Herbert Schreiner

[Beginning of recorded material]

H:        Um, the name is Herb Schreiner.

I:          Um hm.

H:        Uh, I was born and raised in Hawaii, uh.  I went to Roosevelt High School, and from Roosevelt High School I went into the service.

I:          Um hm.

H:        And, uh, my mother was a Hawaiian, uh, Portuguese lady.

I:          Ah ha.

H:        My daddy was Hawaiian German.

I:          Ah ha.

H:        That’s why I have the German name.  So she was proud that her, her sons would, uh, think

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about other people less fortunate.

I:          Um hm.

H:        Like, you know, the Korean War.

I:          Um hm.

H:        And the memories that I have from.

I:          Um hm.

H:        So, um, being, growing up here, uh, it was a real good life.

I:          Um hm.

H:        That’s the old Hawaii.

I:          Um hm.

H:        The old Hawaii.

I:          Old Hawaii.

H:        Before all.

I:          Okay.

H:        But, uh, I’m a surfer.  I used to surf outside of Waikiki.

I:          Ah ha.

H:        Ah ha.

I:          There you go.

H:        Yeah.  So, uh,

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Everything looks good, you know, for my life as a child.

I:          When war first broke out in 1950

H:        18.

I:          Eighteen-year-old.  What were you doing at the time?

H:        School.

I:          You were in the school?

H:        I was just getting out of school.

I:          Getting just graduating.

H:        Just graduating.

I:          What was your first reaction when you heard about this and when you

H:        My, my first reaction was, uh, where’s Korea?

I:          Ah ha.

H:        Who’s Korea?

I:          Yah.

H:        You know?  Um, where is it.  So, look on a map,

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I:          Um hm.

H:        and we see way far away.

I:          Uh huh.

H:        And looking at it saying why?

I:          Uh huh.

H:        Why a war

I:          Yeah.

H:        you know?  Why a war?  So, um, I went into the military right after high school

I:          Um hm.

H:        and took my basic at Schofield which

I:          But did you join the military after you heard about the Korean War?

H:        No.

I:          Oh, okay.

H:        I was already in

I:          Already in?

H:        I was already in the Air Force

I:          Yes.

H:        Yes.  And then

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I:          And you volunteered, right?

H:        Yeah, I volunteered when I went to, uh, Kirkland Air Force Base, Kirkland in, uh, New, Albuquerque, New Mexico.  I went there and, uh, that’s where we learned about the Saber jets, and then we took it to another place where it was cold, very cold, to see how they would stand up to your cold weather,

I:          Um.

H:        And then from there we went to Korea.

I:          Um hm.  So what was your, you said that where is Korea, and why Korean War there? But were you afraid of being there? Were you afraid that you’d have to fight there?

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H:        No, I was not, no, I was not.

I:          Um.

H:        I’ll be very honest with you.  I was not.

I:          Okay.  Yeah.

H:        Uh, I was, at the time, young and reckless.

I:          [LAUGHS]

H:        You understand.  I

I:          Yeah.

H:        I was young, and I wanted to go and, and, and help the people because my mother and dad brought us up to help others less fortunate.

I:          Um hm.

H:        So it was no problem for me to volunteer.  My brother, 17 years old,

I:          Um hm.

H:        volunteered.

I:          Um hm.

H:        And we’ll talk about that later.

I:          Yeah, yeah.

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So, is there any other, uh, member of your family that actually participated in the Korean War?

H:        No, just my brother and I.  Uh, the other two

I:          Two of you?

H:        Yeah.

I:          Out of four boys.

H:        Yeah.  Two of us in Korea, and then the other two in Vietnam.

I:          What’s his name?

H:        Alan.

I:          Alan Schreiner.

H:        Schreiner, Alan.

I:          Schreiner.

H:        Yeah.  Alan Schreiner.

I:          Was younger brother or

H:        Younger.

I:          Younger brother.

H:        Yeah.

I:          Was he in the military, too?

H:        Yeah.  He went into the military, but he went in the infantry.

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I:          Um hm.

H:        Because he wanted to go there and, and help.  He was, he was all, my mother had to sign for him

I:          Oh.

H:        to go because he was 17 years old.

