Marc Villanueva

[Beginning of recorded material]

M:       I was born in the, uh, Phillipines [INAUDIBLE] and, uh, after that I, uh, went to, uh, high school  And after high school, uh, the War broke out in the, this was World War II.  After that, then we will, uh, we, uh, uh, went to, uh, Hawaii.

0:00:30

Before the Philippines was independent, I went to Hawaii and, uh, I was in working in the cocoa plantation in Oahu, Hawaii.  And I worked my way up for about five years.  And after that, after five years working in, uh, the plantation, I was drafted.  And I was deferred for two years because, uh, my boss was, uh,

0:01:00

the Superintendent up there in the plantation.  He was, he deferred me.  But when the War broke out in Korea, and cannot deferred me because they need people to go to Korea.  I trained in Schofield Barracks when I was drafted about three months, extensive training and combat training after that.  And right after training, we were shipped out

0:01:30

to, the whole, uh, Company was shipped out to, uh, Korea.  When we first stopped in, uh, Camp Drake in Japan just to get, uh, all my, our supplies, all our, uh, weapons and everything.  And then put us on the tiny boat, and a boat went to, uh, Korea.

0:02:00

But at that time, we were, uh, going to, uh, Korea and landed in Pusan in South Korea.  And, uh, when we landed in there, we continuously out of the boat, and we went straight to the train.  And, uh, they were telling me we didn’t have an orientation because we already trained and wondered, uh, when we were being trained, there would be firing.

0:02:30

We went up towards Taegu and, uh, on the train that we were fired upon by, by, uh, the enemy already.  And then we went in Taegu, they were distributed to different units because the units up there were waiting for replacement.  And we were, uh, replacement  that, uh, are ready to go and, uh, they assigned me to, uh, Company E

0:03:00

of the, uh, Second Battalion of the Seventh Infantry.  And it’s, uh, under the Seventh Division.  And, uh, we, uh, were already loaded and everything, go up North.  And they told us to cause we were attacked for 25 days, or 25 miles at least.  And we went straight 25,  uh, miles

0:03:30

going forward.  And we didn’t hit no enemy.  But, but, uh, the, uh, sixth day we were already fired upon.  So we [INAUDIBLE]  And then we, uh, are told that the Battalion Commander said, uh, we already surrounded.  So we went back, uh, and everybody just scramble and, uh, ride in the, wherever they could drive.  So we rode.

0:04:00

I was of the ones that rode in the tank.  And we were planning an attack going south.  And, uh, the rest of  rode in the truck, the rest were just walking like I was, I was on board, on the tank.  So, uh, we went back, we regrouped, and after that, we went forward again, and we went to the left, uh, to the east  side of, uh, Korea and went to, uh,

0:04:30

the hills in, uh, the east side and, uh, I remember we went to, uh, Porkchop Hill. We hit resistance in there and, uh, I was then, uh, I was squad leader because, uh, we don’t have enough people.  When I joined the, uh, outfit, we were only six on the squad where I was in.

0:05:00

And a squad is comprised of, uh, 12 people.  That’s only half.  And, uh, I was assigned as the squad leader already and was promoted one rank.  I was Private, and then I was Private First Class.  And then we went forward and, uh, stayed there on a hill trying to defend that area.  And then, uh, we went back because, uh, we were out of, uh, we were going to be relieved.

0:05:30

And, uh,  we changed clothes and replenished our weapons, we rest and take a shower and all that.  And up there, we were already, we went back again to the hills and, uh, we were defending that hill.  Then we had to move forward up,  uh, and, uh, we ran into some resistance.  And I was then

0:06:00

promoted, because we had resistance.  We had only about, uh, seven people left on our, uh, squad.  So we had to go back and, uh, replenish, get more replacements.  And, uh, I, uh, was, uh, sick up there, and I went back to the, uh, Battalion, uh,

0:06:30

Battalion, uh, medical, uh, outfit for they had to give me some shots because I had pneumonia.  So right after that, they sent me right back.  So, uh, I, went I got back there, they said you are now promoted and get to be the platoon sergeant.  So I was the platoon sergeant and leading the Company.  And then, uh, after that, uh,

0:07:00

we, because, uh, the lieutenants that come in from Fort Benning, they’re just straight from training, they, uh, always get, uh, shot and hurt and, you know.  So, uh, they, every time a lieutenant come in as a platoon leader, he told me to go okay sergeant. I was sergeant then.  And, uh, lead the platoon, I lead the platoon all the time when we get attacked.

