Professor Greg Jackson

The battered metal behemoth backfires and stutters through the skies, but survives enemy fire over the Dutch East Indies.

Nor is that the end of their troubles.

As the 10-hour, over 1,000-mile flight nears Darwin, Australia, word arrives that the Japanese are attacking the city.

As a result, they're rerouted to nearby Bachelor Airfield.

Oh, the irony.

Moments later, they learn that the Japanese are moving in on Bachelor Airfield.

With no other choice, the MacArthur's are once again back in the air for another 1,000-mile flight to the safety of Australia's outback.

Landing yet again, a train awaits them in the small town of Alice Springs.

On March 18th, seven days since their initial departure, Doug rests his head on Jean's shoulder as the train carries them over 1,000 miles south.

She tells his aide, Sid Huff, that's the first time he's really slept since Pearl Harbor.

But his rest is brief, as this journey of just under 5,000 miles nears its end.

Doug encounters a cheering crowd at one of his last stops in South Australia.

It's about two in the morning, March 20th, 1942.

The train carrying Douglas MacArthur, his wife, his son, and his entourage is coming to a stop in the small town of Tarawi in South Australia.

They're here to change rail cars.

The 62-year-old general in a laurel-wreathed cap, a loose hanging tan jacket and slacks rises from his wooden train seat, ready to stretch his legs.

And then he hears something.

Is that a cheering?

Stepping onto the platform, Doug is stunned to see his supposedly secret car surrounded by a crowd.

An excited one at that, shouting, welcome to Australia.