James E. Fant
Bio
James E. Fant served in the Korean War after being drafted into the United States Army in 1950. He underwent a fourteen-week training in Kentucky before finding out he would be deployed to Korea. He remembers traveling to Chicago and Seattle before being sent to Japan. After landing in Incheon, he made his way north to Seoul and eventually to Hill 355. His experiences in combat and the loss of his friends are something he recounts as having affected him deeply and changed him forever. Despite going to Japan for Rest and Relaxation after months on the line, he still struggled with the constant threat of attack. As a member of a heavy weapons squad, he recalls going on patrol and the importance of knowing the password when returning. He marvels at how the conflict between North and South Korea still exists and has not been resolved. He reflects on the Korean War, which is often called the “Forgotten War,” and his sense of duty to serve his country.
Video Clips
Being Drafted and Basic Training
James E. Fant describes being drafted in 1950. He reflects on his fourteen-week basic training with the first Airborne Division at Camp Breckinridge in Kentucky. He recalls receiving orders to go to Korea and having only seven days to prepare before taking a troop train to Chicago. He shares he was eventually shipped to Japan from Seattle. He remembers landing in Incheon, Korea, and taking a troop train to Seoul before making his way eventually to Hill 355. He comments that the war in Korea was primarily about fighting for high ground.
Surviving Combat and Rest and Relaxation
James E. Fant describes war as "something you can't get over." He speaks of witnessing people being killed and his experiences of surviving combat. He reflects on being ordered to take Rest and Relaxation in Japan after four or five months in Korea. He comments that the military would take men off the front line to reduce their tension. He remembers returning to Hill 355, the place where he had previously experienced intense combat and witnessed the loss of several comrades. He expresses gratitude for having been able to return to the United States.
Heavy Weapons Squad and Going on Patrol
James E. Fant reflects on his role as a member of a heavy weapons squad during the Korean War. He recounts the nerve-racking experience of going on patrol at night, never knowing if they would come in contact with the enemy. He remembers the importance of knowing the correct passwords when returning from patrols. Despite the passage of time, he finds it astonishing that the conflict between North and South Korea has remained unresolved.
The Korean War - The "Forgotten War"
James E. Fant discusses the Korean War as a police action as part of the reason it is considered the "Forgotten War." He describes his sense of duty to serve when he was drafted and draws a comparison between his own feelings and those of some individuals during the Vietnam War. He emphasizes how the nature of war has changed considerably since his time serving in Korea.
Guarding Prisoners of War and Living Conditions
James E. Fant discusses guarding prisoners at Yeongdeungpo outside of Seoul as he was pulled out of combat. He describes his living conditions and how sandbags and bunkers protected them from artillery attacks. He recalls eating cold C-Rations and how only the baked beans were good as they could warm them up. He expands on his description of food by recalling that hot food was only available when they were pulled off the front line.
Video Transcript
[Beginning of Transcribed Material]
[AUDIO STARTED AT 0:00:15]
J: When I returned home, uh, you know, I wasn’t myself, you know. I was like a different person altogether, you know, because it’s what the Army does to you, you know what I mean? They just change
0:00:30
your whole perspective, yeah, change your whole life. It’s something you never forget.
[Inside the Korean War – Corporal James Fant’s Story] I was enlisted 1A, and I got drafted in 1950. And I was inducted at Fort Mead, Maryland. And I stayed in Fort Mead, Maryland for about a month.
0:01:00
Then I left Fort Mead, Maryland and went to Camp Breckenridge with the First Airborne Division. The one thing about it, you got good training. They only gave back, they only gave you 14 weeks when I went in. See, our troop was scheduled to go to Korea. The terrain and everything, they teach you, you know, things that in Korea, like in combat, you know.
I: Um hm.
J: Then at 14 weeks of basic,
0:01:30
then I got assigned to Korea, you know. And I had seven days home that day. So, I spent seven days home. Then I went and enlisted, and I took a troop train to Chicago. And from Chicago to Seattle, Washington. I stayed in Seattle, Washington about three weeks. And after the three weeks, I was
0:02:00
shipped off to Japan, Yokohama, Japan. And I stayed in Japan for a little while. It was at the First Cavalry Division. Then after Yokohama, I was shipped out to Inchon, Korea. Then from Inchon, I took a troop train to Seoul, Seoul, Korea. That was with the Third Division, Army Division. And I stayed there for a while before I went on the
0:02:30
Front line. [Korea] It was like a cold climate, you know. When we first went there, we had shoe packs. And that wasn’t right, you know. And after that, I wound up with trench feet. Did you ever see a guy take a pair of pliers and pull his toes off? That was the shoe pack that they had before
0:03:00
because the Army wasn’t ready for that type of weather, you know. And after the shoe pack, they invented a thing called boots which kept your feet warm. You had to change your socks about practically every day, you know. That way, it broke up the thing from getting your foot, uh, frostbitten you know. But if you got your foot frostbitten, boy, you can just take a pair of pliers and pull your toes off.