I:          Oh, okay.

H:        And she signed for him, and she took that to the grave. But I told her that, you know, Alan was a, a, was a type of kid that if you tell him jump off a three bill, uh, story building with a parachute, he’d do it,

I:          Um hm.

H:        even though he knew it would.  But he was, he was a honest person.

I:          Um hm.

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H:        Very dedicated, and when he went into the military, he was proud that he was going to Korea.

I:          So two of you already were in the military.

H:        Right.

I:          Oh.

H:        Yeah.

I:          Wow.  That’s a great, great courage and contribution.  Um, so what was your family’s reaction that two boys had to leave for Korea to fight

H:        They felt

I:          against Communists.

H:        They felt bad.

I:          Yeah.

H:        My father worked at Pearl Harbor.

I:          Um.

H:        So he was there on December 7^th.

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So he understood that when we volunteered, we wanted to go.  He understood, uh.  But he did tell us you better think about it

I:          Um.

H:        because you don’t know anything about Korea.

I:          Where, what, what city did you go?

H:        Kimpo Air Base.

I:          Kimpo Air Base.

H:        Seoul, right outside of Seoul.

I:          Um hm.

H:        Kimpo.

I:          Uh huh.

H:        It’s changed.  The name changed now.  It’s not Kimpo.

I:          Yeah, it’s still Kimpo, yeah.

H:        Oh, is it?

I:          Yeah, Yeah.

H:        I thought

I:          Yeah.  So, um, Kimpo Airport.

H:        Oh yeah.

I:          Yeah, yeah.  So, did you

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fly over the Pacific to get into the Korea or

H:        Yes.

I:          did you

H:        Yes.

I:          actually

H:        We flew over

I:          Oh, really?

H:        on a C124, the big bulk one, yeah.

I:          Yeah?

H:        And they flew us over, and we went, we landed, I think, in Tachikawa

I:          Um hm.

H:        In Japan

I:          Um hm.

H:        and from there we went to Seoul, Kimpo Air Base.

I:          Um, um hm.  So, tell me about your first impression when you

H:        landed?

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landed in Korea, what was like?  What, what kind of impression do you have?

H:        The impression was that the, uh, the aircraft we flew in, the front would open

I:          Uh huh.

H:        and we got out.  Stench.

I:          [LAUGHS]

H:        It stunk.

I:          Oh.

H:        Very bad.  You

I:          What was it?

H:        It was the paddies and, you know, the honey buckets and stuff.

I:          Uh huh.  Um hm.

H:        So we

I:          What was the scenery that you saw?  Was it, uh

H:        No.  It was, uh, war torn.

I:          Uh huh.

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It was war torn.

I:          Not much left, right?

H:        Not much left except villages with people, young people, uh.  The

people bathing in the Han River

I:          Um hm.

H:        you know?

I:          Oh.

H:        Yeah.

I:          Anything else?

H:        That’s, that’s about it.

I:          Can you

H:        It just, uh, getting settled down at the airbase,

I:          Um hm.

H:        uh, receiving the aircraft

I:          Um hm.

H:        and getting them ready for the flight, and they flew, they flew these

missions, uh, at what we call MG Alley

I:          Um hm.

H:        to keep the, the, uh,

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the uh enemy from bombing the troops and, uh, then we gave ground support. They would call the base and let us know that they’re stuck on hill number 10

I:          Um hm.

H:        and then the pilots would fly and strafe and drop Napalm and see

if it was necessary.

I:          How many aircraft, and what kind of aircraft actually were there at the Kimpo?

H:        F86s.  There was, maybe 20.

I:          Twenty?

H:        Maybe 20.

U:        Uh huh.

H:        Yeah.

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I:          Uh huh.

H:        Yeah.  And

I:          F8, you said F

H:        F86s

I:          86s, yes.

H:        the Saber, the first

I:          Saber, yeah

H:        Saber jets, yeah.  The first Saber jets.

I:          Yeah.

H:        The base was, uh, guarded by the U.S. Marines and the ROC Army,

I:          Um hm.

H:        you know?  They, they helped us.  But, uh, personally no, I did not work with anyone close.

I:          Um.

H:        The only police, only person we was close with was the, uh, uh, houseboy.

