VIPs and SOPs

Once again, the adage that you cannot out guess the Army proved quite true. All through my time up to that point, and at every opportunity, I had asked to get into public information. After all, that was my college major. No, I was told, we need forward observers in Korea. So here I was, finally on duty in Korea, and where do they send me but to a public information office.

Another part of the job was making up scrap books for visiting VIPs (Very Important Persons), from retired generals to U.S. senators and one Secretary of the Army.

The SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) was to shoot pictures of the dignitaries in various locations and provide a scrap book for them to take home. Pictures in a fox hole were popular.

To facilitate this we had a fake one just outside headquarters. We would place the dignitary in the fox hole and give him a steel helmet with the letters VIP (I’m not kidding) on it and snap the photo. No muss, no fuss, and no bother about actually visiting the front.

We seemed to have a lot of visitors since the war was winding down and peace talks had already begun. It was also my understanding, and I have not made an effort to verify it, that some income tax would be forgiven to anyone spending a certain amount of time in a war zone. The law was designed to give soldiers a break for defending their country, but most GIs didn’t earn enough to make any difference. An elected official, however, could save considerable change, not to mention looking good to his constituents, by taking a junket to Korea.

I was assigned a Signal Corps photographer when I needed one. Many times I drew a sergeant named Cordeiro (I’m not sure I ever knew his first name). I soon learned he was considered one of the best in his field. One day Sgt. Cordeiro and I were assigned to cover a trip by retired General James A. Van Fleet. He was with the American-Korean Foundation, Inc., aiding in the reconstruction of South Korea following the war. At a press conference, the day of his departure, I was responsible for taking his scrap book to him.

He looked at it and said, “Did Sgt. Cordeiro take these pictures?”

He apparently had known the sergeant and his work from his time in the Army earlier. Sgt. Cordeiro had waited outside until the conference was over because we had shared a jeep.

When I told Gen. Van Fleet the pictures were indeed taken by Sgt. Cordeiro, he said, “Bring him in here. He’s the best blankity blank photographer in the whole army.”

Although the sergeant was reluctant to go in where all this brass was waiting, I convinced him he should. Gen. Van Fleet complimented him in front of all the correspondents and other assembled big wigs.