Brief introduction to the speaker:

Douglas Macarthur (i880-1964) In December 1944, Macarthur was made a five-star general of the Army. He and his family returned to the United States In 1951, In the speech before Congress he announced his retirement from active military service with the now famous Line from an old ballad, "Old soldiers never die--they just fade away" Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, and distinguished members of the Congress,

I stand on this rostrum with a sense of deep humility and great pride. Humility in the wake of all those great American architects of our history who have stood here before me. Pride in the reflection that this home of legislative debate represents human liberty in the purest form yet devised. Here are centered the hopes and aspirations and faith of the entire human race. I do not stand here as advocate of any partisan cause, for the issues are fundamental and reach quite beyond the realm of partisan consideration, They must be resolved on the highest plane of national interest, if our cause is to prove sound and our future protected. I trust, therefore, that you will do me the justice of receiving that which I have to say as solely expressing the considered viewpoint of a fellow American. I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness, in the fading twilight of life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country.

The issues are global, and so interlocked that to consider the problems of one sector, oblivious to those of another is but to cause disaster for the whole. While Asia is commonly referred to as the gateway to Europe, it is no less true that Europe is the gateway to Asia, and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other. There are those who claim our strength is inadequate to protect on both fronts, that we cannot divide our effort, I can think of no greater expression of defeatism. If a potential enemy can divide his strength on two fronts, it's for us to counter his efforts. The Communist threat is a global one, its successful advance in one sector threatens the destruction of every other sector. You cannot
appease, or otherwise surrender to Communism in Asia. without simultaneously undermining our efforts to halt its advance in Europe.

Beyond pointing out these general truisms. I shall confine my discussion to the general areas of Asia. Before one may objectively assess the situation now existing there, he must comprehend something of Asia s past. and the revolutionary changes which have marked her course up to the present. Long exploited by the so-called colonial powers, with little opportunity to achieve any degree of social justice, individual dignity or higher standard of life, such as guided our own noble administration of the Philippines. The peoples of Asia found their opportunity in the war just passed to throw off the shackles of colonialism, and now see the dawn of new opportunity: an heretofore unfelt dignity and the self-respect of political freedom. Mustering half of the earth's population and sixty percent of its natural resources. these peoples are rapidly consolidating a new force, both moral and material. with which to raise their living standard and the adaptations of the design of modern progress to their own distinct cultural environments. Whether one adhere to the concept of colonization or not, this is the direction of Asian progress and it may not be stopped. It is a corollary to the shift of the world economic frontiers as the whole epicenter of world affairs rotates back toward the area whence it started. In this situation, it becomes vital that our own country orient its policies in constancy with this basic evolutionary condition rather than pursue a course blind to the reality that the colonial era is now past and the Asian peoples covet the right to shape their own free destiny What they seek now is friendly guidance, understanding and support, not imperialist directions.

It was my constant effort to preserve them. and end the savage conflict honorably and with the least loss of time and in minimum sacrifice of life. Its growing bloodshed has caused me 
the deepest anguish and anxiety. Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and my prayers, always.

I am closing my fifty-two years of military service. When I joined the army even before the turn of the century. it was the fulfillment of all my boytsh hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at WestPoint, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, But I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that old soldiers never die, they just fade away. And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career. and just fade away An old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty Good-bye. 

演讲者简介：
1944年12月，麦克阿瑟被授予五星级上将军衔。1951年，他与家人回到美国。在这次对国会的演讲中，他以一句古老歌词“一个老兵永不死亡，他只是淡出舞台”来宣告自己军旅生涯的结束。
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总统先生、议长先生和尊敬的国会议员们：

我怀着十分谦卑而又十分骄傲的心情站在这演讲台上。我谦卑是因为在我之前，许多美国历史上伟大的建设者们都曾经在这里发过言；我骄傲，是因为今天我们的立法辩论代表着经思考的最纯粹的人类解放。这是全人类的希望、热情和信仰的所在。我并不是作为任何一个党派的拥护者站在这里讲话的，因为这些问题至关重要，超越了党派的界线。如果我们的动因要被证实是正确的。如果要保障我们的将来，制定关于国家利益的最高纲领时就必须考虑到它们。我相信，当我，一个美国普通公民，说完我仅仅是为了陈述经深思熟虑而得出的观点之后，你们会公平地接受它。在我生命将逝之年做这个告别演说，无仇无怨，在我心中只有一个目的：为我的祖国服务。

这些问题是全球性而且环环相扣的，任何的顾此失彼对会给整体造成灾难。亚洲被普遍认为是通往欧洲的门户，同样的，欧洲也是通往亚洲的大门，二者息息相关。有人认为我们的力量不足以同时保住两个阵地，因为我们不能分散我们的力量。我想，这是我听到的最悲观的失败主义论调了。如果我们潜在的敌人能够把他的力量分在两条线上，那我们就必须与之抗衡。……。

除了指出这些大家已明白的问题外，我将把讨论集中在亚洲地区。在客观地估计那里的现状之前，我们必须了解亚洲的过去，了解导致她上升到今天这种局势的革命性的变化。长期遭受所谓殖民主义势力的剥削使亚洲人民没有机会获取任何程度的社会平等、个人尊严，也无法提高生活水平，就象被我们的菲律宾贵族政府所统治的那样。亚洲人民在战争中找到了机会，得以摆脱殖民主义的枷锁，而且现在有更多的新的契机摆在他们面前：政治独立带来的以前从未感受过的尊严和自重。亚洲有占世界一半的人口和百分之六十的自然资源，她的人民正迅速地巩固着一个新兴的力量，包括精神和物质两方面，藉此提高他们的生活水平，协调现代化的进步和他们特有的文化环境。不管你是不是坚持殖民的观点，这才是亚洲前进的方向，她不会停步。这一点是世界经济防线转移、国际事务中心回归原点的必然结果。在这种情况下，我们国家在政治上必须与基本的革命形势一致，而不能无视殖民时代已经过时，且亚洲人民渴望开创自己的自由生活的现实，这十分重要。他们现在需要的是友好的指引、理解和支持，而不是专制的指挥。

我坚持保全他们，并希望能用最少的时间、最小的牺牲体面地结束这场野蛮的冲突。越来越多的流血让我感到深深的痛苦和焦虑。那些勇敢的人的形象在我的脑海中挥之不去，我将永远为他们祈祷。

我将结束我五十二年的军旅生涯。我在世纪之交前就已加入军队，它满足了我孩童时所有的希望和梦想。自从我在西点的草坪上宣读誓言以来，这个世界已经经历了多次转变，童年的希望和梦想早已消失得无影无踪。但我依然记得当年那首流行的军歌中骄傲的迭句：一个老兵永不死亡，他只是淡出舞台。就象歌中的老兵一样，我结束我的军旅生涯，只是淡出了人生舞台。一个力图象上帝指引的那样完成他的责任的老兵。再见。