[The Heavy Weapon Squad]
0:03:30
The two automatics that we had were M1 and M2 carbines. There was a 45 weapon. And uh, I was with the uh, the 30-caliber machine gun. It was a heavy, what you call a heavy weapon squad. I was with that, I first started out as an ammo bearer.
0:04:00
I wasn’t the one with the machine gun. I carried the most ammo. The heavy weapon consisted of a carbine, an M116 plus a 30-caliber weapon and a 50-caliber weapon. So, when you’re in the Army, you learn to assemble them blindfolded, you know, because you never know when you’re gonna need it.
[On Patrol]
0:04:30
But mostly we did our patrol at night, yeah, at night we mostly patrolled. Then mostly during the day, we had artillery coming in, you know. We had the bunkers that we was in, sandbags. We had about four or five layers of sandbags. And so when once the artillery to, you know, sandbags, you know, it didn’t affect us.
[Integration of Troops]
0:05:00
The 25th Division was all black, you know. But uh, I was with the Third Army, you know. We was with the Third Division. It consists of the 3rd, 65th and the 7th. I was with the 3rd Division like, a blue patch, you know. And uh, the 65th was all Puerto Ricans. And then they’d start
0:05:30
mixing us up, the 65th. And most of them didn’t speak English, you know what I mean? And it was tough, especially when you go out on patrol or something like that. They’re speaking Spanish, and you’re English, you know. You don’t understand them. But one thing about it. They had where you could, and there was numbers that you had to memorize anything that would take place.
[Hill #355]
0:06:30
In my first, uh, assignment was on a little hill called 355. And uh, I was on that for a good while. And uh, mostly Korea was like high ground, you know. The one that had the higher, uh, ground, you know, they’d fight for that hill themselves, you know. So, that’s when most of them were getting killed like that.
0:06:30
Then one thing about it, you have like a forward, like artillery coming in on you. You’d have like a forward observer. And they could tell, you know, if they’d spot anything, they can see where that artillery would go.
[Buddies]
I had a couple of good friends from Chicago to a couple of outreach projects.
0:07:00
Boy I tell you, uh, they were really, I don’t know if they’re still living or dead, you know. See one thing about it, when you were wounded, you live as one. When something happened to one, it happened to everybody, you know. It was just. And boy oh boy. That was 58 years ago.
[The Cost of War]
0:07:30
So, three or four of my buddies got brain washed. They were held captive, you know. And they came back. And they told me how the North Koreans brain washed them. And that was really something.
[Effects of War]
0:08:00
You can’t get over it, you know. You’re really, really affected. And you see the people get killed among you, you know. And God has spared my life to come back to this State, you know. But I wasn’t Christian then, you know. But I was raised as, I was brought up, I was living with my parents experience, you know.
0:08:30
Then I met my wife, you know. And uh, that’s really when I became a Christian, you know.
[Coming Home]
Then after I came back, they gave you, the Veterans gave you well, like a reward. I had a reward of about $500, you know.
0:09:00
Something, that was what the State gave me. One thing about it, I thank God, you know, for bringing me back. And uh, I promised the Lord everything when I was over there. But when I came back, I was back in the world again, you know. But it was something that takes the other half away from you, you know.
0:09:30
Within yourself.
[First interview ended here]
0:10:05
I: September 11, 2008. May name is Gabriella Sassador. I’m a student at LaSalle University. I will be interviewing Mr. James Fant who was a Corporal in the United States Army um, during the Korean War. This is all taking place at the Union League Building of Philadelphia, and my camera person today will be Eric Donovan. And, I think that’s it.
0:10:30
J: [INAUDIBLE] serial number, my serial number when I first went in?
I: Sure.
J: US52116894. That was my name.
I: We’re gonna start off.
