Homer Garrett

Homer Garrett, Jr. Transcription http://www.kwvdm.org/detail_oral.php?no=468

I’m Homer Garrett, Jr. I was born in Beaumont, Texas in September the 22nd, 1942. We

moved to Jacksonville, Texas before I turned a year old when my dad was drafted before World

War II. And I grew up in Jacksonville, went all the way through school and graduated from

Jacksonville High School. Went one year to TJC, went to work, and shortly I got a notice from

President Lyndon B Johnson saying “Greetings, I need you.” And that’s how I entered the

service in Dallas, Texas: through the draft board.

Did you know at the time where he was going to be sending you?

At the time, uh, we went to Fort Polk, Louisiana for basic training. And then for advanced

training, went to Fort Gordon, Georgia for military police school. Went from there to

Fort Riley, Kansas to the first MP company, first infantry division. Went from there to Korea

and…

So when did you find out that you were going to be going to Korea?

I found out in January of 1965.

Did you kind of already know where Korea was and…

I knew basically where they were. I knew about the Korean War. I had two uncles that

fought in the Korean war.

Did they ever talk about their experience?

No ma’am they never talked about their time over there.

Do you have any idea why they didn’t speak about it? Personal reasons, or…

I think it’s just like the people coming back from Vietnam. It was just a traumatic

experience they just would rather put it out of their mind and not think about the death and

destruction that they say.

So where were you stationed at in Korea?

I was stationed just south of the Imjin river. It was Camp Custer, Panjeree, the MP

station was in YanJiGo, Korea

You were drafted into the…?

Army

So what was your unit or rank? What was your specialty?

My rank, I went over as a PFC and I made Spec 4 when I was there. And I was a military

policemen MOS of 95.1.

Can you tell me a little about what your job was as a military police officer. What were your

responsibilities?

Responsibilities was traffic control, investigation of larcenies, investigation of fights, uh,

… The same duties as police have here, except with having to take and enforce a uniform code

of military justice.

Is that what you, uh, what area you wanted to be in or were you assigned to military police?

That was where they put me, I had no choice but after getting into here was glad. I’d

rather ride than walk.

How long were you stationed in Korea for?

Basically 15 months. I got there in early march of 1965 and I left there in June of 1966.

So what was your impression on, uh, on Korea when you first arrived?

Korea was a very poor country. The people were compared

to our standards were

destitute, and a lot of ‘em were. They didn’t have enough to eat most of the time and they had to

work or beg. And it was just a… poor, impoverished country.

Were you nervous to be over there?

Not really, not even after we had a radio shot out of one of the MP jeeps

Now how were your living conditions, as far as maybe food, sleeping, clothing, weather…How

was that for you over there ?

Not much different than here the army furnished the clothing. We weren’t allowed civilian

clothes.They fed us so…. The weather? I was there, the winter I was there they said was the

mildest they had had in over 50 years. I saw it just as cold and

actually more snow at

Fort

Riley, Kansas so …(heh heh)

Do you recall how much you were getting paid?

I can remember what I was getting right before I got out of the service.

Between my wife and myself; she had a daughter then. I was an E4 over 2 with 2 dependents;

we cleared 130 dollars a month! When I went in in basic, 43 dollars what what I cleared a

month.

So it was definitely a pay raise. (he he he)

Yes, ma’am.

So, um, how were the relationships between you and the troops and maybe even the foreign

troops, Korean soldiers and so forth?

I got along good with all of em. We had a Turkish compound there and we pulled patrol

with the Turkish MPs. And we had KATUSAS, which were Koreans that were actually in the same

company I were in, and then we had Iraq MPs that had a barracks on compound with us for a

company of them. And we worked withI

had worked with Korean National police. So the only

time I felt awkward; we had a lot of known North Korean agents in the area. And they put me in

the middle of a 3way

intersection at midnight. Curfew was at midnight. And they said, “Stop any

vehicle coming through and check it out. You stand in the middle of the road.” Iraq MP was on

one side; Korean national policeman got the ditch on the other side, but I had to stand in the

middle of the road they told me to draw my m14 and a bullet proof vest. So that was a little

awkward. So there still has never been a peace treaty signed in Korea. We are still actually at

war in Korea.

What did we need to do to end, put a closure on it?

