Video: '7,000,000 Cheer Macarthur (1951)'

(Friday, April 20, 1951, 11:05 a.m.-5:30 p.m. EST; during the Korean War) — An estimated 7.5 million people turned out in New York City today to give U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, relieved nine days ago by President Harry S. Truman, the nation’s greatest welcome to a returning hero during a 19-mile parade.

MacArthur was relieved  Apr. 11, 1951, as commander of United Nations forces battling North Korean and communist Chinese forces on the Korean Peninsulaafter he openly challenged Truman by threatening to attack China directly — a strategy Truman feared would spark a wider war in Asia.

Video: 'PBS - American Experience - Truman (1997) 5of5' (ticker tape parades for MacArthur at 42:41)

MacArthur’s dismissal for insubordination ended his 52-year U.S. Army career while sparking a political firestorm, raising the prospect that MacArthur could succeed Truman in the White House. At the time, many Americans revered the 71-year-old general for having led a victorious campaign over the Japanese in World War II.

Video: 'Korean War - PART 20, MacArthur is Fired, 6.25' (ticker tape parades for MacArthur at 0:56/2:16)

Today’s parade followed MacArthur’s farewell address before a Joint Meeting of Congress, in which he declared “old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”

Video: 'ABC News 45/85 part 1 (Original Broadcast Version)' (ticker tape parades for MacArthur at 38:11)