道格拉斯麦克阿瑟名言 麦克阿瑟：国会大厦告别演讲(MacArthur: Farewell Address to Congress)

麦克阿瑟：国会大厦告别演讲(MacArthur: Farewell Address to Congress)  

道格拉斯·麦克阿瑟(Douglas MacArthur)，美国陆军五星上将。出生于阿肯色州小石城的军人世家。1899年中学毕业后考入西点军校，1903年以名列第一的优异成绩毕业，到工程兵部队任职，并赴菲律宾执勤。麦克阿瑟有过50年的军事实践经验，被美国国民称之为“一代老兵”，而其自身的又曾是“美国最年轻的准将、西点军校最年轻的校长、美国陆军历史上最年轻的陆军参谋长”，凭借精妙的军事谋略和敢战敢胜的胆略，麦克阿瑟堪称美国战争史上的奇才。

提起这句话：“老兵永远不死，只会慢慢凋零”（Old soldiers never die
they just fade away），就不由得想起那个叼着玉米棒子菸斗的麦克阿瑟，和他在1951年4月19日被解职后在国会大厦发表的题为《老兵不死》著名演讲。

我即将结束五十二年的军旅生涯。我从军是在本世纪开始之前，而这是我童年的希望与梦想的实现。自从我在西点军校的教练场上宣誓以来，这个世界已经过多次变化，而我的希望与梦想早已消逝，但我仍记着当时最流行的一首军歌词，极为自豪地宣示“老兵永远不死，只会慢慢凋零”。
I am closing my 52 years of military service. When I joined the Army
even before the turn of the century
it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point
and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished
but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that "old soldiers never die; they just fade away."

就像这首歌中的老兵，一位想尽一已之责的老兵，而上帝也赐予光辉使他能看清这一项责任，而我现在结束了军旅生涯，而逐渐凋谢。
And like the old soldier of that ballad
I now close my military career and just fade away
an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty.

演讲全文：MacArthur: Farewell Address to Congress

Mr. President
Mr. Speaker
and Distinguished Members of the Congress:

I stand on this rostrum with a sense of deep humility and great pride -- humility in the weight of those great American architects of our history who have stood here before me; pride in the reflection that this home of legislative debate represents human liberty in the purest form yet devised. Here are centered the hopes and aspirations and faith of the entire human race. I do not stand here as advocate for any partisan cause
for the issues are fundamental and reach quite beyond the realm of partisan consideration. They must be resolved on the highest plane of national interest if our course is to prove sound and our future protected. I trust
therefore
that you will do me the justice of receiving that which I have to say as solely expressing the considered viewpoint of a fellow American.

I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading ilight of life
with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country. The issues are global and so interlocked that to consider the problems of one sector
oblivious to those of another
is but to court disaster for the whole. While Asia is monly referred to as the Gateway to Europe
it is no less true that Europe is the Gateway to Asia
and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other. There are those who claim our strength is inadequate to protect on both fronts
that we cannot divide our effort. I can think of no greater expression of defeatism. If a potential enemy can divide his strength on o fronts
it is for us to counter his effort. The Communist threat is a global one. Its successful advance in one sector threatens the destruction of every other sector. You can not appease or otherwise surrender to munism in Asia without simultaneously undermining our efforts to halt its advance in Europe.

Beyond pointing out these general truisms
I shall confine my discussion to the general areas of Asia. Before one may objectively assess the situation now existing there
he must prehend something of Asia's past and the revolutionary changes which have marked her course up to the present. Long exploited by the so-called colonial powers
with little opportunity to achieve any degree of social justice
individual dignity
or a higher standard of life such as guided our own noble administration in the Philippines
the peoples of Asia found their opportunity in the war just past to throw off the shackles of colonialism and now see the dawn of new opportunity
a heretofore unfelt dignity
and the self-respect of political freedom.

