"Stay & Fight"

At Eighth Army headquarters in Korea this week, Army Chief of Staff J. Lawton ("Lightning Joe") Collins put an end to speculation over whether the U.S. would fight on in Korea or get out. The U.S., said General Collins firmly, would "stay and fight." He added that replacements were already flowing to divisions depleted in recent Communist offensives, and that new units, including one new Army division, would go out "in two or three months." No men would be shipped to Korea without their full four months of basic training.

Of several reasons for staying in Korea, perhaps the best was the pinning down of many of Red China's best troops, which would otherwise be free for aggression elsewhere (for example, in Indo-China).

General Collins' announcement followed the arrival in Tokyo of a bevy of top Washington brass for secret powwows with Douglas Mac Arthur. Besides Collins, the visitors included Air Force Chief of Staff Hoyt Vandenberg, Central Intelligence Agency Chief Walter Bedell Smith, Army Chief of Intelligence Alexander Boiling. Guesses flew thick & fast around the Dai Ichi building, ranging even to the surmise that Nationalist China's armies on Formosa might be brought to bear against Mao Tse-tung's hordes.

In Korea, the Eighth Army's Matt Ridgway said to Joe Collins: "There is no shadow of doubt that the Eighth Army can take care of itself." The pattern of last week's fighting (see below) made General Ridgway's assertion look better than it would have looked the week before.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.