Edward L. Rowny
Almond had the staff prepare messages for MacArthur to send to Seoul and
Washington. MacArthur, meanwhile, was on the phone to Seoul, Washington,
FECOM military headquarters, and the Japanese government. He ordered all U.S.
troops in Japan to return to barracks.
I disappeared into the Dai Ichi building. For the next several days my wife
brought me clean clothing and toilet articles. We worked around the clock, except
for time off for catnaps on cots in our offices. For a week we worked, slept, and
ate in the Dai Ichi building.
Q ..
What specifically did you do in the first hours and days after the invasion?
A
I don't recall precisely. I'm certain we were trying to decide how best to cope
with and stabilize the situation. I recall it was a very chaotic period. Most of our
contacts in Seoul were with a remarkable individual, Ambassador Muccio, our
ambassador in Seoul. He was well-organized, calm and courageous. We were
getting better estimates about the situation from him than from our military
headquarters. This, in hindsight, is understandable because the military had its
own problems trying to cope with the enemy. However, we were fortunate that
Muccio was a broad-gauge and capable foreign service officer. He believed our
troops could be organized to stand and fight. He did not think that we should
simply pick up and move to the rear.
Q ..
After you finished the initial period of trying to get everything organized, when did
you start planning for the Inchon invasion?
A ..
Several days after the attack a crisis developed within MacArthur's staff. His
public relations advisor couldn't cope with the situation. Reporters had started to
arrive from the United States almost immediately and were putting General
MacArthur under a great deal pressure. The public relations officer, having
fortified his courage with several stiff drinks, passed out while briefing reporters.
Later that dav I received a two-line directive from the Supreme Commander. It
read:
1. Effective immediately, y o u will-in addition to your other duties-act as my official spokesman.
2. You will tell the press everything they need to know and nothing they need not know.
Signed:
Douglas MacArthur
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