0:11:00
Can you just um, tell me where and when you were born?
J: I was born in the South in 1929, 12/12/29 and moved to Philadelphia in my, at an early age. Um hm. And I, I worked, you know, till I came of age, you know. And again, I got drafted. That was, enlisted 1A.
0:11:30
And I was drafted in 1950.
I: What were you doing right before you were drafted?
J: I was working in a restaurant, um hm, yeah.
I: In Philadelphia?
J: Yeah. Philadelphia, um hm.
I: When you were drafted, can you just tell me about the day, how did you feel when you left? Were you expecting to be drafted?
J: I was enlisted 1A, and I got drafted in 1950.
0:12:00
And I uh, at Fort Mead, Maryland. And I stayed in Fort Mead, Maryland for about a month. Then I left Fort Mead, Maryland and went to Camp Breckenridge on a troop train, um hm. And I had 14 weeks of basic, 14 weeks of basic at Breckenridge, Kentucky. And uh, with the First Airborne Division, you know, um hm. And then
0:12:30
at 14 weeks of basic, then I got assigned to Korea, you know. And I had seven days home. So, I spent seven days home. Then I went and took a troop train to Chicago. And from Chicago to Seattle, Washington. I stayed in Seattle, Washington about three weeks. And after the three weeks,
0:13:00
I was shipped off to Japan, Yokohama, Japan. And I stayed in Japan for a while. I was at the First Cavalry Division. The First Cavalry couldn’t come back to the States because they had lost their colors, you know. And I stayed in Yokohama for probably about a month, I guess. Then after Yokohama,
0:13:30
I got shipped out on a troop train to uh, let’s see, what was the name, Inchon, Inchon uh, Korea. Then from Inchon, I took a troop train to Seoul, Seoul, Korea with the Third Division, Army Division. And I stayed there for a while before I went on the front line. And [INAUDIBLE] between
0:14:00
that would have been December. That was Bob Hope, Jane Russell back in them days, you know. And uh, after that, I got shipped out to Korea. And I stayed, went to Inchon. And after Inchon, I went on the battlefield. And I went to a little, that was fighting for high ground. And my first assignment was in a little hill called 355.
0:14:30
And I was on that for a good while. And uh, mostly Korea was like high ground, you know, fighting for high ground. I was on quite a few of them, you know. And all the rice paddies and what not, you know. And uh, any particular thing that you
I: How was it to be in the military um? Did you like being
0:15:00
How was it just, you know, going into training? Was it hard to adapt to everything?
J: It was really hard cause I was younger, you know, 18 years old you know what I mean? That’s what I wanted, you know. Never seen a man cry waiting on the battlefield, you know. It was pretty tough. I had 15 months in Korea, um hm. And after that, I got rotated back
0:15:30
Sasebo, Japan, just after I spent all that time in Korea. Then I got back to, after that I lost a lot of buddies, you know. And uh, I thank God that I got saved, you know. And just before I got rotated back, they invaded the hill that I was on, that 355, you know. And I lost friends, a lot of buddies. And I thank God that I came back, you know.
0:16:00
And uh, you know, after that I got shipped back to behind the lines, you know. And I stayed behind the line for a while. And then I got rotated back to the States. And I got back to San Francisco, and that’s where I departed when I got back to the States. And I stayed in San Francisco for about three weeks.
0:16:30
Then I left there. Then I got shipped to Indian Town Gap. That’s where I got discharged, at Indian Town Gap, Pennsylvania. And I stayed at Indian Town Gap for about a month and a half before I got discharged. And uh, after that, after I got discharged, I went to work. And I landed a job at uh, the old PTC, [INAUDIBLE] now.
0:17:00
That’s when they were making the railroad cars and everything. So, I stayed there for about three years. And after that, I got laid off, you know. I got laid off from there. And after I got laid off, I had a friend that knew somebody, you know, uh, within the automobile business. And so, he gave me an address and then I had a name
0:17:30
Of a person. The name of the person gave me a job. That was like a Chevrolet company, you know. And I stayed there for about 13 years, you know. And after that, I got, I left there. The boss didn’t want me to leave. But I got to General Motors. I was at General Motors for about 35 years, you know.
0:18:00
And after 35 years, I retired. And uh, I’ve been retired now for about 12 years, um hm.
I: How has being in the War affected the rest of your life?
