Griffin W.E.B. - The Corps 09 - Under Fire

"He is. General Howe told him."

"That was the first I'd heard of General Howe," Cush-man said.

"A very good officer," Pickering said.

"Do I get to meet him?"

Hart handed Pickering and Cushman cups of coffee, then handed one to McCoy and took one himself.

"Certainly. When he comes back from Korea," Pickering said.

"General Howe is in Korea?" McCoy asked, surprised.

"He'll be back, he said, either tonight or tomorrow," Pickering said. He turned to Cushman and went on. "He went there to see General Walker. General Collins, and some others, think Walker should be removed. The Presi-dent wants Howe's opinion."

"Not yours?"

"I'm not qualified-or about-to voice an opinion of an Army commander's performance."

"And this General Howe is?"

"He commanded a division in Europe. He's far better qualified than I am, but he's damned uncomfortable with Truman's order. And since one of us had to stay here in Tokyo to keep an eye on Sherman and Collins, here I am."

"You think the Inchon invasion is a sure thing?"

"That's why I ordered this operation," Pickering said.

"And MacArthur doesn't know you're doing this?"

"As the Deputy Director of the CIA for Asia, I don't have to tell MacArthur of every small clandestine opera-tion I'm running."

"And what's going to happen when he finds out?"

"That's one of those bridges somewhere down the road," Pickering said.

"You're walking pretty close to the edge of a cliff, I guess you know."

"If I told him I thought these islands should be in our hands as soon as possible, I would be challenging the col-lective wisdom of his staff. Most of them were with him in the Philippines."

"And he would back them, of course."

Pickering nodded.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Cushman asked.

"You already have. And since you are now in on this, I won't be reluctant now to ask for any help I think we need."

Pickering looked at his watch.

"Now we have to leave, George," he said. He turned to McCoy. "Go home, Ken. Get a little rest. Whatever you think you have to do will wait until I get back from the Dai-Ichi Building. Come back about 1300. Bring Ernie, if you like. We can have a room-service lunch and talk here."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"What's Taylor up to?" Pickering asked.

"He's sitting on Jeanette Priestly for me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Until I talked to her, she was going to write a story about Pick getting shot down," McCoy said.

"And you were able to talk her out of it?" Pickering asked, surprised.

"I took her with us to Tokchok-kundo," McCoy said. "It was the only thing I could think of to do with her."

"So now she's in on everything?" Pickering said coldly.

McCoy met Pickering's eyes.

"I don't think we have to worry about her. I put her on the junk before I knew that she thinks she's in love with Pick," he said. And then he blurted, "Fuck it."

"Excuse me?" Pickering said, partly a question, mostly a reprove.

McCoy took a manila envelope from inside his shirt and handed it to Pickering.

"Billy gave me these just before he took off from the Ba-doeng Strait," McCoy said. "Nobody knows about these pictures but two guys in the photo lab on the Badoeng Strait, Dunn, me, and now you."

"What am I looking at?"

"These pictures were taken the day after Pick went down, near the spot. Somebody stamped `PP' and an arrow in a ruptured rice paddy."

"My God," Pickering said. "He's alive."

He handed the photographs to Cushman.

"Why weren't these photographs...," Cushman began. "Pickering, you have my word that every effort will be made-"

"Sir, with respect," McCoy said. "Colonel Dunn knew that if these pictures got out, a lot of people and, as impor-tant, the helicopters would be put at risk to try to get him."

"You're a Marine, Captain. You know our tradition...."

"Colonel Dunn knows the only way to look for Major Pickering, to get him out, would be with helicopters, and the only helicopters we have are carrying the wounded. Colonel Dunn knows, and I know, that Major Pickering wouldn't want that."

"And neither do I," General Pickering said. "I don't want helicopters put at risk looking for my son, General Cush-man. We'll think of something else."

"That's really not your decision to make, is it, Flem-ing?" Cushman argued.

"I think it is," Pickering said. "I would deeply appreciate your respecting my wishes in this matter."

Cushman met Pickering's eyes.

After a long moment, he said, "Of course."

"I've got a couple of ideas," McCoy said.

"And so far as you're concerned, Ken, the priority is the taking of Taemuui-do and Yonghung-do," Pickering said.

"Aye, aye, sir," McCoy said.

[THREE]

THE DEWEY SUITE

THE IMPERIAL HOTEL

TOKYO, JAPAN

1425 10 AUGUST 1950

Mrs. Ernestine McCoy was helping herself to another piece of pastry when the door chime went off, so she an-swered it.

It was Brigadier General Pickering, trailed by Captain Hart. Pickering kissed her on the cheek, looked around the room, and said, "You've eaten, good. The Grand Encounter lasted longer than it was supposed to."

"Ken wanted to wait," Ernie said.

"And you didn't," Pickering said. "Proving what I've suspected all along, that you're the smarter of the two."

He went to the room-service cart, opened silver covers until he found a bowl of salad, and popped a radish into his mouth. Then he turned to Hart.

"In this order, George, order us some lunch. A small steak, a tomato, more salad for me, hold the dressing. And coffee, of course. Then show McCoy where we've moved the typewriter. And then run down Sergeant Keller, and have him standing by here, and have a car standing by downstairs to carry him to the Dai-Ichi Building."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Ken, you feel up to a little fast typing?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, let's get started. I want what happened at that meeting to be in the President's hands as soon as possible."

General Pickering had just finished his small steak when McCoy came back in the room with several sheets of type-writer paper in his hands. Pickering took them and read them.

"You're a great typist, McCoy," Pickering said, cheer-fully. "If you ever need work, we can always use a good typist at PandFE."

"I think I'd rather sell deodorant for American Personal Pharmaceuticals, but thanks just the same," McCoy replied.

"Uncle Flem," Ernie McCoy flared. "My God!"

"Sometimes my mouth runs away with itself," Pickering said. "Ken, I'm sorry. You know that was a bad shot at try-ing to be funny."

"It's Okay?" McCoy asked, indicating the material he'd typed.

"It's perfect," Pickering said, handing it back. "If you'd have made a couple of typos, I wouldn't have..."

McCoy took the sheets of paper from Pickering and handed them to Master Sergeant Keller.

"Take a look, Keller," McCoy ordered, "then stick them in an envelope and get them going."

Keller read them.

TOP SECRET/WHITE HOUSE

DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN ONE (1) COPY ONLY

DESTROY AFTER TRANSMISSION

TOKYO, JAPAN 0625 GREENWICH 10 AUGUST 1950

VIA SPECIAL CHANNEL EYES ONLY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT:

IT IS NOW ABOUT 3 PM TOKYO TIME. I HAVE JUST COME FROM THE DAI-ICHI BUILDING WHERE I ATTENDED THE MEETING BETWEEN GENERAL OF THE ARMY DOUGLAS MACARTHUR, GENERAL JOSEPH C. COLLINS, USA, AND AD-MIRAL FORREST SHERMAN, USN, AND OTHER SENIOR MEMBERS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE STAFFS. GENERAL HOWE IS IN KOREA, BUT I FEEL SURE, HAD HE BEEN PRESENT, HE WOULD CONCUR WITH THE CONCLUSIONS DRAWN HEREIN.

THE BASIC PURPOSE OF THE MEETING WAS TO GIVE GENERAL MACARTHUR THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLAIN HIS PLAN TO MAKE THE AM-PHIBIOUS LANDING AT INCHON, SCHEDULED AT THE MOMENT FOR 15 SEPTEMBER 1950.