The Graybeards - Korean War Veterans Association

the peace camp unarmed while the North Korean troops stood
nearby fully armed. It looked like an American surrender!
Today, the region is identified with the Defensive Military
Zone, the DMZ, where the two adversaries stand staring down
one another about a hundred yards apart. The natural beauty of
the landscape and the green covered hills in the background are
mute testimony to the struggle that went on there for over a
decade. I enjoyed a brief visit to Korea a few years ago and plan
to go again next June to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the
“Forgotten War.” Irony of ironies: I used to lecture my students
on the “hidden benefits of war.” The airplane, the submarine,
missiles, penicillin, and the recovery of nations overwhelmingly
defeated in war—-Japan and Germany and South Korea, prime
examples of success and dynamic change from traditional socioeconomic
and even political systems to market economies and
democracy! War accelerates changes. What sad irony!
Thom M. Hendrickson, 13541 Wentworth Ln. Apt 108E,
Seal Beach, CA 90740
Remembering a hero that loved his men
PFC Ricardo Carrasco is a name that must not fall into the
anonymity of the abyss of time.
Ricardo Carrasco arrived on Old Baldy Hill in late March,
1953, just in time to join Company “A” of the 32nd Infantry
Regiment of the 7th Division in a battle extraordinaire against
Chinese forces. Baldy and its sister, the infamous Pork Chop Hill
would be his world for the next three months. He was 19, and
had lived all of his life in El Paso, TX. Born during the depression
and raised during WWII, he would sharpen his teeth on this
first war against communism. He was the sixth of eight kids, and
had wanted to be a career army man. He had received a terrible
blow when he’d found out that he could not be part of his
beloved 82nd Airborne, as he’d always dreamt, he was slightly
nearsighted, and with no particular skills, was shipped off to the
infantry.
He’d been cocky at boot camp; his letters gently teased
friends back home for not volunteering like he had. But his first
day in Korea knocked the macho right out of him. His letters
home now begged friends not to join up. He was terrified and a
million miles from those he loved. He wanted nothing more than
to go home. He never could have imagined that the opportunity
would present itself on a silver platter.
Director Owen Crump knew war. He had filmed much of
WWII in the Army Air Corps. But something about this new war
ate at him, and he finally realized what it was. They weren’t
showing the whole picture. He wanted to do just that, but wasn’t
sure how. His inspiration came in the form of a newspaper article.
One simple line would instigate a movie: “It was a quiet day
on the front with limited patrol action.” Knowing war as he wondered
how they would write that line, and decided to do it for
them. He had a revolutionary idea.
Crump approached Paramount Pictures producer Hal Wallis
for help. He pitched his idea for the first movie ever filmed
entirely on the front lines of a war. It would be in black and white
to give it a documentary feel. Every soldier would be played
by—of all things-a real front-line soldier. No actors for this
movie. Every explosion, every bullet would be the real, government
issued thing. Wallis loved the idea, and sent Crump and a
skeletal crew to Korea to pick their men for the movie’s plot.
Crump hand-picked his 13 American soldiers and one ROK soldier
to play their parts. Among them was PFC Ricardo Carrasco.
He would be the American to die in the movie.
Ricardo was livid at being chosen for the movie, but it was
written up as a TDY order so he obeyed and went. He’d been
squad leader when Crump had informed him of his new assignment,
and worried incessantly about his men. It was mid-June,
1953, and everyone knew that the summer would out-live this
war. It was over. But Ricardo knew of the Chinese desire to take
Pork Chop, where he was fighting, and their habit of nighttime
attacks. Every morning at the War Correspondents Building in
Seoul he would run to a reporter and ask if the Chinese had
attacked Pork Chop yet. Every night his prayers were the same:
Please, God. Please don’t let the Chinese attack before I can get
back. He knew that hill, and he knew the horror. The thought of
his “fellahs,” as he called them, fighting and dying while he was
getting the star treatment sickened him. He felt that he was shirking
his duties, letting down his friends. The war had become for
Ricardo what it becomes for all good men: it was no longer about
democracy, America, or even the damned hill-it was about his
love for his friends. He could never live with himself if one of
them died in his place or because he wasn’t there to help.
The rumors of Chinese amassing around Pork Chop flew as
the filming began. Every day Ricardo begged Crump to “kill” his
character off so he could get back to his fellahs. Every day
Crump told him they weren’t ready to film that scene yet. The
other soldier/actors puzzled over this quiet, moody young man
who had the opportunity of a lifetime. They loved this life! Good
food served to them on tablecloths, by waiters no less, plenty of
booze, and no one trying to kill you. They could not figure the
young man out.
Still he continued to pester the director, who firmly reminded
him that he was to obey his orders. Crump liked the kid, but
couldn’t reckon him. Maybe he loved the battle and terror, or
maybe he was bucking for a promotion or a medal. Or maybe it
was like he said; that his friends were up there. Crump figured
the problem would be solved one day in early July when he
received a wire from producer Hal Wallis. Wallis had seen the
first rushes of the movie and had been so impressed by one
young man in particular that he wanted Crump to get the boy to
sign a contract with Paramount. Wallis knew a star when he saw
one. In fact, in Hollywood he was referred to as “The
Starmaker,” as everyone he’d ever tagged to be a star had
become one. And now he had Ricardo Carrasco pegged as the
next star he would mold and create.
Crump grinned as he ordered Ricardo aside from the other
men. As he explained that Hal Wallis wanted to make the young
man a star, he held his breath and waited for the reaction. A yelp,
weak knees, all the color draining from his face ...something to
indicate his shock and excitement. But Ricardo stood still, the
only movement being that of his head slightly lowering. Crump
furrowed his brow, but before he could say anything, Ricardo
spoke.
July/August, 2001 Page 25