J: Oh, it uh, it’s something you can’t get over, you know. You’re really, really affected. And you see the people get killed among you, you know. And God has spared my life to come back to the States, you know.
0:18:30
But I wasn’t Christian then, you know. But I was raised as, I was brought up, I was living with my parents experience, you know. And I met my wife, you know. And um, that’s really when I became a Christian, you know.
0:19:00
Want me to say anything else particularly?
I: Sure. Do you want to talk about maybe any of the relationships you made while you were in the Army? Or do you maybe some, if there was any good times
J: Oh, we, there were good times while I was in Korea. And after even in Korea for a while, you know. But I wasn’t married at the time, you know. I didn’t tell my wife. These are things I did when I wasn’t married, you know.
0:19:30
Can you get, after four or five months, you get shipped back to Japan, you know. But I got shipped back to a little town called Kukura, Japan for R & R. I stayed there for about two weeks. They take you offline just to keep the tension off of you. And then I got
0:20:00
got shipped back on that line. That was the little hill called 355. That’s the one that really had more artillery war going on, you know. And uh, but it was something to experience, you’ll never forget it. It stays in you, you know, watching your buddies pass. It’s really something.
0:20:30
I: Were you actually firing the guns?
J: I was with a heavy weapon squad. The heavy weapon consisted of a carbine, an M116 plus a 30-caliber weapon and a 50 caliber weapon. So, when you’re in the Army, you learn to assemble them blindfolded, you know, because you never know when
0:21:00
you’re gonna need them. And you kept them clean and everything. But the one thing about it, now they got these automatic. The two automatics that we had was an M1 and M2 carbine. And with a 45 weapon. And uh, I was with the uh, 30 caliber machine gun. It was a heavy, what you call a heavy weapon squad.
0:21:30
And I was with that. I was, when I first started, I was the ammo bearer. I wasn’t the one that, with the machine gun. I carried the most ammo for the ones. And I had to load it when we needed it, you know. At night, we couldn’t usually go on patrol from the hill, go so far out on patrol. And uh, sometimes you made contact, and sometimes you don’t, you know.
0:22:00
The one thing about it, you had to know the password when you come in and out. If you didn’t know the password, one of the guys could just blast you over. So, you had to know the password when you come back, you know, off of patrol. But it’s something you never forget. As a matter of fact, it’s still going on, and they haven’t solved it today, North Korea and South Korea, you know. It’s still, still going on.
0:22:30
That mostly some of my buddies got captured, and they brain wash you, you know. So, three or four of my buddies got brain washed.
I: Did you see them after they were released?
J: They were held captive, you know. And they came back. And they told me they were, how the North Koreans brain washed them. It was really something.
0:23:00
So um, one thing I remember, one thing about it, when I got over there, it probably would have been over. Then President Truman was the President. And uh, MacArthur was in charge. It would have been over if MacArthur had, if they hadn’t dismissed MacArthur.
0:23:30
If they had went with MacArthur, he probably went into China, you know. But I guess, you know, it’s something.
I: How did you feel when you heard that they had dismissed him? Did you want him to stay and finish it or did you think that he should have been removed?
J: Oh, you mean
I: MacArthur.
J: It’s something you never forget, you know.
0:24:00
I have a lot of, some pictures I, my wife has, you know. And some of them I didn’t have because of, you know, over the ages, yeah. So, I tell you one thing about it, you know. Maybe. Then after I came back, they gave me, the Veterans gave you like a reward.
0: 24:30
I had a reward of about $500, you know. Something, that’s what the State gave you. Then after I came back, I didn’t go back to my regular job. I got a job at uh, a bus company which they made the els, like in 1954.
0:25:00
I: You mentioned some of the rice paddies and
J: Oh, you’re right, yeah.
I: You had spoken about how the weather and how cold it was. Is there any certain aspects of Korea that you can still remember now?
J: It was like a cold climate, you know. When we first went there, they uh, they had shoe packs.
0:25:30
And that wasn’t right, you know. And then after that, a guy wound up with trench feet. You ever see a guy take a pair of pliers and pull his toes off? That was the shoe packs that they had before because the Army wasn’t ready for that type of weather, you know. Then after the shoe pack, they invented a thing called the boots which kept your feet warm. You had to change your socks
0:26:00
about practically every day, you know. That way it broke up the thing from getting your foot, uh, frostbitten, you know. But if you got your foot frostbit, boy, you could just take a pair of pliers and pull your toes off, you know. I’ve seen them, other people did it with the shoe packs. And then after they got those, uh, boots, they took each one and brought them back in line and gave them a pair of boots
0:26:30
to wear.