I:          Houseboy?

H:        Yeah.

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I:          Do you remember his name?

H:        Oh, no I’m sorry.  I wish I knew.

I:          How old was he?

H:        He was maybe 8, 9 years old.

I:          Uh huh,

H:        Young boy.

I:          Young boy.  How many, one, just one?

H:        Only one.  Used to come and, yeah.

I:          What did he do?

H:        He would come and clean,

I:          Uh huh.

H:        wash the clothes.  he, you know

I:          That’s really

H:        So we would pay him for

I:          Did you?

H:        Oh yeah.

I:          Very good.

H:        No.  [LAUGHS]

I:          Uh huh.

I:          Member I told you my parents, uh, brought me up to respect and help people less fortunate, yeah.

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I:          Um hm.

H:        And, uh, it was good because when we went to, uh, Seoul, uh, on a

Jeep to go, um, the, uh, the people living in, uh, cardboard

I:          Uh.

H:        boxes,

I:          Um hm.

H:        little kids brush teeth with the water on, you know, clean

I:          Um hm.

H:        people in the, and to see that these families are, uh, Seoul, it’s hard to

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say because they, they were going through a lot.

I:          Hm.

H:        They were going through a lot, you know?

I:          Um hm.

H:        And they used to, I have, in fact, I think I have a picture of a little boy begging for candy

I:          Um hm.

H:        or something.

I:          Yeah.

H:        I, I think I have that picture yet.

I:          Yeah.

H:        Yeah.  And, uh, so, uh, I think that personally, uh, I think that the, the war, uh, was a tragedy, uh.  We lost a lot of people.  Your people lost, too.

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I:          Yeah.

H:        It’s not only the Americans.  You people lost, you know.

I:          Much more Korean

H:        Yes.

I:          civilians and soldiers

H:        Yes.

I:          died in

H:        Yeah, right.  Uh huh.

I:          Any other images that you can reflect from Seoul area?  How often did you, uh, make trip to Seoul with the jeep?

H:        Twice.

I:          Twice?

H:        Yeah.

I:          And?

H:        Yeah, because they, they restrictioned you. So, uh, yeah.  We went there to, uh, observe.  That’s where I’d seen the young people and the

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older people bathing in the Han River.

I:          Um.  Bathing in the Han River.  Yeah.

H:        Bathing in the Han River, yeah.

I:          Yeah.

H:        Yeah.

I:          So the water was clean at the time?

H:        Oh yeah.

I:          [LAUGHS]

H:        I guess so.  I didn’t, I didn’t’ go to the Han River, but, uh

I:          What was left in Seoul City?

H:        Oh, the, the

I:          Nothing left?

H:        I have a, a, um, if, if I can find the, uh, artifacts, I have a picture of, uh, the buildings bl, uh, bombed out in Ko, in, uh, Seoul,

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the buildings

I:          Um hm.

H:        that were bombed.

I:          Yeah.  What was the living condition in your base?

H:        In our base?

I:          Yeah.

H:        was good.

I:          Ah ha.

H:        It was good.

I:          Could you describe?

H:        We had tents,

I:          Tents.  So you, you slept in tents?

H:        So we lived, yeah, we slept in a tent, yeah.

I:          Was it too cold?

H:        Ha, ha, ha, ha.  No.  It was real cold.

I:          Um. [abrupt end]

H:        Okay.  Well, Alan, uh, volunteered and went to Korea as an

Infantryman.

I:          Um hm.

H:        And he was up there, I think,

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maybe three, four months when he lost his life.

I:          Um.

H:        Um, he was killed standing on a landmine, on a landmine.

I:          Um.

H:        He came back in a bag.

I:          Oh.

H:        So, it took me many, many years to find out if that was my brother,

I:          I see.

H:        you know, because they could bring anything back and say that’s your brother, you know?

I:          Um.

H:        And so I finally found out exactly where he died, the day he died and everything.  So,

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I:          Where was it, and when was it?

H:        It was, uh, in ’52 I think, early part of ’52.

I:          Um hm.

H:        The beginning of the war actually, ’51, ’52.

I:          Yeah.

