May - Korean War Veterans Association

24
Where was the Nakdong Gunnery Range?
Iam submitting the following to use
for my fellow veterans, who may
enjoy it. The whole point is for me
to return to the Naktong (now Nakdong)
Gunnery Range and, if possible, present
a memorial at my expense. However, it
is important that I have a good idea
where it can readily be found. And, if I
do find it, I would like to make the right
contacts to make this possible.
K-2 is well known. It shares with the
Korean Air Force the location of the
Daegu International Airport. I was
greeted at K-2 by Lt. Colonels and
given a belt watch by the commanding
general in 2000. They stated that I was
the first one to return, and they treated
me like a returning base commander—
even though at the time I served I was
an enlisted man. (I served in Korea
from June 21, 1952 to May 18, 1953,
with the 49th and 58th Fighter Bomber
Wings.)
Unfortunately, the Naktong Gunnery
Range is not visible today on-line or in
any books that I could find. Except for
a few references, it seems unknown and
forgotten. Hopefully, I can help change
both. First, let me give you a bit of
background.
At the end of my tour in Korea my
MOT (Month of Travel) return date was
delayed twelve days in May because of
the accidental death of three airmen on
the flight line due to the accidental discharge
of gunnery from an F-84. I took
the opportunity to travel 83 miles on a
dirt road paralleling the Naktong River,
which involved a 5-hour journey north
and a 5-hour return trip in a “6-by.”
K-2 was located about five miles
from Taegu. My purpose was to visit
Bill Schwencer and say goodbye. He
was at the Naktong Gunnery Range, a
tent enclave which housed 27 men who
maintained the gunnery site. I purposely
missed the return trucks to K-2,
which meant I had to spend a few more
days at the site waiting for the next supply
delivery trucks to show up.
At the time, I really didn’t know
where I was, but my trip was very
instructional as to the frequent arrival
of jets discharging bombs and rockets in
My purpose in writing this article is not just to recall the
Naktong Gunnery Range. Rather, it is to locate someone
who remembers the location. That might be someone who
was stationed at the site, or a pilot who could help me
locate the area or some historical record which would pinpoint
the area.
practice runs. I recall that Lt. Jerry
Zohn, the young 23-year-old commander
of the camp, had taken into custody a
young mother for being at the bombing
site. He scolded her. She was wearing
the traditional hanbok dress. As a result,
she exposed her breasts in a heated conversation.
He still remembered that
incident in a phone call we had three
years ago! We could remember that, but
we cannot determine the exact the location
of the site over 50 years later.
Zohn also indicated that he thought
the site could have been as little as 30
miles from Taegu, whereas Bill
Schwencer told me it was 100 miles
from K-2, judging from his trips back
and forth. My written records from that
time indicate 83 miles and a 5-hour,
non-stop trip. I also wrote down the
exact times, which I possess today.
In 1953, I wondered where the site
was located. After four subsequent trips
to Korea, and witnessing firsthand all
the surprising changes to the country, I
wondered where I had been. Two of
these trips were revisits and 2 were
tourist type. I paid for one of the revisits
and joined a miscellaneous group of
veterans not connected to the KWVA.
In 2005 I made a sponsored revisit.
As a result of my visits, I have an
obsession to return to the site, since in
my “Passion for Korea“ trip we ended
up at Hahoe, a 500-year-old historical
village close to Andong, which is one of
the rare places still containing traditional
mud plaster with straw roof housing.
Hahoe, which is on the Naktong River
and on the freeway from Taegu, was
only around a one-hour drive on the
bus. On modern maps the road does not
follow the Naktong River and tunnels
more directly through mountains.
After returning home, I looked at my
1953 photos and the ones taken in the
fall of 2007. I was amazed that the
mountain profile looked almost the
same, except they are forested today.
After spending hours on the computer
looking at You Tube and Google
satellite views of the Naktong River,
which show every sandbar, and photos
posted for Hahoe and the surrounding
area, I cannot absolutely verify it was
the same place. Some clues say yes,
this is the spot; other clues make me
doubtful.
The bombing site was on a sandbar
with empty jet fuel barrels shaped in the
form of an arrow to lead the planes to
the built-up target, which had to be
rebuilt after each strike series. The road
itself involved crossing the Naktong
River over partially destroyed and very
narrow bridges, which also involved
crossing through the shallow part of the
river.
As we approached the gunnery site,
we turned off the dirt connecting road
between Taegu and Seoul to a transit
road that was restricted for only military
vehicles, and later entered the site
next to a narrow cliff-side entry.
My purpose in writing this article is
not just to recall the Naktong Gunnery
Range. Rather, it is to locate someone
who remembers the location. That
might be someone who was stationed at
the site, or a pilot who could help me
locate the area or some historical record
which would pinpoint the area. The site
had been granted to the U.S. government
by the Korean government in
September 1951.
May – June 2010
The Graybeards