HAZARD DUTY PAY FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED SERVICES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP57-00384R000500080044-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 22, 2000
• Sequence Number: 44
• Publication Date: May 29, 1952
• Content Type: OPEN

HA ntfl Y PAY FOR MMIBERS
'Or T AF%lvTh or R se 2001/07/25: CIA-RDP57-00384R0QD500080044-3
'
Mr, .i}S. Mn Speaker, I hay
introduee a TiIll, LL'I3. Jr 'Ig73, which vd 1
provi a for the ' payine`it under certan~
- specified conditions of extra pay to cer-
tart rid combat personnel in Korea
wb dit Xbjected to enemy ground fire
fora rnfrnlmum period of 6 days in any
1 month. What 1 have proposed here is
in the Anal analysis, not a new cZncept
but only a recognition of the clear duty
of the Congress and the American peo-
ple to extend the accepted principle of
extra pay for extra hazardous duty into
that area which constitutes the most
hazardous of all duties-the daily life
of the ground combat man.
'data long. recognized In this corn-,
trv. both .ln the civilian economy and
in the miiitary, the ectuitY. a.n.d ustice of
_ P Wi fay, or ose ho
engage in activities more hazardous than
thom re UAL
In the civil anoeconomy we g veviextra
pay to the topper in the lumber camp,
the sandhog, the mucker, and the explo-
sive expert. In the military we have
long provided additional pay for fliers,
submariners, divers, parachutists, dem-
olition men and others. -What we have
failed to recognize is that in adapting the
pattern of additional pay from the civil-
ian economy to the military, we have
failed miserably to make comparable
provisions for those men whose occupa-
tion has no counterpart in the civilian
economy, yet whose daily life is the Most
hazardous, the most uncomfortable, and
the least desirable of any known to man
There are many controversies and,
many disagreements in our daily lives
but I feel that if there, is one point. on
which you could, obtain universal agree-.---.
ment within this country of ours,_itis
that the man who meets the enemy on
the ground, in the mud, heat, snow, and
cold and who daily wrests from hills, a
small piece of ground at the point of _a
gun or bayonet, is the man who really
bears the brunt of the dangers, tortures,
and discomforts of war.
Ernie Pyle who knew. and loved these
men, gave a clear picture when he said:
The line moved on, seemingly endless. All,
afternoon men kept coming round the hilt
and vanishing eventually over the horizon.
It was one long tired line of antlike men.
There was agony in your heart and you
almost felt ashamed to look at them. They
were just guys from Broadway and Main
Street but you wouldn't remember them.
They were too far away now. They were too
tired. Their world can never be known to
you, but if you could have seen them just
once, just for an instant, you would know
that no matter how hard people are working
back home they never kept pace with these
infantrymen.
The term "infantrymen" which Mr.
Pyle used could well be extended to in-
clude men of all the uniformed services
who perform their mission side by side
with and under the same terrible con-
ditions as the traditional dogface, It
is not a question of branch, rank, in-
signia, or service-it is rather the propo-
sition that all men who fight under the
conditions which are the normal lot of
the doughboy should be recognized and
treated the same as he.
1952 CONGRESSIONAL. RECORD -- HOUSE
desirability of my measure. It seeks, to, ords_by administrative personnel already
remedy an inequity which has existed provided for such purposes. I am in-
for many years in our military-pay sys- formed that as early as November 1950,
tem and which exists today even after when combat in Korea was at its most
the passage of the Career Compensation intense level, the commander in chief,
Act of 1949; to recognize our obligation Far East Command, in support of his
,to provide additional compensation for request for recognition of the man in
those soldiers, sailors, marines, and air- combat, notified the Department of the
men who play the most dengerous game . Army that the administrative problem
of all-combat on the ground. It is to be encountered in the administration
highly significant and pleasing to me to of a bill such as I have submitted would
examine the record and find that over be relatively minor and that he was con
30 Members of this Congress have spon- fident that administration could be ef-
sored legislation which in varying forms fectively and equitably accomplished.
would provide aditional compensation In summary, I am convinced that my
for these mein--the unsung heroes who bill, H. R. 7973, is designed so as to. cor-
have exposed their lives in actual battle. rect existing inequities, with fairness to
Regarding the feasibility of my bill, I the Government, the respective services,
feel confident that it will work. Too and the individuals within each service.
many of our Members have dismissed it That such a law can and will be admin-
in the past with the subjective feeling istered properly, and at a cost which is
-that such a thing would be administra- not at all prohibitive. I feel that the
tively impossible. Having had such feel- utter justice of such legislation is most
jugs myself, I took the liberty of doing evident, and that our duty to take im-
a little digging to find out just how the mediate action is both clear and im-
bill would be administered. Although I pelling. Let this present Congress show
do not think it appropriate or necessary to these brave men-over 70 percent of
tit go into any great amount of detail- whom are not volunteers-that our
at this time, let me repeat that I am hearts are with them as they march
confident that the military services can away, and that the gratitude of this
and- will administer properly the provi- great Nation follows them to the very
sions of this bill. The greatest objection front lines, where, with unfaltering cour-
has come in regard to the administration age, they stem the tide which, unchecked,
of the retroactive feature of the bill. The would overwhelm us all. May our action
question has been asked, "How can any- be as forthright and timely as theirs.
one possibly determine the eligibility for
combat pay of the many thousands of
individuals who have served in Korea
since the outbreak of hostilities there
on June 27, 1950?" I have. personally
examined actual samples of the several
kinds of service records which will be
used to determine this eligibility. I am
frankly amazed at the completeness and
accuracy of the records maintained by
the military even under the most heated
conditions of combat.
Briefly, the system which is planned
for use by the Army-which will, of
course, be the major participant under
the terms of this bill-is this: The Far
East Command will determine from its
daily combat records those units which
qualify under the terms of the bill as
specified by Congress; that is, those units
which were in actual contact with the
enemy. Once the qualified units are de-
termined, it then becomes a matter of
determining the eligibility of individual
members of those units, past and present.
This will be done on the basis of indi-
vidual applications from those members
which applications will be verified by the
Adjutant General, Department of the
Army, prior to payment. Verification
will be based upon a check of the appli-
cations against the retained records of
the individual soldier. As I said before,
I am confident that the records on file
in the Department of the Army will be
adequate for this purpose, and that"this
procedure can be accomplished in com-
paratively short time, and at relatively
small cost.
E c 11 tq Q
I am aware that in past discussions on Once the retroactive payments have
bills similar to mine there hav r
iseu been completed, the Bail d ini t
~
in the minds of our 1 fp fd xeleasetj2fl(b9/L~,1d2fii:viML or?1R ,8000500080044-3
ability of such a bill I feel that there no additional cost. It will involve mere-
can be no question. whatsoever as to the ly an -additional entry on existing i ec-