H:        Exact dates I don’t have.  And, uh, he, uh, he was a real, um, gung-ho kid.  He was, uh, dedicated to the military and, uh.  So I’m trying to keep his memory alive

I:          Um hm.

H:        um, because, uh, he did

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the, uh, the ultimate sacrifice.

I:          Yes.

H:        It was by, by Punch Bowl.

I:          Punch Bowl.

H:        by Punch Bowl, yeah,

I:          Uh huh.

H:        in that area up there.

I:          Um hm.

H:        but he died

I:          Um hm.

H:        there.

I:          Yeah.

H:        And I remember, uh, when we got the information that he was killed, uh.  It was, uh, hard

I:          Uh, must be.

H:        very hard.  I’m still dealing with it.

I:          Yeah.

H:        I’m still dealing with it because he and I were very, very close.

I:          When did you know about his death?

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Right after he was killed.  I was, I was stationed, I was stationed at Hickam, no at, uh, Clovis, New Mexico, brought it to the grave that, you know, she, uh, kept telling me I hope I didn’t sign, I said Alan could have got killed by a truck walking across the street. You don’t know, you know?  And his destiny was death, you know, and I says I came back, and maybe it’s an omen that, you know, your brother sacrificed,

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but I’m gonna let you come home and bring the Korean War information over to the younger generation.

I:          Ah.

H:        We have a program here that it’s Tell America

I:          Um hm.

H:        and we go through the schools

I:          Yes, yes.

H:        and discuss these things.

I:          Yes.

H:        Yeah.  And the number one question I get when I go there is were you scared?

I:          Um.

H:        You know, the kids would say well, were you scared?

I:          Yeah.

H:        Well, yeah we were scared.  We’re young, you know?  And all of a sudden you hear the

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boom boom,

I:          Um hm.

H:        you know,

and casualties coming. All of a sudden you realize that wow, you’ re in a combat area.  But, um, it was a good experience.  I’m, I’m, uh, I’m very happy that I went through that because I’ve seen what you people have done to South Korea.  Hawaii, for some reason, Hawaii is a military town,

I:          That’s right.

H:        so they understand.

I:          Ah.

H:        When we’d come back, the would understand

I:          Um hm.

H:        Uh.  Now somebody in a

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small town, you know, where they don’t, uh, see as much people in the military, well yes, they would ask a lot of questions.  But they, they kind of stepped back and say let him heal.  Let him heal.

I:          So it’s quite different.

H:        Yes.  Yeah.

I:          Compared to the mainland

H:        Yes.

I:          you know, when the Korean War veterans came back to their home and the people around, neighbors and, you know, they were asking to those Korean War veterans that

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where have you been? Meaning that

H:        Not here.

I:          they were really not, you know, knowing anything about Korea but not in Hawaii because

H:        Yeah.  They, they would say well, geez.  It’s nice to see you back,

I:          Yes.

H:        you know?  But, uh, they respected you.  Now, there may be some

families that, uh, you know, would go on and on and on and on about the war and about what’s wasted and all, yeah.  I’m sure there were people like that.

I:          Um hm, um hm.

H:        But, uh.

I:          So, could you describe

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the overall impact of Korean War in your life?

H:        The impact wa, it made me a better person. It made me understand that I was living a life of leisure. I had, I had food.  I had school, I had sports.  I had all these things, and going to Korea and seeing that these young people did not have the opportunity to do what I could do.

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I:          Um hm.

H:        Uh, that was the biggest impact because I, I felt not sorry but sad

I:          Um hm.  Um hm.

H:        I felt sad that these little kids had to grow up like that, you know?

I:          Um hm.  So when did you become the member of Korean War Veterans, and I heard that you are now the President, right?

H:        Yes.

I:          So what are you doing?  Could you describe your role and your responsibility and authority?

H:        My, my

I:          The activities that you are doing with your members?

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H:        Yeah.  We, uh, we, um, go to all the memorials

I:          Um hm.

H:        Uh, we talk at schools, uh.  We help each other, uh.  We have like if somebody’s sick or somebody that has passed on, uh, that we have our own honor guard to, uh, for the family to know that we, um, miss, will miss him and that we respected him as a Korean veteran.

I:          How often do you meet regularly?

