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Dec. 30. The Army selected the easiest way out, decided to discharge Peress honorably within 90 days, unless he selected an earlier date. March 31 was selected as the discharge date.
Jan. 30, 1954. Senator McCarthy called Major Peress before a closed session in New York, and Peress invoked the Fifth Amendment, declining to answer 32 questions about Communist affiliation.
Feb. 1. Peress went back to Camp Kilmer and asked for an immediate discharge. He was a hot case; his wish was promptly forwarded to the Pentagon. The Pentagon approved immediate.separation. The same day, in a letter, Senator McCarthy asked the Army to hold and court-martial Peress.
Feb. 2. Despite McCarthy's request, the Army honorably discharged Peress.
* Just 31 days after Peress filled in his papers, the Army issued a new directive providing that the personal history and loyalty forms be filled in before (instead of after) a commission is granted. Under this new order, which had no connection with the Peress case, a number of physicians and dentists who refused to sign the loyalty certificate have been drafted as privates and are doing the same work as commissioned Army doctors and dentists. The Army is now checking the forms of its drafted physicians and dentists to determine whether other Fifth Amendment cases have gone unnoticed