I: You know, I was reading when we were speaking with other veterans. Sometimes the Korean War is referred to as the Forgotten War because it was in between World War II and then people also remember Viet Nam. What do you have to say about that?
J: Yeah. Well, it wasn’t called a war. It was like a police action. They didn’t call it a war. It was a police action.
0:27:00
And then Viet Nam came, you know. And once Viet Nam came, mostly all the people wanted to be drafted, they moved and they didn’t want to go to Viet Nam. Most of them moved, young people, they went to Canada to duck the draft, you know. Then whatcha call came, Casius Clay came along, Mohammed you know. And he probably changed the whole situation from Viet Nam, you know.
0:27:30
But when we went there, I mean, you had to go, you know. You just, once they drafted you, like the Draft Board, yeah. Then when the Draft Board always said greetings from Uncle Sam, you know. You have been chosen. It was something. You’re right, yeah.
I: Were you anxious or nervous or scared?
J: Oh yeah. What it is
I: It happened so fast.
J: Right. It was really something, yeah.
0:28:00
The one thing about it, you got good training. The only time, they only gave back, they only gave you 14 weeks when I went in. Then after about three or four years, they raised it to 16 weeks of basic training, yeah. So, I was with the 101stAirborne Division in Breckenridge, Kentucky.
I: What was the typical day like during training?
0:28:30
J: With training, they teach you everything that you uh, our troop was scheduled to go to Korea, the terrain and everything. They teach you, you know, things that in Korea like combat. Half of my troop went, some of them went to Korea. The ones that went to Korea and Alaska was one that they went. And uh, and Germany once they broke us up.
0:29:00
Half went to, they divided us in those groups. And I was with the group that went to Korea, you know, combat. And I tell you, young people go into combat boy, I’m telling you. It’s really something. But with the War today, you know, it’s different. Roadside bomb and all, they didn’t have that back in them days.
0:29:30
I: Now, the Korean War was the first time in history that the United States had integrated troops? [INAUDIBLE]
J: Uh, no. Most of it was segregation, you know.
I: Still?
J: It was still back, it was segregated. The 25th Region was all black, you know. But I was with the Third Army, you know, with the Third Division which consisted of the 3rd, 65th and the 7th. But I was with the 3rd Division
0:30:00
Like uh, the blue patch, you know. And the 65th was all Puerto Ricans. And then, they’d start mixing us up. The 65thand, most of them didn’t speak English. You know what I mean? It was tough, especially when you go out on patrol or something like that. Them speaking Spanish and you English, you know. You don’t understand them. But one thing about it is you had, when you could, was numbers that you
0:30:30
had to memorize and things that took place. That was the 65th Division and all Puerto Ricans.
I: Do you miss people now? Any friends you made, any stories about them or
J: You mean with the language barrier or what?
I: No, just any friends that you made when you went
J: Oh yeah, yeah. We made friends. I had a couple good friends from Chicago.
0:31:00
Yeah, two, a couple of Irish buddies. Boy I tell you, they was really, I don’t know if they’re still living today, you know. See one thing about it, when you’re in the Army, you live as one. And if something happened to one, it happened to everybody, you know. It was just, boy oh boy.
0:31:30
And that was 58 years ago, 58. They had all the rice paddies and everything. Now they got, know what they got? They got highways, luxury highways and everything now going through there. In Seoul, Korea. Never good. Not what we had was in Yeongdeungpo. I was in Yeongdeungpo as a guard, yeah. As a guard for a while.
0:32:00
I don’t remember, that was on the way back home. And so, I had to do security guard at Yeongdeungpo as like a suburb of Seoul, um hm.
I: Were you watching in a tower? Were you
J: Yeah, we were watching the prisoners that they had taken, you know. Yeah. Yeongdeungpo.
I: Were you on patrol overnight or during the day? Was it [INAUDIBLE]
0:32:30
It was mostly patrol at night, yeah, at night mostly patrol. Mostly during the day, they had artillery company and, you know. We had the bunkers that we was in, sandbags. We had about four or five layers of sandbags. We didn’t want the artillery to, you know, sandbags, you know, it didn’t affect us. It was like digging a hole, you know, around.
