Dennis Kinney

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D:        Dennis F. Kinney.

I:          K

D:        INNEY.

I:          And what is your birthday?

D:        Twelfth of May 1931.

I:          Twelfth

D:        May 1931.

I:          I’m sorry,  December

D:        No, May.

I:          Oh, May 12.

D:        Nineteen thirty-one.

I:          Where were you born?
D:        Green Bay.

I:          Green Bay.

D:        Wisconsin.

I:          Right here, right?
D:        Yeah, right in, yeah.

 

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I:          Tell me about your family and your siblings where you were growing up.

D:        I grew up during the Depression.  And all of the kids would work in the gardens.  Everybody did cause nobody had much money or anything like that.  And at age 17, I joined the Army with the 102nd Airborne.

I:          Hold up.  So, you’re going too fast.

 

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So, you were in high school, right?
D:        Yeah.

I:          What high school were you in?

D:        Central Catholic, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

I:          Central Catholic?
D:        Green Bay, Wisconsin.

I:          And why did you stop high school?  You stopped, right?
D:        Right.  And I was a member of the ROTC.  So, I joined the Army like a lot of my other friends.

I:          And so, you joined the Army at 17.

 

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So, you got your parents approval, right?
D:        Oh yeah.

I:          Yeah.
D:        Yes, sir.

I:          During your high school, did you learn anything about Korea?

D:        No.

I:          Nothing?
D:        Nothing.

I:          They didn’t teach anything about Korea?
D:        No.

I:          Wow.  Why is that?

D:        I don’t know.  But I read a lot of books and stuff like that.

I:          So, did you know about Korea?

D:        Well, yeah, a little bit.

I:          What did you know?

 

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D:        Well, where it was and all that stuff.

I:          Um hm.  So, you joined the Army.  Where did you get the basic military training?

D:        Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky.

I:          Camp.

D:        Breckenridge.

I:          Could you spell it?

D:        BRECKridge, RIDGE.

I:          In where?
D:        Kentucky.

I:          Kentucky.  And aft that, what did you do?

 

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D:        After that, I was sent to the Far East to Guan.

I:          What was your unit?

D:        Well, at Camp [INAUDIBLE], I was 101^st Airborne, the 506

I:          Hundred first Airborne.

D:        Five o six.

I:          Okay.  And what was your specialty?
D:        I was in the Port.  But then I got assigned to the 98 Port Company Philippine Scouts.

 

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I:          What do you mean port?

D:        The port, the Port of Guam.
I:          Oh.  Port of Guan.

D:        Um hm.

I:          So, when did you leave from the United States to Guam?

D:        Let’s see.  It was, I think around the first of January 1949.

I:          And what did you do in Guam?

D:        Well, I worked in the Port,

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unloading ships and stuff like that.  But then I got assigned to the 98 Port Company for

I:          Ninety-eight

D:        Port Company.

I:          Um hm.

D:        That was the Philippine Scouts.  So, I was a member of them.  And that’s where I contracted Jungle rot and malaria.

I:          Oh.

D:        They had no pity on the Japanese when I was with them.  So, I’d seen a lot of killing at 18 years old.

I:          So, what happened to you then?

 

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D:        Well, they put me on a ship, sent me back to the States.  Meanwhile, all of my buddies from the Port were sent to Korea right away.  So, we’d have been the first ones in there.  And I probably would have joined the 24^th Division at Pusan.
I:          When did you leave for Korea from the States?  You went back to [INAUDIBLE] because of malaria, right?

D:        Yeah.

 

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I:          And then when did you leave from the United States to Korea?

D:        Oh, let’s see.  Back, I think in ’53 with the Air Force to Okinawa.

I:          And from Okinawa, did you go to Pusan?
D:        No.  This was the Air Force.  So, I went to Okinawa.

 

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And the only time I flew in there, it was with the General on a B17.  Our 51^st fighter from Okinawa was stationed there in Korea.

I:          What’s the General’s name?
D:        General [INAUDIBLE] Major General.

