The Korean War: The Untold Truth

Chapter 52
Ambassador John Mucho is an experienced diplomat who is used to receiving confidential telegrams in the middle of the night, but this telegram stumped him.The telegram was sent by the State Council at 10:14 p.m. on October 8. It read inexplicably: "If you are invited, set off." Was there any mention of travel in the flood of cables from Washington.He couldn't recall such a thing.

Two hours later, another strange telegram came, which was sent by General MacArthur from Tokyo: "I have been ordered to invite you. If you can arrive at Haneda (an airport on the outskirts of Tokyo) before 11:[-] am, it will be a great pleasure." Glad to have you here."

Mucho is still puzzled.He packed his overnight bags and flew to Haneda at 4:30 a.m. on a military mail plane.The plane flew through the Asian night, and Mu Qiao was still trying to figure out where he would be sleeping next time.He found MacArthur's plane "Supreme Allied Command" at Haneda Airport, and then chatted with the pilot, Colonel Storey, for 45 minutes. "He didn't provide any clues to indicate where to go, or what to do." At this time MacArthur boarded the plane. The "Supreme Allied Commander" took off at 11 o'clock.Mucho thought, well, if they're going to keep it secret, they can do the same.He sat down in his seat, determined not to ask MacArthur or anyone else a question.

"About 15 minutes into (takeoff) General MacArthur sat next to me and was visibly displeased that he was 'called on for political reasons' because the front lines and frequent military operations kept him busy." Mucho recalled.

"For the first time I have... learned that General MacArthur and President Truman are meeting at Wake Island. . . . (MacArthur) . . . was furious."

With Truman and MacArthur once again enjoying a friendly relationship—albeit a gradual change—in early fall, Truman decided it was time to meet his field commanders in person.Truman wrote in his memoirs: "The main reason I wanted to meet General MacArthur was simple. We never had any personal contact, and I thought he should know his commander-in-chief, and I should know the senior commanders in the Far East Theater. Truman regretted that MacArthur was unwilling to accept multiple invitations to return to the United States during his tenure in Japan, just to "come back to familiarize himself with the domestic situation", and MacArthur should also return to China. Multiple events since June have shown that MacArthur was "preoccupied with the East" and to some extent lost his sense of the United States.Despite the efforts of Averill Harriman and others to explain U.S. policy in their in-person visits, “I feel that we are getting very little. I think if I could talk to him directly, his views might be able to changed."

This was the official explanation for the president's decision to fly halfway around the world to meet with MacArthur for only a few hours. “I think in all fairness,” presidential adviser Charles Murphy admitted years later, “whatever we White House officials felt was a good public relations move.”

The White House did need a political campaign in the fall of 1950, as Republicans made a big fuss about the Korean War in the congressional elections that were under way. In August, four Republican members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused Truman of "selling out" Chiang Kai-shek at the Potsdam Conference, and that the collapse of the Nationalist government led directly to the outbreak of the Korean War.Even moderates in the Republican Party, like Senator Arthur Vandenberg, "basically agree" with the narrative.It has been argued that the Truman administration had taken a risky anticommunist stance by sending troops to the other side of the world.Republicans can't accept that either.Former congressman Everett Dirksen, who is running against Senate Democratic leader Scott Lucas in Illinois, charged: "All the godliness of the government won't make the young men who come back in wooden crates Back from the dead." Nebraska Senator Kenneth Wheely declared that Dean Acheson had "life and death power" over "our boys in North Korea."

The first plan proposed in the discussion was to invite MacArthur to Washington, but the general would have to leave his command post during this time, so Washington dismissed the idea.Then he proposed that MacArthur fly to Hawaii, just like he went there on the eve of the 1944 election to meet with President Roosevelt to discuss the final strategy of the Pacific War.Hawaii was equidistant from Tokyo and Washington, and it was unanimously agreed to meet in Hawaii.But the president, after discussions with Pentagon officials, offered MacArthur another option: "If you think the situation in North Korea prevents you from taking such a long trip away," Wake Island would be appropriate instead.MacArthur replied succinctly: "I will be very happy to meet with the President on Wake Island on the morning of the 15th." Truman agreed, although some of his aides still proposed going to Hawaii.They knew that MacArthur was desperate for "face" and wondered whether Truman's concession on the meeting place would give the general a psychological advantage.Truman dismissed this argument.According to Secretary of the Army Frank Pace: "He thought it was appropriate under the circumstances that he should go to General MacArthur's area. . . Responsible for directing operations.” Thus, for this meeting, Truman had to fly 4 miles, and MacArthur had to fly 700 miles.

