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Korean War

SSgt John (Johnny) R. Cash, U.S. Air Force (1950-1954)

SSgt John (Johnny) R. Cash, U.S. Air Force (1950-1954)

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Johnny Cash, also known as the "Man in Black," is a legendary figure in the world of country music. He received numerous prestigious awards throughout his career as a musician. He won 15 Grammy Awards, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996. Cash's contributions to American music also earned him inductions into several other halls of fame, including the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. But before he became a music icon, he served his country in the military. Cash's military service played a significant role in shaping his character and influencing his music. Although his time in the military was relatively brief, it had a profound impact on his life and career.  Johnny Cash’s Early Life The legend who would become Johnny Cash was born in 1932 into the Cash family of poor cotton farmers in Kingsland, Arkansas. Known simply as J.R. growing up, Cash grew up in a government resettlement...

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PV2 Robert Duvall, U.S. Army (1953 – 1954)

PV2 Robert Duvall, U.S. Army (1953 – 1954)

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Robert Duvall is best known for his 70-plus years in Hollywood, playing such iconic military roles as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now," Maj. Frank Burns in "M*A*S*H" and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in the TV miniseries "Ike: The War Years." But did you know that before his acting career took off, Robert Duvall served in the Army, shortly after the end of the Korean War?  Robert Duvall’s Early Life Actor and filmmaker Robert Duvall was born in San Diego, but grew up a Navy brat — an endearing term for a child whose parent is on active military duty. Duvall's father was Navy Rear Admiral William Howard Duvall. His tenure included the time of the Tailhook scandal; he and Rear Admiral John E. Gordon were tasked with conducting the investigation. Robert Duvall’s mother was a relative of American Civil War General Robert E. Lee, and a member of the Lee Family of Virginia, while his father was a descendant of settler Mareen Duvall. Admiral Duvall wanted young Robert to attend...

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Sergeant Reckless: America’s War Horse

Sergeant Reckless: America’s War Horse

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The young filly showed great promise every time she ran a race. Many believed she would be a prize winner. But she never got the chance. In June 1950, North Korean troops stormed across the border between South Korea in a surprise attack that changed life on the Korean Peninsula. It also brought the sport of horseracing to a standstill. With no races to run, owning racehorses became a financial liability for their owners. Like many others, she was abandoned at the Seoul racetrack. A young Korean stable boy named Kim Huk Moon took overfeeding, watering and grooming her. Why Did Kim Sell His Horse? In October 1952 some U.S. Marines from the 5th Marines' Anti-Tank Company's Recoilless Rifle Platoon discovered the young filly and decided she'd be valuable for carrying supplies into combat. The platoon leader, Lt. Eric Pederson, paid $250 of his own money to buy her. The only reason Kim sold his beloved horse was so he could buy an artificial leg for his older sister, Chung Soon, who lost...

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Lt Gen Lewis “Chesty” Puller, U.S.Marine Corps (1919-1955)

Lt Gen Lewis “Chesty” Puller, U.S.Marine Corps (1919-1955)

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"Lewis Burwell ' Chesty' Puller, born in the 19th century, fought in the heaviest fighting of the 20th century and is now a legend in this century. The most decorated Marine to ever wear the uniform, and also the most beloved, Puller left a mark on the Marine Corps that would define its culture for years to come." - Michael Lane Smith Biography of Lewis "Chesty" Puller The son of a grocer, Lewis "Chesty" Puller was born June 26, 1898, at West Point, Virginia, to Matthew and Martha Puller. He loved hunting and fishing and was a military history buff who grew up listening to old veterans' tales of the American Civil War and idolizing Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. He was forced to help support his family after his father's death when he was ten. Puller attempted to join the U.S. Army in 1916 to take part in the Punitive Expedition to capture Mexican leader Pancho Villa, but he was too young and his mother refuses to grant parental consent. In 1917, he followed his martial interest to...

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Col Ola Lee Mize, U.S. Army (1950-1981)

Col Ola Lee Mize, U.S. Army (1950-1981)

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Ola Lee Mize was born August 28, 1931, in Albertville, Alabama as the son of a sharecropper. He was forced to leave school after just the ninth grade to help his family put food on the table, as was very common throughout the United States in that era. Mize's Military Service Mize tried several times to enlist in the Army but was rejected for being too light at just 120 pounds. He finally got in when his mother signed an affidavit to affirm his age since a tornado had destroyed all his town's records while he was young. But once in the Army, a bigger problem was looming. Mize was virtually blind in one eye, which had been accidentally pierced with an ice pick when he was five years old. The vision exam for the Army at that time involved holding a paddle over one eye and looking at the chart with the other. He passed the test by briskly switching paddles in a way that made it look as if he was switching eyes. He had practiced this bit of subterfuge with spoons beforehand. Ola Lee Mize...

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Everything You Need to Know About the Korean War

Everything You Need to Know About the Korean War

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The Korean War was the first time the United States military engaged in a shooting conflict after the end of World War II; it was also the first of many sparks that really turned the Cold War hot. From 1950 to 1953, the Korean War was at the forefront of American minds and politics. A public emerging from the World War II years and weary of fighting didn't fully understand the threat of Communism or the Truman administration's "containment" strategy - which meant they didn't fully understand what happened in the first place. Initially, the war was popular because the threat of Communism had loomed over the U.S. and her allies since the end of World War II. It was popular for the United States to take action against it. However, as the war ground on, all the American public knew was that it certainly didn't end the way they wanted it to. The Beginning of the Korean War On June 25, 1950 - 70 years ago - North Korean tanks rolled across the 38th parallel and over the South Korean...