I don’t think you really and truly want that answer. [laughs] Because it would be Red

China and North Korea, basically eliminating the government of North Korea. I would not want

the South Koreans to have to go through what the people in North Korea has gone through. And

that’s what would happen if we pull out. It happened in Vietnam, so it will happen there if we just

up and pull out.

Was Korea still recovering from the war whenever you were there and if so how?

When i was there, up in the division, we had one paved road. It went from Seoul to

Moonsani, and that’s where it ended. Everything else was dirt and paint trails. And the houses

up in that area were all mud and straw walls, floor, with rice straw roof. It was a very very poor

country. And we went back in 2007, and I was astonished. There was one bridge across the

Han river in Seoul, and it went to Kimpo airport when I got there and when I left. When we went

back there in 2007, basically every 100 yards there was a bridge. Well lit. And when I was there,

you couldn’t drink the water. Now you can drink their water. And they’ve got purer water than

we’ve got. So they have we

won the war because they have improved their economy, their

standard of living so much, and I understand that actually started back in ‘68 when the

government started trying to improve.

What were the contributions made by the US military in Korea post ‘53? So while you were

there what was the military doing? Were they trying to establish peace, maintain peace? What

was their primary purpose there ?

Our primary purpose there was to keep North Korea north of the 38th parallel. And to

protect the people while they improved their military where they would be able to handle it. I was

9 miles from where the crow flies from North Korea and now that is all South Korean troops up

there. So, we were their primary protection.

Did you have to engage in any kind of sort of battles while you were there or was there any kind

of confrontation or conflict?

We were constantly aware of North Korean agents because…. It wasn’t really a battle,

but we captured a 2 man submarine in the Injin river, it ran up on a sand bar. Its crew was 2

men with 4 North Korean agents. When I left there, that submarine was across from the MP

station at 2nd Infantry Division Usin. We actually captured a submarine so….. But as far as

battles, they were normally just something that happened once in a great while: A North Korean

agent would take a shot at somebody, like I say. One of our MP jeeps saw a lady in the road.

When they pulled up a stop and got out, she jumped up and ran. And they was 4 rounds fired

and all 4 of ‘em hit the radio in the jeep. To keep from calling it in. It was North Korean agents

who set that up. Yes ma’am. You had to take and watch what you were doing.

What were some of the most difficult or dangerous, happiest, rewarding memories you had

during your duty?

Which one of ‘em you want first?

Whichever one you want to give first. (laugh)

The happiest was when I met my wife.

How’d you meet your wife?

She worked at a store over from the MP station and I stopped in and bought a pair of

sunglasses. And I thought that was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. And I would go back.

And she doesn’t want to have anything to do with me. Eventually I won her around and she said

it was because I was a gentleman. Nobody else has ever called me a gentleman. That was the

happiest. And we’ve been married, happily married for a little over 49 years and I’d like to see

another 20 at least.

Congratulations.

And The saddest I guess would be uh, when I put her on a plane the day before I left for

her to come to the States and watch her walk across that tarmac and climb up onto the plane.

But I knew the next day I would be going to Dallas Love Field and she’d be there. So…

Why’d she leave a day before you?

I wanted to make sure she got out before I left. I had a friend in the MP company that

was married to a girl over, uh, a Korean girl, and she was pregnant and he left and certain

Korean National Policemen tried to take advantage of her and the rest of the MP company, we

watched over her. I didn’t want my wife to go through that. I wanted to see her leave before I

did. I extended for 11 months in the service just so I could take and get her a visa. Get married

and get her a visa and get out of there. So…

That is so sweet. [laughs] What was the impact of the war even while you were stationed there,

your time there. What was the impact on your life being in Korea, apart from of course meeting

your wife?

I have never seen a country or a people that were that poor and not want the

government to help them out. The Korean government didn’t have the money even if they

wanted to but they took the responsibility for their families and themselves upon themselves and

they did what they had to to survive. It was the poverty of the country, and the poverty of the

people. But the desire that the people had to improve their lives is something we could take

lessons on here in the United States.

Have you been back to Korea?

Went back in 2007, my wife and I did. She’s been back several times.

Umhm. Has it grown a lot since you’ve been back?

