Sep/Oct 2008 - Korean War Veterans Association

Ask the Secretary
Well, this has not been a good last two
months since we published the July-
August edition. It is one of those “dammed
if you don’t and dammed if you do” situations.
On page 14 of that edition there were
copies of emails from and to Ginny Sanders.
She was trying to find out what branch of
service her sister-in-law’s father served with
in Korea. She told me that her sister-in-law
was guessing that he was possibly in the
Navy, since he worked at the shipyard in San
Francisco. But, she knew that her father
fought in land battles while he was in Korea.
I responded and said that “there were
times that everyone was fighting land battles
in Korea, no matter what branch of service.
However, if he was fighting land battles he
was probably not in the Navy.” One of our
members took exception to that comment.
Following are some excerpts from his email
and my response.
His email:
I just received the July/August copy of
The Graybeards and was I not only surprised
that you answered Ginny Sanders
question about “land battles,“ but was very
offended in your answer.
She asked, “Do you know if the Navy
ever fought in land battles in Korea?” You
stated that if her sister-in-law’s father was
fighting land battles, he was probably not in
the Navy. Wow! How misinformed you are.
I am a former Combat Navy Corpsman
who served with the First Marine Division
in Korea from December 1952 thru March
1954 (fifteen months). I was assigned to the
5th Marines, 1st Marine Division and served
in battle for more than five months before
being transferred to Easy Company, 1st
Medical Battalion, 1st Marine Division.
While assigned to the 5th Marines I was
on TAD (temporary additional duty) to the
First Korean Marine Division and had duty
with a TACP (tactical air control party) on a
forward outpost on Vegas. We saw and were
engaged in many battles, and I attended
many wounded American and Korean
Marines during time.
It is true that when a Navy Corpsman is
assigned to the Marines he gives up his
Navy Blues and is given Marine Greens.
Every Corpsman that was assigned to the
Marines was called “Doc.” General
“Chesty” Puller USMC gave an address to
the First Marine Division stating, “Once a
Marine, always a Marine, and once a Navy
Corpsman always a Navy/Marine
Corpsman.”
Did Navy men fight “Land Battles?”
Look at the records. There were more than a
thousand Navy Corpsmen wounded and
received Purple Hearts, and more than five
who received the nation’s highest honor, The
Medal Of Honor. No, we didn’t fight “Land
Battles.” It was only my imagination.
Let’s get the record straight.
My response:
Please accept my humble apologies. I
was referring to the “Navy” as a whole and
not the Navy Corpsmen that ended up supporting
the Marines. In fact, my Chapter 158
is named for Doc Charette, a Navy
Corpsman. who is a recipient of the Medal
of Honor.
I would never intentionally offend any
member of any service. I was only trying to
make a point to Ms. Sanders that Mr. Dart
was probably in the Army. If you reread the
article, I commented that “there were times
that everyone was fighting land battles, no
matter what branch of service.”
I get several emails like this everyday,
along with several telephone calls. I do my
best to respond to them appropriately, but
sometimes I just do not have the time to
reconsider what I have said and, unfortunately,
the words do not come out like they
should. Best regards.
GIFT POLICY FOR USA
BUSINESS
Here is another complaint on the same
article: As you read in the article, Ms.
Sanders was able to get the military records
for Mr. Dart. He indeed was in the Army,
and he was assigned to 52nd Field Artillery,
24th Infantry Division.
I told Ms. Sanders that we would try and
identify the members that were assigned to
that unit and sent the information to her so
she could contact those individuals by phone
or mail and maybe she would be lucky. So,
the “Rest of the Story,” as Paul Harvey
would say:
I received a call from a member criticizing
me for giving out confidential information
on our members. We have occasionally
given out the names and units that members
were assigned to, but we are very selective
on who we give it to and how much. In this
case it is only the name, address and phone
number.
Any one can go to our web site and from
the home page get the same information for
the complete list of officers, directors,
Committee Chairman, etc. Why is the member
information any more confidential?
I have initially agreed to suspend giving
out any information on our members, which
will certainly be a detriment to trying to help
not only the members but the survivors who
are looking for information on those that did
not survive. This suspension is temporary.
I am asking our members if you object to
releasing your name if it would help a fellow
member or a survivor. Incidentally, the
member who complained threatened to
resign if I did not comply with his request.
The U.S. Army has put up a web site to facilitate donations from the public to help soldiers
and their families at http://giftstoarmy.army.mil. While the Army states very clearly that
they are not soliciting contributions, they are providing lots of information on how to make
donations in 4 areas of concern: -
• Soldiers and Families (MWR);
• Wounded Warriors;
• Army Installations;
• How to Contribute.
Joyce Morrow, the administrative assistant to the Secretary of the Army, explained:
“Many individuals have asked how they can help the Army. We appreciate how generous the
public is and the concern they have for the welfare of our soldiers and families. We’ve developed
this Web site to provide information on how to contribute money, goods or services to
benefit Soldiers and their Families.” [Source: TREA Washington Update 29 Aug 08 ++]
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The Graybeards
September – October 2008