held in Germany, france, and a few other countries. This woman has it wrong. General Pershing was a six star, general of the armies, and george washington was posthumously elevated to the six star .
Macarthur was a scumbag, and didn't deserve the medal of honor, much less the five or six star rank! He's already down in history as the worst showboat ever to hold high rank in the american armed forces, and he'll never get anything from the heroes who lead the services today.
Also, it was a pentagon, NOT A CIRCLE, and both the 5 and 6 star ranks were formed thusly!
@@wpetercampbell4372 she's not altogether wrong. True that Pershing and Washington held the penultimate of "General of the Armies," but the Army never designated an insignia to go with it. Logically it would be six stars, but it's never gone beyond being an assumption.
There have been several field marshals in the British army. There was one in Yugoslavia recently.
@@s51curtis I've actually seen the six- star designator, and it's like the five star with the sixth placed in the center of the five. Washington and Pershing never wore this, but their portraits have been updated with the six stars five around one in a pentagular fashion as I previously stated. One of the portraits is in Worcester, Mass.
The volume on this is recorded to quietly. It should be at least twice that level.
This is good in comparison to a lot videos
Thank you....what would the position or title be of that who can move props into position or be able to at least speak of why you should approach the target that way.... like foot soldiers and tanks
MacArthur should consider "himself lucky' to get, and keep, the 5 stars he got! He was a self promoter, sending cable after cable (think twitter) back to the US saying "Mac A men did this and Mac A air crews did that". He also hated the Marines! When asked if he wanted to include Marines under his command included in being named for a Presidential Unit Citation he said no, they already get too much credit! He lost his relative large bomber force, ON THE GROUND... AFTER being notified that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor! He moved his forces into Bataan but left enough food in depots all over Luzon to feed the Japanese. His men would starve! Later in Korea when he thought he had won, he was again surprised by an attack by Chinese troops which he had been warned about but insisted the "boys will be home by Christmas! That was November 1950, and he was right if he meant Christmas 1953, after he was sacked by POTUS Truman!
MacArthur never won a battle that he didn't have massive advantages.
I met a Korean War veteran who told me in the winter of 1950 when the UN forces started encountering Chinese soldiers and sending them to Seoul for interrogation and internment in POW camps, Mac told the commanders to quit sending the Chinese as they were "not going to fight" despite the fact the UN caught these soldiers on the battlefield, and they told the interrogators of massive buildups on the border...
If it would have been up to general Eisenhower general MacArthur would have been demoted to a private
@@dominickgulizo8473 After his conduct right after Pearl Harbor, when he let his Air Force, the largest heavy bomber force anywhere in Asia get wiped out by having them sitting lined up , for lunch! The Japanese Air Force, several hours after he was warned that war existed ENDED ANY CHANCE TO DEFEND THE PHILLIPINES! They should have let the vainglorious bastard resign and become a Private on Bataan!
Thank you for that presentation. Very informative!
You mentioned at the end of the video that there was an effort to make Douglas MacArthur a " six- star" general (!) I had no idea that was even considered.
He was not well liked among the brass, and his poor leadership skills and ego-centric behavior got him fired by President Truman
Wow this was very well presented……..thank you
We all know what opinions are like, so here is mine. In regard to comments about Stormin' Norman Sw...f, Norman had the wit and character to wait until he had amassed overwhelming force before he moved. This was against enormous pressure to move earlier. If he had in fact moved earlier, casualties could have been high on his troops. A great video, thanks for posting it.
The US Coast Guard DOES not have a 5 star rank. During WWI the USCG was under the Department of the Navy.
During WWII as well.
You seem to have forgotten about John Pershing, who was General of the Army in the first World War.
Pershings rank was General of the Armies of the United States of America (six star in practice). Along with George Washington who was granted this rank posthumously in 1976, both outrank the 5 star rank General of the Army
Also do not forgot how MacArthur did NOTHING for hours after Peal Harbor was attacked; failing to follow WP Orange and ignoring countless PRA Army troops captured days before the Communist Chinese attacked in full. In terms of his tenure as directing Post War Japan z lot of other Allied officers serving the same mission in the ETO did just as well with a hell more difficulties. Yes Inchon was brilliant. Everyone lucks out once.
@@geeeeeee3 I agree. MacArthur showed tremendous ineptness throughout his career.
@@georice81 his landing at Inchon during the Korean War was a bit of brilliance, though.
@@s51curtis you have to give credit to where credit is due and he was the one that came up with the plan and it worked. Yet, the execution was done by the US Navy. You also have to look at the opposition. These were North Korean troops which were of dubious quality. They weren't crack SS Troops.
Really well explained. Nice video.
Catch-22 when it comes to Bradley. As you said he did not get his 5th star until he became the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They needed to promote him because MacArthur was a 5 star and Bradly couldn't be outranked by a subordinate. However, MacArthur still outranked Bradley because of time in grade so the promotion actually didn't accomplish anything except giving a 5th star to someone who didn't deserve it.
Although MacArthur had superior date of rank, giving the 5th star to Bradley made them peers. By virtue of his position as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he could give orders to MacArthur that he could not have done as a "mere" four star. I have every confidence that if the United States was not involved in the Korean War at the time, Bradley would not have received that 5th star.
Is there such a thing as fractional-star Generals? Could we ever get a three-and-a-half-star General? A π-star General?
That would have to be something like a Captain-General... or a Senior Vice Admiral...
There wouldn't be a need for either as the roles of the Lieutenant-General & General are fairly well defined & have just about the right amount of overlap (as do the roles of Admiral & Vice Admiral)...
However I could see an extremely temporary "Field Promotion" from ++ + to ++ ++ due to the death, or incapacitation, of the existing ++ ++, then dropping back when the replacement ++ ++ arrived. And that might be used as a catalyst for a subsequent promotion, but at no time would the poor sucker ever hold ++ +|.
Excellent
Well what else can you say, a five star presentation. 👍
The "brits" had the field marshal rank in the army before there was a u.s.a
So did most other European countries.
@@LA_Commander obviously numb nuts!
You forgot John J. Pershing during WWI who was also General of the Army and George Washington was promoted posthumously so that no one can out rank him.
General of the Armies, not General of the Army. Pershing was allowed to design his own insignia, but he never wore more than 5 stars. He was still alive when the WW II 5-stars were promoted, so he would have outranked all of them.
czcams.com/video/PRKPMsbr7uU/video.html
@@TheMacArthurMemorial I knew that. Blood pressure meds have fried my brain.
@@christianpatriot7439 : Without the General of the Army you could not have the General of the Armies since one most likely begat the other one.
@@jameshanlon5689 I get what you're saying now. But, if Pershing's insignia as General of the Armies was 4 gold stars, what was his insignia as General of the Army?
Also, do you know when Pershing was given these ranks?
Superb!
If only i can relive those days
This woman is so beautiful and I kept watching...she'll never know.
MacArthur? A six star general? My God the only reason FDR didn't leave him in the Philippines was to prevent more bad news to the American public. Same reason why he received the Medal of Honor. Not being left and relieved of command for dereliction of duty should have been enough. He never should have gotten his fifth star to being with.
IMO MacArthur was more of a hinderence in the Pacific.
The five stars were worn with the arms of the US between the stars and the collar button of the epaulet. Notice the pictures of the army generals when full dress uniform was worn.
Samlkay : Except for General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. He is only wearing a military shirt and no coat.