to send to Ankara. But the operator couldn't read Turkish and returned it with an apology. Berk solved his problem by sending all his stories by airmail.
Berk may possibly have been the same Turk correspondent who developed a mania for the five slot machines in the Tokyo Press Club bar. Unable to communicate with him, the staff enlisted the multilingual talents of Dwight Martin of Time, according to Joe Fromm. Martin discovered that the man had a smattering of German, his second language. "It turned out that the Turk's lack of English did not impede his comprehension of the symbols on the slot machines," Joe reported. In those days, members could sign chits at the bar to obtain coins to operate the slots, so when the journalist returned to Turkey he left an unpaid slot machine bill of $800. To his request for payment, Treasurer Ray Falk received a response from the man's incredulous editor: "What is a slot machine and why should Mr. B. want to buy one?" Ray, whose boast was that there never was a bill he didn't collect, kept his reputation unsoiled.
James Michener, in his "Tales of the Korean War" carried in the No. 1 Shimbun, recalls the Japan he saw with affection. "I have often thought, in subsequent years," he said, "that there never was a luckier generation than that which knew Japan in those years. The hardships of World War II were over. The Japanese economy was beginning to open up. For us lucky correspondents travel up and down the land was at last possible without military escort. And that golden P.X. on the Ginza peddled full meals at thirty-five cents, haircuts at fifteen cents, shoe shines at five cents and Kodak film at twenty cents. The more daring of us lived mainly on the Japanese economy and to do so on American incomes was an experience."
Michener also said that some manipulation of the exchange rates allowed the more astute to buy yen at one place at the official rate and convert it back into dollar money orders at a lower rate-until the authorities caught on. And some correspondents had the foresight to buy land, usually through Japanese wives, and later cashed in when real estate prices in land-short Japan started spiraling.
But others lost during the May Day rioting of 1951. John Rich, who had recently acquired "a shiny new black Ford" through the military post exchange, lent it to Irving Levine of NBC on "that fateful day." Irv parked it on Hibiya Boulevard by the moat, across from MacArthur's headquarters. "When the rioters broke out of the palace grounds they began overturning and setting fire to cars, including mine," said Rich. "Max Desfor (of AP) took a photo of my car upside down and blazing, with a young Japanese student standing beside it with club in hand. . . . Max's picture ran on the front page of the New York Times the next day."
In Korea, the combined North Korean-Chinese forces fought through snow and bitter cold across the 38th parallel into South Korea and reoccupied Seoul in early January. But their momentum had been spent, and the United Nations forces had the advantage of air cover and mechanized transportation in the open plains of southwest Korea, in contrast to the mountainous terrain near Korea's Manchurian border. In February, the 8th Army started its counterattack, retook Seoul on March 15, and at the end of the month, had gained its more or less original positions on the 38th parallel.
In February, John Foster Dulles, visiting Japan as a special emissary of President Eisenhower on a peace treaty for Japan, visited the Press Club as a guest speaker, together with Ambassador William J. Sebald.
In the meantime, the friction between Truman and MacArthur came to a head. The issue: Whether to broaden the war by attacking China. MacArthur openly defied President Truman's policy of confining the war to the Korean Peninsula. He apparently took the fight to the Republican leadership in Congress. On April 11, the President announced that he had "relieved General MacArthur of his commands" and designated Lieutenant General Mathew B. Ridgway to succeed him.
In Japan, the announcement caused profound shock. Emperor Hirohito called at the embassy to express his distress. Prime Minister Yoshida and other leaders reacted with sympathy and sorrow. The two houses of the Diet passed resolutions thanking MacArthur for what he had done for Japan.
William J. Sebald wrote in With MacArthur in Japan that MacArthur's remoteness was "often criticized, but not by the Japanese, who understood or respected the need for aloofness. The critics generally were non-Japanese writers and reporters who had no responsibility for the Occupation and little understanding of MacArthur's methods of dealing with a unique, sensitive, and alien people." As major newspapers extolled MacArthur, a throng estimated at more than two hundred thousand turned out early in the morning to line MacArthur's road to Tokyo's Haneda Airport, wave tiny American and Japanese flags, and call out, "Sayonara."
On June 23, almost one year after the war had begun, Jakob Malik, Soviet U.N. delegate, suggested that the two sides begin talks for a cease-fire and armistice. On orders from Washington, Ridgway broadcast a proposal for such a meeting to Kim II Sung.
South Korea's President Syngman Rhee, vehemently opposed to armistice talks from the outset, held that Korea's problem would not be solved with the nation divided. Over his protests, the truce talks began on July 10 at Kaesong, a site chosen by the Communist side. Though south of the 38th parallel, Kaesong was held by the Communists.
In Tokyo, once again a new administration took over the Press Club as events in Korea moved into a new stage. Joe Fromm, a bundle of energy from the U.S. News & World Report and a key player in the Press Club's birth, took over as president. His Executive Board consisted of A.W. Jessup (Newsweek) as first vice-president, William Jorden (AP) as first vice-president, Dwight Martin (Time-Life) as treasurer, and Don Huth (AP) as secretary.
After entering the new year, three more correspondents died before Malik even mentioned a truce, and a fourth died during the armistice talks to bring the Korean War death toll of correspondents to eighteen. AFP's Jean Marie de Premonville was killed by machine-gun fire on February 11 while covering a U.N. patrol action. William H. Graham of the New York Journal of Commerce died on March 31 when his navy plane crashed while taking off from a carrier. Derick Pearcy of Reuters died when his jeep hit a land mine on May 25. Finally, on December 27, 1952, after the armistice talks had dragged on for almost a year and a half, Jorge Teodoro of the Philippines, attached to the U.N. Department of Public Information, was killed when his Greek Air Force C-47 crashed on takeoff from Chinhae.
Three more correspondents were captured by the Communists and languished in prison for close to three years before being released. They were Maurice Chanteloup, AFP news writer; Frank ("Pappy") Noel, AP cameraman; and Philip Deane, London Observer.
Hessell Tiltman of the London Daily