Mustering half of the earth's population
and 60 percent of its natural resources these peoples are rapidly consolidating a new force
both moral and material
with which to raise the living standard and erect adaptations of the design of modern progress to their own distinct cultural environments. Whether one adheres to the concept of colonization or not
this is the direction of Asian progress and it may not be stopped. It is a corollary to the shift of the world economic frontiers as the whole epicenter of world affairs rotates back toward the area whence it started.

In this situation
it bees vital that our own country orient its policies in consonance with this basic evolutionary condition rather than pursue a course blind to the reality that the colonial era is now past and the Asian peoples covet the right to shape their own free destiny. What they seek now is friendly guidance
understanding
and support -- not imperious direction -- the dignity of equality and not the shame of subjugation. Their pre-war standard of life
pitifully low
is infinitely lower now in the devastation left in war's wake. World ideologies play little part in Asian thinking and are little understood. What the peoples strive for is the opportunity for a little more food in their stomachs
a little better clothing on their backs
a little firmer roof over their heads
and the realization of the normal nationalist urge for political freedom. These political-social conditions have but an indirect bearing upon our own national security
but do form a backdrop to contemporary planning which must be thoughtfully considered if we are to avoid the pitfalls of unrealism.

Of more direct and immediately bearing upon our national security are the changes wrought in the strategic potential of the Pacific Ocean in the course of the past war. Prior thereto the western strategic frontier of the United States lay on the literal line of the Americas
with an exposed island salient extending out through Hawaii
Midway
and Guam to the Philippines. That salient proved not an outpost of strength but an avenue of weakness along which the enemy could and did attack.

The Pacific was a potential area of advance for any predatory force intent upon striking at the bordering land areas. All this was changed by our Pacific victory. Our strategic frontier then shifted to embrace the entire Pacific Ocean
which became a vast moat to protect us as long as we held it. Indeed
it acts as a protective shield for all of the Americas and all free lands of the Pacific Ocean area. We control it to the shores of Asia by a chain of islands extending in an arc from the Aleutians to the Mariannas held by us and our free allies. From this island chain we can dominate with sea and air power every Asiatic port from Vladivostok to Singapore -- with sea and air power every port
as I said
from Vladivostok to Singapore -- and prevent any hostile movement into the Pacific.

Any predatory attack from Asia must be an amphibious effort.* No amphibious force can be successful without control of the sea lanes and the air over those lanes in its avenue of advance. With naval and air supremacy and modest ground elements to defend bases
any major attack from continental Asia toward us or our friends in the Pacific would be doomed to failure.

Under such conditions
the Pacific no longer represents menacing avenues of approach for a prospective invader. It assumes
instead
the friendly aspect of a peaceful lake. Our line of defense is a natural one and can be maintained with a minimum of military effort and expense. It envisions no attack against anyone
nor does it provide the bastions essential for offensive operations
but properly maintained
would be an invincible defense against aggression. The holding of this literal defense line in the western Pacific is entirely dependent upon holding all segments thereof; for any major breach of that line by an unfriendly power would render vulnerable to determined attack every other major segment.

This is a military estimate as to which I have yet to find a military leader who will take exception. For that reason
I have strongly remended in the past
as a matter of military urgency
that under no circumstances must Formosa fall under Communist control. Such an eventuality would at once threaten the freedom of the Philippines and the loss of Japan and might well force our western frontier back to the coast of California
Oregon and Washington.

To understand the changes which now appear upon the Chinese mainland
one must understand the changes in Chinese character and culture over the past 50 years. China
up to 50 years ago
was pletely non-homogenous
being partmented into groups divided against each other. The war-making tendency was almost non-existent
as they still followed the tes of the Confucian ideal of pacifist culture. At the turn of the century
under the regime of Chang Tso Lin
efforts toward greater homogeneity produced the start of a nationalist urge. This was further and more successfully developed under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek
but has been brought to its greatest fruition under the present regime to the point that it has now taken on the character of a united nationalism of increasingly dominant
aggressive tendencies.

