Paul Summers
Bio
Paul Summers was born on January 24, 1930, in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. After graduating from high school in 1948, he worked for a tool company, though he yearned to be a Marine. He enlisted with his older brother, and they went through basic training together at Paris Island. One day, while watching a baseball game in Washington, D.C. with their family, they learned from the news that the Korean War had begun. When they got home, his brother received a telegram ordering him to report to base right away. Not wanting to be left behind, he managed to get overseas before his brother. Both served in Korea with the 1st Marine Division and saw combat from the beginning. He fought at the Pusan Perimeter, Incheon, and advanced to Seoul. He saw death and destruction everywhere, and some memories stayed with him for life. Both he and his brother were wounded, but they made it home safely. He was a tough Marine and felt proud to have served in the war and to help stop the spread of communism.
Video Clips
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Paul Summers shares that he enlisted in the United States Marines with his brother Eugene, attending boot camp together at Paris Island, South Carolina. He recalls the time they were home attending a Yankee baseball game with his parents, when the headlines broke that Marines were being sent to Korea. He remembers his brother receiving orders to report to base and wondering where his were.
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When All Hell Broke Loose
Paul Summers describes the moment his division was sent to investigate a village overrun by guerrillas. He remembers an intense firefight breaking loose and running toward a mound of dirt to throw a hand grenade into a group of North Korean soldiers when he was struck by a bullet in the shoulder. He recalls the corpsman administering morphine and brandy to dull the pain before being extracted.
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Trained to Be a Fighting Machine
Paul Summers recalls when he and his brother served in the same platoon in the 1st Marine Division during the Korean War. He explains that his brother fixed radios, while he dug trenches as a grunt. He discusses how neither brother questioned being sent to a place in Asia they had never heard of and that they flew into Korea under the cover of darkness.
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Friendly Fire
Paul Summers recalls an incident of friendly fire when digging into a hillside on the Pusan Perimeter. He explains how troops were lobbing artillery over the hillside where the Marines were setting up camp when he heard the whistling of an artillery round falling short. He remembers the explosion leaving four Marines dead, and the remorse felt through the camp.
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The Cost of War (graphic)
Paul Summers remembers lying down in a skirmish line and watching dump trucks hauling what appeared to be firewood, only to realize it was bodies of dead Marines. He describes watching them being dumped into a big hole being filled with dirt by tanks. He recalls his division then marching forward into an area with a fortified bunker controlled by the Chinese and a general ordering them to take the hill no matter the cost.
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