Reviewing the Final Speech of General Douglas MacArthur that was delivered at West Point before Gen. passed away
It is going to be the 60th anniversary of Gen. MacArthur’s death in April next year. Reviewing his legendary speech in 1962 at the USMA, West point, we are paying more and more respect for his character and for his superior leadership during the II WW and especially during the Korean War. The hero’s poetic speech at the West Point immediately leads us, especially Korean Americans, into tears, every time when we think of our destiny and of our dream to reunite the divided country, and of the myopic president Harry Truman who destroyed Gen. MacArthur’s determination to drop an Atomic bomb in North of Yalu River to permanently unite the divided country. The recent China’s expansion of its imperialism into Africa, South America, even in US, Canada and Taiwan, it seems that reunification the Korean peninsula in the way of US-Korea desire still remains a dream against the wishes of all peace loving people on the globe. Where is Gen. MacArthur’s mission gone ? The concluding words of the hero’s farewell speech sadly strikes our chord: The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished, tone and tint. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears, and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but with thirsty ears, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long rollIn my dreams I hear again the crash of guns; the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country. Today marks my final roll call with you, but I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will of The Corps, and The Corps and The Corps. I bid you farewell” . of which such pensive, poetic statement a poet laureate Wordsworth or Henry Long fellow are not aware. We human beings on the globe must be owed a great debt to the British Empire that produced so many hero in English literature including William Shakespeare and Adam Smith of great economic thoughts. We remember United Kingdom once made public that she will not give up him though British Empire can do giving up India. General MacArthur, who also inherited such tradition, culture and history from the Kingdom was not only a super military commander, but also a great poet by the way he manifested his long cherished sentiments at his farewell speech. Now we understand why 150,000 people waited in line to pay respects for General MacArthur, while his body laid in state in the Capital Rotunda. I take great pride myself in living in America with the ability to understand and comprehend the culture. I hope you could join in sharing these sentiments. I can’t help but cry when I read his concluding speech. Dr. Hubert Hojae Lee, Chairman of Korean American Foundation. 1st Vice President of KWVA CHAP 202. Former member of president George Bush Don Trump’s Advisory Board.
Comment: 잊혀진 전쟁 한국 전쟁 의 영웅 5성장군 Douglas MacArthur 가 모교 미육사에서 행한 마지막 고별사는 눈물없이는 읽을수 없는 역사적이면서, 감동적 울림을 주는 애절한 시였다. 연설문의 주요한 일부를 발체하여 한국 말로 옮긴다.
“어둠의 그림자는 점점 길어지고, 나의 인생의 황혼이 닦아온다. 전장 을 누볐던 옛 전성기의 용맹과 기개는 꿈처럼 희미하게 사라져 갔고, 신비롭게 화려했던 옛추억들은 지난날의 영광이었다고 웃어 넘기지만, 눈물가득찬 옛이야기였다. 노병의 쇠약해진 청각에도, 점호를 알리는 멀리서 들려오는듯한 기상나팔소리의 매혹적 멜로디는, 아직도 내 귓전에 생생히 울린다. 전쟁터에서, 병사들의 귀한목숨이 마지막으로 사라져가는 순간에, 들려오는 신음과 통곡소리는 언제나 내가슴을 후려쳤다. 기억이 약해지는 저녁이면, 내마음은 항상 Hudson River 애 우뚝솟은 West Point 로 돌아온다. 그곳에서 울려퍼지던 군인의 길- 충성, 명예, 애국심, (Duty, Honor and Country) 의 우렁찬 생도들의 함성소리는, 지금 이순간도, 내깊은 마음속에서 울리고 메아리친다. 오늘은 나를 키워준 정든 미육사교정에서, 사랑하는 국가의 간성이될 생도들 여러분들과 슬픈 고별을 하는 날이다.
친애하는 생도들이여 ! 내가 허드슨 강을 건너갈때마다, 국가의 간성을 지키는 군인의 사명의식, 군인, 군대,국방을 가슴에 깊이품고 살아왔다는 나의 양심고백을 경청, 기억해주시기를, 이자리를 빌어 간곡히 부탁드리며, 여러분이 사랑하는 맥아더는 홀홀히 떠나갑니다.
번역: 이호제 박사 Hubert Hojae Lee, Ph.D
Chairman of Korean American Foundation (https://kafusany.com)
1st Vice President of Korean War Veterans Association(KWVA) Chapter 202, Orange County, NY
Former member of President Bush and Trump Advisory Board.
