Frank Churchward

Churchward: I am Frank Churchward. I am born September 11th, 1934.

 

Interviewer: September 11th.

 

C: 1934.

 

I: Mm-hm. Where were you born?

 

C: I was born about 20 miles west of here in Dodge Center, Minnesota.

 

I: What is that, could you spell it?

 

C: Dodge—D-O-D-G-E

 

I: Mm-hm

 

C: C-E-N-T-E-R

 

I: C-E-N-T-E-R Minnesota. Could you spell your name?

 

00: 00:30

 

C: C-H-U-R-C-H-W-A-R-D. Is the last name. It’’s of English origin. However, I am quarter German, one-quarter English, and one-half Norwegian. The origin is English and it has a different spelling as you go back through history and it’s unclear right now whether was a ward of the church or we were more or less a custodian or

 

00:01:00

 

C: A member of a church. I’m the second of six children.

 

I: What school did you go through there?

 

C: It’s public school,

 

I: Public School

 

C: The only thing at the time. Yes, sir

 

I: Mm-hm. And when did you graduate high school?

 

C: 1952.

 

I: So, do you remember the day that the Korean War broke out and you came to know how? How did you come to know of the Korean War breakout?

 

C: That would have been 1950.

 

I: Yeah.

 

00:01:30

 

C: And I would probably have been a sophomore in high school.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: And as a result, I probably learned  it from the radio. We didn’t have TV at the time.

 

I: What did you think about it?

 

C: Well, at the time, of course it was just North Korea versus South Korea.

 

I: Uh-huh.

 

C: It was one dictatorship against actually another dictatorship, at the time.

 

I: Did you know anything about Korea at the time?

 

00:02:00

 

C: No, sir. Not other than it was divided as a result of the Second World War.

 

I: Huh, you knew nothing about Korea.

 

C: Not of anything real nature.

 

I: So, the Korea was not popular at all?

 

C: Not in our community, no.  My uncles were in the Second World War and in Europe, not in Asia.

 

I: Not in Asia. So when did you join the military and why?

 

C: Okay,

 

00:02:30

 

C: Right after high school, I went to Las Vegas and worked, then came back. And that would have been late 1952, early 1953.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: And I, you know, we had. We were known as being somewhat patriotic, and as a result, I thought I should go in and do my share.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: I asked my father to check with our draft board there in the county,

 

00:03:00

C: And I wanted to volunteer for two years. Well, they came back and said they would not take me because they were not taking fellows that were a number of years older than I already. Therefore, I came to Rochester and I joined the National Guard. In the National Guard, after a couple months, I said, I’d like two years of active duty. And they said, no, things have quieted down in Korea now, and we’re not taking any conversions to active duty.

 

I: Mm-hm

 

00:03:30

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: So that was in about November of 1953.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: So I said, okay.

 

I: So, you joined the National Guard, right?

 

C: Yes Sir.

 

I: And you worked there for two years?

 

C: No in the National Guard, I was only there three months.

 

I: Three months.

 

C: When I asked, asked  to be activated for two years.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: And they said, no they are not taking people because things had quieted down.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: And as a result, I then enlisted.

 

00:04:00

 

C: For three years in January 1954.

 

I: ‘54. January 1954.

 

C: Yes, Sir.

 

I: To Army, right?

 

C: Yes.

 

I: Where did you go to receive basic military training?

 

C: We were bused down to Camp Riley, Fort Riley Kansas, initially.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: They were kind of shutting that location down. And as a result, after some of the indoctrination, we were then bused down to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas,

 

00:04:30

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: We had eight to ten weeks of infantry basic there.

 

I: How many weeks?

 

C: Ten weeks at the time. Two weeks processing, eight weeks of training.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: Then we had a leave. And this we came back and this time it was at  Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: Then I had eight weeks of combat engineers. Then when that was complete

 

00:05:00

 

C: I don’t recall the duration but I was in what they call carpentry. After carpentry, I went into cadre and then  I got orders and went to Korea.

 

I: Mm-hm. So already the war ended at the time that you were about to leave.

C: Correct.

I: Mm-hm. Did you know anything about Korea during that basic military training and combat and so on, carpentry?

00:05:30

 

C: Well, at the time they were more or less discussing the type of equipment we would be using and just general infantry and combat engineering techniques and not much about

I: Korea

C: The country itself.

I: You didn’t learn much about Korea?

 

C: Did not get a lot of indoctrination on Korea itself.

 

I: What did you think when you were told that you are about to go to Korea?

 

C: I expected it. It was not a surprise, and I had no reluctance.

 

00:06:00

 

C: To go

 

I: What do you remember when you left for Korea?

 

C: I think I was on the airplane from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, to Fort Lewis, Washington, on my birthday September 11th 1934.  Or this would have been 1954.

 

I: Mm-hm and then you left for Korea from Washington.

