Daniel Ed Fenton
Bio
Daniel Ed Fenton, a World War II veteran, was captured as a prisoner of war during the Korean War. He shares that he was taken along the 38th Parallel in 1953 and forced to march north. He recounts his living conditions, such as being held in a hut with 10 other men. He remembers being required to cook his own food during that time. He states that he was a P.O.W. for 2 years and 8 months, and upon release, he returned home.
Video Clips
POW Experience
Daniel Ed Fenton briefly describes his capture and experience as a POW during the Korean War. He touches upon his living conditions during that time. He shares that he was held captive for 2 years and 8 months.
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Video Transcript
[Beginning of Transcribed Material]
I: What’s your name?
D: Ed.
I: Ed?
D: Yeah. That’s my middle name.
I: And.
D: Ed Fenton.
I: Ed Fenton.
D: Yeah.
I: Do you really go by, original name is Daniel?
D: Yes.
I: But they call you Ed.
D: Yeah.
I: Okay. Where were you born, Ed?
D: Tera Haute, Indiana.
I: What’s your date of birth?
D: 10/14/26.
0:00:30
I: What kind of occupations did you have before you went to War? What kind of jobs did you have?
D: I was in high school.
I: Okay.
D: And I just graduated.
I: Oh, you went right to the military.
D: Yes.
I: So, you enlisted.
D: Yes. I spent 18 months in the Philippines.
I: You were a prisoner where, in Korea?
D: Yes.
0:00:59
I: Two years in Korea?
D: Two years and eight months as a prisoner of war. We were only there about three months.
I: In Korea?
D: To get to the, we were going to North Korea
I: Right.
0:01:26
D: It was about three months on the way north when we got hit by, close by. We were right up close to the barrier.
I: Right.
D: Over north.
I: 38 Parallel?
D: Yeah.
I: And was it the Chinese that attacked you, the Chinamen or the North Koreans?
D: North, I’d say military. I can’t say.
0:02:00
I: The Chinese probably attacked you.
D: We went in a prisoner of war because we didn’t have any guns or anything. And we walked all the way up north.
I: So, you were captured in March or April?
D: Yes.
I: Of 1953?
D: Yes.
I: Okay.
0:02:30
I: And did they bring you to like a building to stay in? Did they put you in a hut or a house?
D: No.
I: Where’d they put you?
D: We marched every day.
I: How many men were you? Five men, 10 men, that were captured with you?
0:02:58
D: There was about 19.
I: Nineteen?
D: Yeah.
I: What kind of buildings were they? Ten men in each what?
D: In each, we had 10 men in a group.
I: A little house?
D: It was a, I don’t know what you called it.
0:03:30
Just like the POWs, we went over the hill, we’d be on the bottom side of a hill.
I: What’d you do at the camp, with the 10 men? You slept in those buildings? What’s you sleep in, these little buildings or what?
D: Not
0:04:02
I: Were they huts, houses?
D: Yes.
I: You had to cook your own food?
D: Yes.
I: What’d they give you, corn, barley, sorghum? What did they feed you?
D: (INAUDIBLE)
I: When did you get released? How many months did you stay as a prisoner of war?
D: Two years and eight months.
0:04:29
I: Where’d you go when you were released?
D: Home.
I: You went on a boat?
D: Half a mile we was in Indianna.
I: Okay. Thank you very much.
[END RECORDED MATERIAL]