Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 51



Only Noblemtl

#051

In fact, the fact that the position of Olympic Committee chairman was handed over to me was not simply due to internal power struggles within the sports world.

Since the first Athens Olympics, the country that has won the most medals in every Olympics except for the Paris and London Olympics has been none other than the United States.

So, even if you get first place, it’s hard to treat it as a noteworthy achievement.

rather,

“If I don’t get first place, I’ll get more attention.”

“Instead, you’ll get cursed at until your stomach explodes.”

If you do well, you’ll get your money’s worth, if you don’t, you’ll definitely get scolded.

There’s no money there, and there are just a bunch of guys fighting over who’s the best…

So, when the offer to become chairman came in, there were quite a few people around me who tried to dissuade me.

Of course, I was confident.

After the Great Kanto Earthquake, I had been in the spotlight under President Coolidge, so I couldn’t contact the press or show off my good looks like I used to.

But you can’t just lie flat on your stomach forever.

In such a situation, the position of Olympic Committee chairman was the best opportunity to legally show one’s face to the media.

Anyway, for that reason, Holly’s gold medal this time was monumental for her personally, but it was also quite important to me.

And thanks to Holly naturally lifting me up in the middle, I was able to have an even better press conference than planned.

“By the way, did you give Holly a heads up beforehand?”

Eisenhower blinked at my question after returning from the interview.

“But why?”

“That… Ah, no.”

Eisenhower seemed like he was going to say something, then shook his head and said no.

Just as I was about to ask him about something, someone else appeared and called me.

“Mr. Chairman.”

“Oh, what?”

“Swimming tomorrow···.”

I turned my head away, thinking I would ask about it later, and ended up completely forgetting about it.

##

At that time, the reporters were very busy.

It wasn’t a long interview, but there was so much to cover that it was overwhelming.

“I’m going to use one of the MacArthur Rolls or the Holy Roll.”

“Rumor has it that Chairman MacArthur played a big role in other events as well···.”

“Let’s investigate that a bit more.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Don’t forget about Holly either.”

“Of course. The original strong candidate to win was Mildred Wiley.”

“So, I wrote that story too···.”

Most reporters focused on the superficial story, but some did not.

“Do you see something?”

“Yes. I don’t know about Chairman MacArthur, but Holly seems certain.”

“Don’t you think Chairman MacArthur was a bit heartless? You saw the scene where he was reading Holly at first.”

“Is that so? I just noticed that Holly blushed when she saw the chairman in the middle.”

“A man and a woman who met through work and fell in love while helping each other···.”

“Hey, is this a proper story?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

That’s right. What they were focused on was none other than Marion Holly and my gender.

So, rumors about an affair between me and Holly started to circulate in some newspapers.

and···.

“Your mother sent a telegram?”

If it’s a congratulatory message, there’s no need to send a telegram in a hurry, but if…

I opened the telegram, thinking that something big had happened…

“I’m worried because he’s so young, but since I’m old, let’s get married quickly, okay? Oh my. Seriously, ma’am.”

I know full well that the marriage of the old son is the wife’s most important task these days, but I still thought this was going too far.

“No, it’s not even ten years, it’s thirty years. I don’t know, but Holly’s father might be younger than me. Do you think I’m a man to her? He’s an old man.”

I was muttering in disbelief, but guess what?

Eisenhower’s reaction was strange.

“Well, what’s important is what’s in the minds of Ms. Holly and the Chairman.”

“what?”

“How can someone who is so good at everything else be so clueless in this area? Miss Holly seems to have a heart.”

“no way···.”

“No way… Oh my. What good would it do if I said that?”

When I read the newspaper articles containing the rumors about the affair, I just laughed at the thought that the rags were the same now as in the future, but after seeing Eisenhower’s reaction…

‘Am I really that dull?’

but,

“You’re too young. What can you do with someone who’s only eighteen?”

It was probably just a passing emotion. Wasn’t that how it was at that time?

Both Eisenhower and Bradley shook their heads in agreement at my response, but it was clear that it was true.

“Well, if Miss Holly isn’t to your taste, then there’s nothing we can do.”

“Yes.”

It’s not a matter of taste…

Honestly, even if I was twenty-eight, or even twenty-three or twenty-four, I would have tried something. But even so, being a teenager feels like a crime all of its own…

The next event after that unexpected incident was a swimming competition.

As expected, our US team’s swimming performance was overwhelming.

The US team’s new turn style, already showcased in the preliminaries, and a longer swimming time than other swimmers.

There was no superhuman who could overcome it.

That’s how I became one of the most famous people in Amsterdam during the Olympics.

“I hear it’s become a trend to call all American athletes who do something unique MacArthur.”

“okay?”

Since it’s something so new, if you ask who came up with it, my name will come up nine times out of ten, so I guess the trend now is to just slap my name on it without asking or investigating?

There was even a newspaper that called a player’s pre-match jinx a technique by attaching MacArthur to it.

“That’s a nobleman. I’ve also heard that the lieutenant general has obtained the mysteries of the East.”

“What mystery?”

“You were in the Philippines until recently, right? You were on friendly terms with a lot of Asians there.”

There are stories going around that he learned mysterious techniques from the East and taught them to his players.

Anyway, the performance of the US representative was so overwhelming that such nonsense was accepted as established theory.