They have a highway system that rivals our interstates. They have tunnels through rock

mountains that the United States could learn from. They have high speed rail over there. When I

was there it was just basically little cart roads where military vehicles went over them and then

the ox drawn carts that some of the richer people of Korea had. And that tells you how poor they

were when they had oxcarts. They had taxis and busses; they had two sizes of busses. They

had what we always called “redbird” taxi because it was a little Japanese vehicle. And when we

went back, there was more cars on the streets of Seoul than there are on the streets of Dallas

or Houston. I’m serious.

That’s incredible. Um, why in your opinion do you think the Korean War is called The Forgotten

War?

Because the federal government, President Truman did not want a third world war. It

was a police action by the United Nations. That’s what they called it: a police action. But

anytime you send military personnel and they are engaged in fighting, it’s a war.

Umhm.

But they did not want to call it that and for several years congress wouldn’t call it that. It

was always a police action. Well, we lost a lot of soldiers in Korea and if it was like the

politicians had wanted it, we wouldn’t have known how many. And if they had left General

MacArthur alone when he had went into Manchuria instead of relieving him of duty, there might

not have been a North Korea, there may have been just a country of Korea. But it was a war.

You ask anybody that was actually there being shot at and they will tell you: It was a war. It was

just as much a war as WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq: all of those were called wars.

This was called a police action. But it was a war. That’s the reason: the United States wanted to

forget about it, that’s why it’s called The Forgotten War.

Was it just that they didn’t want to acknowledge or accept that there was another another war so

close after Vietnam, so close after World war II?

Well it was before Vietnam.

Oh that’s right, after World War II.

It was close after World War II and it was a war that was fought like no other. America’s

commanders were in command of the United Nations forces, but since there was so many

countries over there fighting All

the other countries called it a war. But it was fought by United

Nations personnel So

the US I just don’t think wanted to acknowledge that they had gotten into

another war, especially one that did not come about by the United States being attacked.

Do you have any types or sort of messages that you would like to tell younger generations. Do

you think it’s important for them to know about Korea and what happened?

It’s important for them to know the true history from the Revolutionary War to the present

day all

of it. There’s a lot that has been left out of history books that are not taught anymore

because it might offend this group or that group. And political correctness is killing the United

States.

Is there anything else that you would like to share as far as maybe your occupation, your

responsibilities or any memories or messages you would like to share to preserve your legacy?

I just think that we ought to go back to the draft so that we will have a military. Right now,

our military is decimated and if we were ever attacked we wouldn’t have enough trained

personnel to repel it. So I just think that all of our younger people need to know our

politicians

need to know that we cannot stand anymore by ourselves. We have to have countries that we

are friends with: true friends, not just so-called

friends. If war started, I believe South Korea,

Israel, would probably be our main two allies. Our European allies, I just don’t believe they

remember what was done for them during World War I and World War II. The people have

forgotten about it. In South Korea, they have not forgotten about it. So they would stand with

us. Israel would stand with us. But basically, that’s our only two allies, so we need a stronger

military. And we need the wars that we are fighting right now to be fought by the military, not the

politicians.

Do you remember the last war we lost?

Me personally?

Um Hum. Vietnam. Why? Because the politicians tried to run it instead of turning it over

to the military. That is the exact reason. You cannot draw a line in the sand and say “I’m not

going to step across that there but if you step across I’m with you.” They’re going to come

across. You got to be to where you can defend. You’ve got to have to have the military strength

to defend you own country. And our politicians can’t agree on anything. [laughter]

Do you think that it’s important that the Korean War Veterans memorial that we’re here doing

interviews is important and necessary?

I think it is because it’s still a forgotten war. We need to keep it in front of people and let

them visualize and see what happened over there and how South Korea has evolved in their

economy and uh….if we don’t it’s not going to be in the history books. So we just need to keep it

in front of the public.They need to know it. Like our medal of honor ceremony that we had last

Saturday. That has to be done every year and we have to publicize it. Used to, all the media

around here the first two or three years were out there, all the TV stations. This year there was

One or two newspapers and that was it. So we need to honor our military personnel. We need

to hold them all in high regard. One of these days it’s

just like law enforcement you

may need

them.

[noise]

I heard that, too. [laughter]

Oh good, they’re doing all that banging. I’m like “What’s going on?”

[laughs ] Oh, next question.

I really think that might sum it up for me on my end. So if there is anything else that you would

like to share, a story, anything at all this is the time to do it.

Ok. God bless you. God bless the United States and God bless South Korea