Voices from the Korean War Personal Accounts of Those Who Served Douglas Rice iUniverse, Inc Bloomington Voices from the Korean War Personal Accounts of Those Who Served Copyright © 2011 by Douglas Rice All rights reserved No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting: iUniverse 1663 Liberty Drive Bloomington, IN 47403 www.iuniverse.com 1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677) Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock ISBN: 978-1-4502-8256-7 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-4502-8258-1 (dj) ISBN: 978-1-4502-8257-4 (ebk) Printed in the United States of America iUniverse rev date: 01/03/2011 Dedicated to: My father—Delbert Rice: To the men and women who shared their experiences: And, to the men who never returned home “Yea, though, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me ” Psalms 23:4 KJV Contents ~~Introduction~~ BOOK I George Weidensall Dr Raymond Fish Richard “Dick” Franklin Joseph Marlett Harold Selley George Porter Robert “Bob” Bouterse Fred Connolly Richard “Joe” Johannes Jack Anderson Dillon Staas Lloyd Paul Summers Robert “BJ” Johnson Carroll Everist Joseph Lloyd Wosser, Jr Eric Hanney Tom Enos Forrest O’Neal Victor Shepherd Robert Harbula Jack Chapman Rex Raymond Robert Grass Brooks Outland Janice Feagin Britton Charles Toole Douglas Voss Mario “Tony” Faiella Raymond Cesaretti Floyd E “Gene” Combs Donald Thomas John “Rick” Kennedy Byron Dickerson Donald E Barton Ernest Everett Edge John Ebnet Delbert Rice Fred Redmon William McCraney Richard Esser Howard Camp Rexford Glass Raymond Reilley Book II David Lopez Charles Bracey Albert Field Kenneth Flynn Donald Degood Otto White Alfred Eckhart George DeSha Morton “Pete” Wood, Jr Anthony “Tony” Gurule’ Marvin Totland David Hughes Stanley Grogan Calvin Harwick Melbourne Leroy Rogers Mark Pease Paul Elkins Dr William Latham Roger Lueckenhoff Dick Thune Kenneth Whitehouse BOOK III John Delaney Robert Bickmeyer Peter Beauchamp Ronald Hale Charles Klenklen Dr John Laura Chuck Gibbs Jerry Cunningham Donald “Hank” Nicol William “Bill” Warren Gordon Southern Donald Albert Clyde Corsaro Wayne Pelkey Robert Ericson Where Are They Now Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography ~~Introduction~~ I remember as a child listening to my father as he told about his experiences during the Korean War Because of his experiences, I became interested in military history at an early age The only time I wore a military uniform was in Army ROTC my freshman year at Western Kentucky University Unfortunately, meeting twice a week at 5:00 AM in the parking lot of Diddle Arena, to practice marching and Manual of Arms, does not make me an authority on the subject However, during the six years, I have interviewed by mail, email, phone, and in person, over onehundred individuals who are authorities on the subject Veterans! One day as my father and I were working in the garden, he told me that there is a special bond between soldiers Being a pre-teen, I had no idea of what he was talking about But, during these past six years, spending countless hours reading handwritten letters and numerous hours on the phone, I now have a better understanding The silence of night was broken by shrills from bugles and whistles as the enemy came swarming down on them How they endured the extreme cold of a record breaking winter In the summers there was the heat and monsoon season There was the smell of human waste, which was used as fertilizer, that over the lands like a morning fog in the fall They listened to the yells for ‘medic’ and the screams for ‘mother’ by a dying comrade In their arms, a buddy took his last breath Most of all, they knew at any minute they might have to lay down their own life to save the life of a fellow soldier The Korean War has been called a police action, a conflict, a war Unfortunately, there is one label that haunts those who so gallantly served; it is the “Forgotten War.” June 25, 2010, marked the 60th Anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War There was no Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks produced HBO series There was no Ken Burns documentary on PBS There was no official recognition in Washington, D.C Let it be known, these individuals fought just as bravely as any soldier in previous wars They endured the same hardships They bleed