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On Desperate Ground by Hampton Sides

On Desperate Ground by Hampton Sides

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On October 15, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of UN troops in Korea, convinced President Harry Truman that the Communist forces of Kim Il-sung would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving. The Chinese, he said with near certainty, would not intervene in the war. As he was speaking, 300,000 Red Chinese soldiers began secretly crossing the Manchurian border. Led by some 20,000 men of the First Marine Division, the Americans moved deep into the snowy mountains of North Korea, toward the trap Mao had set for the vainglorious MacArthur along the frozen shores of the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic - and harrowing - operations in All US Air Force operations are oriented around the official Air Force Doctrine. Responsibility for developing doctrine rests on the Curtis E Lemay Center for Doctrine Development and Education at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Doctrine exists to guide the Air Force in the effective American military history, and one...

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An Airman’s Journey by Robert M. Fletcher

An Airman’s Journey by Robert M. Fletcher

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From the Korean War to the Vietnam War era, the author shares his memories and provides photos of his service with the U.S. Army and with his career the U.S. Air Force.  Covered in the early part of the book are details of how he is exposed to military life, the drudgery of barracks duties, like cleaning latrines, and the kitchen police, overcoming all of those to become a surgical technician, and getting assigned to different air bases to finally reach a forward station in South Korea.  He recounts the many instances of near-fatal attacks during his stint in South Korea during the Korean War, along with a tour of Japan. His long list of adventures includes returning from Japan to do a tour in Germany. The book is replete with humorous experiences like guarding the Commander's dog or inventing a real 'sob story' to arrange a compassionate transfer, or his escapades with girls nationally as well as abroad. The memoir has a very good collection of photographs of people, events, and...

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LTJG Neil Alden Armstrong, U.S. Navy (1949-1952)

LTJG Neil Alden Armstrong, U.S. Navy (1949-1952)

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Neil Alden Armstrong who served in the US Navy between 1949 and 1952, is better known as the first man to walk on the Moon. His iconic announcement ‘One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind,’ and first steps on an extraterrestrial body were broadcast to over 650 million people: around a fifth of the total world population. Armstrong’s path to becoming the most iconic and famous astronaut of all time began near Wapakoneta, Ohio. Neil Armstrong’s Military Career Born on August 5, 1930, Neil Alden Armstrong developed an early interest in flying and gained his student flight certificate at the age of 16, before he even gained his driver’s license. At the age of 17, Armstrong received a Navy scholarship under the Holloway Plan, studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue University. With his scholarship, Armstrong was required to undergo two years of study prior to two years of flight training, as well as a full year of service in the US Navy as an aviator. Once those years...

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Famous Army Units: 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (Mash)

Famous Army Units: 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (Mash)

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In stark contrast with the mission of combat forces, the US Army Medical Corps are committed to providing aid and comfort to the injured: wounded soldiers, civilians and at times even enemy personnel.  There are no medals, no glory, and heroism is measured in blood, sweat and tears.  Though the Korean War has been regarded as a failure by many because of its indecisive outcomes, in one area it was an unbridled success-saving lives.  When the war broke out in Korea on June 25, 1950, there were only two hundred doctors in the entire Far East Command (Japan, Guam, the Philippines, and Korea).  To ensure combat medical services, Congress quickly passed the Doctors Draft Act, requiring all doctors under the age of fifty-one to register for military service.  As a result, ninety percent of all staff doctors in Korea were draftees, displaying a more relaxed attitude about Army rules, regulations, and discipline.  At this same time, the Army authorized new...

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Famous Marine Corps Units: George Company (G Co), 3rd Bn, 1st Marine Regiment

Famous Marine Corps Units: George Company (G Co), 3rd Bn, 1st Marine Regiment

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The 1st Marine Division, the oldest and largest active duty division of the United States Marines is perhaps best known by the nickname coined following World War II, “The Old Breed”.  With a long and distinguished history, no subordinate unit better reflects the honor and best traditions of the Marine Corp than the 3rd Battalion, G Company during the Korean War.  George Company served gallantly spanning Incheon, Seoul, Wonsan landings and Chosin Reservoir, pushing the limits of human endurance, but in the final days of the war would have to fight for their lives less than six miles from the site of the armistice, eerily reminiscent of World War I when soldiers were sent to their deaths up until the final moments of the war. George Company's Gallant Service 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines (3-1) was reactivated August 4, 1950 for a rapid September deployment to Korea.  The Marines of George Company were an uncommonly diverse cross-section of American society, small towns and...

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Ted Williams’ Cryogenically Frozen Head

Ted Williams’ Cryogenically Frozen Head

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Despite urban legends that say otherwise, Walt Disney was not the most famous person who had their remains cryogenically frozen in the hopes of a future revival. Disney wasn't frozen at all - but baseball legend and Korean War veteran Ted Williams was.  The legend of Ted Williams' frozen body has been the subject of rumor and speculation that it was just as much a myth and urban legend as that of Walt Disney's. Mostly because his will stated that he wanted to be cremated. In the end, a "family pact" written on a bar napkin prevailed in court, and "The Thumper" went to the freezer.  Widely regarded as one of the best baseball players in history, "Teddy Ballgame" caught hell from the American media when he appealed his 1-A draft classification early in World War II to change it to 3-A. He was his mother's sole source of financial support. He instead enlisted in the Naval Reserve. Ted Williams taken part in World War II and Korean War Williams spent the early years of World...

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