“For Small Personage, We Push This Button”

I had a problem one day in dealing with a particular correspondent, Marguerite Higgins. My Korean driver and I were on our way to Kimpo Air Base but a flash flood impeded our route and we stopped at the press billets waiting for the water to recede.

Ms. Higgins came through the building looking to borrow somebody’s jeep and driver so she could get to a tea at the American embassy. No one volunteered. The next time I ventured outside, my jeep was gone, along with the driver. Some time later, “Maggie” came back and didn’t even thank me for the use of my vehicle. She was not only the equivalent of a major, but her husband also happened to be a two-star Air Force general. I made no report of the incident, for obvious reasons.

Secretary of the Army Stevens came to Korea and I was on duty as liaison to meet his plane and facilitate his meeting with the correspondents. This was in September of 1953 and a rumor was floating that because the war was winding down, the Army was planning to give early release to non-career officers.

Confirmation of such a move was vitally interesting to me so as I stood in the crowd listening to the questions, I was overwhelmed with the urge to do the unthinkable, ask a question of my own. My job was to provide the platform for whomever the Army made available, not to become a correspondent myself.

Throwing caution to the wind, I waited for a slight break and said, “Sir, rumors have it there will be early release of some reserve officers. Is that true?” The Secretary hardly glanced my way before turning his head to the next correspondent and nodded for his question. I may have been asking a top secret question or just being ignored. At any rate, I didn’t get a reply. About 30 days later, however, the answer to my question was moot when many of us were offered early release.

I had no such encounters with Dulles or Lodge, but I have copies of pictures taken of them near 8th Army Headquarters.

I was within arm’s length of Pres. Rhee one time during a parade. He was not highly regarded by many of us because of his dictatorial policies and I often thought how light the security was for him. Someone intending harm could easily have infiltrated the many public functions where he appeared.

Pres. Rhee apparently used his influence when it came to ethnic Koreans. Maj. Sammy Lee, an American Army officer, had become famous as an Olympic diver. On his arrival in Korea he was assigned to a unit in Seoul that had the only Olympic size swimming pool in the country, and perhaps the only pool, period. One of my file pictures shows Rhee welcoming Maj. Lee to Korea.

I never got assigned to the peace talks at Pan Mun Jom but somehow my file of pictures includes some taken there. In my haste to leave Korea, I must have grabbed the wrong file.

The stories coming out of Freedom Village opened my eyes to a new world of propaganda, both from the standpoint of the enemy and from that of our own country.

In my naïve mind, captured North Koreans should have been happy to be held prisoner by a democratic country such as the United States. Pictures taken during their repatriation at Pam Mun Jom, however, showed them tearing off their American made clothes and shouting epithets at their captors.

Our prisoners were obviously happy to be coming home but we found out later a number of GIs remained behind by choice. They were referred to as “turncoats.” Many eventually returned home after several years of disillusionment in the Communist North Korea.

A parade was scheduled for some dignitaries, including Dean Rusk or someone of similar rank. I don’t remember which one it was. I was standing on the reviewing stand next to a Korean general who looked to be even younger than me.

He spoke English so I asked him how they were able to get such a large crowd out for their parades when it was quite likely the Korean people had no idea who they were seeing. Throngs of children, all waving American flags, and thousands of adults, lined the streets.

His answer was quite simple. “For small personage, we push this button. If he is more important, we push this button.” His meaning, of course, was that the government told the people what to do and when to do it.