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

Senator meets with Korean War vets
Senator Wyden meets with
Korean War veterans in Mayor
Mike Murphy’s office in Grants
Pass, Oregon (Photo by Dean
Bosche)
What the CIB
means to me
By Joe Langone
U
.S. Senator Ron Wyden
(D-OR) invited Korean
War veterans to a meeting in
the office of Grants Pass’
Mayor Mike Murphy in
2010, as he has done for several years. The
meeting was a prelude to a town meeting to
be held down the street.
Wyden began the mini-meeting by asking
Department of Oregon Commander
Neil McCain to open with the Pledge of
Allegiance. Following that, McCain presented
to the senator’s group copies of the
Oregon Calendar he had created. It depicts
the incidents that happened in Korea from
June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953 and includes
a memorial for each month honoring a service
member who was killed in action that
month.
McCain also presented a booklet that
lists all KIAs from Oregon by county and
the branch of the service in which they
served and a CD which contains the calendar
and the Oregon KIAs in one file.
Senator Wyden asked if he could share the
booklet.
McCain said, “Since I made these, and
there is no copyright, I would consider it an
honor for you to share them.” Moreover, he
suggested that Chapter 315 Chaplain Ron
Duke read the Senate Bill 1877, which
encourages all vets and military personnel
not in uniform to salute the flag in circumstances
when it is honored, e.g., during the
playing of the National Anthem. The
Senator agreed to the idea.
Wyden also accepted the suggestion that
he read the names of the Korean War KIAs
from Josephine County, as he has done in
the past. Following the meeting in the
mayor’s office, the group walked about a
half a block to the building in which the
town meeting was to be held. Seats were
reserved there in the front war for Korean
War veterans.
Mayor Murphy introduced McCain to
the 85 people in the audience. McCain
asked all the veterans in the crowd to show
their hands. More than half of the audience
raised their hands. Next, he introduced
Duke, who read the information about SB
1877.
The next person to participate was CID
315 Director Vern Beck, who has a gifted
voice that all can hear without a public
address system. Beck read the Pledge of
Allegiance. McCain reported that he was
facing the flag, which prevented him from
seeing the audience directly. But, several
people told him that almost all the veterans
in the crowd saluted the flag. Obviously, the
exposure to SB 1877 had an immediate
impact on them.
Finally, Senator Wyden read the list of
KIAs from Josephine County and asked for
a moment of silence in their honor. The
“moment” of respect for the KIAs lasted for
a full minute, which the senator ended with
a heartfelt “Amen.” That ended the KWVA
representatives’ participation, since the
meeting itself was 100% politics. They simply
remained in their reserved seats.
At the end of the meeting, many people
came to shake our hands and thank us for
our service. McCain slipped away as the
Senator was leaving to thank him for the
reading and remembrance. To McCain’s
surprise, the senator stated that he planned
to read at each town meeting the names of
the fallen on my list from the county in
which the meeting was held. That was a significant
gesture, since every one of the 36
counties in Oregon except one had suffered
at least one Korean War casualty.
Neil M. McCain, 541-660-6104,
http://www.kwvador.com/kwvaservice.htm
“It is awarded to those who actually
fought against an armed enemy of the
United States in ground combat. I hope
you never get the chance to win one,
but if you do, you better do us, who
earned it, proud.”
When I was a thirteen-year-old boy I
wanted to be an infantryman. I never
played cops and robbers, but I always
played games mimicking the Marine
infantry hitting the beaches in the South
Pacific. When I turned eighteen, I joined
the Army and requested an infantry company.
I was soon on my way to Fort Dix,
New Jersey, having been assigned to the
9th Infantry Division to do my basic training.
Back in the late 1940s, most of the
Soldiers making up the U.S. Army were
poor and usually had only an eighth grade
education, or a few years of high school
behind them. But, we had other attributes
going for us. We were strong, tough, wiry,
and eager to learn.
Most of us who had looked to this
moment most of our young lives took to
the training like ducks taking to water. We
admired our sergeants and officers, as most
of them were WWII veterans.
I remember the first time I saw a
Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) on the
dress uniform of one of our sergeants.
“What’s the badge for, Sarge?” I asked
one of our drill sergeants.
He just looked at me as though asking
himself, “Can this kid really be this stupid?”
“It’s called the Combat Infantryman
Badge,” he explained. “It is awarded to
those who actually fought against an
armed enemy of the United States in
Continued on page 70
29
The Graybeards
January – February 2011