"Bataan," the C-54 transport carrying Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of Allied Powers (SCAP), landed at Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, at 2:05 p.m. on Aug. 30. The general, wearing sunglasses and puffing on a corncob pipe, struck a dramatic pose near the top of the ladder for the more than 200 reporters and photographers.
He descended the ladder and shook hands with Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger, Eighth Army commander. "Well, Bob," he said, "it's been a long road from Melbourne to Tokyo, but as they say in the movies, this is the payoff."
It was characteristic MacArthur -- the props, the staged photo-opportunity, the exaggeration (he was not in Tokyo). His timing, dramatic flair, and patrician good looks might have made him a star of stage or screen -- but pity his director. MacArthur would have been a prima donna. But he was no hollow man. He was of solid timber. His ego reflected an exalted confidence in self and in mission.