THE ADMINISTRATION: The Tricky Gooch Syndrome

In Korea John Cassity, an Army officer from Grantsville, Utah, once ran across "a real stupid-looking fellow"—a Korean civilian whom the Americans called Mortimer Gooch. Gooch "cleaned up around a tent in headquarters and seemed so dull that it was difficult even to give him orders. When he was finally fired, he pretended to be so stupid that he didn't know he was fired, and kept coming back." Later, Cassity came to believe that the dull Korean was really a Communist spy in disguise. Eventually, Cassity went back to civilian life and...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!