MyQuestions

My Interview Questions

In 1952 I was teaching school in Underhill, Wisconsin and got a draft notice to report for duty on November 12th. I left for the Army on my Dad’s birthday. I think that was the first time I saw him cry, except maybe at a funeral. I did my basic training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky for 16 weeks. I trained for heavy weapons and was an expert marksman. In Korea I was assigned to the 40th Division, 223 Regiment to Company D which was in heavy weapons. After my records caught up to me I was asked to serve in Headquarters Co. I was in the 4 point zone (considered to be the danger zone) while the War was on. The Captain came in one morning and said to me ‘pack up all your belongings as you may not be coming back here.’ A jeep was waiting for me and I was driven to Division Headquarters. On the way down, I thought what happened? I honestly thought something happened to my parents. When the Colonel at Division met me, I asked him what had happened. He said that I would be working on the Prisoner of War Exchange and that the War would stop in about three weeks. I was so happy that I shed a few tears. After that, they flew me down to Munson-ni and our work began on Operation Big Switch. I was one of only three soldiers to interview the returning soldiers and the only one who went to the hospital to interview the litter cases. When they came up to be interviewed, we didn’t know how they would react. Every one of the POWs was different, just like us. Different camps had different problems. For the first time, the North Koreans used psychological warfare to torment the soldiers. They told the African Americans that they didn’t have equal rights in America. They told the enlisted men they were not treated as well as the officers and kept them apart. They talked to a colonel and then spliced the tapes together to have him say that the US used biological warfare and played it for the prisoners. I could talk for days on this but this gives you an idea of what happened. What some of our servicemen suffered was pretty gory. Being a prisoner is very tough. I was lucky. I had a chance to go to Officers Training School and to Airborne Jump School but turned them down as I did not want a career in the Army. When I went back to my regiment I taught soldiers how to read and write. I was a Troop Information and Education Officer. I left Korea on my 23rd birthday, April 30th, 1854. It was the best present ever. When I came back to the States I went to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. I taught the soldiers and helped two other officers start a book on army administration. They asked me to stay in but I wanted to become a civilian. I was discharged on August 30, 1954 in an early discharge to go back to college. I was so fortunate to be in Korea. I wouldn’t take a million dollars for the things I saw and did. But I would not take a million to go back. When I was there I met the President of Korea, Sigmon Rhea and his wife. I also met General Dean, who was a POW, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and I even saw Marilyn Monroe and other Hollywood stars who came to see the POWs. The soldiers working on the POW exchange worked long hours to bring the records up to date records up to date. There wasn’t a person there who complained. That was a very sobering time for all of us. We knew how everyone died or were captured. A kid from my high school got killed and he was a friend and played football with me. My sister in law Doris had a brother killed just before the War ended. Every man who returned is owed a lot by us but I bet they would not ask for anything. They were doing their duty. The people of America take the armed forces for granted. I could relate a lot of stories that might scare you. I am sure your Grandpa and Great Uncle Ervin would have also had stories about what happened to them during WWII. I know how hard it was on my folks when they were in. Families suffer together in times of war. On a lighter note, once when they were at the movies your grandpa and grandma saw me in a newsreel interviewing the POWs. They told me that your Grandpa stood up right in the middle of the newsreel and yelled “That’s my brother!”
 * ** How did you come to serve in the Korean War? **
 * ** Where was basic training? **
 * ** Where were you assigned after training? **
 * ** How did you come to interview the returning POWs? **
 * ** What did the POWs say? **
 * ** What other jobs did you do? **
 * ** What did you think about your service in Korea? **
 * ** Are there any other stories you can tell me? **