 

00:06:30

 

C: We left for Korea from Washington on a two stacker, General Mitchell. And it took us, I guess it was about 18 days, with two-day stop in Yokohama.

 

I: Mm-hm. Where did you arrive in Korea?

 

C: Pusan

 

I: Pusan and that must that must been like end of September 1954.

 

C: It was towards the end of September

 

I: Mm-hm.

C: 1954

 

00:07:00

 

C: We took a train from Pusan to Incheon. And then my first assignment was at Incheon in the 439th Combat Engineering Company.

 

I: 439th

 

C: Combat Engineering Company.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: And it was located between the locks at Incheon

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: And the ocean. Out in that area.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: And the company had various

 

00:07:30

 

C: Road responsibilities around Seoul and Incheon. And one project they were just finishing when I arrived was a theater on Wolmido Island

 

I: Theater?

 

C: A movie theater

 

I: Really?

 

C: For all of the newer people that were coming in. If I recall, you can correct me if I’m in error, I believe Wolmido Island has been leveled and is now part of the Seoul International Airport.

 

00:08:00

 

I: Songdo, yes. Yeah.

 

C: Yup. We were right there in the harbor.

 

I: [Laughs]

 

C: Witnessed all of the high and low tides.  Only one time did I go with the fellows that were there when I arrived, and we walked down and through the Incheon Village. The rest of the time I was pretty much on the base. I was at that time a mechanic in the motor pool and

 

00:08:30

 

C: My work didn’t take me off the area. Then  I was sent up north to the 76th Dump Truck Company

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: That was located in the Munsan-ni, Punami area. Then we were phasing that company out and we were transferred, just it was right adjacent, to the 512th Dump Truck Company.

 

I: Truck company?

 

C: Dump truck company, yes.

 

00:09:00

 

I: Dump truck. So what kind of work did you do in this truck company?

 

C: Initially, I was a mechanic, and then I

 

I: You repaired things?

 

C: Yes, the dump trucks. I worked on the dump trucks, preventive maintenance and care. And then I got the, well in a company environment. They would have been called the clerk company. Clerk you made out the roster in the morning and in the work orders and such but our company was always what we called TDY.

 

00:09:30

C: We were always assigned platoon at a time to other companies And we had the dump trucks, and the drivers, and we supported them in their work building roads, building the abutments for new bridges, and rebuilding the community. We had the 11th Combat Battalion

 

00:10:00

 

C: That we were usually TDY to, one company or another, had road responsibility from Seoul to the DMZ. And as I understand it now, and it’s probably because of the size of those villages, they now pronounce them and spell them as Munsan,

 

I: Munsan.

 

C; Puja. I guess it’s because of the size

 

I: Right. Yup

 

C: They dropped the E off the end. That’s how they understood it.

 

I: Very good.[Laughs]

00:10:30

 

C: And of course, Pusan is now Busan.

 

I: How was the situation around Munsan?

 

C: Rebuilding, rebuilding the country. They hauled rock and gravel. And whatever was necessary to build and maintain roads and put the embankments in for new bridges. As I say, we had responsibility from Seoul to the DMZ for roads.

 

I: Wow, that’s quite a job. Huh?

 

00:11:00

 

I: Every road from Seoul to DMZ.

 

C: Yeah, it was the 11th Battalion that had that responsibility. And then our individual platoons were assigned to different companies within that battalion to maintain the roads.

 

I: Did you build asphalt or what? What did you do actually for the road?

 

C: The roads were primarily crushed rock,

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: And we had our own quarry where we blasted

 

00:11:30

 

C: And had rock crushers. Those rock crushers and the heavy equipment were under the 11th Battalion and not the trucking company. I knew why I was there. I was there to perform a job, which they gave me. And occasionally, I’d been only married about a month and a half before I left.

 

I: Oh, really?

 

C: And so it was a little difficult being away.

 

I: That must have been the most difficult thing for you.

 

C: It was. And that

 

00:12:00

 

C: Plus the rainy season-we were in a tent for all but a few months of that time. And you got down feeling a little sorry for yourself, but all I had to do was just think about the guys that were there you know a short time before me. That kind of took my self-pity away.

 

I: So, you must have written a lot of letters to your wife.

 

C: Very many, yes, sir.

 

I: What did you write?

 

00:12:30

 

C: Well, just how much I missed her and the kinds of things that we were doing. And that was kind of just a repeat.

 

I: How often did you receive the letter from your wife?

C: I probably got two letters a week.

 

I: What was the most rewarding things that you remember during your service?

 

C: Seeing some of the projects that we took on completed.

 

I: For example?

 

00:13:00

 

C: One of the bridges we were building, it took a lot of truckloads to build up the edge of the river so that they could bring it up to level where the bridge was. And day after day and truck after truck we went down and deposited rock and then gradually smaller rock to build that particular one up.

