Bro Douglas MacArthur - Scholar and Military Leader dubbed “The American Shogun”

Douglas MacArthur.  26 January 1880 - 5 April 1964

Bro Douglas MacArthur, born on the 26th January 1880 Bro MacArthur was a scholar and military leader dubbed “The American Shogun”. 

While stationed in the Philippines, MacArthur was made a Mason “at sight” by the Grand Master of the Philippines, he was raised on the 14th January 1936 and had received the 32nd degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite on the 28th March of that same year. 

Being made a "Mason at sight" is a rare Masonic procedure where a Grand Master uses their authority to initiate, pass, and raise a candidate to the degree of Master Mason in a single session, bypassing the usual waiting periods and proficiency requirements.

He was was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army.  He served with distinction in World War I; as chief of staff of the United States Army from 1930 to 1935; as Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area, from 1942 to 1945; as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers overseeing the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951; and as head of the United Nations Command in the Korean War from 1950 to 1951. 

MacArthur was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times, and awarded it for his WWII service in the Philippines.  He is one of only five people to hold the rank of General of the Army, and the only person to hold the rank of Field Marshal in the Philippine Army.

Despite his numerous duties MacArthur managed to maintain an active Masonic career. 

Bro MacArthur died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on 5 April 1964, of primary biliary cholangitis - a chronic autoimmune liver disease. 

President Kennedy had authorized a state funeral before his death in 1963, and President Johnson confirmed the directive, ordering that MacArthur be buried “with all the honour a grateful nation can bestow on a departed hero”. 

Dates of rank

Insignia	Rank	Component	Date
None	Cadet	United States Military Academy	13 June 1899
No pin insignia in 1903	Second Lieutenant, Engineers	Regular Army	11 June 1903
	First Lieutenant, Engineers	Regular Army	23 April 1904
	Captain, Engineers	Regular Army	27 February 1911
	Major, Engineers	Regular Army	11 December 1915
	Colonel, Infantry	National Army	11 August 1917 (Date of rank: 5 August 1917.)
	Brigadier General	National Army	11 July 1918 (Date of rank: 26 June 1918.)
	Brigadier General	Regular Army	28 February 1920 (Date of rank: 20 January 1920.)
	Major General	Regular Army	17 January 1925
	General	Temporary	21 November 1930
	Reverted to Major General	Regular Army	1 October 1935
	General	Retired list	1 January 1938
	Major General	Regular Army	26 July 1941 (Recalled to active duty.)
	Lieutenant General	Army of the United States	27 July 1941
	General	Army of the United States	22 December 1941 (Date of rank: 16 September 1936.)
	General of the Army	Army of the United States	18 December 1944
	General of the Army	Regular Army	23 March 1946

References:

Freemason NZ - published in Masonica 4 April 2026

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur

Photos:

1. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur smoking his corncob pipe, probably at Manila, Philippine Islands, 2 August 1945.   Photographer not credited. - Naval Historical Center; Direct link. Photo #: USA C-2413 (Color), photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
2. A 1971 MacArthur commemorative postage stamp.  Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Designed by Paul Calle., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
3. "I have returned" – General MacArthur returns to the Philippines with Philippine President Sergio Osmeña.   Douglas MacArthur wades ashore during initial landings at Leyte, Philippine Islands. Left to right: Philippine President Sergio Osmena; Lieutenant General George Kenney (obscured); Colonel Courtney Whitney; Brigadier General Carlos Romulo; General Douglas MacArthur; Lieutenant General Richard Sutherland; CBS radio correspondent Bill Dunn; Staff Sergeant Francisco Salveron.   Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3289265