ORIGINAL LARGE COLORED LITHOGRAPHED CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION SIGNED BY GENERAL MACARTHUR, WITH ORIGINAL LIFE MAGAZINE COVER
MACARTHUR, Douglas. Certificate of recognition, signed. No place, no date. -Original official chromolithographic document with original paper seal, measuring /11-1/2 by 17 inches, matted together with Time magazine cover; entire piece by measures 29-1/2 by 24 inches. $3000.
Original official certificate of recognition for the service of PFC Fred Alexander as member of the elite honor guard to Douglas MacArthur during the occupation of Japan, signed by MacArthur and matted beneath the Life magazine cover for September 17, 1945 bearing a portrait of MacArthur captioned “Commander of Japan.”
“On the morning of September 8, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur made his way by automobile toward the American Embassy in the heart of Tokyo. One American observer described it as a city ‘completely flat with destruction,’ where even ‘the rubble did not look like much.’ As he presided over a ceremony at the Embassy—his home for the next five and a half years—MacArthur ordered General Eichelberger to ‘have our country’s flag unfurled, and in Tokyo’s sun let it wave in its full glory as a symbol of hope for the oppressed and as a harbinger of victory for the right.’ This moment was not broadcast throughout the world as the surrender ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Missouri had been six days earlier. Yet in hindsight, it was just as symbolic of the occupation period to follow: optimistic, thoroughly American, and unmistakably MacArthur” (PBS). Life magazine’s September 17, 1945 cover portrait of Douglas MacArthur appeared shortly after he took command of the Japanese occupation. The accompanying certificate, signed by both Captain Warren B. Hodges, Company Commander and General MacArthur, recognizes the service of PFC Fred Alexander as a member of MacArthur’s personal Honor Guard. “The General Order establishing the Honor Guard to the Commander in Chief stipulates that members of the Company must have outstanding physique, must be persons of high intelligence with exceptional moral standards and perfect service records.”
Minor closed tears and creasing to left margin of certificate, just touching text and signature. A splendid military piece.