the same red blood Over 36,000 of them died in a three year period And most of all, 8,100 American soldiers are still missing; after sixty years I received a letter from Nola Eckhart, wife of Alfred Eckhart, saying even though Alfred suffers from Alzheimer’s; he still cannot forget the fighting and death toll on Porkchop Hill It is certain these men and women have not forgotten their war, and we as a free nation should not forget either Douglas Rice BOOK I June 1950 thru June 1951 Morton “Pete” Wood, Jr - Pete passed away on August 10, 2009 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery Anthony “Tony” Gurule’ – After leaving the service in 1953, Tony went back to sea with the Merchant Marines After doing this for a year and attending college for a year, he returned to his earlier profession of baker He worked as a foreman for Safeway Stores bakery division, in Richmond, California until 1968 In 1959 he married and had three children Then he went to work for the Governor of California—Ronald Reagan—for five years After obtaining his Real Estate license, he sold real estate in California until 1979 In 1977 he remarried and moved to New Mexico There he continued to sell real estate After starting a small carpet business, he retired in 2005 He and his wife live in Albuquerque, New Mexico Marvin Totland – The wounds he received during the war prevented him from doing any hard labor work that he had been accustomed to before the war So, he went to school During his second year of college, he married his wife Addie After college he went to work for the Polar Telephone Company in North Dakota Then he went to work for the Federated Telephone Cooperative in Chokio, Minnesota Six years later he was offered a job with the Rural Electrification Administration, an agency of the federal government In 1990, after thirty-one years of service, he retired He and Addie live in Alexandria, Minnesota They have one son and one daughter David Hughes – Last known, David was living in Colorado Stanley Grogan – After leaving the service in 1953, he maintained his commission and aeronautical rating in the Air Force Reserve Stanley’s regular employment was with Central Intelligence In later years he had a career as an educator After retiring, he still assists students in becoming academically proficient, so they can get into the colleges of their choice He and his wife live in Pinole, California Calvin Harwick – He returned to his hometown of Rochester, Minnesota after leaving the service There he returned to the same company he worked for before entering the Army After working there for twenty years, in the electrical repair shop, the company was sold Calvin then went to work for a large company, in their electrical maintenance department After working there for twenty-fours, he retired He still lives in Rochester, Minnesota Melbourne Leroy Rogers – After leaving the service, he went back home to Maryville, Tennessee Leroy went to work for Alcoa Being laid-off several times, in 1957he went to work as an insurance agent He and Fay still live in Maryville They have two sons Mark Pease – While he was stationed at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, he met a girl while on pass They have been married for fifty-seven years Mark worked his way through college and went to work as an Engineer He worked for Jered, designing equipment for ships (mostly Navy) At one time there were over 300 ships, including eleven aircraft carriers, at sea that had equipment which he had designed After thirty-six years, he retired in 1995 as Manager of Engineering He and his wife live in Newburgh, Indiana They have two daughters Paul Elkins – After leaving the Army, Paul returned to college where he graduated in 1957 with a B.S Degree in Electrical Engineering During his career he worked for four different companies in Idaho, New Mexico, and Nevada In his thirty-three years, he worked in the electronics field designing electronic equipment In the mid-1960’s he drifted into the mini-computer field; first as a hardware designer, then into software In January of 1990, he retired from Los National Laboratory in New Mexico He now lives in Kasilof, Alaska Dr William Latham – After returning from Korea in mid-October 1952, he married Carol Roddick They were married on November 8, 1952, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida In 1954 he joined a family practice and surgery practice in his hometown of Stockton, California He retired from family practice in 1994 and surgery practice in 2009 He lives in Stockton, California They have three children Roger Lueckenhoff -He was discharged from the Army on September 26, 1952 On November 10, 1952, Roger went to work for the Rawlings Sports Goods Company, in St Louis, Missouri In February of 1953, he married While working at Rawlings, he attended Washington University on the GI Bill He obtained an Associates Degree in Industrial Management In 1976, Rawlings transferred Roger’s department to a plant in south central Missouri So, he and his family moved to Rolla, Missouri In 2003 his wife, Lorene, passed away They have two sons and one daughter He still lives in Rolla, Missouri Dick Thune – Last known, Dick was living in Plainview, Minnesota Kenneth Whitehouse – After returning home, Kenneth went back to work at Wetzel’s—a local grocery store in Owensboro, Kentucky A few years later, he went to work for the U.S Postal Service, where he worked until his retirement He currently resides in Owensboro, Kentucky John Delaney – After he retired from the U.S Navy in 1971, he returned to Albany, New York There he was hired as a vice president of an upstate hospital In 1987, John retired He and his wife, Marge, who was a Navy Nurse in Korea, moved to Minden, Nevada They have one son and one daughter Robert Bickmeyer – After leaving the service in 1953, he returned to his old job at General Motors With thirty-nine years of service, Robert retired in 1986 He and his wife, Phyllis, live in Troy, Michigan They have four children Peter Beauchamp – In June of 1955, Peter was discharged from the Marine Corps He attended school under the GI Bill, taking mechanical drafting and machine design Upon finishing school, he went to work for RCA He eventually ended up working for the Harris Corporation in Palm Bay, Florida While there he worked on many government and military projects, including Apollo, the Space Shuttle, and the B-1 Bomber After working at Harris for twenty-three years, he retired He married in 1958 and has two sons and one daughter He still resides in Palm Bay, Florida Ronald Hale – After spending a year in the hospital for his wounds received in Korea, he went home to El Paso, Texas Here he went into the cafe business However, not caring for the cafe business, he closed his shop and moved to Dallas There he went to school For twenty years he was a mechanic, and then he opened his own shop Eventually he sold his shop and retired He currently lives in Red Oak, Texas Charles Klenklen – When he returned home, he went back to his old job as a receiving room operator in a milk processing plant He also worked as a truck driver salesman for a welding supply company Eventually he went into business for himself, as an auto mechanic He married after returning home from Korea In 1981, his wife Flora passed away They have two daughters and one son He remarried in 1991 and lives in Fort Scott, Kansas Dr John Laura – Being discharged from the Army, he returned home and married his college sweetheart He went on to set up his dental practice in Syracuse, New York During their first year of marriage they had triplet sons The following year, their daughter was born His daughter became a dentist and eventually took over his practice In 2008 his wife of fifty-three years passed away He still resides in Syracuse, New York Chuck Gibbs – Last known, Chuck was living in San Antonio, Texas Jerry Cunningham – On October 1, 1988, he retired from the Army as a First Sergeant In 1989 he worked as an Optical Lab Tech with an optical company in Columbia, South Carolina After working here for eight years, he retired in 1997 He currently lives in Columbia, South Carolina Donald “Hank” Nicol – After leaving the service, he attended Brooks Institute of Photography Hank ended up in New Zealand, where he worked for a year as a welder Then he headed to Sydney, Australia—for four years Finally, he returned to the states to get a degree from San Francisco State After listening to President John F Kennedy, he joined the Peace Corps and headed to Thailand While there he married a Thai lady and brought her back to California They had two children, and then divorced He worked as a California State Park Ranger Now he