0:33:00
Then we didn’t have hot food. We had c-rations, you know.
I: Tell me about that.
J: It was c-rations we had. We didn’t have hot food. The only time we got hot food is when they gave you a rest and you’d go back, in back of the lines. Them c-rations. They were something.
I: What were they?
J: Oh. The only thing that was likeable was baked beans, you know. You could heat them up with uh,
0:33:30
sterno. You had to heat it up with sterno, you know. Yeah.
I: Can you tell me what it was like when you returned home?
J: I beg your pardon?
I: Can you tell me what it was like when you returned home?
J: When I returned home, you know, I wasn’t myself, you know. I was like a different person altogether, you know, because
0:34:00
it’s what the Army does to you, you know what I mean? It changes your whole perspective, yeah, change your whole life. Oh, it’s something you never forget. And even worse now with all the roadside bombings and everything for the GI’s.
0:34:30
Anything else in particular you have, [INAUDIBLE]
I: If there’s one thing that you want people to know about Korea or about your experience, what would you just like to get across in the video for the viewers who are either going to watch this on-site video. We’re also going to have it on the website. Is there any certain message or any life lessons, anything that you really want
0:35:00
people to take away from this?
J: What do you mean, to know now, uh?
I: Yeah, anything.
J: Or what time since I became a Chistian, I did, one minister, he had a big congregation. Cho is his name. And uh, he has a big congregation in Seoul there. And uh, just like he comes back to the States once in a while, too, you know. And he’s really something.
0:35:30
And I want the people to know like now, you know, it’s uh, it’s just like New York City over there now, same thing. In Tokyo, you get, Kokura, Tokyo and Sasebo.
0:36:00
That area of Japan, you know. Once you come back, you’re just like a carrier. You carry a, they give you like clothing and stuff. You go back. And when you get there, they take all that away from you, you know. So uh, when I got released, I was up at Indian Town Gap, had service up there for about three or four months, you know,
0:36:30
before I got discharged. But it was something that takes that other half away from you, you know. Within yourself. Fifty-eight, 58 years ago. Boy, it was really something.
0:37:00
Maybe they’ll settle it, you know. At the Chowan Valley. I can show you some of the pictures I [INAUDIBLE]
I: That would be great.
J: Yeah. My wife has a few. But I had a lot of, you know, it’s been so long, you know, that both of them got [INAUDIBLE]
0:37:30
I: Um hm.
J: Or separated. Then I got married and everything else you know. Yeah.
I: Would you mind [INAUDIBLE]
J: Yeah, you can.
I: Can you just tell me about them?
J: Yeah, okay. And Joey can bring the picture bag. She said it’s in the bag there. Wondell and Jerry. That’s the two, that was taken on the hill that I was on.
0:38:00
I: Oh wow.
J: Yeah. Um hm. This is myself when I was young, you know. That was up on the hill, too. That was outside the bunk I was just telling you about,
I: Um hm.
J: [INAUDIBLE]
I: And how long did you stay there, on the hill?
J: We stayed about [INAUDIBLE]. Then we got rotated off for a while. We stayed about a
0:38:30
month and a half, you know. Then they put you back on the line for a while. This is my Sergeant. Never forget his name. It’s Jerry. He was a Sergeant. Here’s another two buddies I was with.
I: Was it cold most of the time?
J: Oh yeah, right. See the heavy weapon machine gun?
0:40:00
Most of these was taken right outside the hill that I was on, 355, yeah. That’s myself on that one there. Here’s another one, too, everybody, Jerry and all them, see. Different. I was young.
0:39:30
I: How was Jerry?
J: They was all good buddies, I tell you, you know. All good buddies. Most of them were just taken the same time on that same place right there. That was the 101st Division. That was when I first got drafted, you know. That was in Kentucky.
0:40:00
I: This was in Kentucky?
J: Yeah, right. Most of these were in Korea. That was in Korea, too. This was in front of the hill, the hill that I was on.
0:40:30
I: Were you on high?
J: Everything was taken from high ground, you know. They were fighting for high ground. You ever hear of Pork Chop, Old Baldy? All those were like, Old Baldy was an outpost. They was out from the regular Army like, you know.
I: Could you see the enemy running off? Were they, did they do like all the
J: Oh, you could see him, especially back in them days, you know. All you do is throw up a flare and
0:41:00
and see who was up in front of you, you know, at night. Yeah.
I: This was mostly at night?
