The Graybeards - Korean War Veterans Association

Ship of Miracles
Foreword By Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
By Bill Gilbert
From One Who Was There
Fifty years cannot dim the memory of
that awful first winter of the Korean War,
especially the evacuation of Hungnam—
”the forgotten battle in the forgotten war.”
As an aide to our commander, Major
General Ned Almond, I was an eyewitness
to the bravery of America’s fighting men
and their extraordinary humanitarianism
and courage amid extremely heavy combat
conditions and the most severe weather
imaginable. In the face of rapidly advancing
Chinese North Korean armies in subzero
temperatures, units of the U.S. Army,
Navy, Marines, and Merchant Marines
fought off the enemy, saved one hundred
thousand American young men, and rescued
a comparable number of North
Photo file...
Korean refugees who were fleeing from
their own army and dictatorial government.
This is the story of that memorable
time-Christmas 1950-when we were fighting
a new war in a far-off land, a hot war in
the first years of the Cold War. There was
widespread belief that this war, as bad as it
was from its very beginning only six
months earlier, was also the prelude to a
much wider war, one that might well eventually
involve the United States and the
Soviet Union on opposite sides of the fighting.
And if that happened, could World War
III be far behind?
I was at Hungnam with General Ned
Almond, 135 miles into enemy territory,
when the dramatic, lifesaving battles and
rescues described in this book took place. I
was just beginning my military career, and
as a young captain I had been recently
exposed to combat for the first time. Mere
words cannot describe the severity of the
conditions, the fury of the fighting, the
Those shown are from I Company, 35th Infantry Regt., 25th Infantry Div. Left to right. Cpl. Willy
Wayne Harper (18) from Harlan County, KY, Cpl. Francis P. McElhinney (18) from Woburn, MA and
Cpl. Greg Whalen from Dallas, Texas. (Photo from Francis Mc Elhinny, 18 River Rd., Apt. 13, Pepperell, MA 01463-1622)
National KWVA Fund Raiser Flower Rose of Sharon
The Rose of Sharon is the National KWVA fund raising flower. The Rose of
Sharon is sold by the dozen.
❒ Sample order is 4 dozen @ $10 plus $3.00 S/H.
❒ Minimum order is 20 doz. @ $50 plus $5.00 S/H.
Order from: Earl House
1870 Yakona Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21234
Phone 410-661-8950
Make Checks payable to: Maryland Chapter – KWVA
numbness of the winter, the drama of the
withdrawal of our American troops, and the
heartbreaking plight of the North Korean
refugees.
We got them all, soldiers and refugees,
off that beach at Hungnam-our fellow
Americans and the North Koreans who
were, remember, the men, women, and
children of our enemy. That never made
any difference to any of us, especially to
the gallant men on our Navy and Merchant
Marine ships. As they looked at the hardto-believe
sight of nearly one hundred
thousand refugees pleading to be rescued,
and worked frantically to get them on
board and out of harm’s way, no one challenged
the refugees nationality or politics
or asked for their identification. They were
the innocent victims of war. Besides, there
was no time for questions. There were lives
to be saved.
This book is the story of that miraculous
effort, especially by the men of the U.S.
Merchant Marine freighter, the SS
Meredith Victory. Every American who
fought at Hungnam to protect the rescuers
and the refugees, and those who helped to
save two hundred thousand American and
Korean lives, can take pride in this story.
Korea remains divided today. The war
technically goes on, quiet only because of a
truce signed in 1953. Despite recent signs
of hope, the story of Hungnam and the
Meredith Victory also goes on, a brilliant
yet relatively unknown chapter in
American history that can now take its
place, during this fiftieth anniversary of the
Korean War, among such other legendary
names as Bunker Hill, Midway, the Battle
of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
This book did not just deserve to be
written-it needed to be written. I am proud
to have been a part of what happened at
Hungnam. Fifty years later, I am proud to
be a part of the telling of that heroic story.
This book is available in quantity at special
discounts for your group or organization.
For further information, contact:
Triumph Books, 601 South LaSalle Street,
Suite 500, Chicago, Illinois 60605. Tel:
312- 939-3330, Fax: 312-663-3557, E-
mail K_Viverito@trimphbooks.com
(A must read book for those that were not
at Hungnam in late 1950. Very good gift for
the young so that they will learn about the
hardships and heroism of those that were
there. 145 pages, many photos.)
September/October, 2000 Page 51