Manuel A. Bustamente
Bio
Manuel Bustamante was born on July 30, 1934, in Mexico and later moved to Arizona. When the Korean War began, he was still in high school and his older brother joined the Navy. Wanting to serve alongside him, he enlisted in the Navy in 1952. After training in San Diego, he was assigned to the same carrier as his brother, and they both went to Korea. They arrived just as the armistice was signed and took part in Operation Platform, which involved exchanging prisoners of war. While anchored at Incheon, he witnessed an unusual event: the ship’s chaplain returned from a local orphanage with a white baby who had been found abandoned and neglected. He recalled how the captain brought the baby aboard, and for two months the crew cared for the child until the ship’s doctor adopted him. After leaving the Navy, he worked for the United States Postal Service and became active in veterans organizations, enjoying reunions and later visiting Korea again. He was impressed by how much South Korea had recovered after the war.
Video Clips
Operation Platform
Manuel Bustamante explains Operation Platform. He describes making room for helicopters that would exchange eight prisoners at a time. He recalls how happy the prisoners would be upon their release and landing on the ship.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4lPPAg10JI&start=220&end=258
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/manuel-a-bustamente#clip-1
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Baby on Board
Manuel Bustamante recalls the time when a little white baby was found in a Korean Orphanage. He explains how the captain ordered the chaplain to retrieve the baby and that he was kept in the sickbay on the ship bringing the morale to an all time high. He shares how the ship's doctor decided to adopt the baby.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4lPPAg10JI&start=260&end=632
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/manuel-a-bustamente#clip-2
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Enlisting and Basic Training
Manuel Bustamante shares that he knew of the Korean War because his older brother was serving in the Navy, which inspired him to enlist. He describes how they were both astonishingly assigned to the same ship, the USS Point Cruz. He explains how that was a rarity because it was unusual for the military to allow brothers to be together in war.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4lPPAg10JI&start=32&end=152
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/manuel-a-bustamente#clip-3
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