The Korean War: The Untold Truth

Chapter 96 Mai Shuai dismissed (4)
At approximately 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10, Truman received and signed an order of discharge.He handed over the dismissal order to Acheson, asked him to send it to Ambassador John Mucho who was in Busan, and instructed him to submit it to Minister Pace who was on the front line with Ridgway.Everyone involved in the matter was sworn to strict secrecy.For obvious political and public relations reasons, if a popular field commander must be fired, the decorum must be appropriate.

Through unaccountable error, the government's program went bankrupt.The telegram sent by the State Department to Pusan ​​used commercial telegraph equipment.Because of a faulty line, the first telegram to Minister Pace never got through.A source in Tokyo told the Chicago Tribune at the time that MacArthur was about to be fired.The newspaper's Washington correspondent, Walter Troian, took up the story. "Some probing in sensitive areas has exposed White House intentions," he wrote.He had the Chicago Tribune's Pentagon correspondent, Lloyd Norman, there to verify the news. "I began to prepare to deal with Joseph Short," Troan wrote, "but there was nothing to do with it, as Short--a nice fellow and completely loyal to Truman--confirmed the news with apparent panic. ’” Truman aide George Elsey Jr. admitted that at the White House that night there was “a certain degree of panic. Some feared that MacArthur might get wind [of his dismissal] . . . that he might make a grandstanding gesture. There were rumors that he was going to a global radio station. There were some who suspected he was going to resign with a buying statement. The White House was actually already... I'm sorry to say, panicked for fear that he might Get ahead."

The White House did not want the first news about MacArthur's dismissal to be published through a less friendly newspaper, so it decided to announce the news at 4 am on April 11. (Ironically, the Chicago Tribune whistleblower lost faith in his scoop and made the paper take it down. Thus, the Chicago Tribune's "sneak report" failed to be announced in the White House Seen the newspaper before.)
Joseph Short distributed the document.The first was a formal statement from Truman: he concluded "with deep regret" that MacArthur could not "support wholeheartedly" for the policies of the United States and the United Nations.Based on the responsibilities entrusted to him by the U.S. Constitution and the responsibilities specifically entrusted to him by the United Nations, he removed MacArthur and appointed Matthew Ridgway to replace him.The President went on to say:
A full and vigorous discussion of questions of national policy is an indispensable element of the constitutional system of our liberal democracy.However, it is a basic condition that the military commanders must abide by the policies and instructions given to them in the manner prescribed by the laws and constitution of our country.This consideration is especially necessary in times of crisis.

Truman acknowledged that MacArthur's "historical status as one of our nation's greatest commanders is well established" and that the nation should be grateful for his contributions. "I therefore again deeply regret the actions I had to take with him."

In this way, MacArthur's dismissal was announced in the middle of the night, although it was not the fault of the White House.And the haste and strain of its manner made the move look more like a dishonorable bargain than a decision by a president who had decided to stand steadfastly against a military giant— The giant's prestige (if not his rank) was a full 20 years ahead of Truman.

Pace received the order
Because of the undelivered cable and the Chicago Tribune's leak, Secretary of the Army Frank Pace's role in MacArthur's dismissal became a sidelight of a comic opera.Pace cringed even at the sight of MacArthur, even though he was now MacArthur's nominal boss. "I have to remember that when he was chief of staff of the U.S. Army, I was still in Pottstown Hill School (a preparatory school) in Pennsylvania." Pace was not aware of the uproar surrounding MacArthur in Washington, so he On his first day in Tokyo, he was bewildered when he received a telegram from Secretary of Defense Marshall.The telegram said: "That's unmistakable -- repeat, that's unmistakable: You will go to North Korea and stay there until I hear from you. Marshall."

Pace recalled: "The telegram didn't say whether to wait a day, a week, a month, or a year." So he said goodbye to his host, Douglas MacArthur, and flew to North Korea.There, Matthew Ridgway took him to inspect battlefields and field hospitals, and flew to the enemy's front lines.The next night, Pace was dozing off in a command post with hail pounding on the roof when he received a call from Eighth Army chief of staff Gen. Levan Allen.Allen read the telegram from Marshall: "My cable No. 8 is invalid. You inform General Matthew Ridgway that he is now the Supreme Commander in the Pacific Theater, replacing General MacArthur, who has been deposed. You will go to Tokyo to assist General Ridgway accepts command ... Marshall."

Shocked, Pace replied, "You'd better read it again, Levin. I don't want to fire General MacArthur by saying it that way." Allen read the telegram again.

Pace realized he had been suddenly thrust into a delicate situation.He calmly asked Li Qiwei to have a private conversation outside the command post.Hail is still falling.Pace took a few steps outside, looked at the grenade hanging on Ridgway's chest, and said, "Matt, get rid of these damn grenades. If a hailstone hit them, there would be no Secretary of War and North Korean commander. "

For the sake of secrecy, they walked a few dozen yards to a North Korean cemetery.Pace told Ridgway what he had heard from General Allen.

"I can't believe it, Mr. Minister." Li Qiwei said.

"I can't believe it either, so I'm going to repeat myself," Pace replied, "Now you're the Supreme Commander. Now let's get that cable that I don't have to execute."