0:07:30

So, uh, and then after that, they, uh, promoted me as the platoon leader.  I was already lieutenant in there.  So I took care of that platoon, and we were  30 in all, and we attacked up there in, uh, one of the hills, uh.  It’s a small hill, and they told us, our platoon to be the point man.  So I earned

0:08:00

my, uh, people already going up the hill, and I have, I remember the name, uh, uh, Hammon is, uh, my [BAR] man and, uh, Grisham was the, uh, bazooka man.  So we went forward and, uh, us good training because we train on the, on the, we, below where we were, uh, having our rest and recuperation.  So, uh, now we were there, and then all

0:08:30

these grenades were rolling on the ground because they, the, uh, enemy had, uh, all the grenades in the boxes and, uh, and, uh, they were all armed.  And they were popping all over the place.  And I see all of my men [INAUDIBLE] medics.  We were the point men.  The, uh, push man was holding the, uh, flag, the uh, we have a flag that

0:09:00

is carried on the back so the airplanes know that’s our point of the attack.  So, uh, medics, sending them to the station because, uh, shot in the leg.  So, uh, we went down and all big trees up there, and when I was beside him.  So I called the medics to come and pick him up.  And we went forward and, uh, I said if we go up closer to the hill, uh, the [BAR[ man

0:09:30

which is Hammon, the [BAR] man, uh, he carries the [BAR] with all the ammunition and firing because the bunker was right on the top.  All the enemy were waiting for us.  And, uh, then, uh, Hammon was, was shot, was shot in the chest and, uh, so, uh, he pass away.  I get to call the medics and get him out, bring him back.

0:10:00

And then I said we need some replacement and, uh, reinforcement.  And I, we have the radio, you know, this ham radio that we had to come in to get on the back.  So, uh, they said we will be coming, I think, uh, the, uh, C Company’s coming, too.  So the whole battalion, Second Battalion, was on the back.  They were the point  men.  Then, uh finally I had to get the [BAR] man, uh, weapons

0:10:30

and carry it myself, uh, cause I was in second there.  I was, and I said, uh, I applied my, uh, to be an airman right across, and then the enemy [INAUDIBLE] pointed down the hill.  And, uh, we got up the hill, and then as soon as we were on top of the hill, we displayed our, uh, I told my people to get both of your, uh, sides,

0:11:00

the side that we are trained, and they were spread out, and we defended that hill.  And then the whole company come in, and the battalion went to and, uh, we spread out and hold that hill for at least two weeks.  We could not go anymore forward because the enemy in the front are, they are there.  There are a lot of them.  And we have to call the airport to bomb in there.

0:11:30

And, uh, then, uh, and then, uh, after that, we took the hill.  We went back to pick up some more replacements.  And we went back to the, uh, area where all the battalions set up.  But the, there was continuously, uh, uh, fighting all the way.

0:12:00

All these, uh, we have support like the 81, uh, milimeters and, uh, 60 millimeter mortars, all of us firing up there.  We had to call the Air Force to bomb that place, and sometimes they come so close.  And, uh, as soon as, uh, we have, uh, were ready to go forward, I was, uh, ordered my platoon to go as a, uh,

0:12:30

patrol, first patrol, and went down to the, toward the enemy, and they said you would have to find out where the enemy are.  So we went down, and we stayed there, we started in the morning, and we till one and then about noon time, we hit the resistance.  And I called the radio back and, uh, then, uh, they said, uh, what do you need?  Well, we need some, uh, support from the, uh, mortars,

0:13:00

60 mortars.  We have our 60 mortars.  Well, 60’s or maybe 55 cause that was all we got.  And we give them the coordinates, 30 FO, and then they fired and, uh, that’s too far away.  So, so we have to change the coordinates.  And then, uh, we give them the coordinates, and then our own

0:13:30

60’s were firing on us and, uh, I said hey, wait, wait a minute.  You are on top of us when the enemy’s right there on the, on the, across the, the clearing,  I went down the side of a hill.  So, uh, they, uh, there’s one hurt up there when they were from our own weapons.  That’s pretty bad.  But we stayed there in a clump of trees and, uh,

 

0:14:00

snow was very thick, about, uh, six inches.  So we, we have all our flight uniforms and, uh, we have to lay down in there.  They cannot see us.  But then the enemy fires and then you can see the, the snow splatter all over the place.  And, uh, and, uh, we stayed there.  We could not go any farther.  We could not get out of the clump of trees where we were, uh, displayed.

