Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 80



Only Noblemtl

##080

“Why on earth are you doing that?”

“Yes. You suddenly got discharged?”

When I announced my intention to be discharged, the Army General Staff became noisy as if a bomb had been dropped.

“Senior!!! Who are you? Who dares···”

Patton made a fuss, asking who ordered me to go to war and threatening to cut off my head right away.

-Are you crazy?-

Mitchell from the Philippines sent me a long, sweary telegram expressing his doubts about my mental state.

The seal guys also couldn’t hide their bewilderment at my actions.

My brother was talking nonsense, worried that the promised budget might be cut off.

-It costs more than I thought to improve the self-detonating device, so if I’m going to be discharged, can’t I get the budget in advance?-

King···.

Let’s not talk.

Anyway, everyone was in an uproar, but there was no one who could break my will.

What was surprising was Roosevelt’s reaction.

##

“Yes? A trip around the world? Are you saying that you have given permission for that just now?”

When they heard that Army Chief of Staff MacArthur had submitted his resignation, everyone was busy calculating in their heads.

“What kind of wealth will I be in charge of?”

‘Ministry of War? No, that wouldn’t mean anything.’

‘Department of Agriculture? They’ve been doing quite a bit of work on the dust bowl issue…’

‘Isn’t the Department of Commerce a possibility? Judging from the money they’ve made, it seems like they’re also quite good at economics…’

‘If I go to the State Department, wouldn’t I be able to see a lot of different areas?’

The debate was not about the minister, but rather which department he would go to.

And of course, some people were trembling with fear.

No matter how famous a person is for their abilities, which person would want to have their position taken away?

Some people were wary of MacArthur, even if they didn’t show it on the outside, while others were happy to finally have a colleague who was good at his job.

Of course, there were those who presented different opinions.

‘You could even put him next to you as your chief secretary and use him all year round.’

‘Oh. That sounds most plausible.’

‘Rather than that, since this is an election year, I’d rather go with the governor’s side···.’

‘Oh. Then New York?’

‘I don’t think that’s what will happen, right?’

Anyway, everyone was interested in MacArthur’s next move as he was now a civilian.

But, guess what?

Travel is simple.

“Aren’t you saying that it won’t take several months to travel around the world, let alone Europe?”

Unlike those who breathed a sigh of relief, some looked as if this was nonsense.

“When that happens, there’s something to do···.”

“It’s like Mt. Tai, I know that well.”

Roosevelt let out a deep sigh, his face darker than anyone else’s.

If he had said he would do the work himself, what would have been the problem?

But you want to spend time with your family.

Of course, if it had been MacArthur’s alone who thought of it, I would have ignored it as nonsense…

“Father, you know that I didn’t even have a proper honeymoon after I got married, right?”

“···”

How could I endure the gaze of my daughter, who pressured me by saying that I hadn’t even gone on my honeymoon?

Isn’t he now the President of the United States?

Personal sacrifice for a greater cause was unfortunate, but inevitable.

It’s a shame that my daughter is precious and that she hasn’t been able to go on a honeymoon, but it’s something I can endure and bear.

“Who told you to get such a handsome husband? Who do you blame for your husband being so handsome?”

“···”

But the daughter was no pushover either. The next move the daughter prepared was none other than her granddaughter, Mary.

“Hey, Mary, go on a trip. Have a nice trip.”

“Oh, really?”

Mary, who had recently returned from a trip to Florida, had been talking for months about the alligators she had seen there.

He made a fuss about riding an alligator, so I got him a doll of similar size and he had so much fun riding it around the White House gardens.

Anyway, Mary smiled innocently as she said she was going on another trip.

“Mary, buy me some Habuji Seonmu. Hmm, um, Habuji, buy me three treys.”

There was no way to deal with the attacks of my granddaughter, who was so precious that she brought not one, not two, but three souvenirs from her trip.

“Ahem. Isn’t that a person who has served the country for decades? When people rest, they need to rest to regain their energy and do the next task.”

