MEN AT WAR: Buddies

Since their first disastrous defeats at the hands of the Red invaders early in the war, the South Koreans have shown they can fight with skill and courage if given the right arms and leadership. In many a bitter battle, South Korean units have acquitted themselves well and valiantly alongside U.S. units. By last week, the alliance had become even closer. As an experiment, South Korean soldiers had been taken into several U.S. regiments. Said one U.S. infantryman, after seeing action with South Koreans on a patrol northwest of Taegu: "We'll take them as fighting buddies any day."

The South Koreans wear the same uniforms, use the same weapons and eat the same chow as their G.I. comrades. At first both the food and the environment were too rich for the South Koreans: the food made them ill and they were inclined to regard each U.S. private as something akin to a major general. But after the experiment's first few days, the South Koreans managed to get used to both. They also found that a little simple pantomime and the few phrases of Japanese spoken by most of the G.I.s were enough for buddy-to-buddy communication.

U.S. company commanders were impressed with their new troops, whom they found to be hard workers and eager to learn. The South Koreans were pleased with, the new system too. At week's end they announced a large-scale recruiting program aimed at providing South Korean' troops for every U.S. unit in the field. The South Koreans were being paid by the South Korean government ($2.00 a month compared to the U.S. private's $82.50). But to make service with the U.S. more attractive, the Army promised that South Korean recruits henceforth would be eligible for PX candy and cigarettes as well as rifles and C-rations.