0:14:30

And we stayed there until dark because we could not go back because the enemy had a higher ground than we do.  We are in the valley, and there weren’t hill.  So, uh, after that we went back.  We have two wounded men, but they were working.  So we were in back to the, uh, hill where we were.  And then, the following day, the, uh, we made the report

0:15:00

so that Battalion Commander said, uh, you ‘re gonna send the, uh, another company to go ahead and be the attack and I will go over part of them.  So we went there.  But then when we got there, the airport did a very good job that, uh, all the enemies just, their bunkers were all flattened out and they, they left where  we were sleeping there.

0:15:30

We went, uh, I rotated from, uh, Punch Bowl.  And then we went back for another month, I guess, because we need to get more people for replacement coming from the United States as most of them are very young.  They’re coming from high school.  So I was then a platoon leader there and, uh, every time we had replacements, we told them to just dig your holes deep and, uh, wide and, uh,

0:16:00

we were on hill because the replacements about two, two, uh, young high school graduates that were there.  They were trained.  And then make sure you dig your holes.  I, we set up the platoon CP  and all that and displayed the people on the, on that, uh, hill.  And then, uh, the, uh, some people are not very, uh, uh,

0:16:30

[INAUDIBLE] climbing up the mountain.  So when we dug up, I assigned all of, everybody to dig their foxholes and, uh, because by 4:00 they would come and spread BURP guns to us.  So what happens is, uh, there’s two of those, uh, cause they just slept under, uh, sleeping bags, right on top of the snow because it was all snowing every time there.  Very cold.  And, uh, and then when the, uh,

0:17:00

enemy come forward and they, they spread the, their, uh, BURP guns there, BURP guns, and they were spraying so they were yelling in there.  They’re in their, in their sleeping bag.  So they, they got shot and killed in there.  So, uh, there’s, uh, one of this legend that everybody in the platoon learned.  So, uh, we went forward again until, uh,

0:17:30

we went to Punchbowl.  I was up there, uh, a month of recuperation, we were in Punchbowl and, uh, we were the battalion front which is, uh, the Second Battalion of the Seventeen Infantry and, uh, that was already about a year I was there.  Then I was promoted to Master Sergeant.  And then they offered me to be, to extend

0:18:00

another, uh, year in there.  But I said no.  I am single, and I’m too young.  I’m not married.  They were, I needed to go home and, you know, where I was, I came from.  So, uh, the rest of the people there, they said uh, well, you should take it.  No because we had some people there t hat were extending, uh, which is the War, uh,

0:18:30

they get killed before they get rotated.  So I took the rotation. We went up that hill, Mount Baldy, that’s uh, they call that Punchbowl, and this particular time was a place where we stopped there and waited for the Armistice.  They were trying to get the Armistice right, overlooking the river on the, uh, 38^th Parallel.  And, uh, then, uh, one, one day I was surprised.

0:19:00

They  put me, uh, Master Sergeant.  You have to come down.  What do you mean come down?  I have a job here to do.  I don’t  have replacement.  Send a replacement.  Well, we will send a replacement.  Don’t worry.  You need to come down.  No, I have to stay here because, uh, I have to, uh, lead the platoon.  Nobody’s taking care of the platoon.  And we were, had a bunker there.

0:19:30

We dig bunkers for, we were set up.  We were staying there waiting for Armistice and, uh, said dome down with all your gear, weapon and everything.  That’s the order of the, uh, Battalion Commander. So they didn’t tell me much more.  And I went down, and when I get there, okay, here are your clothes and everything and a shower.  We have a big, uh, shower that was made by the, uh,

0:20:00

uh, people in the river because, uh, quarter master people, that’s their job.  They’re all, uh, showers in there for everybody in one battalion shower.  Said, uh, go down there and change clothes, take a shower, for what for?  Would you like to go home?  And I thought oh yeah.  I’m going, I’d like to go.  So I went there and take shower and I, I, turned in all my weapons and everything

0:20:30

already because continuously you’d have no stops.  We just said okay.  You’re going back to the river and, uh, you are rotating your, one of my orders. Uh, you don’t need no orders.  Your orders were, you go there.  So, uh, they, uh, sent us back to the, uh, Division and, uh, there was an airplane waiting for us already

0:21:00

going back to Japan.  So we went back to Japan.  And when we went back to Camp Drake which is the replacement center, they asked me where, where do you live?  Well, I live in, uh, Hawaii.  Well, you are authorized for a 60-day rest and recuperation, too.  So, uh, I said okay.  I would like to go back to my mother and my relatives up there where I was born.

