Jan/Feb 2010 - Korean War Veterans Association

64
I went to A Company, 23rd Regiment, 2nd Division as a rifleman.
I do not know what happened to the other guy.
As a letter writer wrote in The Graybeards, the French were
indeed with the 1st Battalion of the 23rd Regiment when I went to
a hospital in June and rotated back to the States.
Finally, Pennsylvania did give a Korean War Veteran’s Bonus,
but I do not recall the amount.
Tom Donaghy, Flagler Beach, FL, atomtomd@cfl.rr.com
Speaking of Medics, here’s one who is surprised to
see his picture
I was pleasantly surprised to see “my picture” in the
November—December 2009 issue of The Graybeards on page 63. I
am the person at the right rear of the stretcher.
I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman serving at the 2nd Battalion,
1st Marines Aid Station, where that picture was taken. As I remember
it, two Marines were carrying coils of concertina wire on steel
poles resting on their shoulders. Somebody triggered a “Bouncing
Betty” mine, which went up into the barbed wire coils and exploded.
I think the wire coils helped contain the force of the explosion,
but many in the wiring party were peppered with metal fragments. I
can still see the pieces of metal sticking out from their arms, legs
and faces and the ruptured eye of one Marine dangling on his check.
Those things are hard to forget.
The armored vests and helmets worn by Marines at this time
probably saved many lives. I do not remember how many were
injured, but I remember quite a few were in the aid station.
The person in front of me carrying the stretcher was a First-Class
Petty Officer Navy Corpsman whose name I have forgotten. I do
not know who the Marines (wearing helmets) carrying the stretcher
are.
According to the 2/1 Historical Diary, the 1/5 Marines replaced
2/1 on the MLR about the end of January, 1953. I believe there were
Marines from 1/5 in the 2/1 area preparing for their move prior to
this time, but do not remember when this event happened.
Richard Payne
rlpaynewa@yahoo.com
Did we eat the same C-Rats?
Some of the C-Rats mentioned in previous issues reminded me
of unlabeled containers regarding the contents.
I was at Yong-Dong Po with the 6167 Air Base Group. We had
rations, but there were four unmarked cans in my bed area. I
inquired of everyone whether they knew what was in the cans. No
one knew, but people did say that the cans had been around a long
time.
One day curiosity got the best of me and I opened one. Lo and
behold, it contained Canadian bacon. That was some good eating!
Several other people laid claim to the rest of the cans.
Robert McKeever, 1083 E. Rio Mesa Trail, Cottonwood,
AZ 86326
Those great C-Rations
In July of 1952 I was with the Tank Company of the 279th Inf.
Regt., 45th Inf. Div. We were moving from the Chorwon Valley of
Korea to Chunchon in the Punchbowl area. To save gas (we only
got five gallons to the
mile with our M4
tanks), they had us
load onto flat cars of a
train.
As we moved slowly
through the country,
we passed a few farmhouses.
In one area a
few urchin boys started
to run after our
train. We were on the
last flat car and they
ran barefoot alongside
us through the roadside
gravel. They started
yelling, “Hey, G.I.
Chop-chop, have a
yes.” So we started Lou Horyza in Korea
throwing them cans of
C-rations.
Then, they motioned for an opener for the cans. It dawned on us
quickly that we were throwing them our best meals. So, I decided
to get rid of my cans of corned beef hash, which none of us liked.
As soon as one boy caught the can, he looked at it and yelled,
“You som-av-a bitz,” threw it back at us—and stopped chasing our
train.
Louis P. Horyza, 667 Escuela Pl.
Milpitas, CA 95035, (408) 263-8779
loupegh@aol.com
An entire C-ration night?
Before shipping to Korea I trained at Ft. Monmouth. Monday
night was C-ration night at the mess hall. It was an excuse for me
and a bunch of classmates to take off for Eatontown and get subs
and beer—our way of avoiding the canned horror, while helping the
local economy by spending some of our great Army pay as privates.
I wish I could say that Tuesday through Sunday was a great
improvement over C-rats Monday.
My wife asked, “Well, the cooks were trained, weren’t they?”
They sure were—and it showed. The law of averages did provide a
good tray of food, occasionally. But the difference between Army
cooking and mama’s cooking was, to put it one way, depressing.
I still have my trusty P-38. Love the darn little marvel of engineering.
It’s come to the rescue in the kitchen, whenever modern
can-openers have failed to deliver.
Tony DeBlasi, 455 Shady Nook Rd.
West Newfield, ME 04095
The Perricone quadruplets did exist
In the Nov/Dec 2009 issue, there was an article on p. 23 about
the Perricone quadruplets. There was a request at the bottom asking
if anyone can verify what was written.
My son has a collection of division unit histories. He showed me
the photo of the brothers on a tank (an M-26/46). They served with
the 7th Infantry Division, 73rd Tank Bn., in Korea.
The book that contains the photo and information is titled
January – February 2010
The Graybeards