I:          So, you were not in Korea.

D:        No, not on the ground forces.

I:          Uh huh.  So, what did you do?  What was your mission basically?

D:        Bombing.

 

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I:          Bombing?
D:        Yeah.  Our B29s would bomb.

I:          B29.  And what was your specific

D:        Well, I was a general’s aide.

I:          General’s aide.

D:        Of the 20^th Air Force.  Then it’d become part of the 5^th Air Force.  We went in to inspect our unit that was there from Okinawa, the 51^st fighter, P51s.

I:          So, you were completely recovered from malaria.

 

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And then you joined that Air Force.

D:        Yeah.
I:          And

D:        When I got out of Walter Reed Hospital, I was sent to Germany with a Reserve outfit.  So, I was at the Army rocket base in there.

I:          Um hm.  So, tell me about the typical day that you had a mission in Korea.  Did you participate in bombing, too?
D:        No.

I:          No.

D:        But we were part of the War.

I:          Um hm.  So,

 

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did General fly to Korea?
D:        Yeah.  We used to fly up to Nagoya.  That was our Headquarters.

I:          That’s in Japan, Nagoya.

D:        Yeah.  In Japan.
I:          And from Japan, did you go to Korea?

D:        No.  I went back to Okinawa.  That’s where the states was at, Kadena.

I:          Um hm.  And had General ever landed in Korea?

D:        Yeah.

 

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I:          Oh.

D:        That’s why we went to visit the 51^st.  It was stationed there.

I:          Tell me about it.  When did you arrive in Korea, and what did you do with the 51^st, 51st what?

D:        Fighter Unit.

I:          Tell me about it.

D:        They flew P51s.  So, that was one of our units from Okinawa.  So, we went on an inspection tour.

I:          And 51, where were they located in Korea?

 

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D:        Oh, let’s see.  I forget the name of the airbase.

I:          Taegu?
D:        Probably, yeah.

I:          Taegu or Kimpo or which one?
D:        I don’t recall.  But I

I:          Was it south or north?

D:        No, it wasn’t north.  It was south.

I:          South.  Very south of

D:        I think it was pretty close to Seoul.

I:          Seoul?
D:        Seoul.

I:          Oh, okay. Then it’s Yeongdeungpo?

D:        Could be.

I:          Yeongdeungpo.

D:        I just don’t remember.

 

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I:          Tell me about any episode you remember when you were landing in Korea with the General.

D:        Well, we visited our unit there after we landed.  And, well we didn’t stay too long, you know.  But that was his own aircraft, the B17.  So, I flew all over the Pacific on this B17 with him.  Another good incident, we flew down to Taipei, and I had to shake hands with Chiang Kai-shek.

I:          You did?

 

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D:        And Madame Chiang.  And I had a nice talk with her.  And then I told her about when I went in the Air Force, I was down on Luke Field when the Chinese pilots come there, when the graduated.  And everyone of them graduated. When we went out to Phoenix to the restaurant, I went in there and ate with them.  That’s very unusual.  And I told that to Madame Chiang.  And she said well, that’s really nice, Sergeant Kinney.  That’s really nice.  I said I really appreciated it.

I:          Oh.

 

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And were there any dangerous moments that you might have lost your life?
D:        I don’t recall, not really.

I:          How prestigious was it for you to fly with your General?

D:        All good.

I:          What’s his name again?  Could you spell it?

D:        [INAUDIBLE]  I’ve got this this picture in there.  He was a World War II commander,  B17s.

 

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I:          Could you spell his name again?
D:        UMP, God, I should have brought that book up with me.
I:          Oh, we’ll talk about that later.  So, that was very prestigious.

D:        Oh, yeah.

I:          Right?
D:        I meat a lot of generals and stuff.  And later on, I, who was the 506 Commander in World War II, General Maxwell Taylor.  And I told him, you know, when I drove for him,

 

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four stars, he was U.N. Commander, and he visited Okinawa.  And I told him and oh, I had a nice talk with him, too.

