Sep/Oct 2008 - Korean War Veterans Association

through September of 1953.
Attached is a news release that the public information office of
1903rd Engineer Aviation Battalion produced back in 1951. (See
the sidebar below) Anyone who wants current information on
what is going on currently in Pyongtaek, Korea can access
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyeongtaek. What a difference 56
years makes.
I hope this information is of some interest to my fellow Korean
veterans.
Leon F. Miller, 350 Dickerson Dr. N.,
Camillus, NY 13031-1704 (315)
487-3544, leonmiller73@aol.com
The Marines treated us well
Pyongteck is (or was ) located 13-15 miles south of Suwan on
the MSR, west coast of Korea. It was a Marine Air Base from
which the Marines flew mostly Corsairs.
The Marines were very good to me there (I was Army). We
were located just south of the Suwan Air Base for a while in ‘52.
We had no facilities of our own - except for a portable “three
holer” that we carried with us.
For a while, the USAF let us use their showers once a week,
but after about three weeks they put them off limits to us. They
said that we were too dirty to use their showers. This turn of
events was made softer by the Marines, who gave us 250 gallons
of water every two days, as well as access to their PX for cigs and
3.2 beer.
One thing that impressed me was when those Corsairs would
land. The first thing that they did was put duct tape over the new
bullet holes. Some of the planes had tape all over them.
Stan Jones, Cape Cod and the Islands
Chapter 1, stanley.jones1@comcast.net
BACKGROUND OF THE 1903D
Prepared by Pfc Elliott Abrams
AT A FORWARD AIRSTRIP IN KOREA-Behind the scenes of the Fifth
Air Force’s relentless bombing raids on Communist positions and supplies
quietly works the 1903d Engineer Aviation Battalion, commanded
by Major Mitchel Goldenthal, the first Air National Guard unit of its kind
in Korea.
Since arriving in Korea in November, 1951, the 1903d has performed
major rehabilitating jobs on four vital fighter and bomber strips and is
currently engaged in the largest earthmoving job ever attempted in
Korea—to hack out a fifth strip at an advanced site.
The 1903d’s Headquarters Company was made up of men from
Chicago. The three line companies, “A,” “B,“ and “C,“ were composed
almost entirely of men from St. Louis, Dearborn, Mich., and Denver,
Colo., Air National Guard units respectively.
Company “A” played a large hand in building the first concrete runway
in Korea. Often working in ankle-deep [snow/mud] and/or against bitter
winter winds, these men from St. Louis helped turn an old macadam
and steel-plated runway into an 8,000-foot concrete strip in the record
time of 55 days!
Company “B” had the difficult assignment of repairing a vital B-2
pierced steel planking runway without interfering with tactical flights.
Heavy landing aircraft had shoved the PSP aside, disengaging the bayonet
hooks and curling the ends of the planks. Welders took their torches
and went to work. Others filled in the larger surface depressions
caused by the weight of landing aircraft.
By squeezing working hours between flying missions, the Dearborn,
Mich., men were able to put another Korean airfield back into operationa1
condition without halting a single bombing mission.
All Company “C” did was move a mountain. The “mountain” was
actually a large hill situated in the middle of a sprawling Marine airfield.
It pre sented a definite hazard for Marine pilots and planes taking off on
combat missions.
In less than six weeks these Denver engineers, with the aid of Korean
laborers and Marine and Navy equipment, cleared almost 200,000
cubic yards of fill and also extended the runway 500 feet.
Their work has already paid off. Soon after a section of the runway
was extended, a Marine Panther jet in difficulty after a combat mission
overshot and stopped in the new section. If these men had not completed
their assignment in near record time, the plane would have
dropped in a 40-foot gully.
“All our weeks of sweat were worth it,” commented one engineer.
Headquarters Company remained at a stationary construction site
and fed a constant stream of supplies, equipment, and technical assistance
to the lettered companies operating at distant projects.
Although activated into Federal service in October, 1950, the battalion’s
youthful history dates back to 1944, when it was ordered organized.
The follow ing year found the unit winning battle honor in the
Ryukyus campaign, South Pacific theatre.
The unit was reorganized as SCARWAF and federally recognized in
December, 1948, as the 1903d Engineer Aviation Battalion, 66th Fighter
Wing, Illinois Air National Guard. Battalion Headquarter were located at
O’Hara Inter national Airport, Park Ridge, Ill.
Company “A,” known as the 1807th Engineer Aviation Company, was
attached to the 71st Fighter Wing, Missouri Air National Guard at
Lambert Municipal Airport, St. Louis, Mo.
Company “B,” formally the 1806th Engineer Aviation Company, was
attached to the 127th Fighter Group, Michigan Air National Guard,
Dearborn, Mich.
The l809th Engineer Aviation, which is the present Company “C” of
the 1903d, was attached to the 86th Fighter Wing, Colorado Air National
Guard, Denver, Colo.
After reactivation in 1950, the 1903d received filler personnel from
draftee ranks and underwent basic and unit training at Ft. Leonard
Wood, Mo., and Beale Air Force Base, Calif.
Today the 1903d’s Manu Forti—battalion motto meaning “Strong
Hands”—are back at work leveling Korean soil into vitally needed
airstrips for the Fifth Air Force.
63
The Graybeards
September – October 2008