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re: Who has family members who fought in the Korean War?
Posted on 4/18/17 at 9:50 am to ChineseBandit58
Posted on 4/18/17 at 9:50 am to ChineseBandit58
I will. I have the material. I also need to get with my cousin, to get his blessing because it is his dad. I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem though. I believe he still has the letter that his dad wrote home telling my family he was still alive.
0
Posted on 4/18/17 at 9:52 am to Kramer26
I have 2 uncles that were there. One was a Frozen Chosin the was Army Artillary
Posted on 4/18/17 at 10:03 am to tigerbaitlawyer
quote:
tigerbaitlawyer
Great post. A lot of what your uncle said, my fil said the same thing. Did your uncle ever participate in the Tiger Survivors get togethers that have been held nationwide? I attended one in Memphis about 15 years ago. A very moving experience to say the least when you focused on why these guys were there at these meetings. My fil's two best war buddies were from Houma and a town in Ill. They, along with their families, remained the closest of friends throughout their entire lives until the good Lord starting calling them home.
Posted on 4/18/17 at 12:00 pm to Homesick Tiger
My grandfather was career military. Started at 17 in the Navy for WWII. Jumped to Army and served in Korea and Vietnam. He retired a Lt. Col and taught ROTC until he died early in 1979. I was only 3 so I have almost no memory of him. Just the stories from my family.
I know he had 3 Purple Hearts. One was for landing a plane on a burning ship to rescue people. Not sure of all the details here but I know he was burned in the process. That sounds like WWII. I just looked him up through Ancestry and found some records showing he was stationed on the USS Macomb. No idea of anything beyond that.
I was told he was hit in the head by a bullet. I have found a record from Korea where he was seriously injured by a missile. I always heard it was more of a bad graze than a direct hit which would make sense.
The other story I heard is that his last Purple Heart came when he got frostbite as his platoon was forced to retreat into freezing water. That seems to fit with Korea.
By time he got to Vietnam I don't think he was in actual battles anymore. He was a close assistant (or something of the sort, maybe a liason for) to a general. I want to say it was Westmoreland but I can't swear to that. By that point he was getting tired of the service and retired.
I do have one good story we got from some letters we found that he wrote to my grandmother. In one letter he mentions he just got a new rifle and went out one night to "test it out." After that it said something simple and to the point: "Got a few gooks." And that was it on that subject.
He was a very respected figure in the ROTC community in Memphis. There is an award given every year to the JROTC school that shows the most improvement. It's the second highest award you can receive. After his death they named the award in his honor. Every year I got to take the day off from school as a kid and present it to the winningj group at the awards ceremony. I checked a year or two ago and it was still there.
I wish I had a chance to get to know him. He sounds like he was a great man and I know he loved having a grandson. I stayed with my grandparents every Saturday night while my parents got a night to themselves. They said he loved to stay up late and watch horror movies with me. Probably why I turned out the way I did!
I know he had 3 Purple Hearts. One was for landing a plane on a burning ship to rescue people. Not sure of all the details here but I know he was burned in the process. That sounds like WWII. I just looked him up through Ancestry and found some records showing he was stationed on the USS Macomb. No idea of anything beyond that.
I was told he was hit in the head by a bullet. I have found a record from Korea where he was seriously injured by a missile. I always heard it was more of a bad graze than a direct hit which would make sense.
The other story I heard is that his last Purple Heart came when he got frostbite as his platoon was forced to retreat into freezing water. That seems to fit with Korea.
By time he got to Vietnam I don't think he was in actual battles anymore. He was a close assistant (or something of the sort, maybe a liason for) to a general. I want to say it was Westmoreland but I can't swear to that. By that point he was getting tired of the service and retired.
I do have one good story we got from some letters we found that he wrote to my grandmother. In one letter he mentions he just got a new rifle and went out one night to "test it out." After that it said something simple and to the point: "Got a few gooks." And that was it on that subject.
He was a very respected figure in the ROTC community in Memphis. There is an award given every year to the JROTC school that shows the most improvement. It's the second highest award you can receive. After his death they named the award in his honor. Every year I got to take the day off from school as a kid and present it to the winningj group at the awards ceremony. I checked a year or two ago and it was still there.
I wish I had a chance to get to know him. He sounds like he was a great man and I know he loved having a grandson. I stayed with my grandparents every Saturday night while my parents got a night to themselves. They said he loved to stay up late and watch horror movies with me. Probably why I turned out the way I did!
Posted on 4/18/17 at 12:31 pm to Kramer26
I had one uncle who was in and out of Korea in the Navy but never really spoke of it. He's been gone fifteen years or so.
Another uncle served in Korea and went on to retire as a Brigadier. He's still around and still full of great stories He was a very early advisor sent to Vietnam, he once commanded a squadron of tanks for the British 11th Hussars, (and led an actual cavalry detachment during Charles and Diana's wedding). Maybe two years ago he was honored at midfield at the BamaTN game, I believe his MBA was from Bama but I could be mistaken. He quit drinking a couple of years ago so he's not quite as quick to entertain the room with unlikely stories and cryptic comments about aliens but still a damned impressive man.
Another uncle served in Korea and went on to retire as a Brigadier. He's still around and still full of great stories He was a very early advisor sent to Vietnam, he once commanded a squadron of tanks for the British 11th Hussars, (and led an actual cavalry detachment during Charles and Diana's wedding). Maybe two years ago he was honored at midfield at the BamaTN game, I believe his MBA was from Bama but I could be mistaken. He quit drinking a couple of years ago so he's not quite as quick to entertain the room with unlikely stories and cryptic comments about aliens but still a damned impressive man.
This post was edited on 4/18/17 at 7:02 pm
Posted on 4/18/17 at 1:21 pm to Kramer26
Step father fought and was wounded in North Korea. A rocket nearly took his arm off and he had to walk for 3 days to get aid. Said the North Koreans were so dug into the mountains they were probably still there 40 years later. I didn't know about him getting wounded until he died. RIP GEC 
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