I:          What do you think about the Korean War from your perspective?  You were not there to serve in the Pacific Theater.

D:        Not in any of the fighting units.
I:          Yeah.  But what do you think about the Korean War?  Do you remember anything specifically?  Or what do you think about the historical importance of the Korean War?
D:        Very important I think.
I:          How?  Why?

 

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D:        Well, they didn’t want to become Communists, I know that.

I:          Uh huh.  What else can you talk about it?

D:        I figured it was justified, you know.  And when Truman sent MacArthur in there, he wanted to keep going.

 

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But later when MacArthur came back, I was in Walter Reed Hospital, guess who was an Honor Guard?  Me.

I:          You were the Honor Guard for

D:        When he said old soldiers never die.  They just fade away in Congress, and I was right there with him.

I:          You were in the U.S. Congress?  How did you become the Honor Guard for him?

D:        I was in Walter Reed Hospital, and they wanted some Honor Guards, and I was one of them.  So, when he came back.  I’ve got pictures of that, too.

I:          So, you got a picture with General MacArthur.

 

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D:        Yeah.

I:          Where do you have all those pictures?
D:        Most of them are back in Green Bay in albums.

I:          So, you don’t have it with you now?
D:        No.

I:          Oh.

D:        But all my stuff is on record in Madison.  I’m in the disc down there.  All my history in the military.  I’ve been all over the world.

I:          So, who has the picture now?

D:        The pictures?

I:          Yeah, picture that you took with your General and MacArthur?

 

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D:        Oh, they’re all down in Green Bay.  I had so many pictures from all over the world.

I:          How many?
D:        Oh geeze, a couple hundred.

I:          Would you share that picture with me?  I mean, as I told you, in my brochure there are so many pictures that I collected from other Korean War veterans.

D:        Um hm.

I:          And if you share that, we’ll scan it and send it back to you.  But otherwise, nobody will see that picture.

 

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D:        Um hm.

I:          Do you understand?  If you keep all those important pictures with General MacArthur and your own general, if you do not share them with me so that I can work on it, nobody will be able to see.

D:        I know it.

I:          Right?
D:        Yeah.

I:          Would you be

D:        So many of those books are back in Green Bay albums and stuff.

I:          Who is there in Green Bay now?  Your family?

D:        Oh yeah.

I:          Uh huh.

D:        My sister takes care of me.  I’m 100% disabled.

 

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I:          So, can she send your album to me?

D:        I don’t, I’m going to Green Bay.  I’ll see if I can pick it up.

I:          Yes.

D:        On the 21^st, I go for medical.

I:          Oh, you go there?
D:        Oh yeah.
I:          How long does it take from here to Green Bay?

D:        About almost two hours.

I:          Oh, that’s it.

D:        Seventy miles.

I:          Yeah.  So, if you share that picture with me, I will scan it, and then I’ll put in the website with your interview

 

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so that everybody can hear from you and see the picture with General MacArthur and your own general, okay?

D:        Um hm.  The picture I got when he was coming up to the Capitol, he was in his car.  But then I went inside, and I went inside with him.  But I don’t know if they got a picture of that or not.

I:          That’s an honor, right?
D:        Yeah.  Everybody says I was in a great honor.

I:          Yeah.  So, if you give me that picture, we’ll scan it,

 

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put it on the internet so that students and teachers can talk about you, Dennis Kinney, shaking hands with MacArthur. That’s a nice picture.

D:        Yeah.

I:          Yeah.  So, other than the deterrents of Communist attack against South Korea, what do you think is the importance of the War?  And what is your, are you proud of your service about the Korean War?

 

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D:        Oh yeah.

I:          Tell me about it. Why?

D:        Well, it’s hard to explain.  But you know, I spent so much time in the military, Europe, Asia and Africa.  Where the really did the fighting when I was with the Special Forces in Viet Nam and Thailand.
I:          Um hm.  That’s very good.

D:        Yeah.