dabbles in amateur photography He lives in Eureka, California William Warren – On January 13, 1954, William was discharged from the Army with the rank of M/Sgt He went to work for the L.C Andrew Co, for four years After which he worked for twelve years at Plaster Mason Then for the next twenty-one years, he worked for S.D Warren Company On January 1, 1988, he retired He has two children, a son and daughter, and three step-children He currently resides in Sanford, Maine Gordon Southern – He is a full-time farmer, producing rice, wheat, soybeans, and corn His rice fields produce 150 bushels of long grain rice per acre He lives in Steele, Missouri Donald Albert – He went to work for the Peverly Dairy Company, as a home deliveryman, after his discharge from the Army Soon afterwards the dairy industry began to sell milk, in paper cartons, to Super Markets for half the price, ending the home delivery service A friend of his was able to get him an interview at Cargill, Inc., selling Nutrena Livestock Feeds Out of the two-hundred salesmen that Nutrena had, Albert was in the top ten After advancing through several management levels, he retired in 1992 He and Shirley live in Warrensburg, Missouri They have eight children Clyde Corsaro – Clyde passed away on May 25, 2010in Syracuse, New York Wayne Pelkey – He returned home to work in the quarries after leaving the service He soon found that working in the pit with a 55lb jackhammer was very tiring Luckily, management gave him a job in maintenance and driving a dump-truck The second year after being home he was having sleepless nights, which was taking a toll on him So he took up flying, which he had started before being drafted In 1957 he was promoted to Safety Director of four operations Then in 1959 he married Irene Fontana, and was promoted to Director of Purchasing In 1984 the company was bought out, so he took early retirement He resides in Barre, Vermont Robert Ericson – Last known, Robert was living in Illinois Acknowledgements First and foremost, I want to give a heartfelt thanks to the individuals who shared their experiences for this project Also, I would like to thank them, and other veterans, for their service so we may enjoy the freedoms that we have today To the families that lost loved ones; thank you is not enough I want to thank the principal of Hancock County (Kentucky) Middle School, Gina Biever, for asking teachers if they would be willing to proof read my manuscript In which Donna Popham so graciously volunteered She herself had a special interest in the Korea War Her uncle Charles Whitler, of the 8th Cavalry Regiment, was listed as Missing in Action during the battle of Unsan, North Korea on November 2, 1950 From DNA samples provided by family members, his remains were positively identified in June of 2010 His remains were brought home and laid to rest on September 2010 For providing me with a list of men from Item Company, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry that were Prisoners of War, I want to thank Jack Chapman Without it, I would never have been able to find Newton Duke; the gentleman who was with Ernest Everett Edge the day he was killed in action, who provided me with details of that day For the use of the letters written home by Ernest Everett Edge, I want to think the Edge Family; his siblings, James, Mary, Homer, Denzil, Irvin, and Margaret To Dianne Abshire, thank you for being the contact person for George Porter Thanks to Krista Hill, Rosalie White, and everyone at iUniverse for making this project a reality To my family: wife, Regina, daughter, Tashina, and son, Ian Thank you for allowing me to follow my passion of helping preserve the stories of the brave men and women who served our country during time of war Notes Chapter One George Weidensall, correspondence on May 19 and 24, 2008 Chapter Two Raymond Fish, correspondence on August 19, 2008 Chapter Three Dick Franklin, correspondence during July 2004 Chapter Four Jospeph Marlett, correspondence between October 18, 2008 and February 23, 2009 Chapter Five Harold Selley, correspondence on October 13, 2005 Korean War Educator.com Used with permission from Harold Selley and Lynette Brown Chapter Six George Porter, correspondence on September 6, 2004 Chapter Seven Robert Bouterse memoir, “Tour of Duty.” Used with his permission Chapter Eight Fred Connolly, phone