Through these past 50 years the Chinese people have thus bee militarized in their concepts and in their ideals. They now constitute excellent soldiers
with petent staffs and manders. This has produced a new and dominant power in Asia
which
for its own purposes
is allied with Soviet Russia but which in its own concepts and methods has bee aggressively imperialistic
with a lust for expansion and increased power normal to this type of imperialism.

There is little of the ideological concept either one way or another in the Chinese make-up. The standard of living is so low and the capital accumulation has been so thoroughly dissipated by war that the masses are desperate and eager to follow any leadership which seems to promise the alleviation of local stringencies.

I have from the beginning believed that the Chinese Communists' support of the North Koreans was the dominant one. Their interests are
at present
parallel with those of the Soviet. But I believe that the aggressiveness recently displayed not only in Korea but also in Indo-China and Tibet and pointing potentially toward the South reflects predominantly the same lust for the expansion of power which has animated every would-be conqueror since the beginning of time.

The Japanese people
since the war
have undergone the greatest reformation recorded in modern history. With a mendable will
eagerness to learn
and marked capacity to understand
they have
from the ashes left in war's wake
erected in Japan an edifice dedicated to the supremacy of individual liberty and personal dignity; and in the ensuing process there has been created a truly representative government mitted to the advance of political morality
freedom of economic enterprise
and social justice.

Politically
economically
and socially Japan is now abreast of many free nations of the earth and will not again fail the universal trust. That it may be counted upon to wield a profoundly beneficial influence over the course of events in Asia is attested by the magnificent manner in which the Japanese people have met the recent challenge of war
unrest
and confusion surrounding them from the outside and checked munism within their own frontiers without the slightest slackening in their forward progress. I sent all four of our occupation divisions to the Korean battlefront without the slightest qualms as to the effect of the resulting power vacuum upon Japan. The results fully justified my faith. I know of no nation more serene
orderly
and industrious
nor in which higher hopes can be entertained for future constructive service in the advance of the human race.

Of our former ward
the Philippines
we can look forward in confidence that the existing unrest will be corrected and a strong and healthy nation will grow in the longer aftermath of war's terrible destructiveness. We must be patient and understanding and never fail them -- as in our hour of need
they did not fail us. A Christian nation
the Philippines stand as a mighty bulwark of Christianity in the Far East
and its capacity for high moral leadership in Asia is unlimited.

On Formosa
the government of the Republic of China has had the opportunity to refute by action much of the malicious gossip which so undermined the strength of its leadership on the Chinese mainland. The Formosan people are receiving a just and enlightened administration with majority representation on the ans of government
and politically
economically
and socially they appear to be advancing along sound and constructive lines.

With this brief insight into the surrounding areas
I now turn to the Korean conflict. While I was not consulted prior to the President's decision to intervene in support of the Republic of Korea
that decision from a military standpoint
proved a sound one
as we hurled back the invader and decimated his forces. Our victory was plete
and our objectives within reach
when Red China intervened with numerically superior ground forces.

This created a new war and an entirely new situation
a situation not contemplated when our forces were mitted against the North Korean invaders; a situation which called for new decisions in the diplomatic sphere to permit the realistic adjustment of military strategy.

Such decisions have not been forthing.

While no man in his right mind would advocate sending our ground forces into continental China
and such was never given a thought
the new situation did urgently demand a drastic revision of strategic planning if our political aim was to defeat this new enemy as we had defeated the old.

Apart from the military need
as I saw It
to neutralize the sanctuary protection given the enemy north of the Yalu
I felt that military necessity in the conduct of the war made necessary: first the intensification of our economic blockade against China; o the imposition of a naval blockade against the China coast; three removal of restrictions on air reconnaissance of China's coastal areas and of Manchuria; four removal of restrictions on the forces of the Republic of China on Formosa
with logistical support to contribute to their effective operations against the mon enemy.