Roosevelt could not bear to say that he had lost to his young granddaughter’s attack, so he continued to speak in general terms.

“Well, that’s true.”

“Still, I feel a bit disappointed.”

“yes.

My successor, who escaped Roosevelt’s clutches thanks to Mary’s efforts, was Major General Fox Connor.

He was a famous general who raised Eisenhower and Marshall in the history of the United States, and we had no special relationship.

However, he was one of the few seniors who did not resign and kept his position when I took office as Army Chief of Staff in 1929.

In particular, he supported my inauguration as Chief of Staff, saying the following:

“What if your junior becomes the Chief of Staff? Isn’t he more capable than you? It can be embarrassing to be less capable than your junior. Then you should try to improve yourself, not run away? In my opinion, that seems more embarrassing.”

It was good that the disobedient old farts left on their own, but if they had all really left, the army would not have functioned properly before the reform.

“Because there were people like you who stayed behind and silently did their part, I was able to accomplish the things I wanted to do.”

“Then I will do it till the end.”

“You know, just like Senior Minoh, it’s time for me to step down.”

“Tsk.”

Connor nodded his head, clicking his tongue as if he didn’t like it.

“If only Marshall were a few years older, this old man would have had it easier. Tsk.”

Chief Connor knew why he had become the Chief of Staff.

“That’s right. How can I make you grow two years older every year starting this year?”

“Hmm. That would be great if that were possible.”

“i look forward to.”

“You’ve had a hard time. Did you say you were going on a trip?”

“Yes. I’m saying this because I feel like I’ve been neglecting my family a bit.”

“Yes. That’s the soldier’s fate.”

At my words, the cornerman nodded with a regretful expression on his face.

“They say kids grow up really quickly.”

“Yes. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was born, but now it’s very···.”

“You were three years old? You were so cute. You must have spent a lot of time with me.”

However, the European trip that began with the words of encouragement from the new Chief of Staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was canceled before it even started.

##

A few days later, our family arrived in New York.

It was to board a passenger ship from New York Harbor to England.

As soon as we arrived at the port, the pungent smell of the sea filled the air.

“Dad, that.”

“Seagull. Seagull.”

“Gamaegi? Give me Java.”

“Huh? You want to raise it?”

“Mary will make it. Hmm. Make it. One for dad, one for me, one for mom.”

Oh, you’re going to bake it for me?

While I was flustered by the unexpected answer, Mary, who had been groaning and counting something, spread out her fingers and spoke cheerfully.

“Three. Mom, Dad, Me. Three Javas.”

It was the moment when I was walking away with a dumbfounded expression on my face at the sight of Mary spouting out words that would make anyone who heard her think she was starving at home.

Anna suddenly stopped walking, covered her mouth with both hands, and lowered her head.

“Ugh.”

“Anna?”

“Wow”

I was taken aback by Anna’s constant vomiting, as if she was seasick, even before she had even boarded the ship.

So, if I had been a little less flustered, I would have quickly realized that Anna’s sudden retching was the exact scene I often saw in 21st century Korean television dramas.

however,

“Ugh. Mom, are you giving it to me? Huh? Are you giving it to me?”

Anna covered her mouth and whimpered, and Mary started crying, saying that her mother was dying…

Above all, I think that if Anna had suffered from something like morning sickness while pregnant with Mary, she might have had a second child right away.

But unfortunately, when she became pregnant with Mary, Anna spent the first ten months looking completely unpregnant, except for fainting in front of Patton’s tank. For the first three months, she didn’t even know she was pregnant.

Thanks to that, I was able to barely make it to the hospital with the two women and meet the doctor before I found out I was pregnant with my second child.

“Congratulations.”

So, with the doctor’s congratulatory remarks, our travel plans were dashed.

“Should we cancel the trip?”

“Yeah. I have such bad morning sickness…”

“But they said it would get better soon after the initial stages.”

In the 21st century, people even went abroad for prenatal education, but I was still very anxious.

Only then, if something happens, we can send a helicopter to the hospital and do things like that. Now···.