 

I: Do you remember the river where you put

 

00:13:30

 

I: That bridge? Was it Imjin River?

 

C: Sorry, I can’t remember the name.

 

I: Ok. Yeah, you, the combat engineers after the war really did contribute to making Korea what it is right now. And all those U. S. forces stationed after the war had tremendous contribution to make Korean society better.

 

C: We felt we were contributing, yes sir.

 

I: Yeah. So I really appreciate that and it’s good to get that kind of story.

 

00:14:00

 

I: How much were you paid at the time? Combat engineers’ salary. Tell me.

 

C: I can’t tell you. Probably going over originally was in the neighborhood of $75, $78, $50 a month for overseas pay.

 

I: What did you do with that money? It’s not actually a currency money, it’s a script, right?

 

C: Well, yes, that’s what they paid us in — was script.

 

I: Yeah.

 

C But I had deductions prior to that sent to my wife.

 

00:14:30

 

C: Once we went up north in the Munsan-ni, Punami area, there were times that we would have to move from one of the 11th Engineering Companies to another because of the work, and it seemed like it was always at night that we had to do that. And so we lived in a squad tent. We’d just roll them up, throw them in the back of the dump truck, and go over and set them up at night. And of course, most of the property

 

00:15:00

 

C: That the government used for company compounds was on the side of mountains, and which was a lot of ancestral burial grounds. Only one time was I in a company that was flat, and that was because they had some artillery spotter planes stationed there. Otherwise, it was always on the side of a mountain.

 

00:15:30

 

C: When I first went up there, I was out on TDY. It was

 

I: What is TDY?

 

C: Temporary Duty, assigned to another company. My drivers, and my trucks, and myself were there.

 

I: Working for other company.

 

C: For that other company. I was in a squad tent with two sergeants that were head of the platoon at that time. And in front, I had a homemade desk that I sat at.

 

00:16:00

 

C: And did my paperwork and assigned the truck workload and so on and so forth.

 

I: Any experience with the Korean people?

 

C: Not too much. While we were in Incheon, we had a Korean youngster that was our house boy. He’d get our laundry taken in and community and such.  And once in a while,

 

00:16:30

 

C: The Korean ladies would come and get instruction on how to sew some of our insignia on and things like that. But other than that, no, we had no contact.

 

I: When did you leave for the states?

 

C: It was in January 1955. I think I arrived in California.

 

I: No, no, no. You said you were in Munsan-ni

 

00:17:00

 

I: In January ‘55. You’re talking ’56?

 

C: Ok., January 1956. Yes, sir. Yes, thank you. January 1956,

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: I arrived in California on the ship on February 6th, 1956.

 

I: February 6,

 

C: 1956, arrived in the state

 

I: California. Anybody met you,

 

00:17:30

 

I: At the harbor?

 

C: No, no, sir. We got off the ship. They processed the paperwork. Those whose enlistments were complete, they were given travel pay and sent home on their own. We were just said, well, I had thirty days of leave coming and uh, we’ll see you at your next station.

 

I: What is the impact of your service upon your life?

 

C: Ok. As a result in school there was a group of us

 

00:18:00

 

C: That chummed around together and kind of, you know, felt that we were some somebody about seven of us boys. So I didn’t really learn an awful lot ‘cause it was difficult for me and uh. However, I think that the service showed me that I could do things that I wasn’t aware I could do, other than physical things. I could learn and I could contribute, and I really

 

C: I really took off and was able to

 

00:18:30

 

C: Accomplish things for myself

 

I: And so your service really gives you

 

C: Matured me.

 

I: Maturity and some knowledge too.

 

C: Definitely.

 

I: Definitely?

 

C: Yeah, interrelation, communication with people. Yes, sir. And that kind of led to some of the accomplishments at the work. And then, of course, I listened and learned from various jobs I had with IBM.

 

00:19:00

 

C: I’m very, very pleased with what life has given me. Very much

 

I: Did you have a GI Bill benefit?

 

C: Well, I could have. But again, I married just before I went into service. I was in service for ten months. There as a result, my wife had my first baby in November, 29th of November,

 

00:19:30

 

C: 1956. So, here I come out of service then in January without a job and a wife and one child, and I said, I can’t afford to go to school.

 

I: Mm-hm.

 

C: And I knew I didn’t have the skills to do college work.

 

I: What do you think about the relationship between the U. S. and Korea?

 

C: Great. I think Korea is the only country and the only population

 

00:20:00

 

C: That appreciates what the United States attempted to do in helping them in a wartime situation. I don’t know of any other country that has that gratitude, and especially after all these generations.

 

I: Any other comments do you want to leave?

 

C: No, sir. As I say, I grew from my experiences and tried to apply it.

 

I: Thank you very much, Frank.

 

C: Thank you.

 

00:20:30

 

I: And I’ll never forget your last name, Churchward:.

 

00:20:35 [End of Recorded Material]