The Graybeards - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

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grammar school, where the teacher would
show it to the class. This particular envelope is
pictured in the U.S. Post Office book titled
“LETTERS FROM THE SAND.” It is in the
Korean War section. The book is available in
most Post offices. The envelope has a caption
in it saying “Hello Carole.” I obtained this cover
and had a FIRST DAY CANCEL with the US
Korean stamp dated July 26, 1965. A copy of
this letter is in the Smithsonian Philatelic division.
NOV. 1 – Still patrolling up and down the
North Korean coast giving “Call Fire” when
requested. Every now arid then anchoring in
Wonsan harbor. Mail on ship is very sporadic:
sometimes no mail for weeks. Mail usually
comes from refueling tankers or destroyers
from the states. Receiving mail from loved
ones is like being at home. The “MACHINE” is
now at work on the ship. It is called a Photo
Facsimile Machine...how it works I never knew.
The ship carries about 30 or so radiomen.
Duty in the radio room is 8 hours on and 16
hours off. By contrast, when I was in the U.S.
Coast Guard the hours would be 6 hours on
and 6 hours off with only two radiomen on
board.
I did several cartoons for the daily ship’s
paper. Other times I would paint portraits for the
crew—and the demands were many.
NOV. 4 – Anchored in Hungnam harbor,
North Korea. The harbor was cleared of mines.
As usual, we were waiting for Call Fire, and
there were many.
NOV. 11 – Anchored in Hamhung harbor. All
mines cleared here. Our ship’s helicopter was
busy bringing in wounded Marines. The sight of
a wounded Marine is not pleasant.
NOV. 14 – We are now in Chongjin harbor
again, firing salvos inland. I believe our troops
were having bad times and were about to evacuate
all military personnel.
NOV. 19 – Back in Wonsan harbor, North
Korea. Stayed here for a few days.
NOV. 23 – Thanksgiving Day and still in
Wonsan harbor. We had a very bountiful turkey
dinner with all the fixings. I thought at this time
about the kind of dinner the troops inland were
having. A shipmate from the state of Maine
received a gallon of real maple syrup from his
folks. The syrup lasted only 2 days when word
got around about it. The pancakes tasted out of
this world, considering– that the pancakes on
the ship would be smothered with molasses.I
think they called it BlackstraD.
DEC. 2 – I received orders for transfer back
to the states...what a wonderful feeling. I came
ashore in Wonsan City, where there was a contingent
of Navy and Army personnel who
manned the Naval harbor Facilities. Their jobs
were to control all shipping in and out of
Wonsan. There were about 30 or so personnel
on this base.
Orders were then to prepare for evacuation
of all hands at any moment, and to have sea
bags ready to go. On this base, the meals were
exceptional... steak every other day and all the
beer you wanted. The drinking water here consisted
of a tank of water heavily chlorinated. I
did not care to drink from the tank. There was
a little stream running through the base. I sampled
it and found it to be quite sweet.
Who knew what was ever dumped into this
stream but it tasted good. There probably
should have been a sign around stating,
“DON’T DRINK THE WATER.”
The Rochester and other ships were
ordered to proceed north to Hungnam for evacuating
all troops. The only ship in the harbor at
this time was a USN destroyer. I was scheduled
to fly out of Wonsan Airfield, but no flights were
available. I was handed a rifle with one clip in it
and told to keep it with me at all times.
On the base was a young North Korean
youth about 12 years old, who was the mascot.
He was attired with GI clothes and shoes
that were 2 sizes too big for him. His name
was Joey. He always did errands for the crew
and had wads of North Korean money on him.
For a pack of cigarettes he would give me a pile
of North Korean bills. The bills were heavily
taped with scotch tape and really yellowed. I
still have all these bills.
On the base there were 3 USN landing craft
at the pier. Orders were to keep engines going
continuously in the event of a hasty evacuation.
As there was a lull in activities, I had an opportunity
to ride into the town on a Jeep and do
some sightseeing and to obtain souvenirs in
the various malls. I was surprised to see the
devastation on the city by Air Force and Navy
pilots.
All you could see were lone chimney stacks
throughout and local citizens milling about trying
to find something that was lost. I had my
8mm movie camera with me and took many
shots around the town. One shot I took was the
local Wonsan jail, where I believe that the crew
of the USS Pueblo (AGER–2) were captured
and held prisoners.
While I was in the town there were many
ROK troops on their way north. I talked with
one of the ROK soldiers, who was a sergeant—and
who looked to be no more than 16
years old. When we heard rapid firing in the
hills we shot right back to the base.
One incident on the base involved a wounded
infiltrator lying on the ground outside of the
base. A Marine was standing over him with his
rifle pointed at him. The wounded man was
gesturing with his hands. Later, I found out that
North Koreans wanted to die facing the
ground..! do not know if this was true.
DEC. 10 – The USS Henrico (APA–45)
entered Wonsan harbor to evacuate all personnel.
We all boarded the still–running landing
crafts and came aboard. On the Henrico were
UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) personnel
who went ashore and set fire to the whole
waterfront. The only ship in the harbor was the
Henrico. Then a cruiser (might have been the
USS St. Paul, CA–73) entered the harbor and
began shelling at targets inland, as I believe the
North Korean troops were descending on the
town. I could see the airfield going up in
smoke. That was from where I was supposed
to take off.
Several USN landing crafts filled with civilians
were milling around the Henrico not knowing
what to do. I could see the civilians were all
old, and they had with them children and what
belongings they had. A pitiful sight.
Orders were not to bring any civilians on
board. The sailors manning the boats were still
milling around the ship when a commercial
freighter entered the harbor. Orders were to proceed
to the freighter and discharge all civilians
there. In the distance I could see civilians in
cargo nets being hoisted on to the freighter. The
US cruiser was still firing salvos inland. The
Henrico had on board many ROK (Republic of
Korea) troops, and a Puerto Rico contingent.
The bunks in the sleeping compartments were
about 8 tiers high.
I do not know why the North Korean civilians
were fleeing the town from their own
troops. I was on the stern of the Henrico watching
the entire waterfront going up in flames.
DEC. 11 – We departed Wonsan, North
Korea and sailed to Pusan, South Korea to discharge
all personnel. The ROK troops had a
habit of getting in the chow line for “seconds.”
The chief cook gave them “Ration Tickets” that
were only good for one meal.
These ROK troops had a habit of dropping
their rifles down ladders (stairs), creating loud
clattering sounds...we only hoped that they did
not have their rifles loaded. On board also were
many casualties from the battles inland.
September – October 2006
The Graybeards