Operation Clam-Up

In Korea last week, United Press's Veteran Correspondent Victor Kendrick set off on a routine assignment: a reaction story on the 65th Puerto Rican Infantry, which was being reorganized after 97 members were charged with "bugging out" under enemy fire. Kendrick spent hours touring the regiment's front-line positions. Just as he was ready to leave, a lieutenant stepped up, demanded Reporter Kendrick's notebook, tore several pages from it and handed it back. I.N.S. Correspondent John Casserly, on a similar assignment, had the same thing happen to him; picture captions jotted down by U.P.'s Photographer Warren Lee were also confiscated.

The three incidents were the latest evidence of what Korean correspondents call "Operation Clam-Up," a restriction on the press which stems from an order by Major General Paul D. Adams, the Eighth Army's chief of staff. Adams, angered by unfavorable stories, e.g., Operation Smack and the uproar over the 65th Infantry (TIME, Feb. 2 et seq.), passed the word down that there had been too much "irresponsible talk" and that he did not want a "gabby" army.

In some units, commanders simply would not talk to newsmen. The 7th Division strung up so much red tape that a correspondent could spend all day trying to get a minor story. The 1st Marine Division, already made to understand by the U.S. Army that it was getting too much publicity, told newly arrived replacements not to talk to the press.

Last week, after the correspondents had made their protests, the 65th Infantry's public-information officer tried to explain away the seizure of correspondents' notes as a "misunderstanding." But in Seoul, U.P. Bureau Chief Wendell Merick was not satisfied. He wrote a letter to Eighth Army Commander Maxwell D. Taylor, asking about the command's press policy. At first Lieut. General Taylor's press officer said the questions would not be answered because they were "impolite." Then, apparently after consulting the Army's "ten commandments" on public information policy (sample: "The fundamental concept of the Army is one of disclosure"), Taylor opened Clam-Up a bit. He said that correspondents could interview Eighth Army soldiers--with due regard for military security--provided that they were "willing to be interviewed." But this week NBC Correspondent (and ex-Air Force lieutenant colonel) Tex McCrary was placed in protective custody for failing to let a regimental colonel know he was in the area.

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