 

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I:          So, when did you retire from the Air Force?
D:        Yeah, the Air Force.

I:          Um hm.

D:        Nineteen seventy-nine.  Thirty years.  I got those right in my room, the two retirements.  The regular retirement and then I went for 30 years.  I got that, too.

I:          By the way, did you take a picture with [INAUDIBLE]?

D:        I don’t think so.  When we were in Taiwan.

 

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D:        they might have took pictures there, you know, when I talked with him and stuff like that.  But I didn’t have to take any pictures.

I:          And why did you get 100% disability?
D:        Well, with the Jungle Rot and the Malaria and diabetes real bad, and I’ve been in airplane crashes and head-on crashes in the military.

I:          Oh, tell me about it.  Where did you crash?

 

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D:        Nineteen fifty-seven up in Michigan.  A car hit me 85 miles head on.

I:          That was one of your Air Force missions?
D:        Yeah.

I:          Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.

D:        Yeah.  And the airplane crash in Libya, we were coming down from Germany.  And we crashed at River’s Field.  We all got out of that okay.

I:          Uh huh.

D:        It was a C124, a big monster.

I:          Yeah.

D:        We were in a ditch in the Mediterranean.

 

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You don’t want a ditch in there.

I:          You got out of it there.

D:        Yeah.  We got out of it okay.

I:          That’s good.  So, when did you join this Wisconsin Veterans’ Home?

D:        It was almost two years ago.

I:          Do you like it here?
D:        Oh yeah.  I’ve been here so many times.  I used to bring people here and stuff like that cause I started the DAV Transportation with Dick Marbs out at Green Bay.

 

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Now it’s a big outfit all over the United States.
I:          Um hm.  Any other episode that you had with your general when you were from Okinawa to Korea and back and forth?

D:        Like I said, we went down to Taipei with him in the Clark Field, and we’d go up in to Nagoya which is our Headquarters quite a bit.  So, it was an honor to fly with a general.

I:          Um hm.

D:        He was like a father to me.  He said you’re like my son.  He had two daughters. I got pictures of that, too.

 

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I:          So, you gotta share those pictures with me, okay?

D:        Okay.  I got the book right downstairs.

I:          What about the magazine you have?  What is it?

D:        The Korean

I:          Gray Beard.

D:        The Gray Beards.  I’ve been up with them.

I:          Show it up to the camera, yes.  Do you like that magazine?
D:        Oh yeah.  I’ve been getting it a long, long time.  And I share it with people.  I got another one in my room.

I:          I brought $100,000 donation

 

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from Pan Tech, a Korean company called Pan Tech C and I.  His name is [INAUDIBLE].  He is my close friend.  I asked him to donate for the Korean War Veterans Association.

D:        Oh yeah.

I:          He donated $100,000 for that Gray Beard.

D:        Oh yeah.  I enjoy getting it.

I:          Yeah.

D:        You know, cause I always look for some of my buddies that were in Korea there cause we had been the first ones there.

I:          Um hm.
D:        Except for Mag.  My good friend was there before Korea, training

 

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people.  He’s dead now.  He used to tell me about that, you know, the training before the Korean War started.

I:          So, Dennis.  Do you know what happened to Korea now?

D:        Well.

I:          Modern Korea.

D:        Oh yeah.  You never, I’ve seen pictures.  I never went on any of the tours cause I don’t travel much anymore.  But the way it’s built up and

 

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stuff like, yeah.

I:          So, what do you think about modern Korea?

D:        I guess it’s sort of nice.  If you go back there, it’s so different.  But then that goofy guy up north, Kim, yeah.  It’s too bad.

I:          So bad.  So, are you proud that Korea now became 11^th largest economy in the world?

D:        Oh yeah.  I know it.  I had some of the Kia cars.

 

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I:          Oh, you have a Kia car?

D:        I had one, a couple of them.

I:          How did you like that?
D:        Oh, real nice.  In fact, my sister’s got one of them right now, my little SUV.

I:          When you were in Korea in 1955, there was

D:        I wasn’t, in ’53 I was in Korea.