For entertaining these views
all professionally designed to support our forces mitted to Korea and bring hostilities to an end with the least possible delay and at a saving of countless American and allied lives
I have been severely criticized in lay circles
principally abroad
despite my understanding that from a military standpoint the above views have been fully shared in the past by practically every military leader concerned with the Korean campaign
including our own Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I called for reinforcements but was informed that reinforcements were not available. I made clear that if not permitted to destroy the enemy built-up bases north of the Yalu
if not permitted to utilize the friendly Chinese Force of some 600
000 men on Formosa
if not permitted to blockade the China coast to prevent the Chinese Reds from getting succor from without
and if there were to be no hope of major reinforcements
the position of the mand from the military standpoint forbade victory.

We could hold in Korea by constant maneuver and in an approximate area where our supply line advantages were in balance with the supply line disadvantages of the enemy
but we could hope at best for only an indecisive campaign with its terrible and constant attrition upon our forces if the enemy utilized its full military potential. I have constantly called for the new political decisions essential to a solution.

Efforts have been made to distort my position. It has been said
in effect
that I was a warmonger. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know war as few other men now living know it
and nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its plete abolition
as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes. Indeed
on the second day of September
nieen hundred and forty-five
just following the surrender of the Japanese nation on the Battleship Missouri
I formally cautioned as follows:

"Men since the beginning of time have
sought peace. Various methods through the
ages have been attempted to devise an
international process to prevent or settle
disputes beeen nations. From the very
start workable methods were found in so
far as individual citizens were concerned

but the mechanics of an instrumentality of
larger international scope have never
been successful. Military alliances

balances of power
Leagues of Nations

all in turn failed
leaving the only path to
be by way of the crucible of war. The
utter destructiveness of war now blocks
out this alternative. We have had our last
chance. If we will not devise some
greater and more equitable system

Armageddon will be at our door. The
problem basically is theological and
involves a spiritual recrudescence and
improvement of human character that will
synchronize with our almost matchless
advances in science
art
literature
and all
material and cultural developments of
the past 2000 years. It must be of the spirit
if we are to save the flesh."

But once war is forced upon us
there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end.

War's very object is victory
not prolonged indecision.

In war there is no substitute for victory.

There are some who
for varying reasons
would appease Red China. They are blind to history's clear lesson
for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war. It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means
where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace. Like blackmail
it lays the basis for new and successively greater demands until
as in blackmail
violence bees the only other alternative.

"Why
" my soldiers asked of me
"surrender military advantages to an enemy in the field?" I could not answer.

Some may say: to avoid spread of the conflict into an all-out war with China; others
to avoid Soviet intervention. Neither explanation seems valid
for China is already engaging with the maximum power it can mit
and the Soviet will not necessarily mesh its actions with our moves. Like a cobra
any new enemy will more likely strike whenever it feels that the relativity in military or other potential is in its favor on a world-wide basis.

The tragedy of Korea is further heightened by the fact that its military action is confined to its territorial limits. It condemns that nation
which it is our purpose to save
to suffer the devastating impact of full naval and air bombardment while the enemy's sanctuaries are fully protected from such attack and devastation.

Of the nations of the world
Korea alone
up to now
is the sole one which has risked its all against munism. The magnificence of the courage and fortitude of the Korean people defies description.

They have chosen to risk death rather than slavery. Their last words to me were: "Don't scuttle the Pacific!"

I have just left your fighting sons in Korea. They have met all tests there
and I can report to you without reservation that they are splendid in every way.

It was my constant effort to preserve them and end this savage conflict honorably and with the least loss of time and a minimum sacrifice of life. Its growing bloodshed has caused me the deepest anguish and anxiety.

Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always.

I am closing my 52 years of military service. When I joined the Army
even before the turn of the century
it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point
and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished
but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that "old soldiers never die; they just fade away."

And like the old soldier of that ballad
I now close my military career and just fade away
an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty.

Good Bye.