Even I, who led the technological doping, felt like I was going a bit too far.

Our country, the United States, won thirty gold medals, twenty silver medals, and twenty-three bronze medals across men and women.

All seventy-three.

Germany, which came in second, said it had less than thirty medals in all three categories.

“This isn’t a game.”

“I feel so refreshed.”

Not only the players, but also the reporters who followed them could not hide their joy.

But isn’t it a natural law that the brighter the light, the darker the shadow?

“If we leave it like this, there is a possibility that it will have the opposite effect.”

“Yes, because we have been showcasing such advanced technologies···.”

It was reported that because we did so well, other countries’ envy and jealousy had reached an excessive level.

In particular, some countries, including Germany, were even talking about us damaging the Olympic spirit.

“Sports are sacred. One soldier turned it into a mud pit.”

“Sportsmanship is more important than records.”

It was a shocking story for someone who knew the history of how, during the Cold War, countries used every trick they could to defeat their opponents, even though it was a stage where their pride was at stake.

Even the claims they made had no proper basis.

however,

“As expected from a nation that first brought up the Yellow Peril theory, they are a genius at slander.”

“Yes. I think there are many people who would like to agree with that emotionally.”

Aren’t there more teams that have broken us than teams that have beaten us?

Thanks to this, outrageous nonsense was proudly published on the front page of the newspaper.

“There is something I have prepared for times like this.”

“yes.”

Actually, the slander against me didn’t matter. It was like treating the players like soldiers, or the mysteries of the East, or whatever.

Because it was all bullshit.

And above all, I was a soldier. As long as my native Americans believed in me, I didn’t care what other countries said about me.

And the current public opinion about me in the United States is…

“I hope it’s better than World War I, it’s not bad.”

“It’s very popular, especially among women…”

The respect shown in Marion Holley’s gold medal interview really stole the hearts of 20th century women.

In the early 20th century, women were struggling to enter the man’s world.

It was a situation where we were barely able to see results one by one while constantly making efforts to break down the wall of gender discrimination that had persisted for a long time.

In the United States alone, it was not until 1870 that black men were able to vote, but it was not until 1920 that white women were able to vote.

Just looking at these points, you can see how women were treated in the early 20th century.

Anyway, in most countries including the United States, women are fighting an uphill battle.

Although women’s events were introduced on a large scale at this Olympics, there were still many events that remained the domain of men only.

The way I behaved in this situation was enough to capture the hearts of women all over the world.

I, a man of much older status, showed my respect and appreciation for the abilities of a young, gold-medal-winning woman, Marion Holly.

“It’s as sweet as it looks.”

“I thought soldiers would be stiff and conservative.”

“That’s right. Not only is his face handsome, but his personality and character···.”

Does that mean her popularity among men has declined? That wasn’t the case.

There were many people who liked me, saying that I was manly and had leadership qualities, and that I could win even the judgment with my skills.

In their view, my treatment of Marion Holly was nothing more than the basic courtesy a man should show to a woman.

Of course, there were some who showed low-level jealousy, saying that he was like a parasitic brother.

Anyway, what I was worried about was none other than the players.

The athletes, who had won gold medals and were completely happy about their achievements, were complaining of stress as they were exposed to endless plots, jealousy, and envy.

“Especially since most of the players are still young. We can no longer expose the talents who will lead our American sports in the future.”

Since I had expected something like this to happen, it wasn’t difficult to respond.

No, rather, it was something I had been waiting for.

“MacArthur is finally holding a press conference.”

“Hoo.”

“Where do you do it?”

When news of my press conference came, all kinds of people flocked to the event, including reporters, tourists who had come to watch the Olympics, and athletes from other countries.

So many people came that the banquet hall at the hotel where they were staying had to be hurriedly changed, and not only did all the Olympic organizing committee staff have to be mobilized, but the Dutch police also had to be requested for assistance.

Finally, I was able to start the press conference after being delayed by half a day from the scheduled time.

“There was a time when sports were about individual physical ability. But sports today are different. Like other fields, advanced technology and scientific power have long since made sports something that is independent of an individual’s physical ability or experience.”

“Is that story about the U.S. team receiving extra help beyond their individual physical abilities?”

“Yes. Our U.S. Olympic Committee has been very supportive of our athletes to help them achieve their best.”

“Rumor has it that such efforts are like drugs or···.”

“No. Sports are sacred. The help I’m talking about is the improvement of technology based on scientific analysis, like the Holy Roll that our country has recently introduced.”

What appeared in front of those who didn’t understand what was being said was a giant blackboard and my mathmon, no, Bradley.

Bradley began to mathematically analyze the strengths of Marion Holly’s backbend and Holly roll compared to more traditional high jump techniques, including the belly roll.

“The most important thing to consider in high jump is the athletes’···.”

“Speed ​​and distance of running···.”

“In the action···.”

As Bradley continued his possessed explanation, the faces of those gathered began to turn pale…

“I’ve seen this sight before.”

“Did we do that last time?”

One of the high jump coaches laughed at my muttering and asked,

As Bradley’s explanation, which had been going on for a long time, came to an end, people in a daze appeared all over the conference room.

However, some journalists armed with professional spirit showed that they are still alive and well.

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Too big to refuse