Jan/Feb 2010 - Korean War Veterans Association

in the dark seemed impossible. The strung cable, the call in lighting
pattern, and the amount of defense set up in the area were
believed to have been a decoy trap.
They called for a “lighting bug” (a plane in the area with parachute-dropped
flares used to light target areas), which happened to
be close by and lighted their escape route. These guys also gave
those ground shooters a second target. They did make it back to the
other B-26 air strip. Later the next morning they did catch a ride
back to our base at Pusan.
I have heard the story many times, because it was my Air Force
buddy who was the gunner on that flight. Dewayne and I were
together during basic, schooling, and the same squadron in Korea.
Today, he lives some 50 miles north of me in Saginaw, and we
attend the Korean Vet meetings together.
A year or two ago they had his picture in The Graybeards being
awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross—some fifty years after
that memorable evening.
When he failed to return during the night, the guys all second
guessed that they were MIA. He showed up about 10 a.m.—and
immediately started some heavy drinking. Sometime in the afternoon
he was out, so we removed his mattress pad, laid him on the
bed springs in his clothes, and placed the mattress pad over him.
That was our welcome back party. But, to this day I can’t figure
why he wanted to sleep on those springs. All is well when all ends
well.
We lost many planes and good guys, but if we returned after a
mission, we looked for a couple shots of booze and a dry cot.
Hopefully, we put a major stop in the movement of their supplies
coming out of China.
For the record, our squadron worked the west side of North
Korea up in the area of Sinanju, a main artery coming out of China.
James Greiner, 930 Oda St.
Davison, MI 48423, (810) 653-7311
POW in Korea before June 1950: probably fantasy
Unless the mysterious Navy corpsman can produce a great deal
of corroborating evidence of his pre-June 25, 1950 Korean captivity,
I would regard his story as fantasy.
I’ve written Marine Corps history for thirty years and Korean
War history for fifteen years. In A House Burning: The War for
Korea. 1945-1950 (University Press of Kansas, 2005), I wrote a
detailed history of the U.S. Army Forces in Korea, the U.S. Army
Military Government in Korea, and the Korean Military Advisory
Group (KMAG). Five of my graduate students, U.S. Army and
ROK Army officers, wrote doctoral dissertations that dealt with the
U.S. and ROK armed forces in Korean and Japan, 1945-1953.
I have just finished a book on the Korean War, 1950-1951, and
I have completed research on the last book of my trilogy, 1951-
1954, which “ends” the war with the Geneva Conference, not the
Armistice.
From 1981 until 1990 my retirement, I served in five different
reserve assignments that dealt with Marine Corps history. I have
done original documentary research on the POW issue in depth, and
I work closely with the Joint Personnel Accounting Command.
In all these years of research and writing, years in which I
worked with many other Korean War and Marine Corps historians,
I never heard any mention of an incident as described in your story.
I’ve also learned never to say “never” about bizarre incidents, but
this particular tale does not strike me as plausible.
Perhaps some KWVA member can find out the “Navy corpsman’s”
name and allow us to check his record.
Allan R. Millett, Ph.D. Col. USMCR (Ret.)
Ambrose Professor of History, Univ. of New Orleans,
135 Liberal Arts Building, 2001 Lakeshore Drive
New Orleans, LA 70148, (504) 280-6611
Speaking of Bonuses: Info for vets from Illinois
I received a letter from my police union in Illinois. The article
notes the State of Illinois is giving a bonus to veterans from Illinois.
Here is the information from the State of Illinois Department of
Veterans Affairs website.
STATE OF ILLINOIS VETERANS’ BENEFITS
BONUS PAYMENT
World War II. A bonus of $10 per month for domestic service and $15
per month for foreign service is payable to a veteran who was a resident
of Illinois at time of entering service, served at least 60 days on
active duty between September 16, 1940 and September 3, 1945, and
received an honorable discharge. Survivors are entitled to a benefit of
$1,000, if the veteran’s death was service-connected and within the
period specified.
Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf Conflict Bonus. A $100 bonus is
payable for service during one of the following periods:
Korea - June 27, 1950 - July 27, 1953
Vietnam - January 1, 1961 - March 28, 1973
Vietnam Frequent Wind - April 29, 30, 1975
Persian Gulf - August 2, 1990 - November 30, 1995.
The claimant must also be in receipt of one of the following medals:
Korean Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Armed Forces
Expeditionary Medal Vietnam Era or the Southwest Asia Service Medal;
and have been a resident of Illinois for 12 months immediately prior to
entering service and have received an Honorable Discharge. (Individuals
currently on active duty who served in the Persian Gulf may apply prior
to discharge.)
You can download a copy of the bonus application in PDF format, print
it out, fill it in, and mail it to us.
Access this website for the forms: http://www.veterans.illinois.gov/benefits.htm.
The phone number for the office is (312)
814-2460.
John Sonley (Korea 1951)
Jwscpd8@aol.com
Who was the other medic?
I went to Korea in October of 1951 and was assigned to B
Company, 19th Infantry, 24th Division. I was sent up as a medic,
even though I had no ‘formal’ medical training.
In January of 1952 the 24th went to Japan. A fellow medic from
A Company and I were left behind to ‘train’ the new medics from
the 40th Division. They were a California National Guard outfit and
they outranked us big time. Needless to say, they would not listen
to us as they had extensive medical experience (so they said), and
we both requested to return to the Division in Japan or transfers.
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The Graybeards
January – February 2010