I:          Fifty-three.

D:        Yeah.

I:          But we didn’t know how to build a car.

D:        Yeah.

I:          You know?

 

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D:        Yeah.  But they were nice cars. I really like them.

I:          So, what would you say to our young students and teachers about your Korean experience?  What would you say about Korea to them?

D:        How it’s so different from, you know, in the ‘50’s the way it is now.  And another thing, I would teach at schools, history.

 

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I had a lot of experience in Viet Nam, too.

I:          Um hm. Any other episode you wanna share with me today?
D:        Yes.  I’m proud of 1960, June of 1960, I was part of the Secret Service with President Eisenhower.

I:          You were in the Secret Service?

D:        Guess who I got to shake hands with?
I:          Who?

D:        When Ike left, Khruschev and Zuckoff.  I had to shake hands with them cause I was part of their convoy.

 

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Russian limousines.  When he left to go back to Moscow.  So, I was with the Embassy people from the United States Embassy.  And so, I was the last car in the convoy with the Russian limousines cause we were the host nation of the Summitt Conference in Paris.

I:          What qualified you as Secret Service?

D:        Well, I was picked because my knowing Paris so good.

 

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I had been to Paris so many times driving tour buses and stuff.  So, I knew Paris pretty good.  And that’s what they wanted.  So, four of us

I:          Paris, France?

D:        Yep.

I:          France?

D:        Yeah. I got the thing right on the wall with the letter from President Eisenhower.  He sent our unit.  So, I got it hanging on the wall there, thanking us.  And Ike came over and shook our hands before he left.
I:          So, do you have that picture too? Do you have it?

D:        Yeah.  I got the pictures of the Secret

 

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Service cars and stuff.  And I’m standing right in front of them.

I:          Picture of President Eisenhower?

D:        No, he had already left.  And they were getting his car prepared to go back to the United States with two Secret Service, which are in Detroit now in a museum.

I:          So, you have a picture with Khruschev?

D:        No.  They wouldn’t dare, unless they took some pictures in there.

I:          Yeah.
D:        But, so I had to shake hands with him and Zuckoff and some of the KGB boys.  So, I had dealings with the KGB.

I:          You are too famous.

 

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You’ve gotta share those pictures with me, okay?  Promise me.

D:        Okay.

I:          Alright?
D:        Um hm.

I:          I receive a lot of pictures, and we scanned them.

D:        Oh, I got it in my little book.

I:          Yeah.

D:        Photo book.

I:          Yeah.  So, let’s

D:        I got all this stuff downstairs.
I:          Great.  Alright.  If you have any other story to share with me?  No?

D:        Let’s see, what else.  Oh, in 1960 after the Summitt Conference from

 

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Spain down, I flew into West Berlin.

I:          Um hm.

D:        And I was in the East Zone, and I took a picture there, and I had an AK47 in my face.  That was before the wall.  So, I was glad to get back into West Berlin believe me.

I:          Really?
D:        Yeah.  It was so drab over there it was unreal.  Now I guess it’s starting to build up again.  But West Berlin was pretty well rebuilt then.

I:          You’ve been all over.

D:        Oh yeah.

 

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And then I had a chance, one of my tours down in Burtridge Gardens where I got up in an eagle’s nest, and I rode down in this Bunker, right underneath.  They got that closed up now.  Three Quonset huts underground there.  That’s where they would, if there was an air raid or something like that, that’s where they’d go.  But they closed it up.  That was a real experience there.  Not many people got down in this bunker.

 

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I:          Exactly. So, it’s my honor and great pleasure to meet you.  And thank you for sharing your story with me, those famous stories.  And I hope that really I want to get the pictures from you so that we can have it in the internet and make it available for students and teachers, okay?

D:        Two of the famous men I drove for [INAUDIBLE] headquarters, you know, off it in Omaha?

 

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Guess who I drove for?  Two of the most famous, James Stewart and Jimmy Doolittle.

