gray01 Jan-Feb 2011_Gray01_Jan-Feb 2005.qxd - Korean War ...

60th Anniversary Memories
threw a grenade into the boat, killing a
Chief Petty Officer and wounding a couple
crew members.
The other members from the ship had
weapons. They opened fire, killing the
Koreans. The ship took her dead and
wounded back to Japan. She would be
back in a week. So, we met with Toucan.
During the day, we would sweep mines
to keep a five-mile sea lane open from
Wonsan to the Yalu River. Between our
two minesweepers, we could make a quarter
of a mile in one pass, so we swept during
the day and patrolled at night.
At night time, we would be a half mile
off shore. Once in a while we would catch
North Korean convoys coming from the
north and heading south. As a result, our
gunnery crews got some target practice.
We stayed in North Korea for two
months at a time, after which we would go
back to Sasebo for R&R. While there, we
resupplied and took on fuel and ammo. On
the second trip we made back to the Yalu
River, we encountered the same situation
as did our sister ship earlier.
Some North Koreans came out from
the village to surrender. I guess they wanted
to get out of the war zone with their
children. So, we took them aboard, making
sure they had no weapons or grenades.
We notified naval command that we had
these prisoners. They instructed us to take
them down to an island below Wonsan,
where there was a POW camp. After we
did that, we returned to North Korea to
meet with Toucan and resume sweeping
the sea lanes and patrolling at night.
After two months we returned to
Sasebo for R&R and to resupply our ship.
That was our routine. On our third trip to
the north we were sweeping up near the
Yalu River, when another boat came out
from a village. Our captain did not want to
make the trip down to the POW island
again, so he radioed a South Korean patrol
boat we had down the coast from us and
asked its commander to take these people
aboard and transport them down to
Wonsan.
The patrol boat was actually one of our
PT boats, but without torpedoes. It had a
twin fifty-caliber machine gun in a turret.
When the patrol boat reached our position,
it did not even slow down. It approached
speeding by us from our stern to the bow,
firing its fifty calibers across our bow
toward the people in the boat, killing them
all. I think there were 6 or 8 of them. Our
captain raised the patrol boat on the radio
and asked the South Korean captain why
he killed all those civilians.
The South Korean replied simply, “We
don’t take prisoners.” The two captains
exchanged some angry words after that.
Our captain declared that if it weren’t
for the possibility that doing so would not
cause a big commotion between the South
Korean and U.S. governments, he would
have blown that patrol boat out of the
water. To put it mildly, he was irate.
Later that night, we had the watch. I
stood it with a Chief Warrant Officer
named Hartmann. We had the 8 p.m. to
midnight watch. It was a clear, moonlit
night, and the seas were calm. We were on
the flying bridge when we came by the
area where the shooting had happened earlier
in the day. We could see the dorsal fins
of the sharks. I guess they were feeding on
these poor civilians who were killed. That
was not a pretty sight.
We worked our way down the coast of
Korea, sweeping as we went. Just above
Wonsan was an island called Songjin.
During WWII the Japanese had used
Korean slave labor to honey-comb this
island. They put their cannons on railroad
wheels and laid tracks so they could wheel
them to openings and shoot at our ships.
We were on patrol, coming down the
coast of Korea. We were about four miles
from shore. At about 6: 30 a.m., the warrant
officer and I detected two splashes in
the water on the starboard side. I said,
“They are firing at us from Songjin.”
I hurriedly took a fix on the location
from where the shells emanated. We
turned to our port going out to sea and
sounded general quarters. When our captain
came on the bridge, we told him what
happened. We saw a destroyer down the
coast from us and radioed it. As it
approached us, we gave him the bearing
and distance from us. The destroyer laid a
white phosphorous shell in there and the
area became filled with white smoke.
We went back towards Songjin and
opened fire with our three-inch gun. Its
range was three miles. We fired about ten
rounds before the captain gave the order to
cease fire. We went back out to the fivemile
limit from shore, rejoined Toucan,
and resumed our duties of sweeping down
around Wonsan.
After this two-month period ended, we
returned to Sasebo. I was transferred off
the ship. I was due for discharge. The
Navy sent me back to San Diego, where I
was processed and discharged.
When I got home, people did not even
look at me. No one other than my parents
and fiancé said “Thank you” or “Welcome
home.” I just got on with my life.
I married and raised a family. Here it is
sixty years later! I just received a letter
from the President of South Korea thanking
us for our service in Korea, as did
thousands of other Korean War veterans
who were there sixty years ago.
I also received a Presidential Unit
Citation from the South Korean government
and from our United States government.
I have fond memories of our time in
Korea. Those we will never lose!
Under age, but overly eager
Marvin Nigg, from Chicago, IL,
joined the Marines on his 17th birthday.
His father wouldn’t sign for him; his
mother had passed away when he was
young. So, he signed his father’s name.
Marvin spent Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day at Parris Island. After boot
camp he was picked to go on a
Mediterranean cruise. He thought this was
great. Then, the Korean War began.
Nigg was taken off the heavy cruiser
and put on a troop ship that sailed through
the Suez Canal to Japan. He volunteered
to be in the Raider Battalion. But, Gen.
MacArthur changed his mind and decided
at the time to make the Inchon Landing.
After about two weeks of reorganization
aboard ship, the Raiders became the 7th
Marines.
As the troop ship was leaving, the
Marines found out that Nigg was underage.
With all the confusion aboard ship, he
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The Graybeards
January – February 2011