SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2000 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 272
On the death of Jean MacArthur.

Agreed to by the Senate, February 10, 2000
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 15, 2000

WHEREAS, Jean MacArthur, the widow of General Douglas MacArthur and the honorary chairman of the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation in Norfolk, died in New York on January 22, 2000, at the age of 101; and

WHEREAS, a native of Nashville and a graduate of Soule College in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Jean Marie Faircloth met Douglas MacArthur while on a trip to the Far East in 1935; and

WHEREAS, in 1937 Jean Faircloth and Douglas MacArthur were wed in New York, and Jean MacArthur then accompanied her husband to the Philippines shortly before the outbreak of World War II; and

WHEREAS, when the Japanese attacked the Philippines in 1941, Jean MacArthur accompanied General MacArthur to the island fortress of Corregidor, where she endured the months of daily bombing and shelling during the Japanese siege of the island; and

WHEREAS, finally ordered to Australia by President Roosevelt, the MacArthurs made their famous return to the Philippines, and Jean MacArthur shortly thereafter accompanied her husband to Tokyo, where he assumed the title of Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and administered the occupation of Japan; and

WHEREAS, throughout her husband’s historic career, Jean MacArthur was an invaluable companion, often becoming heavily involved in the social duties connected with General MacArthur’s prominent position; and

WHEREAS, Jean MacArthur served as the honorary chairman of the board of directors of the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation in Norfolk, which contains the Jean MacArthur Research Center, dedicated in 1990 by Jean MacArthur and Mrs. George Bush; and

WHEREAS, in recognition of her public service activities, Jean MacArthur received the Distinguished Public Service Award from the Department of Defense in 1984 and was presented the Medal of Freedom in 1988 by President Reagan; and

WHEREAS, Jean MacArthur was interred next to her husband in the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly note with great sadness the passing of Jean MacArthur; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for the memory of Jean MacArthur.