Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however, measured or far away.– Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862).
Where is Arthur MacArthur IV right now?
I found this possible answer on a Fayetteville Observer (North Carolina) webpage years ago:
“Whatever happened to Gen. MacArthur’s son? Did he go into the military? – H.P., Pinehurst …
A: No, he didn’t. Instead, [he] became a concert pianist and writer, according to June Weatherly.”
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Dunn, Peter (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
I found one other clue on the Internet. In an article about the Spanish-born artist Juvenal Sanso, Philippine novelist, poet, playwright, and essayist Nick Joaquin wrote: “One hears that General MacArthur’s son is now an artist in Greenwich Village, but one doubts he’s doing any recollections of the Manila of his childhood..”
I suppose he can’t recollect our Brisbane park encounter either. If he reads this story, I’d like him to know that, after all these years, I still have fond memories of him and his mother.
I hope that he has found happiness in following the beat of that different drummer.
General Douglas MacArthur’s Prayer for His Son
While fighting in the Pacific during WWII, General Douglas MacArthur, whose father was Civil War hero Lieutenant-General Arthur MacArthur, wrote this letter to his son, Arthur MacArthur IV:
Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak; and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.
Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee — and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.
Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.
Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men, one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
And after all these thing are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom and the meekness of true strength.
Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain!”
