For many Americans born after World War II, memories of five-star general Douglas MacArthur consist of the famous “I shall return” promise to the Philippines and Jimmy Webb’s song, “MacArthur Park” (made famous by Richard Harris).

It’s a little different in Brownwood, Texas, where Howard Payne University offers a multi-disciplinary Honors program called the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom. And the good news for those of us past normal college age is that the academy is open for public tours as a sort of “museum of western civilization,” dedicated to the memory of General MacArthur.

Douglas MacArthur was born in 1880 to a family already prominent in American history, and he carried the family tradition to tremendous heights during a public career that spanned more than sixty years of exceptional service to his country.

Arthur MacArthur (the general’s grandfather) was a Scottish immigrant, coming to the U.S. in 1825, and distinguishing himself in a law career which led to his election as lieutenant governor of Wisconsin (he actually served five days as governor when his predecessor was ousted for corruption) and his appointment by President Grant to the office of associate justice of the District of Columbia’s supreme court in 1870.

The general’s father, also named Arthur, won the Medal of Honor at the battle of Missionary Ridge when he was just 18 years old, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in the Union Army before he was old enough to vote. When Douglas was just four years old, his father was sent to Texas, commanding Fort Selden (just north of El Paso) in an effort to defend against the marauding Apaches, led by Geronimo. In his memoirs, General MacArthur recalls that he “learned to ride and shoot almost before I could walk and talk.” His father’s military career later brought young Douglas to Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, before going to the Philippines in 1898. The recent Spanish-American War had left the U.S. in charge of the far-away island nation, but the Filipinos themselves wanted immediate independence. Arthur MacArthur put down a broad-based insurgency, then built the foundations for a solid democracy during his tenure as Governor General. Douglas became a close personal friend of former insurgent and future president Manuel Quezon during that time.

Douglas MacArthur entered West Point in 1899, and excelled in sports, academics and military strategy. He was quarterback on the football team, shortstop on the baseball team and number one scholastically in his graduating class of 93 students in 1903.

For the next few years, MacArthur traveled the world, serving in the Philippines, Japan, India, Burma, Mexico and other countries; for a short time, he served as an aide to President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1917, he was put in charge of the 42nd Division (called the “Rainbow Division” because it included soldiers from many states across the country), the first American division to fight against the Germans in World War I.

It was during the next year that MacArthur became a legend -- always in the thick of the battle with no gun, no helmet and no gas mask – directing his men to victory after victory, armed only with a riding crop. He was the most-decorated American officer in World War I, with two Distinguished Service Crosses, seven Silver Stars, a Distinguished Service Medal, and two Purple Hearts. (He and his father became the only father-son recipients of the Medal of Honor in 1942, when the general was honored for bravery in his defense of the Philippines.)

After the war, MacArthur was put in charge of West Point, where he is credited with reforming and modernizing the storied military academy in the 1920s. He became the nation’s youngest Major General in 1925, and served on the U.S. Olympic Committee in 1928. In 1935, he was invited by President Quezon to supervise the creation of a Philippine Army, and (after retiring temporarily from the U.S. Army) became Field Marshal of that army in 1937. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt recalled him to active duty and promoted him to lieutenant general, putting him in charge of defending the Philippines.

When the Japanese overwhelmed the islands in early 1942, MacArthur was ordered to leave the Philippines, but he made his return a top priority, and lobbied successfully for men and materiel to implement his ingenious “island-hopping” strategy. He accepted the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945, and began what may have been the greatest campaign of his life – turning an aggressive enemy into a peaceful friend.

While many criticized MacArthur’s leniency toward Emperor Hirohito after the war, no one today questions the fact that MacArthur helped the devasated country chart a course that made Japan one of the world's most progressive democracies and leading industrial powers. In 1946, America’s ultimate military hero drafted a constitution that renounced war. It reduced the emperor to a figurehead and granted unprecedented rights to women and workers. MacArthur’s constitution remains in use in Japan to this day.

After disagreements with President Truman cost MacArthur his job as commander of the UN forces in Korea, MacArthur returned to a hero’s welcome in the U.S. In the speech before Congress where General MacArthur so famously noted that “old soldiers never die; they just fade away,” he was interrupted by standing ovations thirty times! In 1962, as the 82-year-old general completed his autobiography, “Reminiscences,” the president of Howard Payne University (Dr. Guy D. Newman) decided to honor him by putting his name on a new academy which would “promote the freedoms derived from Judeo-Christian values, Western Civilization and the free enterprise system.”

In a letter dated April 17, 1962, General MacArthur thanked Dr. Newman and added, “It is my earnest hope, as indeed it should be the earnest hope of all freedom-loving peoples, that the students who pass through the portals of this new Academy of Freedom will do so in the determined and relentless search for the means to shore up, fortify and revitalize that cherished heritage which they hold.”

The Academy Museum contains a series of remarkable rooms, each with a specific theme. First is the Hall of Christian Civilization, which illustrates the progress (and pitfalls) of humanity through a massive allegorical mural which fills three 32-foot-high walls. Also on the first floor, the Mediterranean Hall focuses on the early contributions of the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans; it features models of the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon and other ancient artifacts.

On the museum’s second floor, the Magna Charta Hall commemorates one of the most significant events in English history with a mural, banners, suits of armor and sets of weapons, an ornately-carved antique “knight’s chair,” and even a replica of King John’s shoes! Also on the second floor is an amazingly accurate reproduction of Independence Hall, including a copy of Benjamin Franklin’s “rising sun” chair. In the hallway is a bell from Whitechapel Foundry (makers of the original Liberty Bell) and a collection of photos and artifacts from American history.

The MacArthur Exhibit Gallery is packed full of memorabilia from the general’s amazing career, including photos, letters, newspaper clippings and actual medals donated by his wife, Jean, after his death in 1964. General MacArthur was truly one of the giants of the 20th century, and an unwavering champion of liberty; the history on display at Brownwood’s Academy of Freedom is priceless, especially as modern America gradually forgets the achievements and ideals of this all-time great American hero.