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Official meeting.

H:        Uh, we meet, uh, we meet every other, uh, month. So this month it’s on the 22^nd.

I:          Um hm.

H:        And then we go February, March is another week off. So every other month, we meet at Tripler Air, uh, Tripler Base.

I:          I see.

H:        The hospital, sorry,

I:          Um hm.

H:        Hospital.

I:          How many members throughout the island?

H:        Uh, we have about 120 now.  We had about 200 and something, but

I:          Two hundred something?

H:        Yeah, but now, you know, they

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we’re getting old, so. [LAUGHS]

I:          Um hm.

H:        Yeah.

I:          Um.

H:        We’re getting old.

I:          Yeah.  Have you been back to Korea?

H:        I went back two years ago.  I

I:          Two years ago.

H:        I

I:          That was first time?

H:        My first time, and I regretted it because now I can’t go back because they’re gonna cut it up next year.  Supposed to be five years.

I:          What do you mean cut it up?

H:        In other words, the Revisit.

I:          You mean the program that the Korean

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government

H:        Yes.

I:          is

H:        Yes.

I:          providing?

H:        Yeah.

I:          Yeah.

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I:          Um.

H:        So I regret because I can’t go back

I:          Um.

H:        Um, when I went there, um, I was so impressed with the young Army boys.

I:          Um hm.

H:        I wanted to find the, um, memorial, you know, they have the memorial

I:          Um hm.

H:        at the museum, and five of the boys came to find me and take me to the memorial.  I have pictures of that.

I:          Um.

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H:        They’re pointing for me.  This is your brother’s name.  That was very, very, uh, humble feeling, humbled that they were there to, uh, help me find my brother’s memorial.

I:          Oh, I see.  Your brother’s.

H:        Yeah.

I:          You have a clear picture of before and after.

H:        Yes.

I:          Before, I mean, you know, right after the Korean War.

H:        Right.

I:          And now, 60 years after that, what is the, the picture that you’re seeing?

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H:        The picture is, um, survival, suffering, and come back on a Revisit to see the progress that the South Korea has done, uh, and the people that respect us.  When I went on my Revisit, young people, would come up and, and bow and thank us for being, to serve there, save their country.

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You know, to me, that is good, when you see a young person come up.  The old people, yeah, they come up, they, thank you for saving our country, you know.  And, uh, so the good, I mean the bad and the good, okay.  We fought under these terms.  We went back, invited by your government.  We just didn’t go back on our own.  Your government took care of us when we went there

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to show us their appreciation, and that is my uh, uh, concept on the Korea before and after.

I:          What did you think about the Seoul City compared to the people that you saw when you arrived?

H:        Oh, well I wanted to go there, but we were in a group so I just couldn’t go there.  But when we flew over, I saw the, uh, the air base

I:          Uh huh.

H:        he was on.

I:          No, I mean the whole Seoul City.  You took a tour, right?

H:        Oh yeah.

I:          Yeah.  What, what was your impression?

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H:        Amazed, you know, like New York or something like, you know, how they, the progress, and it they were still building homes for the, uh, for the young people, you know?

I:          Um hm.

H:        So it’s, it’s, uh, it, quite exciting, quite exciting to go back and see this.

I:          Isn’t that enormous accomplishment?

H:        Oh, definitely.

I:          Right.

H:        Yes.

I:          Do you know that Korea is now 13, 12^thlargest economy

H:        Yes.

I:          in the world.

H:        Yes.

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I:          And with the size of, a little bit bigger than Indiana,

H:        Uh huh.

I:          State, right?  Very small country, but you know that there’s a Hyundai automobiles all around [INAUDIBLE]

H:        Oh yeah.

I:          You using cellular phone made by maybe Lucky Gold

H:        I got one.

I:          Samsung?

H:        I got one, I got one.  [LAUGHS]

I:          Yeah? Isn’t it amazing?

H:        Yes, it is.

I:          Um hm.

H:        And there’s still progress.  Still doing, uh, electronics and stuff, uh, because, uh, in the Korean War,

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we did not have the pleasure of internet

I:          Um hm, um hm

H:        uh, so we could speak to our children and our wives and our parents.

I:          Yeah.

