Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 52



Only Noblemtl

#052

“I don’t know much about math, so I don’t know if the explanation I just heard is correct.”

“Yes. Isn’t it a problem for great mathematicians to prove whether what you just heard is true?”

“It wasn’t just the high jump that the U.S. showed amazing results in. It was other events too…”

“Of course, there is information on other events as well. First, should I explain the turns and diving strokes used in swimming?”

As soon as I finished speaking, Bradley pulled out a thick stack of documents from behind me.

thud.

Just the sound of it being placed on the table seemed to be overwhelming.

“Yes. I understand. Let’s assume that the various tricks performed by the US team were not due to drugs or anything like what the world is talking about.”

“It’s not that I said no, it’s that.”

“Yes. Well, I understand. But is it really right to receive such excessive external help in a sport that tests physical ability?”

As expected, when I looked into the faces of those persistent guys, they were all Germans.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“yes?”

“All we did was to do our best to support the players so that they could perform to the best of their abilities.”

“Ha, but isn’t there a limit to support?”

“Well, let’s take shoes as an example. Nowadays, all football players wear shoes with studs during games.”

“Oh, yes.”

“It’s no different. It’s just that we in the United States have found the right method for each sport and each athlete through more scientific and systematic analysis than other countries. Isn’t it ugly to insist that we did something wrong because you didn’t do it?”

At my words, the press conference room became noisy again.

Here and there, questions were sporadically asked to nitpick.

But the question I was waiting for never showed any sign of coming out.

‘Should we give Eisenhower a signal?’

It was then that one of the reporters behind her suddenly stood up.

“Do you think that the scientific and systematic support that the chairman mentioned is in line with the Olympic spirit? Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, said that the significance of the Olympic Games is not in winning, but in participating, and that what is important to humans is not success, but in making efforts. Do you think that the support that the chairman mentioned is in line with the Olympic spirit that Pierre de Coubertin talked about?”

As her questions continued, the smile on my face grew deeper.

Because it was exactly the question I was waiting for.

At first glance, the question about the Olympic spirit and the spirit of sports seemed like a sharp attack.

“Right!”

“The U.S. team, which only cares about records, has undermined the Olympic spirit!”

Because of that, as soon as the reporter finished asking questions, words of agreement burst out here and there.

But for me, who was already prepared, it was not an attack but the best assist.

“The ideal of the modern Olympics is not only the perfection of humanity through sports, but also the promotion of international peace through games. For example, in the past, we, the United States and Germany, fought each other with guns pointed at each other.”

I paused for a moment and then smiled, tapping the rank insignia hanging on my shoulder.

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that half of these insignia were made by our German friends at that time.”

Some people’s faces turned red with anger at my sharp joke, others burst into laughter, and some looked at me with anxious eyes.

“But what about now? Everyone has gathered under the Olympic flag. Instead of pointing guns at each other as they used to, they compete in very healthy sports like running and swimming. Isn’t this what Coubertin meant by promoting peace?”

“That’s sophistry.”

Someone jumped up and shouted.

Ah, ah. It was a greeting that was provoking trouble from earlier, and it was obvious from the accent that he was of German descent.

“Well, I don’t think so. If it’s simply about picking the best individuals, why do we need a national team format?”

“That, that.”

If we were really just looking at individual records, there would be no need to separate players by country.

No, even in the Olympic Games held in ancient Greece in the beginning, athletes fought in the name of their country.

And this ultimately led to the story that the Olympics were a slightly safer and more wholesome form of war.

“Coubertin would have wanted mankind to fight in sport instead of brutal war. So we did just that.”

And anyway, sports become a substitute for real wars between countries, ethnicities, and regions, where bullets fly and blood splatters.

Even during the Cold War and into the 21st century, national teams had a special meaning, and there were many countries that fought so fiercely that they replaced war with sports.

No, even now, the signs were already visible. It was an unavoidable trend once the national team format was established.

I blew my last counter while watching the people squawking.

It was an attractive bait that anyone who had even the slightest interest in sports or the Olympics could not ignore.

I said, pointing to the pile of materials on one side.

“We in the United States have done our best to stay true to the Olympic spirit. We have found and implemented ways to become faster, higher, and stronger, as the Olympic motto suggests. There is ample evidence that we have used scientific and systematic methods, not tricks or fraudulent methods, to achieve this. We are willing to disclose them as much as you want.”

“!”

At my last words, the eyes of those gathered became as big as lanterns.

“You’re revealing your know-how?”

“yes.”

It was a know-how that couldn’t be kept anyway.

It was a time when even military secrets were not kept. So how can sports game know-how be kept?

Frankly, very little of the training we’ve done over the past few months has been properly confidential.

However, it was not because we were unaware that our new technology had not spread.

“That’s possible? That’s ridiculous.”

“With only a little time left until the competition, why are you doing something new now?”

