Editing Douglas MacArthur (section)

===Champagne-Marne offensive===
[[File:111-SC-18909 - NARA - 55197845 (cropped) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Brigadier General MacArthur in the center in his unauthorized WWI uniform. He never wore a helmet, even in [[no man's land]], and he would always wear that modified hat. His uniform was completely different from his four subordinates in the photo.<ref>{{cite serial |last= Hoyt |first= Austin  |title= MacArthur |publisher= WGBH Educational Foundation |medium= Television documentary |first2= Sarah |last2=Holt |series= [[American Experience|The American Experience]] |network= [[PBS]] |url= http://www.shoppbs.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/filmmore/transcript/transcript1.html |access-date= 8 September 2021 |archive-date= 8 September 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210908083850/http://www.shoppbs.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/filmmore/transcript/transcript1.html |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last= Turner |first= Alex C. |date= September 2018 |title= Douglas MacArthur: Strategic Influences and Military Theories |publisher= [[Naval Postgraduate School]] |url= https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1065554.pdf |page= 24 |access-date= 8 September 2021 |archive-date= 8 September 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210908083848/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1065554.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref>]]

Upon the recommendation of Menoher, MacArthur was awarded his first "star" when he was promoted to brigadier general on 26 June.{{sfn|Manchester|1978|p=92}} At the age of just thirty-eight, this made him, at the time, the youngest general in the AEF. This would remain the case until October when two other men, [[Lesley J. McNair]] and [[Pelham D. Glassford]], both being thirty-five, also received promotion to brigadier generals.{{sfn|Perret|1996|p=94}}{{sfn|James|1970|p=172}}

Around the same time, the 42nd Division was shifted to [[Châlons-en-Champagne]] to oppose the impending German [[Second Battle of the Marne|Champagne-Marne offensive]]. ''[[Général d'Armée]]'' [[Henri Gouraud (French Army officer)|Henri Gouraud]] of the [[Fourth Army (France)|French Fourth Army]] elected to meet the attack with a [[defense in depth]], holding the front-line area as thinly as possible and meeting the German attack on his second line of defense. His plan succeeded, and MacArthur was awarded a second Silver Star.{{sfn|MacArthur|1964|pp=57–58}} The 42nd Division participated in the subsequent Allied counter-offensive, and MacArthur was awarded a third Silver Star on 29 July.{{sfn|Perret|1996|p=97}}

Two days later, Menoher relieved the fifty-eight-year-old Brigadier General Robert A. Brown of the 84th Infantry Brigade (which consisted of the [[167th Infantry Regiment (United States)|167th]] and [[168th Infantry Regiment (United States)|168th Infantry Regiment]]s and the 151st Machine Gun Battalion) of his command and replaced him with MacArthur.{{sfn|Perret|1996|p=97}} Hearing reports that the enemy had withdrawn, MacArthur went forward on 2 August to see for himself.{{sfn|James|1970|p=187}} He later wrote:
{{blockquote|It was 3:30 that morning when I started from our right at Sergy. Taking runners from each outpost liaison group to the next, moving by way of what had been No Man's Land, I will never forget that trip. The dead were so thick in spots we tumbled over them. There must have been at least 2,000 of those sprawled bodies. I identified the insignia of six of the best German divisions. The stench was suffocating. Not a tree was standing. The moans and cries of wounded men sounded everywhere. Sniper bullets sung like the buzzing of a hive of angry bees. An occasional shellburst always drew an angry oath from my guide. I counted almost a hundred disabled guns various size and several times that number of abandoned machine guns.{{sfn|MacArthur|1964|p=60}}}}

MacArthur reported back to Menoher and Major General [[Hunter Liggett]], the commander of [[I Corps (United States)|I Corps]] (under whose command the 42nd Division fell), that the Germans had indeed withdrawn, and was awarded a fourth Silver Star.{{sfn|MacArthur|1964|p=61}} He was also awarded a second ''Croix de guerre'' and made a ''commandeur'' of the ''[[Légion d'honneur]]''.{{sfn|James|1970|p=193}} MacArthur's leadership during the Champagne-Marne offensive and counter-offensive campaigns was noted by General Gouraud when he said MacArthur was "one of the finest and bravest officers I have ever served with."<ref>{{cite web |last= Sempa |first= Francis P. |date= 8 August 2016 |title= The Return of Douglas MacArthur |publisher= [[Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal]] |url= https://kirkcenter.org/essays/the-return-of-douglas-macarthur/ |access-date= 3 September 2021 |archive-date= 3 September 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210903060436/https://kirkcenter.org/essays/the-return-of-douglas-macarthur/ |url-status= live }}</ref>