Moreover, just seeing him retching was enough to make me lose my mind, so I had no confidence that I could handle it if something really happened.

“But I’m scared.”

Anna rolled her eyes in disbelief at my honest words.

However, contrary to Anna’s words, the morning sickness did not subside easily, and Anna had no choice but to agree to cancel the trip.

And when Roosevelt heard this news…

“Oh my, our second grandson is a filial son from the very beginning, a filial son.”

“···”

“When the baby boy is born, I really want to name him after me.”

“If Mary had been a boy, she would have been Arthur Franklin MacArthur, so this time, if it’s a boy, I’ll name him that.”

“Is that so?”

The last time I submitted my application for discharge, Roosevelt had readily approved it and wished me a pleasant trip, but within a few weeks, he had become very clammy, as if his mood had changed for some reason.

“Even if you don’t go on a trip, you can get some rest···.”

“Oh my. Now you have two children and you’re unemployed at such a young age.”

“Who is the unemployed person? Anna is like that, so I can’t do the foundation work properly…”

“There are many people who can do the work at the foundation even without you. Since it has come to this, why don’t you help me out?”

“···”

I couldn’t easily answer Roosevelt’s words. How could I answer readily when I knew exactly what would happen the moment I entered under that guy?

Roosevelt, who was upset by my appearance, suddenly lost his temper.

“Are you really going to do this? Look at me.”

I was taken aback by Roosevelt’s words that the author, who was not even in good health, was having a hard time claiming to be president, and that his friend’s son-in-law was not only not going to help him, but was also thinking of just sitting around and eating.

“When did I push you to be president? Why are you blaming me for something you want to do?”

Roosevelt’s response to my words was unexpected.

“You pushed me. You told me that I could do it and that I should become president at the moment when I was about to give up.”

“!”

I had completely forgotten about it.

Yeah, now that I think about it, something like that happened.

In the history I know, it was a monster who rose up on his own and became president four times, so I said that without thinking much about it.

“You said so yourself. Once you become president, you can do whatever you want with me.”

Huh? Why does it seem so different from what I remember?

So, I ended up running for governor of New York, caught in Roosevelt’s clutches.

##

New York.

When 21st century Koreans think of New York, what usually comes to mind is New York City.

New York City, home to America’s representative symbols: the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, and Times Square.

However, the state of New York, where I would become governor, was the 27th largest state in the United States in area, including New York City.

New York began as Fort Naas and New Amsterdam, originally built by the Dutch. Later, the British took over and renamed it New York.

New York, where immigrants settled from early times, was one of the main gateways for immigrants arriving across the Atlantic to the New World.

Thanks to that, it was always crowded with people.

It was one of the original 13 colonies that formed the United States and was the center of the American economy.

The New York Stock Exchange, which began as the New York Stock Exchange Commission in 1817, over 100 years ago, was the largest stock exchange in the United States and the world.

Thanks to this, New York was able to have a more glamorous time than anyone else in the 1920s.

And the story was said to have drawn crowds from all over the United States.

But didn’t they say that the brighter the light, the darker the shadow?

Ironically, the finance that had driven New York’s development in the 1920s hit the city hard with the onset of the Great Depression.

New York City is currently going through a tougher time than any other region.

And I too faced unexpected difficulties.

“Damn. I should have taken off some of the clothes and brought them in.”

When I was in the army, I never once thought that there was a shortage of talent.

There were proven figures like Eisenhower, Bradley, Marshall, and Ridgway, and even people like Mitchell and Stillwell who were somewhat lacking had their uses.

But after he took off his uniform, it wasn’t easy to find guys like Stillwell, let alone Marshall.

That’s right. I was suffering from a serious talent shortage right now.

It was my comrades from the 42nd Division who saved me.

“Do you remember me?”

“Oh, you.”

I remember it. How can I forget the smart kid who memorized the entire eye exam sheet and enlisted despite being blind or having no other vision?

When the news came that I was running for governor, he and other members of the 42nd Division began to visit my campaign camp one by one.

The morning bell