The Brave 474th

TV cameras poked their long snouts from booths along the wall and searched up & down the horseshoe table at Lake Success. They caught France's bald, introspective Jean Chauvel busy with his notes, China's Tsiang Ting-fu nervously doodling elaborate Chinese characters, Yugoslavia's Ales Bebler and the U.S.'s Warren Austin shaking hands and grinning for the photographers.

The cameras roved to the observers' section, where little Ambassador John Chang of Korea, who had not been in bed for 63 hours, stared wearily at his shoes and awaited his invitation to the table. At 3:16 p.m., with every seat at the horseshoe filled except the one marked U.S.S.R., the cameras swerved to India's white-haired Sir Benegal Rau as he cleared his throat, rapped for order and opened the 474th meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

A Brief from Vermont. No previous council meeting, even those that faced the crises over Iran and Palestine, had been so important. North Korea had rejected the U.N. cease-fire order. For the first time in its five faltering years, U.N. faced the issue of taking up arms to repel an armed attack.

In a patient, kindly voice, Sir Benegal said: "The events of the past two days have filled all of us with the gravest anxiety as to the near future. Many see in them the beginning of a third world war, with all its horrors." The crowded chamber was very still. Then Sir Benegal recognized Warren Austin.

With the calmness of a Vermont lawyer reading a brief before a judge in chambers, Austin twanged: "The armed invasion of the Republic of Korea continues. This is, in fact, an attack on the United Nations itself." He urged that "the Members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and to restore international peace and security to the area."

Yugoslavia's Bebler, ignoring the fact that his own country might be next on the Kremlin's list of victories, countered Austin in high, musical French. Bebler offered a weaseled resolution that the Council merely: 1) renew its call for an end of hostilities, 2) institute a "procedure of mediation," and 3) invite North Korea to send U.N. a spokesman to tell its side of the story.

For Korea, Ambassador Chang wanted far more than this. As everyone concentrated to catch Chang's dead-tired words, he begged that U.N.'s "moral judgment ... be backed with the power of enforcement ... to expel the invader from our territory." His tense face relaxed a little as, in quick succession, France's Chauvel, Britain's Sir Terence Shone, China's Tsiang, Cuba's Carlos Blanco, Norway's Arne Sunde and Ecuador's Jose Correa supported the U.S. resolution.

Powder & Righteousness. India's Sir Benegal and Egypt's Fawzi Bey had still not heard from their governments. At 5:10 the meeting was adjourned to give them a chance to try again. A reporter walked to the horseshoe, picked up Tsiang's fascinating doodle and got a Chinese journalist to translate it. Tsiang had drawn what was on his mind. The characters read: "burning, powder, ten, black, white." Then he added another "powder" and finished off with the character for "righteousness."

The bar had all the business it could handle; the cafeteria was jammed. At the television sets in the lounge, a large cosmopolitan-looking crowd watched the antics of two children's puppets named Foodini and Pinhead, later switched to the ball game at the Yankee Stadium. Weary John Chang went to sleep sitting up on a couch near the bar, his chin resting on his briefcase.

After the council session resumed, Sir Benegal read the U.S. resolution and added: "All those who are in favor, please raise your right hand." When the hands went up they showed seven votes (Britain, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Norway, U.S.) for; Yugoslavia against; India and Egypt not voting. (Later, India voted for. The government of Egypt's fat, foolish King Farouk instructed Fawzi Bey to vote against.)

The seven votes were sufficient, although the Soviet Union later claimed that its own absence from the council table made the action illegal. Eleanor Roosevelt had the answer to that. In London she said: "All this talk of [Russia's] about the Security Council decision not being legal because she's not there, well, whose fault is it that she's not?" By week's end, 40 nations were in line and offers of armed aid for Korea had poured in from every corner of the earth.

The U.S. went into Korea with the official backing of U.N.

Whatever the outcome, U.N. was committed to armed action. It was the sternest, bravest step for peace that either U.N. or the League of Nations had ever taken.

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