Magyar News, 1999. szeptember-2000. augusztus (10. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1999-10-01 / 2. szám

REVOLUTION OF 1956

Recollection of a Marine Guard who was on duty at the American Legation in Budapest

by G. J. Bolick retired Chief Warrant Officer-4, U.S. Marine Corps

U. S. Marine Security Guards, American Legation, Budapest, 1956. From left to right: Sgt. Bolick, Sgt. Parauka, Sgt. Irwin, SSgt. Nightingale, and MSgt. Dunsworth

Rebellion against Russia is not new to Hungary. In 1848 Hungary fought for its independence from the Austrian Empire but was defeated by Emperor Franz Joseph's army with the intervention of an attack from the East by the troops of the Russian Tsar. Compared to the revolt of 1956, it did not quite reach the crescendo of popular participation, was hampered by the lack of weapons, and was politically complicated. As a consequence, 13 Hungarian generals were arrested and hanged as martyrs, with many of the other participants seeking refuge in Turkey, including its prominent leader, Louis Kossuth, and were eventually transported to the United States by a U. S. Navy warship, where many of them became involved in the Civil War, primarily on the side of the Northern States.

The Hungarian Revolution was the work of the masses in the streets, agitated by the Polish events during September, 1956, with several student groups acting under the Petőfi Circle, and students of the Technological University, with the moral and political support of the Writer's Association which had been festering over the course of the summer. One of the early meetings of the group of dissident students took place at the university in the city of Szeged. A list of sixteen demands were drafted, focusing on such issues as freedom of speech and writing, cultural exchanges with other nations (including western or capitalistic bloc), new elections in the Communist Party by secret ballot, Imre Nagy to be made Premier, Stalin-Rákosi adherents to be discarded, general elections with participation of different parties, release of political prisoners, the removal of Soviet military forces who were occupying the country, plus other matters along the same line of thought.

On Tuesday, October 23rd, peaceful demonstrations were scheduled by students of the Technical University for the afternoon in front of the statue of General Bem, a hero of both the Hungarian Fight for Independence of 1848, and the Polish revolt of 1850. This demonstration happened in the proximity of the Ministry of

Foreign Affairs. These peaceful demonstrations escalated to the point where the demonstrators were marching arm-in-arm with members of the Hungarian Army who had been posted throughout the city to maintain order. The demonstrators chanted slogans sang the Hungarian National Anthem, waved banners, and carried Hungarian National flags with the Communist emblem excised from the center of the cloths.

The demonstrators approached Parliament Square en masse about 6:00 pm where they stayed and demonstrated at the Parliament.

I was directed to meet Master Sergeant Wade H. (Lucky) Dunsworth, the Marine Security Guard Detachment Commander, at the Legation by 8:00 pm and while walking the seven blocks from our apartment building on Széchényi Rakpart 12b to the Legation on Szabadság tér 12, I passed the Parliament and its Square. Imre Nagy, a dissident communist and former Premier of Hungary from 1953 to 1954, was standing on the front Parliament balcony overlooking the Square, asking the crowd of thousands of

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Col. Richard S. Nemeth from Fairfax, Virginia, a reader of the Magyar News, sent us a few lines and a very short article from a military magazine. It mentioned G. J. Bolick who was a marine guard at the American Legation in Budapest in 1956. He opened the door and let Cardinal Mindszenty into the building where he spent the following 15 years. With the help of a lovely lady at the Stratford library I was able to obtain Mr. Bolick’s address in Tampa, Florida. As a result of our connection we received this recollection and photographs.

I am very grateful to Mr. Bolick and to those who helped to achieve this unique presentation of the proud and also sad historical event in the life of the Hungarian people. Joseph F. Balogh, editor