I'll Be Darned: Ike Receiving News of MacArthur's Firing

Red talks about how he got this photo. Listen (3:01)

After only four months on the job for Stars and Stripes, on 11 April 1951, Red Grandy was present in Koblenz, Germany, when Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, then Commander, Supreme Allied Powers Europe, received the news from a reporter that his old rival, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, had been fired by President Truman from his command in the Far East. With a look of mixed skepticism, shock and disbelief, Ike looked away from the reporters. Red Grandy, standing in front of the general, snapped his expression at the moment with a 4 x 5 Speed Graphic camera, using a flashbulb. As he recovered his composure, Ike's frst words were, "Well, I'll be darned!" Nearly every newspaper, plus most national magazines, including Life, used the photo after it was sent out on the AP wire service from Frankfurt. The photo later was awarded a number of prestigious prizes, including news photo of the year, by a number of organizations.

Photo © 1951 Stars and Stripes