MacArthur was derided as “Dugout Doug” for his retreat to Corregidor and subsequent flight from the Philippines, but he was also, we often forget, felt to have been irreplaceable, as the sole ...

Since fleeing Corregidor in March 1942 after the initial Japanese invasion, MacArthur had been derisively referred to (behind his back, of course), as Dugout Doug—a command-bunker general.