Tag: Gangneung

Political/Military Tags

1950 Pusan Perimeter, 8/4-9/18 1950 Inchon Landing, 9/15-9/19 1950 Seoul Recapture, 9/22-9/25 1950 Battle of Pyongyang, 10/15-17 1950 Wonsan Landing, 10/25 1950 Battle of Chosin Reservoir, 11/27-12/13 1950 Hamheung Evacuation, 12/10-12/24 1951 January 4 Withdrawal, 12/31-1/7 1951 Battle of Bloody Ridge, 8/18-9/15/1951 Battle of Heartbreak Ridge, 9/13-10/15/1951 Battle of Jipyeongri, 2/13-15 1952 Battle of Old Baldy, 6/26-8/4 1952 Battle of White Horse, 10/6-15 1952 Battle of Triangle Hill, 10/14-11/25 1952 Battle of Hill Eerie, 3/21-6/21 1953 Battle of the Hook, 5/28-29 1953 Battle of Pork Chop Hill, 3/23-7/16 1953 Sieges of Outpost Harry, 6/10-18 1953 Armistice 7/27 1968 Pueblo Abduction 1968 Blue House attack 1969 EC-121 1976 Poplar Tree Ax Incident 1983 Langgoon blowup 1996 Gangneung attack 1999 Yeonpyeong naval battle 2000 South-North Summit 2002 2nd Yeonpyeong naval battle 2008 Geumgang Mountain killing 2006 1st nuclear test, 10/9 2009 2nd nuclear test, 5/25 2010 Cheonan sinking 2010 Yeonpyeong Island bombing 2013 3rd nuclear test, 2/12 2016 4th and 5th nuclear tests, 1/6 and 9/9

Geographic Tags

Anyang Aprokgang (Yalu River)Busan Byeokdong Cheonan Cheongcheongang (River)Chuncheon Daegu Daejeon Dongducheon East Sea Euijeongbu Gaesong Gangneung Geojedo Geumgang Geumgang (River)Gotori Hagalwoori Hamheung Hangang (River)Heungnam Hwacheon Hwangchoryeong Imjingang (River)Incheon Jangjin Jipyeongri Kunsan Kunwoori Langgoon Masan Nakdonggang (River)Osan Panmunjeom Pohang Pyungyang Seokdong Seoul Sudong Suwon Wolmido Wonju Wonsan Yellow Sea Yeongdeungpo Yeonpyeong Yudamri

Social Tags

Basic training Chinese Civilians Cold winters Communists Depression Fear Food Front lines G.I. Bill Home front Impressions of Korea KATUSA Letters Living conditions Message to Students Modern Korea Monsoon North Koreans Orphanage Personal Loss Physical destruction Poverty POW Pride Prior knowledge of Korea Propaganda Rest and Relaxation (R&R)South Koreans Weapons Women

Basil Kvale

Fighting in Ujeongbu and the Taebacek Mountains

Basil Kvale recalls being assigned to Ujeongbu (Northern Korea) with an amphibious military group to set up for battle. He remembers moving so close that they could see the Chinese near their location. He notes they were over 3,000 feel above sea level in the Taebaek Mountains and it was an important location to give orders of where to bomb.

Chinese POW-Ping

Basil Kvale remembers capturing a Chinese POW named Ping who later was sent with other soldiers. He describes helping give the coordinates for the bombing to aid his commander. He shares had the cannons and bombs attack from four different sides which led to total disaster for the Chinese.

Bruce W. Diggle

Hill 355 and the "Apostles"

Bruce Diggle shows the famous Hill 355, also known as Kowang San which British Commonwealth forces fought for possession of during the series of battles that corresponded to the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge to the east. He explains the North Koreans were positioned on four smaller hills that the Kiwis nicknamed the Apostles - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He displays pictures he took of the North Korean positions during a truce.

David Lopez

Camping in Korea

David Lopez compares his time in Korea to camping due to the rough daily living conditions, meals, and terrain. Despite the constant dangers, he made an effort not to let them affect him. However, some soldiers struggled to cope and resorted to injuring themselves to be taken off duty, unable to bear the atrocities they witnessed. He notes that the harsh realities of war took a severe toll on many.

Early Action in Korea

David Lopez recounts his platoon's involvement in a battle beyond the 38th Parallel, where they pursued retreating Chinese forces. During the fight, he was one of 60 to 80 men wounded, taking a bullet to his right arm. He acknowledges that experiences like this left him with mild PTSD. Despite the challenges, he reflects on the intense nature of the combat his unit faced.

Gerald Land

Homesick Soldiers

Gerald Land described how he felt in December 1952 on Heartbreak Ridge in the middle of the winter. An Army loudspeakers would play Christmas carols and a woman would be telling stories back home of your girlfriend cheating on you with your best friend. He also recalled a time shortly after New Years when one of the guys started firing his weapon by making a series of shots that sounded funny and the Patton tank at the base of that mountain fired a round which it lifted their spirits. He said he felt very homesick.
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Martin Rothenberg

Civilians' Lives in Poverty-Stricken Villages

Martin Rothenberg was stationed at the base of a mountain during the winter of 1954 near a village that was poverty-stricken. This village had a wood-burning flute that ran under the houses to keep the floors warm and the villagers slept on the floor. He also saw a round stone based where the villagers had planted colored flowers. Martin Rothenberg thought that it was nice the way South Koreans took the time to make their homes special.

