The Brian Williams story reminds me of a far bigger one that seems to have gone down the memory hole. When Lyndon Johnson was a new congressman from Texas he wangled a trip to the PTO. While there, he talked himself onto a bombing mission over New Guinea. The plane he was supposed to ride took off because he had a call of nature and he hitched a ride on another. The first was shot down and the one LBJ was on turned back after an hour because of engine trouble, never coming close to the target. Because, like Brian Williams, he somehow "misremembered" -- a great new word for liars -- LBJ persuaded people he had been on that first mission. In his telling, the bomber he was in survived enemy fire and limped back to the home base, where crew members commented on his "coolness" under fire. He wore the Silver Star in his lapel in later campaigns. It was only after crew members blew the whistle that Johnson quietly surrendered the medal. http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=947376 Though Democrats seem to have a particular weakness for stealing valor, I suppose there are Republicans who have done likewise. But I think that is not true of conservatives, who are not always the same thing as Republicans and seem to have a greater appreciation for honor and truth. http://www.amazon.com/Great-Liars-They-knew-knew/dp/0989826902/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423272417&sr=8-1&keywords=jerry jay carroll
Interesting. I had always heard that he always wore the commemorative lapel pin for the medal for the rest of his life and never failed to take the opportunity to describe his "combat mission" to anyone who would listen. Around MacArthur's HQ it seems as though the Silver Star was handed out like candy. Seem to recall a story about it being given to one of his favorite news correspondents.
The greater part of MacArthur's reputation was attributable to the finesse with which he and his fawning circle of aides -- more a court than a staff, Eisenhower said -- massaged and manipulated the press. His egregious blunders in generalship would have led to him being cashiered were it not for the need the American people had for a hero to pull for when things were at their darkest. There was serious talk about a court martial when his B-17 bombers were caught on the ground eight hours after Pearl Harbor was bombed, but he ended up getting the Medal of Honor instead. He was as much a fop as Patton and, it must be said, equally brave. During WW1 the two were exposed to enemy fire on a ridge. They should have sought cover, but neither was willing to be the first . Things kept getting hairier until Patton blinked first. MacArthur thought he should have received the MoH not only for his heroism in WW1 but in an earlier campaign against Mexico. He went on a scouting expedition behind the lines with only one other and had to fight his way back, killing 20 Mexican soldiers along the way with his revolver. He was talked out of leaving Corregidor only on the promise an army had been formed in Australia that he would lead to reconquer the Philippines. Instead, he found bupkis and never trusted FDR's word again. Of course, they were enemies of old. At one point, Roosevelt thought that MacArthur and Huey Long were the two most dangerous men in the country. FDR thought Mac was deceitful and a liar, which, like Roosevelt himself, was true. It reminds me of the old saying, No great man is a good man. http://www.amazon.com/Great-Liars-They-knew-knew/dp/0989826902/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423326974&sr=8-1&keywords=jerry jay carroll