interview on July 31, 2010 Chapter Nine Richard Johannes, correspondence between June 30 and September 9, 2008 Chapter Ten Jack M Anderson, Warrior By Choice By Chance (Mukilteo, Washington, WinePress Publishing, 1997) pp 291-292 Ibid, p 301 Ibid, p 305 Ibid, p 314 Ibid, p 319 Ibid, pp 342-343 Ibid, p 347 Ibid, p 347 Jack Anderson, correspondence between August 2005 and January 2006 Chapter Eleven Dillon Staas, correspondence February 25 – November 12, 2008 Chapter Twelve Lloyd Paul Summers, correspondence during September 2008 Chapter Thirteen Robert “BJ” Johnson, correspondence during September 2008 Chapter Fourteen Carroll Everist, correspondence during May 2008 Chapter Fifteen Joseph Lloyd Wosser, Jr., correspondence with his daughter, Nancy Becker during August 2008 Chapter Sixteen Eric Hanney, phone interview on June 23, 2008 Chapter Seventeen Tom Enos, correspondence on June 23, 2008 Chapter Eighteen Forrest O’Neal, phone interview on July 31, 2008 Chapter Nineteen Victor Shepherd, correspondence on August 12, 2008 Chapter Twenty Robert Harbula, correspondence from July to August 2008 Chapter Twenty-One Jack Chapman’s memoir, “If Captured.” Used with his permission Chapter Twenty-Two Rex Raymond, correspondence on August 14, 2008 Chapter Twenty-Three Robert Grass, interviewed at his home on January 19, 2010 Chapter Twenty-Four Brooks Outland, correspondence during October 2008 Chapter Twenty-Five Janice Feagin Brittons’ memoir, “Magic of the Military.” Used with her permission Chapter Twenty-Six Charles Toole, correspondence during July 2004 Chapter Twenty-Seven Douglas Voss, correspondence during September 2008 Chapter Twenty-Eight Mario Faiella, correspondence during September 2008 Chapter Twenty-Nine From a collection of unpublished stories titled, “Korea, Korea,” by Donald Nicol Used with Raymond Cesaretti’s and Donald Nicol’s permission Chapter Thirty Floyd Combs, correspondence during November 2008 Chapter Thirty-One Donald Thomas’ memoir, “Atwater’s Boy Soldier.” Used with his permission Chapter Thirty-Two John Rick Kennedy, correspondence from January to May 2008 Chapter Thirty-Three Byron Dickerson, phone interview on September 6, 2008 Chapter Thirty-Four Donald Barton, correspondence from July 2008 to April 2009 Chapter Thirty-Five Newton Duke, phone interview on August 21, 2010 Denzil Edge, interview on June 27, 2010 Mary Smith, interview on October 4, 2009 Letters of Ernest Edge were provided by the Edge Family Chapter Thirty-Six John Ebnet, correspondence during April 2004 Chapter Thirty-Seven Delbert Rice, listening to his stories since childhood Chapter Thirty-Eight Fred Redmon, correspondence during August 2008 Chapter Thirty-Nine William McCraney, correspondence during January 2008 Chapter Forty Richard Esser, correspondence during October 2008 Chapter Forty-One Howard Camp, correspondence during March 2008 Chapter Forty-Two Rexford Glass, correspondence between August and September 2004 Chapter Forty-Three Raymond Reilley, correspondence during May 2004 Chapter Forty-Four David Lopez, correspondence during January 2008 Chapter Forty-Five Charles Bracey, correspondence during May 2004 Chapter Forty-Six Albert Field, correspondence during October 2008 Chapter Forty-Seven Kenneth Flynn, correspondence during June 2004 Chapter Forty-Eight Donald Degood, correspondence during May 2008 Chapter Forty-Nine Otto White, correspondence between May and August 2008 Chapter Fifty Alfred Eckhart, correspondence during September 2004 Chapter Fifty-One George DeSha, phone interview on June 10, 2008 Chapter Fifty-Two Morton Wood, Jr., correspondence during October 2008 Chapter Fifty-Three Anthony Gurule’, correspondence during January 2008 Chapter Fifty-Four Marvin Totland, correspondence during August 2004 Chapter Fifty-Five David Hughes, phone interview on June 22, 2004 Chapter Fifty-Six Stanley Grogan, correspondence during August 2008 Chapter Fifty-Seven Calvin Harwick, correspondence during January 2008 Chapter Fifty-Eight Melbourne Leroy Rogers, correspondence between May and September 2004 Chapter Fifty-Nine Mark Pease, correspondence during April 2008 Chapter Sixty From a collection of unpublished stories titled, “Korea, Korea,” by Donald Nicol Used with Paul Elkins’ and Donald Nicol’s permission Chapter Sixty-One Dr William Latham, correspondence during July 2008 Chapter Sixty-Two