HE WILL BE COMING TO THE FAR EAST IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE, AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT HE ENJOYS MY EVERY CONFI-DENCE AND THAT YOU MAY FEEL FREE TO SAY ANYTHING TO HIM THAT YOU WOULD SAY TO ME.
SINCERELY,
Harry S. Truman
HARRY S. TRUMAN
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES
Pickering raised his eyes from the letter to the President. "Is that about the way President Roosevelt handled it?" Truman asked.
"He referred to the general as `my dear Douglas,'" Pick-ering said.
"He knew MacArthur," Truman said. "I don't. And I don't think I want to know the sonofabitch."
"Harry!" General Howe cautioned.
"He's an officer in the U.S. Army," Truman said. "Not the Viceroy of Japan, but I don't think he knows that, and if he does, he doesn't want to admit it. And I want you to know how I feel about him, General."
"I understand, sir."
"How do you feel about him?" Truman asked.
"He's a brilliant man-possibly, probably, the best gen-eral of our era, Mr. President."
"Better than Eisenhower? Bradley?"
"I never had the opportunity to watch General Eisen-hower at work, Mr. President. But I have watched General MacArthur. The word `genius' is not out of place. But he sometimes manifests traits of character that are disturbing to me personally. He can be petty, for example."
"For example?"
"Every unit on Corregidor but the 4th Marines was given the Presidential Unit Citation. General MacArthur said the Marines had enough medals."
"That's all?"
"His blind loyalty to the Bataan Gang disturbs me, Mr. President."
"That's why you didn't take McCoy's assessment to him?"
"I think his support of General Willoughby would have been irrational, and that very likely would have caused McCoy more trouble than he was already in, Mr. Presi-dent."
"All I expect him to do is not disobey orders," Truman said. "If he does, I want to know about it. Would that be a problem for you?"
"No, sir."
"Okay. This will go out tonight," Truman said. "I want you to work closely with Ralph here, but you both have the authority to communicate directly with me. If there's a disagreement between you, I want to hear both sides, and I'll decide. Clear?"
"Clear," General Howe said.
"Yes, sir."
"General Howe wants to pick your brain, Captain Mc-Coy," the President said. "I want you to tell him everything you know."
"Yes, sir," McCoy said.
"McCoy gave us a briefing tonight you might find fasci-nating yourself, Mr. President-"
"Us? Who's Us?" the President interrupted sharply. "Who else have you let in on McCoy's assessment?"
"Sir, when you ordered my recall, General Cates as-signed two officers to me, officers who had been with me in the OSS in War Two. Colonel Ed Banning and Marine Gunner Zimmerman."
"That was very obliging of the Commandant," the Presi-dent said.
It was a question. Pickering decided he could let it pass, but decided not to.
Is that a courageous decision, or is the Famous Grouse talking?
"Mr. President, General Cates is afraid that when the Marine Corps can't perform the miracle everyone will ex-pect it to, it will reflect badly on the Corps."
"What miracle won't it be able to perform? And how will the assignment of these two officers to you keep that from reflecting badly on the Marine Corps?"
"General Cates hopes that whenever I have the opportu-nity I will inject `the First Marine Division is at half wartime strength.'"
"Half wartime strength?" General Howe asked incredu-lously.
"Half strength," Pickering repeated. "And in the entire Marine Corps, there are only about eighty thousand offi-cers and men, plus twice that many in the reserve."
"God, I knew there had been reductions, but I didn't know it was that bad!" Howe said.
"It's that bad," Pickering said.
"It would appear General Cates got what he wanted, wouldn't it?" the President said. "I'll keep that unhappy statistic in mind, along with many others."
Neither Howe nor Pickering replied.
"McCoy gave a briefing to these two officers?" Truman asked.
"And to me, sir. I thought it was brilliant."
"I'd like to hear it," Howe said. "Can you do that for me, Captain?"
"Yes, sir," McCoy said.
"Not tonight," Truman said. "We have other things to talk about tonight, Ralph."
"Where can I find you in the morning, McCoy? Say about eight?" Howe asked.
"I'm here in the hotel, sir. But if you'll tell me where-"
"The hotel's fine. I'm staying here myself. Where are you? With General Pickering?"
"No, sir. I'm in the American Personal Pharmaceuticals suite."
"The American Personal Pharmaceuticals suite?" Howe asked, with a smile.
"He's like you, Ralph, he doesn't need the job, he just likes the uniform," Truman said, and immediately added: "I shouldn't have said that, I suppose. I meant it admir-ingly."
"I'll call you at eight, Captain," General Howe said.
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Ralph, why don't you walk down the corridor with General Pickering, and deliver a message from me to Mrs. Pickering?"
"What message, Harry?"
"His recall to active duty was my idea, not his."
"I'll be happy to."
"Thank you both," the President said. "I hope there will be a chance to see you both again before you go over there."
He went to the door and shook the hands of both men as they went through it.
Chapter Seven
[ONE]
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERAL
CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA
1305 JULY 1950
Brigadier General Clyde W. Dawkins, USMC, was an-noyed-and his face showed it-when the telephone on his desk buzzed. He was in conference with Brigadier General Edward A. Craig, USMC, who until two days before had been Deputy Commanding General, 1st Marine Division, and was now Commanding General, 1st Marine Provi-sional Brigade, and he had, he thought, made it clear to Captain Arthur McGowan, USMC, his aide-de-camp, that he didn't want to be disturbed.
"Sorry," he said to Craig, a tall, lean officer beside him, a tanned man in his early fifties who wore his thick silver hair in a crew cut, and reached for the telephone.
"Sir, it's the Commandant," Captain McGowan an-nounced.
"General Dawkins, sir."
"Dawkins," the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps said, without any preliminaries, "this is a heads-up on an Urgent TWX you're about to get from the JCS. In essence, it says by Direction of the President, Brigadier General Fleming Pickering, USMCR, will shortly be in San Diego. Give him whatever he wants, and tell him anything he wants to know."
"Yes, sir?" General Dawkins said.
"Do just that, Dawkins. Give him whatever he wants and tell him anything he wants to know."
"Aye, aye, sir."
General Dawkins waited for the Commandant to con-tinue. And continued to wait until a dial tone told him that the Commandant, having said all he wished to say, had ter-minated the conversation.
Dawkins put the phone back in the cradle and mused, aloud, "I wonder what the hell that's all about?"
"What what's about?"