Evening star., 1951-04-22

t0N~~~SAAssNASASA
They did not get along well with
4 several of his press officers.
4 No American correspondent had
so far as know, ever been ex-
This is the thirteenth il series from John
II Gunther's new book, The Riddle oi
t Macarthur.
/. PEELED from Japan, but several had
grave difficulty getting back If for
instance they left the theater on
home leave or for assignments
elsewhere.
Also the Macarthur headquar-
tiers got into a crisis by a ruling to
1.-THE effect that any correspondent
who left Japan-even temporarily
must forfeit his credentials and
apply for accreditization all over
again; moreover. his family, if he
had one, must leave Army quar-
tiers. Struggle over this decree was
carried all the way to Washington;
lin the end Gen. Macarthur was
fatty overruled. and the regula-
tions modified.
After this things went smoothly
more or less-till the Korean
war. Several perfectly reputable
reporters were barred from Korea
during the first weeks Of the war,
on the charge that they had
given aid and comfort to the en-
envy; actually, they had per-
formed high patriotic service by
writing the truth. which badly
needed to be told. about American
and South Korean weakness. Then
the celebrated Miss Marguerite
Higgins of the New York Herald
Tribune was. by a stupid order,
similarly barred. Gen. Macarthur
promptly reversed the order.
"Gestapo" Is Nonsense.
People sometimes say that Gen.
Macarthur had a "Gestapo." This
is nonsense of course. Nothing re-
motely like Hitler's Gestapo or
the Russian secret police existed in
Japan-the idea is wholly un-
thinkable-but just the same
pretty nearly everything about
everybody was known in Tokyo.
There was no censorship of the
mail or telephone, but little went
on that soap did not hear about.
When my wife and I wandered
alone about Tokyo I am certain
that we were not followed. and
know that We talked to some peo-
lple soap did not particularly care
to have us meet. without Soaps
knowledge. On the other hand the
correspondent of an important
american newspaper Gan extreme
~ conservative newspaper at that
went to Kyoto fora trip. recently;
within week, every Japanese he
called on was interrogated by Jap
anese detectives. My friend was
furious. and made bitter COM
lplaint to soap. which utterly de-
tnied any knowledge of Cor COM
plicity IND the event.
A minor soap official once held
Iup the license for the translation
Iof Mr.. Churchll's memoirs some
months. for a reason nobody has
ever been able to figure out. Mr..
IChurchill's agent finally got to
Gen. Macarthur himself to pro-
test; Of course the General had
never known anything about the
matter. and the license was grant
led within an hour.
MaeArthur'S Aides.
There was, as they said in Tokyo,
three "doorways'' to the Supreme
Commander. One was Col. l.. E.
("Larry'') Bunker, his chief aide,
the channel for diplomatic con-
facts and the like. The second,
for strictly military matters. was
the Chief of Staff. The third, and
most important, was Brig. Gen.
Courtney Whitney, his chief po-
Ilitical adviser and, so to speak. his
secretary of state.
Gen. Whitney and Col. Bunker
are both very close to Gen. Mac
Arthur: on personal rather than
ian official level several others are
almost as close, like Mrs. Gibbons,
Col. Huff ("Old Sid" who has been
in his service longer than anybody
|else). and 1t. Col. Anthony Story.
the pilot of his private plane, once
the Bataan and now the Soap.
Then there were others, again on
Ia different level. like Maj. Gen.
Charles A. Willoughby. who was
chief of G-2 and an extremely
picturesque officer, and Mai. Gen.
William F. Marquat who was the
accomplished head of Soaps Ec-
onomic and Scientific Section.
Some of these intimate with
the general were known as mem
bers Of the "Bataan Crowd or
"Bataan Gang; i.e., they were
with the Supreme Commander inl
Manila at the outbreak Of war or
before. The highest eminence inI
this restricted circle belonged,
naturally, to those whom Gen.
Macarthur took out with him onl
the flight from Corregidor. InciA
dentally, officers who stayed inl
the Philippines. under Gen. Vain
wright. never had much of sub
sequent career with Gen. Mac
Arthur.
Alteration of Commander.
The distinguishing mark of
these men was reverenceevenl
adoration-of their Supreme Com
|mander. I heard one of them say,
with perfect genuineness, when Il
asked him about MacArthur's
character, Il honestly can't tell
you anything. He's too enormous.
too unpredictable. I don't really
understand him myself. No one