0:21:30

And it’s okay , we’ll give you 60 days.  They are very good in the Army at that time.  But, you know, we were all, uh, [INAUDIBLE].  So they cut orders for me to go to, uh, the Phillipines and, uh, I stayed there for 60 days for, uh, as I said, some kind of a rest and recuperation.  And I meet my, uh, families up there that were behind.  After that, uh, I have orders

0:22:00

to go to Camp Drake and, uh, back to, uh, the, uh, to, uh, California, Camp Stedman.  When I get to Camp Stedman, I said what you gonna do?  I am already a Master Sergeant.  Oh, I took the, what do you think, you, you’ll get discharged or what?  No.  I, I think I  better re-enlist.

0:22:30

So I re-enlisted as a Master Sergeant and, uh, then, uh, they said to me well, you’re going to [Camsten] when, for, uh, uh, for the reassignment.  And then when it comes to Monday, assign me to, uh, Camp Breckenridge to join the 101^stAirborne Division.  So I was assigned to 101^st Airborne Division.  And, uh, after maybe a month, they said well, the War is over.

0:23:00

So what we’re gonna do is we, you’re gonna deactivate one over the whole Division.  They may reassign you to all different places.  So, uh, we activated the 101 Airborne, and then they sent me to First Armored Division in Fort Knox, and I was assigned as a, a training NCO and a First Sergeant up there for, uh, and I was in Pusan for a while.

0:23:30

And then, uh, I told them I don’t know about these tanks.  Could you send me to school?  So they sent me for a, a month of school of the tanks.  Those are the infrared tanks.  And, uh, they let me take a test first to see if I’m qualified.  And, uh, I took the test and, uh, okay, you’re qualified to go to the test.  But some people are flanking up there.  So as soon as I finished, uh,

0:24:00

the school which is ordinarily a month, we started from Jeeps and then trucks and then when we finished those, uh, uh, we get the examination and we do.  If we pass it, then we go to the tank.  The tank then was an M48 A1, and those infrared A1’s are the big, uh, M75 and, uh, they are, those are the, uh,

0:24:30

weapons that are in such tanks.  They are sophisticated already.  So after that, uh, okay.  You’re trained already, so we don’t, we need somebody to go to, uh, a battalion of tanks up there in, uh, Fort Benning, Hawaii which is where you’ll finish your course.  So, uh, they need you up there in, uh, the, uh, to train those, uh, people up there in Fort Benning

0:25:00

and at the training area.  So I went up there, and I have a battalion of tanks.  One company is about 25 times and, uh, out of the whole battalion, I was in charge,  and I stayed in the, in the battalion, uh, service, uh, company.  So after that, I, uh, I said uh, what if I need to go some place?

0:25:30

Well, this place, I stayed here all night long waiting for a time that our broken down and I cannot rest anymore.  Can I sleep?    Well, you’re doing a good job because we need the training for, uh, the, uh, lieutenants up there that are graduating from the school because there’s a school for the, uh, officers, Officers Candidate School.

0:26:00

So I stayed there and wait for one.  I think well, we have an opening.  The [AGITO] said you’re coming up here and take a test and, uh, wants you to fill out some applications to go and test  and go to school.  What school?  Well, we need, that’s confidential.  Do you have a confidential, uh, uh, preference?  No.  But I could fill out the application.

0:26:30

I filled out all those applications, and  they found out  that my family’s in the Philippines.  So I said well, you cannot get a separate clearance for you’re going to school is a secret one.  So well, I have a brother in, uh, Guam, okay.  Well I could send some investigators to see, to get cleared.  And then they,

0:27:00

after a week they come out with a, a, uh, internal clearance for, uh, not a secret but this internship clearance.  So you could go to school and they will check you up up there.  So I came down here in full dress.  Then when I got here, they sent us to the building to learn, took a test there but 45 people in there there was.