I:          You mean the movie stars?

D:        Then Jimmy Doolittle, you know, he was the one that led the bombing over Tokyo.  Little Jim, the same size as me.

I:          Oh.
D:        He was a small guy.

I:          What do you mean James Stewart?  Was he a movie star?
D:        He was a, yeah.  He was in World War II.

I:          Oh, okay.  World War II.

D:        He was a very,

 

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He took over this unit, the B17s, and he taught them how to fly in a tight formation.  So, when they would get attacked by the Nazi’s, they couldn’t get in cause there was so much firepower.  If you were alone, damaged or something like that, they usually got shot down. I remember the guys got shot down, stragglers.  But he went on to become a Brigadier General.  And he got lots of awards from the French government and the whole works.

I:          It’s hard to believe that you met all those famous people.

 

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D:        Oh yeah.  Lots of famous people.  I worked with Bob Hope.
I:          What?

D:        In 1969.

I:          In what capacity?

D:        I was in charge of transportation, night transportation at Guam at Anderson Field.  I had 45 drivers working for me cause we had so many B52s going on bombing runs day and night.  There were guys coming in.  So, I had some of my people and myself work with Bob Hope.

 

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I:          Why was Bob there?
D:        USO tour.

I:          Okay.
D:        Yeah.  There were about 35,000 outside there.  And then I met my third cousin, Ann Margaret.
I:          What do you mean?
D:        She’s my third cousin from Sweden.

I:          You’re kidding me.

D:        No.  I got pictures of that, her dancing.  And I talked with her, you know, backstage.  And I talked to Dolores Hope.

 

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I said how’d you get along with Bob?  It wasn’t easy, you know.  He’s serious on those tours.

I:          Is all this real?
D:        Yeah, it’s real.  I got pictures of it.

I:          You can get the picture from others.  Did you have a picture with Ann Margaret together?
D:        No.  Cause we were so busy back there.  And the photographers were taking pictures of different stuff.

 

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But I got pictures of that, on the stage there with all the other actors and stuff.

I:          What an amazing military career you had.

D:        Yeah.

I:          Huh?

D:        I had another good friend of mine.  Well, she’s dead now.  She stayed up at the General’s house with us for two days. And she was on the US tour, Debbie Reynolds.  I took Debbie Reynolds all over the island of Okinawa.  And I’ve got pictures, we were sitting down at base operations, and they got a picture of her.  The Air Force took them.

 

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And that’s when Liz Taylor was putting a hit on Eddie Fisher who she married later.  And Debbie was devastated there.  But she’s been my, I’ve seen her in Vegas again, and she’s always been my friend, too, up till the day she died.

I:          Wow.
D:        What a nice woman she was.

I:          So, you’ve gotta give me those pictures, okay?

D:        Yeah.

I:          Promise?
D:        Yeah.  I got the, cause it was Debbie I’m sitting there with her.

I:          Thank you, Dennis, for sharing your story.

D:        Okay.

I:          Alright.
D:        Yeah.

 

0:28:00
That one at Clover, I worked with oh, what’s his name, and [INAUDIBLE] who’s dead now, we traveled all over.  And we took the memorial down in Mobile, and then they had the groundbreaking with Adam Baster and, you know, all the pretty girls. I got pictures.  And we had a nice time down there, the Korean Association.  And then we, at Clover, you know, which is in Efran here.  I don’t know if you’ve been there.   The Korean Memorial?

 

0:28:30

The miniature we took down to Mobile with us in the van.  It’s about 300 lbs.  And we had that on display down there at Mobile.  So the wall there, I got my name on the wall at Clover.  Every year they would have that memorial.  Now I guess the city of Clover took it over.  But it’s a nice memorial, right off of Highway, the interstate there.  You can see it.

 

0:29:00

A beautiful memorial.  But they maintain it now.  We got that going.

I:          Great talking to you, Dennis.  And I’d love to see.  Let’s go down to see your book, okay?

D:        Okay.
I:          Alright.  Thank you.

 

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