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Frank’s coming along so fast that he can do my job as well as I can.”
    They went into the living room. The television was still on and Jack Benny was talking with Rochester; they listened for a time, and when the program was over, Adam got up and turned the set off. He came back, put his arms around Maris, and kissed her with more ardor than usual. She said, “I’m glad you’ll be out of the clutches of all those beautiful women for a while. I won’t have to worry so much about looking matronly.”
    He smiled. “Matronly! I feel sorry,” he said softly, “for all the men in the world that didn’t marry you. They don’t know what they’re missing.”

3

T RUMAN W AS R IGHT
    1 950 ended badly for America, at least in Korea. For a time in September, the troops were successful in containing the North Koreans. On the sixteenth, UN forces launched a counterattack. MacArthur liberated Seoul before the end of the month, and it appeared that the war might be over quickly. President Truman went out to Wake Island in mid-October and the two men discussed strategy. MacArthur, always the old war horse, assured the president that he would take Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, within days.
    United Nations forces did so on October 19 and reached the Chinese border, having captured most of North Korea. But on November 3, China threw its massive military weight into the conflict, engaging U.S. forces at Unsan, and the United States was on the verge of a full-fledged war with the Chinese Communists. Military leaders were shocked to discover that two Chinese divisions were fighting in the northwestern part of the country, while another five divisions had massed in Manchuria on the north side of the Yalu River—three hundred thousand combat-proven Communist troops overwhelmed the Eighth Army and X Corps, which withdrew by land and by sea. Regiments of the First Marine Division were surrounded far inland at the Chosin Reservoir. They reached the coast, fifty miles away, in thirteen days of heavy engagement that has been called one of the great fighting retreats of history.
    Stunned by the upsets in Korea, President Truman declared a state of emergency in the United States and urged all Americans to join the battle against Communist imperialism. A few weeks earlier, complete victory seemed at hand, but with the entrance of China, America faced a new and determined challenge by a fanatic enemy.
    It had been Jerry’s idea to invite the relatives living in the L.A. area to join in a night out to celebrate the New Year, even though he and Bonnie faced 1951 with apprehension—Richard and Robert would celebrate their seventeenth birthday, and Richard had announced firmly that he was dropping out of school and joining the marines. Nothing his parents said would dissuade him. He had signed all the papers, and his parents yielded. Richard was scheduled to leave for boot camp on February 2, but the marine corps delayed his induction until two days after his high school graduation in May.
    The L.A. Stuarts made a sizeable party for New Year’s. The cousins all came—Gavin’s two grown children, Phillip and Sidney; Adam, with Maris; and Mona. Lylah opted for a quiet evening at home. But Gavin and Heather came, and all three of Jerry’s children were there, even Stephanie, home from college for the holidays. They all gathered in the Skylight Room, the ballroom of the Delmonico Hotel, at nine o’clock. Jerry went at once to shake hands with his uncle Gavin. Gavin Stuart had flown Sopwith Camels, British-built fighters, in World War I against von Richthofen’s “flying circus.” After the war he had done everything a pilot can do, including flying in the first airmail service and organizing an acrobatic flying circus. He had been Jerry’s mentor in flying. Gavin now worked as a consultant to Lockheed and other large companies. At fifty-eight, he was still trim and fit, and his hair was dark except for the white streaks at his