Clyde D. McKenrick
Bio
Clyde D. McKenrick was born in Clinton, Iowa in 1929. After high school, he attended Cornell College before working on a farm and later a local sash and door factory. He was drafted into the US Army in early 1952 and attended basic training at Camp Crowder, Missouri and cryptography school at Camp Gordon, Georgia. He was sent to Korea and was assigned to the 931st Engineering/Aviation Group (Kimpo Air Base) where he worked as a personnel clerk for 11 months until he was rotated back to the US in October 1953. He finished his service at Fort Walters, Texas and was discharged from the Army. Today, he lives in Illinois and is active in the KWVA.
Video Clips
What is Cryptography?
Clyde McKenrick describes the job of a cryptographer. This is an older version of coding. He explains that a cryptographer encodes and decodes information, allowing for secure communication between units. This allows enemies to not access confidential information.
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"What Kind of Trouble Are You In?"
Clyde McKenrick tells an amusing story of when he was called into the office of an alarmed personnel director because the FBI had been asking questions about him. He had no idea why the FBI was interested in him. He explains that the FBI interest was because of the security clearance he needed to become a cryptographer.
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Half-Brothers, Meeting for the First Time in Korea
Clyde McKenrick tells the remarkable story of reconciliation of two soldiers in his unit. The two men were half-brothers that had never met until assigned to the same barracks in Korea. He talks about how their relationship went from an uneasy beginning and evolved to a close friendship.
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A New Mess Sergeant
Clyde McKenrick talks about his duties as a personnel clerk in Korea. He was responsible for assigning new personnel to appropriate units. He tells the story of assigning a corporal to the duties of mess sergeant and the fortuitous results that happened.
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