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^[[recd 14 Nov]]

[[preprinted]]
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
WASHINGTON D.C. 20560
[[/preprinted]]

4 November 1966
% U.S. Embassy
Seoul, Korea

Dr. H.K. Buechner
Office of Ecology
Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
Washington D.C. 20560

Dear Hal,

Enclosed is my travel and expense voucher for October. So far I have not received any expense or travel pay. What is the problem at that end? 

It seems that things are moving slowly at this end. I just went down to the Embassy to talk to them about helping us get a vehicle for a while through GSO but the right man to talk with was not in. Actually I have little hope for this. To rent a bus to carry about 15 people cost from $40 to $60 per day, so you can see that to try to do much work like this would use up most of our travel money in short order. The Army cannot do anything without the contract, or so they say. Any way this is something that cannot be pushed too hard and fast. 

Dr. George Davis, the snail man from Japan, sits on the Army R & D group to decide where to place grants in the countries of east Asia. He told me that they have about half million dollars each year to let out for specific projects, and $30,000 that has not been committed so far this year. Should I look further into this, and perhaps try to get some of the Korean scientist to apply for this to work on the DMZ project. Dr. Davis is of the opinion that several projects would be considered right now. He mentioned a study of the ecology of snails, rats, birds, and the water changes that take place within a stream system following abandonment, especially the snail populations and how they react. Here is a quick rundown on how they handle the grants. first they check out the scientist to see if he is going to do the work or delegate it to assistants. the scientist must be on hand even though eh may have assistants. No salary is provided for the scientist, in that way they eliminate those that are in the act solely for the money. The army inspects the books and checks on how the money is spent. Equipment bough on grants may be used on other grants in the institution. The project plans must include proposal, method of approach, and expected results. Dr Davis is going to send me a copy of the dorms, and I will send one on to you when they arrive. So far I have not mentioned this to the scientist, and will not until I have seen them in action in the field on their projects. Give me your ideas? 

Since you left here the ROK have lost 22 soldiers and the U.S. only six. These six were in the area where we went up to the white tape, near the creek bridge. I still do not know how this will affect our work.

^[[Ed]]