Hours later, Pace finally received a copy of the first telegram."You are going to Tokyo to inform General Douglas MacArthur that he has been relieved of command," the telegram said.

Pace was privately relieved that he would not have to take on the burden of personally removing MacArthur.After he returned to Washington, he told his friends that it would have been "no problem" to remove MacArthur.He went on to say: "I can requisition the first plane and fly to Tokyo. When I get there in a few hours, I go directly to MacArthur's headquarters. I can ring the doorbell, put the dismissal order in the door, and run like hell. .”

MacArthur was notified
However, MacArthur learned in the worst possible way that his military career was ruined.MacArthur was not completely ignorant of Washington's dissatisfaction and the trouble he might encounter.In Tokyo, "news reports of MacArthur's 'public rupture' with the government abounded," wrote his political affairs officer, William Siebold.Apparently, those rumors led to the aborted Chicago Tribune scoop.

But these rumors did not reach MacArthur's stronghold.He was still reading routine telegrams from the front in his office in the First Building in the morning.A few days ago, the first warmth of early spring came to Tokyo, and the buds burst out in the flowers, heralding the end of the severe winter.However, on April 4th, dense clouds and drizzle fell in the early morning, which brought inconvenience to Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida's annual afternoon garden party.Kayla Huff, the wife of MacArthur's landline pilot, Colonel Sidney Huff, was troubled. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Why does it have to rain on the day of the Prime Minister's Garden Party?"

Huff doesn't care much about that.He got a call from a journalist friend. "You must listen to the 3 o'clock broadcast," said the reporter. "We think President Truman is going to talk about MacArthur's resignation."

Huff was so taken aback that he wanted to call MacArthur, but he knew the general was entertaining Washington State Senator Warren Magnuson and Northwest Airlines manager William Stearns.MacArthur would not leave the guest to answer the call, so Huff left a message asking Mrs. MacArthur to call him back as soon as possible.

Then Huff turned on the radio.There was nothing out of the ordinary about the first newscasts.At the end, the announcer said: "Please listen to an important announcement below." After a while, Huff heard a brief message from Washington: MacArthur has been relieved of all command.

Before Huff could comprehend the meaning of the news, the phone rang, and it was Mrs. MacArthur. "Did you call, Sid?" she asked.

"Yes, it's important. I just heard a Washington dispatch on the radio saying the general has been relieved of all command."

"Wait a minute," Mrs. MacArthur said. "Say it again, Sid. The general is here." This time, Huff repeated the news very slowly so that she could convey the exact words to MacArthur.

There was a silence. "Well, Sid," said Mrs. MacArthur, "thanks for calling."

A few minutes later, a correspondent from the communications corps delivered Huff an "important telegram" to MacArthur in a small brown envelope.Huff drove his car to the embassy compound, parked the car, and walked past more than a dozen journalists waiting in front of the door. "What's the news?" cried one of them. "Has he got the news?"

Huff held up the envelope. "That's probably it," he said.He walked through the spacious reception hall, where brightly colored banners hung to mark the general's former powers.He went up the stairs to the door of MacArthur's bedroom, where Mrs. MacArthur met him.

"Here it is," he said, handing over the envelope. "What can I do?"

No, there is nothing to do.Joan MacArthur, stern and tearful, handed the brown envelope to Douglas MacArthur.He opened the envelope and glanced at the letter inside.Then he hugged her and said, "Jenny, we're finally going home."

Sick President?

When General Ridgway arrived in Tokyo to take command on April 4, MacArthur invited him for a private talk.Li Qiwei said nothing, listening in surprise to MacArthur's bizarre theory about his dismissal.

MacArthur claimed that he had been told by a "distinguished person in the medical profession" that "the President suffered from malignant hypertension," and that this person, in turn, had received the news from Truman's personal physician, General Wallace Graham.MacArthur went on to say that the disorder is characterized by confusion of mind and disorganized thinking.It was for this reason, he added, that Truman wrote "the letter to the music critic and another letter about the Marine Corps."MacArthur claimed that the doctor told him the president "wouldn't have six months to live."

Whatever MacArthur heard, his claims about Truman's health were untrue.The president did suffer from high blood pressure, but no one who worked with him during his White House years ever noticed any sign of mental instability.Ironically, both the president and MacArthur had doubts about the other's mental stability.However, on Truman's side, after General Frank Lowe made a cautious inspection of MacArthur's headquarters in September 1950, Truman was prepared to issue a certificate of no disease to MacArthur.

They continue talking.MacArthur told Ridgway that he had received various offers to speak or write about his dispute with the President—one for $15; another for $30 to publish 50 one conversation for "Sky Warp"; another for $100 million ("MacArthur didn't go into detail about it," Ridgway notes).MacArthur expressed "surprise" at his dismissal, but he was not overly unhappy because he "has been longing" to go to New York to live in seclusion.

MacArthur's claims about Truman's health unsettled Ridgway, but not in the way MacArthur had hoped.When Ridgway left MacArthur's study after an hour's conversation, he felt that it was not the president who was confused, but Douglas MacArthur.

(End of this chapter)