0:27:30

And there’s some people didn’t pass the test already.  So they had to be sent back to their units.  So I happened to finish the exam, and I passed the test, and they said okay.  You’re going to school for the M38 and the aircraft weapon, okay?  Well, why do you have internal secrets or just go there first.  They when you finish that, uh,

0:28:00

then we’ll go to a higher, uh, secret weapon.  Up there, if he was dead, I wouldn’t do.  They’d sent me to Ajax, the Ajax, uh, uh, battle.  So, uh, I went up to Ajax, and at that time, they were [INAUDIBLE] to getting my records and, uh, I got a secret clearance.  So, uh, then, I finished Ajax.

0:28:30

Okay.  The Ajax now is going to be, uh, given to the, uh,  National Guard.  And there’s, the whole weapon is the newest one which is a low altitude, uh, uh, weapon that, uh, would be able to, uh, get the, uh, airplanes that are low flying airplanes.  That’s why it’s low altitude.  When I finished that,

0:29:00

about, uh, 32 weeks.  And, uh,  then, uh, okay.  You will be assigned to the bigger missile.  The missiles, there’s another coming up the [INAUDIBLE] I was gone nearly a whole year going to school.   And they said oh.  Well, are you trained already in electronics?  Yeah.

0:29:30

What do you need, he said, a [presser]?  So you’ll be assigned in the [automatic] part to have the Hercules weapon need to work with the radar school.  Well, I, am I going to school?  And they said no.  And they changed my orders.  They told me to, you have to go to building two.  There’s a Colonel there that wanted you to be running the, uh,

0:30:00

Team C’s instructor called for the foreign students.  They were getting foreign students up there in Building 2.  Well, they were, first of all we have to take you to school for, uh, the, uh, Instructor Course.  So you will be, uh, certified as a an instructor.  So they sent me to school for

0:30:30

two weeks. After two weeks, I passed the course and then went back to, uh, Building 2 and they said, uh, well, you have to, your rank is a Master Sergeant.  We cannot let you be an instructor in there.  All the civilians will take [INAUDIBLE].  They will bring, you have to be running the whole, uh, Building 2 [INAUDIBLE]  So I was

0:31:00

with, that time with Dr. Tomlinson, I mean, uh, Colonel Tomlinson.  And Colonel Tomlinson said okay.  You are, you are in the Team B, and you schedule all the [INAUDIBLE] doctors up there.  So I stayed there for a long time.  And then after that, they need, uh, me to go to another school.

0:31:30

I, uh, I went to school, uh, in, no, I went back to Korea.  Wasn’t that in ’60, we have a battalion of hawks.  You are training hawk.  So we went to, uh, uh, train again in the, uh, in the desert and, uh, they were firing our weapons up there in, uh, [INAUDIBLE] range that we were [INAUDIBLE]

0:32:00

We loaded, only hook weapons battalions  in the train.  And we were going to Korea as a whole battalion because they didn’t have no air defense up there in Korea.   So we went to Korea and, with our whole battalion.  The, all weapons will be shipped in, and, uh, deport in Beaumont I guess.   I don’t know where they shipped it.

0:32:30

But they said don’t worry.  You will be gone, and your weapons will be there when you get there.  So we went up the hill up there in, uh, Chungcheon some place there.  And I was assigned to a Battery, uh, uh, C Battery.  But we were on the hill and, uh, [Mandy] hook weapons in there.  The other, rest of the  Battalion I assigned to different hills.

0:33:00

we don’t know because they’re just very big also.  They’re all in the mountains.  And I stayed there for a year.  Then when I finish my tour in Korea, [INAUDIBLE] on one year, I came home and, uh, was assigned to a, the unit for, uh, they were training the, uh, firing of weapons up there in, uh, the rifle range.

0:33:30

So, uh, I stayed there for, as a, [INAUDIBLE]  all they need was got to me a clipboard and a battle with the instructors because they knew I was a, a jeep instructor up there in Building 2.    So, uh, I was [INAUDIBLE[ all the instructors up there in the firing range, all these are

0:34:00

waiting those people in under a year I guess.  I stayed there [INAUDIBLE] people.  Then they said oh, we need people to go to school.  Or because you are trained already, you know everything.  So you go to other [INAUDIBLE] ground.  What is this?  I’ve been going to school all this time.  Okay.  We’ll let this go for another 10 months in there.

0:34:30

What is this?  Well, this will be to, because they need that very bad.  And, uh, the, uh, War in Viet Nam started.  So we needed people to go to school to be trained and, uh, calibrate all the instrumentations of all the units that are, uh, high sophisticated weapons they said.  So we sent there three months.  I finished my course in there successfully.

