Martyr in North Korea
FITCH, GERALDINE
Martyr in North Korea Ambassador in Chains. By Raymond A. Lane, M.M. Kenedy. 249 pp. $3.50. Reviewed by Geraldine Fitch Author, "Formosa Beachhead"; contributor, "Reader's Digest" Although my...
...Though opposed by the military clique, he decided to go on the air himself and broadcast Japan's surrender...
...in all three countries he made friends among every class of people and was held in affectionate esteem by all who knew him...
...On August 14 his speech was broadcast by every radio station in Tokyo and went out to every part of the Japanese empire and to every battlefield...
...Once Japan's defeat had become inevitable, the Emperor wished to accept the surrender conditions and end further suffering for his people--if not indeed forestall suicide for the nation...
...at one time he was assistant to the Secretary-General of the Maryknoll Mission in America...
...contributor, "Reader's Digest" Although my husband and I were Protestants, and Bishop Patrick J. Byrne was the highest representative of the Catholic Church in Korea, we were warm friends...
...The war was over...
...One of the highlights of this biography is the excellent chapter on the American occupation of Japan...
...Now that he is gone (martyr at the hands of the North Korean Communists) and his fellow-Maryknoller, the Most Reverend Raymond A. Lane, has written his biography, I find that the characteristics which drew us to him were indeed outstanding attributes of his entire life...
...He served his church in both Korea and Japan...
...It is based on Monsignor Byrne's own analysis of the occupation and of Russia's bungling of opportunities which might have captured Japan for Communism: blunders like impressing a million and a half Japanese war prisoners into slave labor in Siberia, the reiterated demands for the Emperor's abdication, the continuous attacks on the Americans, whose generosity and kindness as conquerors had won favor with the Japanese people...
...Of this last chapter in his life, his martyrdom in North Korea, where twenty years earlier he had founded missions, built churches, and ministered to the Korean people, one must read every detail to gauge Bishop Byrne's full stature...
...He succeeded admirably in his relations with President Rhee...
...many others called him the "Number Two American in Japan...
...After the invasion, events moved rapidly to the carrying-off by the Reds of 150,000 Koreans and of a large number of missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant...
...Outfoxing the militarists, who had thrown a blockade around the palace to prevent him from going to the studio, the Emperor had his speech recorded...
...He reassured the Japanese people about the Americans and appealed to the approaching army and navy of his own country to show good will and charity to the people who were, after all, the real victims of the war...
...General Mac-Arthur said Father Byrne was of great help, resourceful and courageous...
...As he had lived with cheerfulness and joy, so he faced his imprisonment, suffering and death...
...During the days that followed, he discerned the tragic shadow of coming events...
...In 1947 he was again sent to Korea, this time as Apostolic Delegate, later to be consecrated Bishop...
...Father Byrne was the choice...
...Like everyone else, we were drawn to him by his friendliness, his cheerfulness, and his keen humor...
...When subsequently the war lords spread the rumor that American soldiers would torture the people, plunder their homes and violate their women, an Osaka newspaper man suggested that an American who understood his own people and loved the Japanese he invited to broadcast and allay the growing terror...
Vol. 39 • January 1956 • No. 4
