Jay Master: At the Rhee Reception
Dear George,
Yes, I was at that dinner with Syngman Rhee. Our ambassador (also Princeton but I don't remember his name) was there along with an uncomfortable-looking Maxwell Taylor who, at that time held the title of Commanding General, FECOM. I was stationed just outside of the airbase known as K-2 in Chunchon, with Headquarters Company of the 351st Transportation Highway Transport Group. Our mission was to provide all of the truck transport of goods and materiél throughout the peninsula. We had five battalions and over a thousand vehicles. As for the dinner, it was rather stiff and formal. Everybody said appropriate things and after a couple of hours we all went our ways. I don't remember if anyone took photos but perhaps some of our more enterprising classmates did. It strikes me somehow, that someone was taking photos as each Princetonian stepped forward to shake hands with Taylor and Rhee who were standing with the ambassador, but it may just have been some Army guy or my over-active imagination. Want more? If so, please be specific because my casual memory isn't too red hot these days.
Best regards, Jay Master '52
jaymast@cyberg8t.com
[I sent a clarification email, because Ellis Briggs was Secretary of State at the time, and does not have Princeton roots. Jay replied with the following.]
Dear George,
You're right about Briggs. There was, however, one other Princetonian whose stamp of approval was on this dinner and that was John Foster Dulles ['1908], then Sec'y. of State. One other correction: I mentioned K-2 as my nearby airbase—it was K-47 that was the airbase in Chunchon.You asked if, while I was in Korea, had I ever thought of coming back. Well, indeed, that happened. My tour in Korea ended in late 1953 when I went back to the states. But, I loved the country and the people of Korea and volunteered to return and this request was granted in early 1954 and it was, of course, later that year that the dinner was held. Many American friends thought I was nuts to ask for another Korean assignment as most Americans thought the country was very Third World and worthy of little attention but, as said, I liked the people and the place. Later that year, part of my duties involved giving talks to the troops on the importance of our presence in the Far East. As for my feelings about the Truman-MacArthur thing, I felt that Truman had done well; MacArthur had an enormous ego and given his head might have tried to run his armies straight through Beijing all the way to Moscow but, give him credit, he had a solid respect for the Constitution and while he disliked Truman, he knew enough to respect him as our duly constituted Commander in Chief. The one conviction that came over me slowly during my periods of duty in Korea, a conviction that has become more deeply imbedded with time, is that all people have identical basic needs. Daily conversations with various souls, particularly my Korean houseboy, showed me how much we all had in common. The environment at Princeton in the late '40's and early '50's still had a strong preppie slant and such a perception, even to a Sociology major, was not intuitive. Well, I suppose there's more to remember but for now I'm tapped out. Regards, Jay Master jaymast@cyberg8t.com
Yes, I was at that dinner with Syngman Rhee. Our ambassador (also Princeton but I don't remember his name) was there along with an uncomfortable-looking Maxwell Taylor who, at that time held the title of Commanding General, FECOM. I was stationed just outside of the airbase known as K-2 in Chunchon, with Headquarters Company of the 351st Transportation Highway Transport Group. Our mission was to provide all of the truck transport of goods and materiél throughout the peninsula. We had five battalions and over a thousand vehicles. As for the dinner, it was rather stiff and formal. Everybody said appropriate things and after a couple of hours we all went our ways. I don't remember if anyone took photos but perhaps some of our more enterprising classmates did. It strikes me somehow, that someone was taking photos as each Princetonian stepped forward to shake hands with Taylor and Rhee who were standing with the ambassador, but it may just have been some Army guy or my over-active imagination. Want more? If so, please be specific because my casual memory isn't too red hot these days.
Best regards, Jay Master '52
jaymast@cyberg8t.com
[I sent a clarification email, because Ellis Briggs was Secretary of State at the time, and does not have Princeton roots. Jay replied with the following.]
Dear George,
You're right about Briggs. There was, however, one other Princetonian whose stamp of approval was on this dinner and that was John Foster Dulles ['1908], then Sec'y. of State. One other correction: I mentioned K-2 as my nearby airbase—it was K-47 that was the airbase in Chunchon.You asked if, while I was in Korea, had I ever thought of coming back. Well, indeed, that happened. My tour in Korea ended in late 1953 when I went back to the states. But, I loved the country and the people of Korea and volunteered to return and this request was granted in early 1954 and it was, of course, later that year that the dinner was held. Many American friends thought I was nuts to ask for another Korean assignment as most Americans thought the country was very Third World and worthy of little attention but, as said, I liked the people and the place. Later that year, part of my duties involved giving talks to the troops on the importance of our presence in the Far East. As for my feelings about the Truman-MacArthur thing, I felt that Truman had done well; MacArthur had an enormous ego and given his head might have tried to run his armies straight through Beijing all the way to Moscow but, give him credit, he had a solid respect for the Constitution and while he disliked Truman, he knew enough to respect him as our duly constituted Commander in Chief. The one conviction that came over me slowly during my periods of duty in Korea, a conviction that has become more deeply imbedded with time, is that all people have identical basic needs. Daily conversations with various souls, particularly my Korean houseboy, showed me how much we all had in common. The environment at Princeton in the late '40's and early '50's still had a strong preppie slant and such a perception, even to a Sociology major, was not intuitive. Well, I suppose there's more to remember but for now I'm tapped out. Regards, Jay Master jaymast@cyberg8t.com
posted by George Corser at 10:54 AM
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