0:35:00

And then we were assigned to a, uh, company that went to Okinawa when the War in Viet Nam was going on.  So I was, uh, also, uh, preparation already, Certified Calibrator.  And uh, we uh went to, uh, Viet Nam.  I went to Viet Nam twice just to calibrate the, uh,

0:35:30

weapons, the instrumentation of the helicopters and the, uh, hope missiles and the, uh, other units that have sophisticated weapons. And uh, the people that, uh, have all those instrumentation needed to get the firing always in order.  But uh,  we stayed there for

0:36:00

three months.  Then I went back to Okinawa.  And after that, they sent me to Taipei which they have air police up there and, uh, the, uh, Chinese Camp [INAUDIBLE] weapons of the hawk and all that.  So we calibrated the weapons of the Chinese people because predator weapons are used to calibrate their radars and, uh,

0:36:30

we stayed there for another three months then went back to, and then, uh, up there we went back, we went back to Viet Nam again, did the same thing.  So, uh, up there I  changed my tour which is three years in Okinawa.  But when we got back, I went back to, uh, the same job I had in Building 2, the jeep instructors.

0:37:00

And then, uh, up there another two years in there, they sent me, said they need somebody to meet in the, uh, big, uh, weapons that are going to, uh, Europe.  But I don’t know about those weapons as a [INAUDIBLE] weapons.  So, uh, I went

0:37:30

up there and they assigned me to Europe.  I stayed in Europe.  I was in a battalion where they have all these, uh, big, uh, intercontinental missiles.  And, uh, I was not involved in the weapon because I was First Sergeant.  So I was always in the office.  And uh, when they do training, I don’t, when, uh, mortar training, I just

0:38:00

stayed in my office to take care of the, uh, paperwork and everything.  Morning report has to be in every day to Washington, D.C. and all that.  So I was in very good situation because, uh, in, Europe is very, very cold also, snow and all that.  So up there I, I, uh, was assigned in the big, uh,

0:38:30

uh, weapons that we have up there, the Hercules and the mountains in, uh, [INAUDIBLE]  Close to Hiedelberg to, uh, that is a, uh, a company that is assigned to defend Hiedelberg in case we have a, attack.  So, uh, we, I had to run that Company, and we had a Sergeant

0:39:00

and I have a Captain [INAUDIBLE] So I stayed there for another two years in Germany.  And then I rotated in, uh, United States.  I said I, I have to retire.  I was alright in 1972.  I said why you are going to school?  What school?  I’ve been going to school all my life in, uh, in the Army.

0:39:30

You are going to resign in major school.  And uh, and [INAUDIBLE]  Oh no, I’m going to retire because my family, uh, needs me.  My wife’s very sick.  She, she, she’s now in the hospital because she had, uh, problems in the, running the family because I have four children, and they were all teenagers.  And they have problems controlling them.  So, uh, your,

0:40:00

I have to retire because, uh, my wife is already exhausted trying to get the children straightened out.  And, uh, so, uh, is it okay?  You are going to White Sands Problem Ground.  White Sand Problem Ground.  For what?  Uh, we need people to, because you were trained as gun operation man, you go down there and, uh, wait for your retirement orders and stay with that calibration team up there

0:40:30

to calibrate those, uh, instruments that are used for firing in white sand.  So I stayed there wait another month.  And then, uh, okay.  You’ll come back to progress your [INAUDIBLE] to retire.  He said, you’re going to retire.  Okay.  I have retired as a First Sergeant, E8.  And after that, I said, uh I’m going to school.  What, oh no.  We are going to send you to [INAUDIBLE].

0:41:00

So I, I went to [INAUDIBLE] for another 18 months up till retirement.  And, uh, so I worked there in [INAUDIBLE] with the, uh, Social project.  The social is intercontinental module that will, lifts up to Russia, and I stayed there about 18 months.  And after that, I said oh no.  You are going to the Amtrak up there [INAUDIBLE] Amtrak.

0:41:30

We are building the Amtrak.  I don’t have time to do the Amtrak.  That’s a, that’s a, a train.  Yeah.  That’s a, you trained to have a, there have been [INAUDIBLE] that you need to take there.  Oh no.  Uh, so I better go to school.  So I went to school for four years in, uh, Colorado, Colorado Springs.  I’m retired already, so they said okay.