The White House did not send the agenda of the meeting to Tokyo in advance, which puzzled MacArthur.According to General Courtney Whitney, MacArthur wanted to know whether the United States was planning a diplomatic or military operation "so important that the President thought he would have to travel long distances."Truman was able to "know MacArthur's views like the back of his hand", and it was easy to make any further clarifications.Whitney insisted (but untrue, as MacArthur's conversation with Muccio aboard the Supreme Allied Command showed) that MacArthur "refuses to accept" the association that the meeting was for "In the minds of voters, further associate the government with the great victory (Incheon) that has just been achieved. ... He will not approve of the slightest criticism of the president".However, MacArthur found an opportunity to tell William Siebold of the embassy in Tokyo that this was a "political funded trip" and refused to let him accompany him, and advised him to "avoid being involved with this meeting."

MacArthur did have reasons to focus on the battlefield.The 10th Army was preparing to "invade" Wonsan, and the rush to the north of the 10th Parallel was still in progress. American and South Korean forces raced forward, approaching the treacherous terrain near the Yalu River every day.Since it was decided to give separate command to the Tenth Army and the Eighth Army, control of the former came from Tokyo.MacArthur was obviously unwilling to leave the battlefield, even temporarily, when victory was in sight.

The details of the plan for this meeting also made MacArthur very dissatisfied.A cable about the meeting arrangements emphasized that any public coverage of the meeting should be in the hands of White House Press Secretary Charles Ross, and that the press corps covering the White House would travel with the president.MacArthur, through his subordinates, requested that the reporters covering his headquarters should also be invited to go.Some of these reporters had interviewed the general for a long time, and they actually considered themselves full members of the MacArthur family.With them around, MacArthur could ensure that some of the reporting would not come from what he considered a "hostile" Washington press corps.He was "surprised" - and outraged - when his request was "immediately and unreasonably dismissed".At this moment, he had realized the political purpose of Harry Truman's trip.

Truman's concerns
Although Truman stood by his strategy at the time, he later admitted to Acheson that he had been restless preparing for the Wake Island trip.He was "aware that things could go wrong" and saw the danger of some vague "trap".Acheson asked not to attend the meeting. "As I said, I am self-aware of my duty, which is to deal with world powers. Although MacArthur often seems to be a powerful person, I don't think it should be recognized." Acheson said.The Secretary of State believes that the planning of this meeting is inappropriate, and the private meeting is:

Something that's deadly to heads of state.At this moment, MacArthur is actually the head of a country - he is the emperor of Japan and Korea. . . . This is downright murder, not even with a dog.People don't know what was discussed during the meeting.The president can tell you what he thinks was talked about, and another guy pretty sure said something else, and it's impossible to figure it out. ...

General Marshall was also reluctant to attend the meeting.With MacArthur leaving Far Eastern Theater Command, the Pentagon should retain a decision maker to deal with military emergencies.Another reason, according to Secretary of the Army Frank Pace, was that "General Marshall was very disinterested in General MacArthur . . . and MacArthur viewed Marshall in the same way."

Because of the jet lag involved in flying to the middle of the Pacific, Truman flew to Wake Island in several steps.He stopped overnight in his hometown of Independence, Missouri, before flying to Hawaii.At the President's request, the Navy arranged light activities for him there.He left Hawaii that night for the final 2-mile flight to Wake Island, with his suite and press filling the plane three times (thirty-eight were on the press list). "Time" magazine reporter Robert Sherrod compared the president and MacArthur to "supreme rulers of different countries, marching to a neutral area with great style to hold talks and observe the situation."

