The Complete Issue - Korean War Veterans Association

16
My Memories of the Korean War
By Tony Kondysar
When I entered the Army, in 1951, a
group of recruits was sent to Ft.
Devens, MA. While there, we
made some friends and were class ified for
which branch of service to be sent to.
My civilian job had been working for a
sur veyor for about a year. This made me an
ac complished engineer in the Army’s eyes,
so I was sent to Fort Belvoir, VA. After
basic train ing, I went to Leadership School
for another eight weeks. My next job was
to work with the Engineer Research and
Development Lab. This was nice, and lasted
several months. We had good accommodations
with regular work ing hours.
Then, orders were cut to ship us out to
FE COM (Far East Command), which at
the time usually meant Korea. After a
leave at home, I proceeded to Camp
Stoneham in CA. While there, we were
asked to donate blood “in ex change for a
weekend pass,” which many of us did. But
we were shipped out before the weekend
occurred, and boarded a ship to Ja pan.
It was a very rough trip with storms
most of the way. Just about everybody was
seasick with the bouncing of the ship from
gigantic waves. Luckily, I didn’t get sick,
but it was dif ficult walking anywhere.
Some friends had told me to get a lower
bunk, which I was able to do. It was a nice
location for easy access, with less rock and
roll; however, if the guys in the bunks over
you got sick there was a prob lem - which
happened. I couldn’t wait to hit the shower!
We docked in Tokyo and disembarked,
then quickly assembled to board a train for
an over night ride to Sasebo. We had a
sleeper train. It was nice, but the bunks
were built for small people. We crunched
in to get some sleep. I felt sorry for guys
who were bigger than me! They had legs
and arms hanging out. The next morning,
we were in Sasebo. From there, we boarded
a ferry for our ride to Pusan, Ko rea.
It was a cold, foggy, rainy day. We were
provided with a bagged sandwich and an
ap ple. As we approached Pusan harbor, it
look ed grim and threatening, with a mountain
rising out of the fog. After we landed,
everybody was cold, wet and hungry. Our
food was ‘s… on a shingle.’ It was hot and
We had weapons, but no ammo. Why? Now, in my later
years, I know that we were in no danger from the artillery;
and being raw re placements, we probably would have shot
up half of the countryside if we had any ammu nition.
never tasted as good as it did that day! I
can still recall the warmth it generated in
my stomach and the rest of my body.
From there, we boarded a train with
“first class accommodations.” It was an
open flatcar! Weather conditions were the
same as when we landed in Pusan, with the
rain getting in side our ponchos. We could
hear artillery fire pounding away in the
distance, not knowing if a round might
come in and hit us. All of us were wondering
what would happen next.
We had weapons, but no ammo. Why?
Now, in my later years, I know that we
were in no danger from the artillery; and
being raw re placements, we probably
would have shot up half of the countryside
if we had any ammu nition. Upon our
arrival in Seoul, our assign ments were
called for the outfits we would go to. My
assignment was the 1169th Combat
Engineer Group.
Each outfit had its own trucks to transport
us. The 1169th was located about 40
miles north of Seoul in a place called
Tong- duchon-ni, about a mile south of the
38th pa rallel. The nasty weather continued.
Outside a tent at the 1169th (L-R) Bob Edmond,
Tony Kondysar, Rex Osbourne, Bill Scarpino,
Benny
We were wetter, colder, and hungrier than
before. Tongduchon-ni was a gray, gloomy
looking place, but this was now home.
There was hot chicken noodle soup ready
for us on arrival. It hit the spot!
Before I was able to settle down, my
name and several others were called out to
be sent back to Japan for further combat
construction training, which all of us previously
had when were in the United
States. (We found out later that the 1169th
needed us to replace others who were
being rotated back home, but those guys
were not yet ready to go. Sending us to
school would delay our return so that we
would be back at the appropriate time.) We
were sent to Eta Jima, which was the former
Japan ese Naval Academy.
Eta Jima is a tiny island situated in the
Bay of Hiroshima. When time permitted,
many of us visited Hiroshima to see the
center of the A-bomb blast. It was quite an
education to see this, even so many years
afterward. Shadows of window sills were
burned into concrete buildings.
Eta Jima was like a vacation for us. We
were attending classes that required no
effort at all, since it was something we had
been through before. The food and housing
were excellent. After eight weeks, however,
we had to face reality again and return
to Korea.
Back at the 1169th, my job was ‘Recon
Ser geant,‘ which gave me many opportunities
to ride in a two-man helicopter to
check bridges situated on the Imjin River.
During the flood season we had to clear
debris, which could take our bridges out.
The North Koreans and Chinese had control
of the northern part of the river and
floated explosives downstream to destroy
the bridges. We were able to knock out
some; but then they put dead American
soldiers on the flotsam knowing that we
would try to recover the bodies. This was
not a very pleasant task!
September-October 2007
The Graybeards