H:        Uh, we would have to wait three, four weeks, maybe a month, uh, or so

I:          Um hm.

H:        for a letter from Mom and Dad.  That’s the… so if, if we share this, and we share this every Tuesday, and we, we, uh, send out letters, uh, for the meeting and stuff.

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We send it to those who are handicapped who cannot make the meetings, uh, or in the hospital, you know.

I:          Um hm.

H:        So, uh, that’s part of it right there.  But to keep the Korean, uh, War alive.  Keep it alive.

I:          Um hm.  This is my last question.  What is your message to young generations for both United States and Korea?

H:        My message is that look back at the history

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of all these wars. Look back and feel that, if I didn’t want to go and I don’t want to participate, what would happen to our country

I:          Yes.

H:        and the other countries.  Um, it is a sacrifice.  It is a sacrifice, uh.  Today, uh, everything is high tech, you know.  So it’s high tech, uh.  And to respect the people that have given their lives that are still

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in the military to protect the less fortunate.  So even though you’re a teenager, don’t go off and say well I don’t want this or protest. When they protest, it hurts.  It really hurts because they don’t understand what happened.  So for the young people, I say if you can go into the service, go.  It’s a good, uh,

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occupation, uh. You may not never go to war.  But the education, the training, everything, it’s valuable, and the reason for that, you’re able to do that is for people like us who sacrificed so you could be free today.

I:          Um hm.  Any advice for the Korean War Veterans Digital Memorial that you saw?

H:        Uh, the advice would be that if, you’re talking about the young ones, yeah?

I:          No, no.  The Digital Memorial that I showed you on the website.

H:        Yeah.  The website, I think, is very important because it gets the information out to everybody, not one little group.

I:          Um hm.

H:        It’s always, you know, you got people from New York, Chicago, Hawaii, and, you know, all these other places, and it’s very important because I may see on the web page a person that I served with in Korea.

I:          Um hm.

H:        Because we, we, we so far apart now.  Many of my

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friends are gone. Many of my friends are gone.

I:          Um hm.

H:        But, uh, I’m keeping it alive

I:          Um hm.

H:        for my brother, Allan.

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I:          Yes.  We really want to have your brother’s memory into the

H:        Definitely.

I:          memorial.

H:        Definitely.  And

I:          Please let us have those.

H:        and what you and your country has, are doing to us today to remember.  Let the younger generation

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know what it is for free…Freedom is not free.

I:          Right.

H:        You don’t get freedom unless you suffer.

I:          Um hm.

H:        And you make sure that those under you get to, uh, enjoy

I:          Um hm.

H:        the freedom.

I:          I think that’s the great message to the young generations

H:        Yes.

I:          for both countries.

H:        Yes.

I:          Without your sacrifice

H:        Right

I:          Without blood of your own brother, Alan, there is no such strong alliances between the

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United States of America and the Republic of Korea.

H:        Right.

I:          Yes.

H:        And for the government, your government right now that’s doing this for us, to honor us, take care of us

I:          Um hm.

H:        I feel very, very humbled, very humbled.

I:          That’s awfully nice of you.

H:        Of course.

I:          We are the one who thank you all the time

H:        Yeah, I know.  But, but the thing is if you sacrifice, and you

go back and you see the progress

I:          Um hm.

H:        and the 13^thcountry

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at, uh, is, progress, uh, I should be the one honoring you.

I:          Um hm.

H:        Seriously because you have taken that freedom and, uh, and took care of it, and the people that are free in your country right now can live and, and, and drive cars.  They don’t have to worry about any, uh, I, I saw all the bridges.  When I was there, we didn’t’ have any bridges. When I was there, we didn’t have any bridges. [LAUGHS]

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I:          This is January 12, 2000, This is January 13, 2012 in Hawaii.  I have this privilege to interview the President of Korean War Veterans chapter in Hawaii, uh, Herbert Schreiner.

H:        Schreiner.

I:          I want to thank you for this, uh, opportunity and especially I respect your family and your brother, Alan, for his blood, and that blood never been wasted.

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H:        No.

I:          And that’s what Korea is now for.  So thank you again, sir.

H:        Thank you very much.

[End of Recorded Material]