J: Right. Most of your battles are at night. Then if you hear something, you know, or somebody don’t know the password, they have a different password every night, you know. So, if you hear any noise or things what to do, you shoot up a flare to give you light and see what’s at the bottom of the hill.
I: [INAUDIBLE] again, how you fought when you were on the high ground,
0:41:30
just what you said, would you mind repeating that just so that way we can get good audio?
J: Oh yeah. We like high ground, you’re fighting for high ground, you know. And uh, the one that had the higher ground, you know, they’re fighting for that hill themselves, you know. So, that’s the way most of them was getting killed, like that. Then one thing about it, you have like a forward, like artillery coming in on you, then you have like a forward observer.
0:42:00
And they can tell, you know, if they spot anything, they can see where the artillery will come, you know. It’s been, over the years you forget a lot over the years, you know. But it’s still within you. And that was taken down Breckenridge, too. Breckenridge, Kentucky. That was in Korea.
0:42:30
No, that was Japan, Sasebo, Japan. I had quite a few of them that were taken in Korea. But over the years, they got lost, yeah. One thing about it, I thank God, you know, for bringing me back. And I promised the Lord everything.
0:43:00
Boy, when I was over there. But when I came back, I was back in the world again, you know.
I: Different world.
J: Back in the world. I was in the world. I met my wife, you know. That’s when I became a Christina, you know.
I: Did she
J: Right, yeah. My helpmate. They always give you a good helpmate, you know.
I: Do you have any children?
J: Yeah. I have two, um hm. I have, my first one, he died at 27.
0:43:30
But my daughter, she is still living. And I’ve got two grandkids, you know. Both of them are in college.
I: One of them just walked in.
J: Oh yeah. Jordae, Jordae Johnson. Oh yeah. She’s a, boy, she’s a blessing you know, right there. She’s been over in Africa and all them places. She’s a good Christian, too, you know. Just, keep praying for them, you know.
0:44:00
Yeah, Jordae. Real nice. My grandson, he’s over in uh, up in West Virgina, going to West Virginia State.
I: Oh wow.
J: Um hm. Yeah. Yeah. It’s good, you know, how they turn out boy, you know. But today, boy, you see them turn out you know, know that you live for something, you know. Really something. Jordae is a good kid, boy. He really is. I’ve been knowing him my
0:44:30
knowing them ever since they were born, you know. They uh, they give you life, you know. They really do. Real life.
I: If it wasn’t for your service, [INAUDIBLE]
J: It’s happy to see them grow up, you know. They’re both here. Yeah.
I: Well, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate that you
J: Oh yeah. It was, I wish I could
I: Sorry for hitting traffic.
J: Yeah, I know. I wish I could have more to give you, you know.
0:45:00
I: You’ve given me plenty. We’re just gonna take some footage of you
J: Yeah, okay. You can pick the ones that you want to take.
I: Okay.
J: Yeah. Part of the 3rd Army. Yeah.
I: Each Army has a different.
J: Yeah. Each one, yeah. Yeah, that’s the one with the 3rd Division.
I: Yeah.
J: What they called card bells.
0:45:30
Yeah, card bells.
I: [INAUDIBLE]
[Taking pictures of his photos]
0:46:00
[Continuing picture taking]
I: We’re gonna send your interview to the Library of Congress.
J: Yeah, okay.
I: To the Archives.
0:46:30
We’re also going to then edit it and take it
J: In what, your career this is a kind war, you know that? The war right now is not.
0:47:00
[No Audio]
0:47:30
[No Audio]
0:48:00
[No Audio]
I: Is that when you were shipped out?
J: Oh yeah, right there, um hm. Oh yeah, right.
I: [INAUDIBLE]
0:48:30
J: And that’s, I was on ships.
I: [INAUDIBLE]
J: That’s a Korean soldier.
0:49:00
I still have my government insurance.
I: The camera people will do it. So, you said [INAUDIBLE], we jumped at the opportunity.
J: Okay.
I: And we also are all interested in history and in the wars and, you know, it’s just a privilege for us to even get the chance to speak with you. So, thank you so much for taking time out and coming down here.
J: Right.
I: And fighting traffic.
0:49:30
It was a struggle to fight traffic for so long. We waited over an hour [INAUDIBLE]
I: Oh my gosh.
J: Yeah.
I: Thank you so much for coming again.
[END RECORDED MATERIAL]