0:42:00

So you’ll get a GI bill.  You don’t have to worry.  We just, you take a test, and you pass the test, and you, we’ll send you.  But if you didn’t pass a test, you have to pick another course.  I picked the, but your medical, uh, course.  So, uh, if you pass that test, you’re accepted in, uh, Colorado Springs, uh. So I went in Colorado Springs and went to school there for four years.

0:42:30

Before I graduated, they were gong to, uh, hire me in, uh, Los Almos in, uh, New Mexico for that, uh, nuclear weapons areas.  Oh, I don’t like this area.  I like to go to serve with my specialty because I already, uh, I have two degrees.  I have a Bachelor’s of, uh, Bio-Medical Engineering, and I was also an Electrical Engineering.  So I have two.

0:43:00

So I didn’t have to worry they gonna get me on the, so I said okay, we have a job in, uh, uh, Dallas/Fort Worth.  What is that?  You’ll be a controller.  Oh no, I didn’t study to be controller. I don’t like to be, uh, directing airplanes like that.  You are not going to do that.  You’ll be just making sure that the instruments, instrumentations there, they are [INAUDIBLE] are electronic be calibrated and, uh, precision.

0:43:30

So there will be no, uh, problems with the controller or just directing airplanes.  No, I don’t like that.  I have to go to my specialty where I trained.  What is it?  Biomedical Engineering.  Oh, oh, can you go to White Sands?  They need engineer up there.  No.  That’s not my, I need to go to a hospital.  Well, we don’t have a hospital that helps us.

0:44:00

So I went to, uh, uh, it was, uh, the University Hospital downtown which used to be Tomason.  So I went to Tomason for another, for, uh, week, for, uh, the, Biomedical [INAUDIBLE]  I was in a Biomed.  So I worked there and suddenly they told me there’s an opening for a GS-9.  [INAUDIBLE] served is going to Dallas.

0:44:30

Do you want to go to Dallas?  I have the family here.  But I, I hate to go there.   No, you don’t have a, a, a good job there because you’ll be a Biomedical Engineer that Dallas, uh, VA has 900 beds, very big.  So you’ll be an engineer up there.  So I went up t here in Dallas and stayed, uh,

0:45:00

when my daughter was already in Dallas and, uh, that was, uh, the time when we have a shortage of fuel.

FEMALE VOICE:  Marc, I’m sorry.  We’re almost out of time.  The next person is coming.  Can you tell me the dates of when you went to Korea and when you came home?  I don’t, I don’t think I got those earlier.

M:       How many days?
FV:  Uh, the dates.  When did you deport and

M:       Oh.  I went to Korea, uh,

0:45:30

 

finished training in Schofield Barracks in, uh, uh, Hawaii and shipped out on, uh December, and I went to Japan, and from Japan was, uh, February.  February of 1951, and went right to Pusan, and from there we were in combat.

FV:      And when did you return?
M:       Then when I came back, it was in, uh,

0:46:00

1952 then, ’52.  And, uh, I stayed there for, uh, I don’t know, about 11, about 13 months or 12 months.  And then Korea.

FV:      And what unit were you a part of?

M:       E Company, 2nd Battalion of the 17^th Infantry and under the 7 Division which is, the 7 Division is this one right there, it’s hourglass.

0:46:30

And that was the short period, very short period because we would always, only mountains.  We never got time to see anything but, uh, just take care of, uh, our weapons and ready to be fighting all the time, that whole year.   We do, I don’t know about Korea, until I went back in 1960

0:47:00

and, uh, we had time to go around for, I stayed there for another year.  It was, uh, developed already, Korea has developed already.

FV:      And before we finish, um, is there any piece of wisdom or message that you could impart to younger generations?

M:       My advice is, uh, they have to be themselves and, uh, be, uh, heroes, uh, [INAUDIBLE] and, uh,

0:47:30

they, uh, have to show their love to their country because, uh, this is the place where, uh, is, uh, free nation and, uh, everything is, uh, free and, uh, I believe, uh, this is, uh, a nation with a, because I was an immigrant and I, uh, I know that this is

0:48:00

a country of opportunity.  And, uh, I did take advantage for that because, uh, at, at present I’m very happy because my, my four children all went to, uh, the, uh, college and get their degrees, and one is a, a PhD, a doctor.  So, uh, I’m proud of that.  So everybody should go up their, uh, education.

 

[End of Recorded Material]