Jan/Feb 2006 - Korean War Veterans Association

22
There is a fourteen-hour difference
between the Eastern Time Zone in the
United States and the Korean
Peninsula. When it was 2 p.m. on June 24,
1950 at Fort Benjamin Harrison in
Indianapolis, it was a little after 4 a.m. on
June 25, 1950 in Seoul, Korea. Army reserve
Sergeants Bob Riggs and Marty Logan were
happily drinking beer in the NCO Club of Ft.
Harrison and thinking how much softer it
was in the army now than when they were
with the 82nd Airborne and 86th Infantry
Division respectively five or six years earlier.
While the men talked of “the good old
days,” the North Korean army opened up
with a heavy barrage of artillery and mortars
on the Ongjin Peninsula north of Seoul and
followed up with a ground attack across the
38th Parallel.
When the North Korean army crossed the
38th Parallel to attack the Republic of Korea
(South Korea) on June 25, 1950, the 424th
Field Artillery Battalion was an Indiana
reserve unit consisting of 32 officers and 8
sergeants. Two days later, with an exchange
of active and inactive reserve personnel from
the 769th Field Artillery Battalion, the 424th
grew to 24 officers and 101 enlisted men.
In September 1950 the battalion was formally
activated and assigned to Camp
Rucker, Alabama. Although it was designated
as an 8-inch howitzer battalion, the total
equipment for the entire unit was one
entrenching tool and two pairs of asbestos
gloves. With the exception of M/Sgt.
Kenneth Roll of Shelbyville, Indiana, a
World War II infantryman and artilleryman,
The 424 crew in action
Unit History
424th Field
Artillery
Battalion
in the
Korean War
no one in the 424th had ever seen an 8-inch
howitzer.
Major Joseph N. Myers, the battalion
executive officer, led the advance party to
Camp Rucker. “We drove our own cars so
we would have transportation when we
arrived. I went to the headquarters building
to report in and obtain quarters for the main
body of troops scheduled to arrive shortly,.”
he recalled.
Luckily, Major Myers found a familiar
face when he needed it most, he recounted.
“Behind the counter was a warrant officer,
Mr. Quinto. Mr. Quinto had been with my
old outfit, the 1st Armored Division, in North
Africa and Italy. He recognized the 1st
Armored patch on my shirt and told me he
would give me the best that he had. The best
deal he had wasn’t much.”
“Armadillos and rattle snakes as big
around as my arm infested the old barracks,
orderly rooms, mess halls and day rooms,”
said Major Myers. “Chasing livestock out of
our living quarters was a disagreeable task.”
Within a couple weeks, fillers began
arriving from Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
Soon, the battalion was up to half strength in
men, but sadly lacking in equipment at all
levels. The battalion vehicles consisted of the
personal autos the cadre had driven from
Indianapolis to Camp Rucker. The officers
and NCOs used their own funds to purchase
the necessary utility equipment and supplies.
Everyone, regardless of rank, pitched in to
make the area livable.
Just as the 8-inch guns and heavy equipment
began to arrive, the entire area at Camp
Rucker was turned over to a National Guard
outfit, and the 424th was deployed to Camp
Polk, Louisiana. This camp was in no better
shape than Camp Rucker was when the battalion
arrived. Soon, the men were calling
themselves the 424th Clean-up Battalion.
More fillers arrived from all over the
United States, and intensive advanced training
followed basic training. The unit’s motto
was, “NO POINT IN BEING SECOND
BEST.” From the commanding officer, Lt.
Col. Daniel Schaefer, down to the newest
recruit, it was every man’s objective to live
up to that motto.
The next twelve months saw a full transformation.
The original 24 officers and 101
enlisted men had been augmented to a
TO&E of 31 officers, 8 warrant officers and
517 enlisted men. The battalion became the
proud possessor of twelve 8-inch towed
howitzers with M4 Prime Movers, trucks,
jeeps, tentage and mess facilities to support
itself in the field. Furthermore, the men in the
battalion knew exactly how to use their
equipment.
On 14 November 1951, the 424th
advanced party, again headed by Major
Joseph Myers, including 1st Lieutenant
Richard Hanson, M/Sgt. Kenneth Roll, Sgt.
January - February F
2006
The Graybeards