At the same time, MacArthur was very angry.During the eight-hour flight from Tokyo, he paced the aisles of the Supreme Allied Command agitatedly.He found the whole trip "extremely disgusting" and wondered how to deal with "Truman's tantrums and prejudices."Because of the three-hour time difference, he landed on Wake Island around midnight local time, compared to 9 a.m. Tokyo time.The reception was too high a standard of etiquette: out of goodwill, Pan Am's local manager gave up his bungalow with a verandah to what he believed to be the highest-ranking members of the group from Tokyo—MacArthur and Mucho.Much to Mucho's secret delight, the arrangement made General Whitney "flame furious" and he was reluctant to allow his idol to share a bathroom with another human being.MacArthur sat there smoking his pipe non-stop until Whitney came to persuade him to go to bed at 2 o'clock in the morning.For the first time in six years, MacArthur had to face a boss across the conference table.This time the prospects are not pleasant.

The timing and setting of the meeting only add to the drama of this confrontation. The "Independence" flew over Wake Island before dawn, and circled a few times leisurely before a huge black thundercloud covering the sea.MacArthur took a shower, shaved his beard, had breakfast, and waited for the president in the simple house at the airport for half an hour.Truman looked down at the derelict piles of Japanese tanks and landing craft, remnants of the December 1941 battle, piled on the deserted beach below.At the time, the outnumbered Marines were defeated and surrendered, the first time the United States had lost territory to a foreign invader.

MacArthur drove to the "Independence" plane in a dilapidated 1948 Chevrolet sedan.As he approached the plane, Truman also stepped down the escalator.The general, the president noted, "has an unbuttoned shirt and a regular service cap with oil stains that is clearly 20 years old." (Despite the tropical climate, Truman was still well-dressed and well-dressed, as usual.) Washington Post reporter Edward Foliard noted that MacArthur did not salute the president, although they shook hands. "I haven't seen you for a long time." Truman said with a smile. "I hope," MacArthur replied, "it won't be so long before we meet next time."

At this time, the rising sun dyed the sky colorful, and the two climbed into the old Chevrolet car. Because the rear door of the car was stuck, they had to climb from the front row to the back seat. More than 200 airport workers — Guamanians, Filipinos and Marshall Islanders — clapped and cheered.Guided by a jeep carrying four soldiers, they drove to a small mobile home at the end of the runway, where they stayed for an hour.

No one else attended the meeting.Journalists in hot pursuit recorded only the general sitting on a wicker chair and the president on a wicker chair.MacArthur, who said nothing about the scene in his memoirs, later told Whitney that the meeting was a "relatively unimportant conversation."He told Whitney that when he regretted a misunderstanding about Taiwan in his statement to the National Veterans of Foreign Wars Camp Convention, Truman pulled away and said, "Oh, stop thinking about that."

Truman's account of this incident is also very few.According to a memorandum written by Truman at the request of the State Department in April of the following year, MacArthur assured the president that the Korean War had been won, Japan was ready to sign a peace treaty, and the Chinese Communist Party would not attack.

We talked about Taiwan in general terms.The general brought up his statement to the National Veterans of Foreign Wars Camp Convention. ... The general said he was sorry for any embarrassment he had caused the government and that he wasn't playing politics at the time. Politicians made him a "fool" (his words) once in 1948, and that will never happen again.He assured the president that he had no political ambitions.

He said again that the Chinese Communist Party will not go to war, we have already won the war.We will transfer a division to Europe in January 1951.

When MacArthur and Truman walked out of the hut, the red sun was already high in the sky.The creaking Chevrolet pulled them up to a squat pink building.This coral-clad building houses the offices of the Civil Aviation Authority.Instead of an American flag, a windsack floated in the gentle breeze.The entourage of the two sides is very different.Surrounding Truman were General Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of the Army Frank Pace, Admiral Arthur Radford, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Ambassador-at-Large Philip Jessup, Assistant Secretary of State Ann Rusk, Averill Harriman, and Press Secretary Charles Ross.The only people on MacArthur's side were Mucho, Courtney Whitney and his adjutant, Colonel Lawrence Bunker.

(End of this chapter)