“They’re all going to fail too?”

“They appointed a soldier as chairman and now they’re doing some really weird things.”

It was because of thoughts like these.

But aren’t things completely different now?

In addition, our know-how was already being released here and there in real time.

“Hey, can you teach me that technique this time?”

“Oh, of course.”

“Then, me too.”

For young athletes armed with sportsmanship, sharing was a natural act.

If you can’t protect it anyway, wouldn’t it be better to at least show some greatness?

Nevertheless, my declaration that we would make our know-how public on a large scale to the world became a hot topic in many ways.

Naturally, all the strange rumors that had been circulating about our US national team have disappeared.

And I, MacArthur, have long been known in the sports world as the founder of modern sports science.

##

On the way back to the hotel after the press conference.

“Oh, is that building over there a post office?”

“yes.”

“Then I’ll stop by for a bit.”

Now that tomorrow is the closing day, I had to get ready to leave soon.

But since you’ve come all the way overseas, shouldn’t you at least bring some gifts to give to your close relatives?

For that guy, you can just throw him anything with alcohol in it. He’s cheap anyway, so you can just buy him anything that’s cheap and plentiful.

“A stamp?”

“Yeah. That guy Franklin’s hobby is collecting stamps.”

The person who deserves special attention is none other than Franklin Roosevelt. He has been good up until now, but shouldn’t he be better in the future?

In that respect, the stamp was the perfect gift.

I’m making a big deal out of thinking this way about you, but it’s not overly expensive.

So, when I went into the post office to buy stamps, I was greeted by a friendly greeting.

“Oh, right?”

“yes?”

“The reporter who asked about the Olympic spirit at the press conference earlier.”

“Ah. Yes.”

I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but at exactly the right moment, he asked me exactly the question I wanted.

In fact, I did give a heads up to some of the reporters who were moving with the team in case there were no questions.

But wouldn’t that be too obvious?

I approached him out of gratitude, thinking that I could at least take a picture or two, even if it wasn’t a separate interview…

“Reporter? Why do you keep avoiding me?”

“Huh? Avoiding it.”

I thought about it at the press conference earlier, but somehow it sounded quite familiar.

“You, are you sure you’re not Anna?”

The reporter I thought was familiar was actually someone I knew well: Anna Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt’s eldest daughter.

“Haha, uncle. It’s been a while.”

“Oh my god. Who the hell are you?”

“They came to interview me.”

Anna shrugged her shoulders and said it as if it was no big deal.

“Franklin, I would have told you to do whatever you want. Eleanor was so kind to give you permission.”

“uh···.”

Yeah. There’s no way I would have given permission.

So I sighed when Anna said that she came separately rather than on the same boat as the team.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not a kid anymore.”

I muttered and laughed at Anna’s words that she was now twenty-two.

“Oh, oh. Yes. You’ve gotten quite old.”

Anna also said that she had stopped at the post office to buy Dutch stamps as a gift for her father, Franklin.

“By the way, what was that question earlier···”

Anna responded to my question with an indifferent expression.

“Wasn’t that the question you were waiting for?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Did you hear that from other reporters?”

“No. I think my uncle would have prepared a plausible excuse based on the Olympic spirit or sportsmanship.”

“what?”

“no?”

She was definitely Eleanor’s daughter.

It was said that the name Anna was also inherited from her.

I ended up bursting out laughing at the sight of Anna, who was full of energy like her mother.

“Okay. I used my kindness. Actually, I was just thinking of taking a picture or something. I can’t be that mean to my cute nephew.”

“Oh, then···.”

“How was the interview?”

I thought she would like it, but surprisingly, Anna looked troubled.

“Hmm.”

“why?”

“Actually, I didn’t go to see my uncle on purpose.”

Anna’s words that she wanted to succeed not through her connections or her father Roosevelt’s reputation but through her own abilities made me, Eisenhower, and Bradley laugh.

“Why, why?”

“No, no. Then let’s cancel the interview and just take a picture or two.”

“Oh, no. Can I ask you any questions? Will you answer them all?”

Anna, whom I saw after a long time, was still cute.

“What are you curious about, Mr. Reporter?”

“Uh, so what’s your relationship with Miss Marion Holly? Really···.”

It didn’t take long for my playful grin to turn fierce.

It was time to give a proper education to my cute nephew who had grown into a naughty puppy while I was not seeing him.

“Okay, but as a reporter….”

“Use it.”

I asked my nephew, who goes back and forth between reporter and rag, with a refreshing feeling about true journalism.

“Shall we have dinner together?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I still have to feed my nephew, whom I’m glad to meet in a foreign land. Let’s see···.”

however,

“There is someone who would like to meet the chairman.”

I wanted to decline, saying I had a prior engagement, but it was too big of an invitation for me to do so.

“Your Majesty the Queen?”

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Queen’s friend Douglas