Mission Impossible: Speaking a Foreign Language

Martin Rothenbert was proud that the US Army had provided soldiers with a book containing Korean instructions and he used it to ask simple questions to the Korean people he met. He recalled a time while in the village at the base of the hill, an older Korean man wasn't friendly to anyone and never spoke. Therefore, Martin Rothenberg took the time to learn some basic questions to get to know the older Korean man and his attitude totally changed. This made all the difference to build a bond between soldiers and civilians.

Marvin Denton

Losing Buddies Was The Hardest Experience

Marvin Denton described times when he lost members of his unit. One solider was walking between two companies and he was killed by a mine. Gun shots fired in the middle of the night when soldiers had discovered someone was killed. Another soldier survived a shell that hit his helmet, missing death by inches, and a different soldier, who had lied to his parents, telling them everything was okay, was bombed after an ambush. Marvin Denton were extremely thankful he lived through the experience and he feels we live in the greatest country in the world despite all of our problems.

Mayo Kjellsen

C-Rations, Rats, and Radios, Oh, My!

During his time stationed in Korea, Mayo Kjellsen remembers consuming numerous C-Rations. He describes his primary duties which involved carrying a hefty 45-pound battery pack and maintaining radio communication for his regiment. He recalls one night while on radio watch in his bunker, he found himself shooting at sizable rats scurrying through the rafters, inadvertently startling his commander.

Wounded in Korean War

Mayo Kjellsen recalls being injured twice during the Korean War. He was struck by shrapnel in his knee during one incident and was blown out of his bunker by another shot. Following his second injury, he explains he was transferred to a hospital ship in the harbor and then sent to Japan for rehabilitation. After six months of recovery, Kjellsen returned to the US to complete his remaining time in the military.

Merle Degler

Jincheng Campaign- Battle at Kumsong "All Hell Broke Loose"

Merle Degler always carried in his pocket rolls of film he had taken during his time in Korea. One day, he found an empty ammo box and decided to put the film in the ammo box, and the next thing you knew, "All Hell Broke Loose." He recalls the ROK and his unit were overrun by the Chinese, so they were told to retreat. Merle Degler learned just a few months ago, that the the US artillery regiment left their equipment when they retreated, so the Chinese used the equipment against our own people. They reorganized before the next morning to create a new front line, but with a lot less equipment since they had lost it while retreating.

Enlisting, Training, and Preparing for the Korean War

Merle Degler enlisted in the National Guard as an 18 year old in 1951. After attending Fort Polk for basic training, he was shipped to Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan to get equipment for the war. Soon after that, Merle Degler took a ship to Pusan in Jan. 1953 and he was sent right to Yeongdeungpo, Korea. After being picked up by his regiment, he was brought to his duty station in the Iron Triangle (Kumwa Valley).

The Troubles with Traveling by a Truck

Merle Degler's job was to work on military trucks at the front lines in North Korea in early 1953. After being told that he had to move out, Merle Degler drove a truck up into the mountains with his regiment until the engine blew. Because he was not able to fix the truck on the side of the mountain, he was towed down the hill and back to a ROK camp where he had to stay until meeting up with additional soldiers willing to lead him back to his regiment.

Ollie Thompson

Destruction of Korea

Ollie Thompson recalls arriving in Korea at Incheon and traveling onward to Seoul by train, which was riddled with bullet holes. He remembers scenes of destruction all along the route. He describes settling in the Chorwon Valley and the sound of his first experience in combat, though it was their own artillery.

Richard A. Houser

Leaving for Korean War in 1953

Richard Houser took a ship and landed in Inchon in April 1953 after a lonely 20 day ship ride to Korea. While traveling to his base in the Chorwon Valley known as the Iron Triangle, Richard Houser was able to see Seoul leveled, small thatched homes, and dirt roads all around him.

The Korean War Ceasefire

Richard Houser fought until the last second to hold Porkchop Hill in the Chorwon Valley right before the ceasefire. It felt great for him when the war ended because he was able to build new trenches farther off the 38th parallel.

The Ceasefire, Korean Civilians, and the Death of a Friend

Richard Houser protected the 38th parallel throughout the winter of 1953 from a trench and Camp Casey. After the ceasefire civilians wanted to go back to their land to farm, but it was filled with mines which took the lives of many civilians.

Warren Housten Thomas

The Punch Bowl

Warren Thomas describes being stationed near the infamous "Punchbowl" area in Korea. He remembers the Punchbowl being an area surrounded with mountains and the difficulties it created in trying to climb those mountains in the winter. He recalls one event in which he was ordered to take his tractor and clear a road for the troops, having to crawl at times and work around twenty-foot-high snow drifts.

Hearing Loss

Warren Housten Thomas reflects on his hearing loss associated with an incident during the war. He recalls driving his tractor underneath the big guns just as they received an order to fire, with the noise being so loud he thought his head would come off. He explains how, years later, the doctor attributed his hearing loss to a sudden loud sound he must have experienced.

William O’Kane

Arrival in Korea in 1952

William O'Kane arrived in Korean in 1952 at Sokcho-Ri. He was assigned his job as a wireman with Head Quarters Company 2nd Battalion 11th Marines. He remembers a lot about the conditions in Korea when he arrived and the conditions of the villages.

Interaction with Korean Marine Corps and Anzacs

William O'Kane worked with a seventeen year old Korean interpreter for his battery group. The Korean Marine Corps were tough and they worked on the left side of William O'Kane's regiment. He also fought along side with the Commonwealth Division of New Zealand (Anzacs/Australians) and had fun sharing stories about politics.