Roger Lueckenhoff, correspondence during September 2008 Chapter Sixty-Three Dick Thune, correspondence between July and September 2009 Chapter Sixty-Four Kenneth Whitehouse, phone interview on February 19, 2010 Chapter Sixty-Five John Delaney, correspondence during February 2009 Chapter Sixty-Six Robert Bickmeyer, correspondence during November 2008 Chapter Sixty-Seven Peter Beauchamp, correspondence during September 2008 Chapter Sixty-Eight Ronald Hale, correspondence during October 2008 Chapter Sixty-Nine From a collection of unpublished stories titled, “Korea, Korea,” by Donald Nicol Used with Charles Klenklen’s and Donald Nicol’s permission Chapter Seventy Dr John Laura, correspondence during February 2008 Chapter Seventy-One Chuck Gibbs, correspondence during Chapter Seventy-Two Ophsa.org Used with his permission Chapter Seventy-Three From a collection of unpublished stories titled, “Korea, Korea,” by Donald Nicol Used with his permission Chapter Seventy-Four From a collection of unpublished stories titled, “Korea, Korea,” by Donald Nicol Used with William Warren’s and Donald Nicol’s permission Chapter Seventy-Five From a collection of unpublished stories title, “Korea, Korea,” by Donald Nicol Used with Gordon Southern’s and Donald Nicol’s permission Chapter Seventy-Six Donald Albert, correspondence during August 2008 Chapter Seventy-Seven Clyde Corsaro, phone interview on August 10, 2008 Chapter Seventy-Eight Wayne Pelkey, correspondence during August 2008 Chapter Seventy-Nine Robert Ericson, correspondence during January 2008 Bibliography Books Anderson, Jack M., Warrior…By Choice…By Chance, Mukilteo, Washington, 1997 Memoirs Robert Bouterse, “Tour of Duty” (Used with permission from Robert Bouterse) Janice Feagin Britton, “Magic of the Military Jack Chapman, “If Captured” (Used with permission from Jack Chapman) Donald Thomas, “Atwater’s Boy Soldier” (Used with permission from Donald Thomas) Collections “Korea, Korea” by Donald Nicol (Used with permission from Donald Nicol) Websites Korean War Educator (Used with permission from Lynette Brown) Ophsa.org (Used with permission from Jerry Cunningham) [1] Taken from an interview between Harold Selley and Lynette Brown on www.koreanwar-educator.org Used with permission from Harold Selley and Lynette Brown [2] Taken from Robert Bouterse’s memoirs; “Tour of Duty.” Used with permission from Robert Bouterse [3] Taken from Jack Chapman’s unpublished memoirs “If Captured.” Used with permission from Jack Chapman [4] Taken from Janice Feagin Britton’s unpublished memoirs, “The Magic of the Military: An Army Air Force Nurse in the Orient.” Used with permission from Janice Feagin Britton [5] Taken from a collection of stories titled, “Korea, Korea” by Donald “Hank” Nicol Used with permission from Raymond Cesaretti and Donald “Hank” Nicol [6] Taken from Donald Thomas’ unpublished memoirs, “Atwater’s Boy Soldier.” Used with permission from Donald Thomas [7] Taken from a collection of stories titled, “Korea, Korea” by Donald “Hank” Nicol Used with permission from Paul Elkins and Donald “Hank” Nicol [8] Taken from a collection of stories titled “Korea, Korea” by Donald “Hank” Nicol Used with permission from Charles Klenklen and Donald “Hank” Nicol [9] Taken from www.orphsa.org Used with permission from Jerry Cunningham [10] Taken form a collection of stories titled “Korea, Korea” by Donald “Hank” Nicol Used with permission from Donald “Hank” Nicol [11] Taken from a collection of stories titled, “Korea, Korea” by Donald “Hank” Nicol Used with permission from William Warren and Donald “Hank” Nicol [12] Taken from a collection of stories titled “Korea, Korea” by Donald “Hank” Nicol Used with permission from Gordon Southern and Donald “Hank” Nicol .. .Voices from the Korean War Personal Accounts of Those Who Served Douglas Rice iUniverse, Inc Bloomington Voices from the Korean War Personal Accounts of Those Who Served Copyright © 2011 by Douglas. .. and whistles as the enemy came swarming down on them How they endured the extreme cold of a record breaking winter In the summers there was the heat and monsoon season There was the smell of human... resistance By the end of the month, many of the units of the Eighth Army were north of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang The 27th had reached an area north of the Kuryong River near the North Korean