The Graybeards - Korean War Veterans Association

I have been desperately trying to contact Master Sergeant Edsel
Shelton, USAF, 3640th Medical Group, Laredo Air Force Base,
Laredo, Texas, Years 1952, 1953, 1954. His home area may have
been Mid-West Oklahoma etc. Contact Robert D. Dougherty, 36
Belmont Street, Waymart, PA 18472-9201.
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I am trying to locate members of my OCS Class, #61, The
Engineer OCS at Ft. Belvoir, Va. We graduated 1 Dec 53. I have
located all but four, who are listed below with their 1953 home
of record. Carl G. Johnson, Cleveland, OH, Harold F. (Frank)
Sutton, Cincinnati, OH, John P. (Pat) Ward, Springfield, IL, and
Henry T. (Taylor) White, Arlington, VA or Baltimore, MD.
Contact Jack Waite, 12 Dunbarton Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003
Tel: 856-424-9484.
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My name is Jim (Doc) Wagner. I was a Navy Corpsman with the
1st Armored Amphibian Bn., FMP Korea. We were stationed at
Kimpo Peninsula. I am trying to locate any members of the unit.
Contact Jim Wagner, 515 E. 4th Street, Mitchell, South Dakota
57301-2705 or E-mail .
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I would like to locate either the families of these 10 men killed
in action or anyone who knows them or is connected with the
82nd F.A. Bn. Pfc. Donald Ashley, Pfc. Donald E. Cozad, Pfc.
Robert T. Gould, Cpl. Raymond McMahon, 1st Lt. Earl Seat,
Cpl. Jessie Bone, Pfc. Robert J. Fralick, Cpl. Gilbert W.
McKenna, Pfc. Cone E. Shipley and Cpl. Carlos N. Salizar. All
died in 1950 or early in 1951. Contact Tom F. Cacciola, 25
Skyline Drive, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632-1815 Tel: 201-567-
7279.
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Enclosed is my picture taken
in my military service days of
Korean War in 1951 so that
perhaps the American Army
Lieutenant and the black
sergeant I am looking for
may happen to see it and say
“Oh, here’s the one I have
been looking for.” I am sure if
both or either one were alive,
they must have been hoping
to see me again.
I was a Korean soldier in the
midst of Korean War in 1950
ROK Sgt. Choi, Dae Yul
to 1953. One day I was
patrolling with my fellow soldier,
Kim, on a hill covered with snow. We happened to scent a
smell of blood and slowly we approached to the site.
Surprisingly we found two Americans, one lieutenant and the
other a black sergeant lying side by side. We touched them but
there was no movement, and we checked their weak pulse. The
lieutenant’s thigh was a bloody mess. He got shot through the
thigh. The black sergeant was not wounded but was unconscious
of us. I think he was totally exhausted carrying the officer to the
site. They must have been starved.
I tore my field jacket and tied up the wound for the first aid. We
carried them down the hill on our backs to an empty house of a
village. We boiled water and poured warm water in their mouths
while rubbing their bodies. Soon they opened their eyes. The
lieutenant asked for more water, but we didn’t give him more
because we knew we can’t. But the sergeant drank much water
and became almost normal. We carried the officer to the road.
There was an American army jeep coming toward us and seeing
us stopped in front of us and picked them up. We were about to
say “goodbye” but the lieutenant insistently wanted me to go
with him.
I was sergeant and my fellow soldier was private. I told him to
go back to the unit and report this story. Our unit was 3rd platoon,
11th Co., 3rd Bn., 19th Regt., 6th ROK Div. I followed him
to an American Army airfield where they took us in a cargo
plane. I knew it was a cargo plane because there was no seats for
passengers. The plane took us to an American Army Evacuation
Hospital. I am not sure but location was near somewhere around
Daejon City, I suppose. I stayed there in the hospital with him a
week but I could not stay there any longer because I knew that I
would be a deserter if over a week.
I can never forget my life in the hospital because the food was so
delicious and I could sleep on the bed, all of which I had never
eaten or slept before. When we parted, he gave me a memo of his
name, address, and so on and I gave him my name and address
in Chinese character. He also gave me his gold-plate watch he
had been wearing. Since I could not speak English, we only
could communicate with gesture and feelings. However, unfortunately
I lost his memo in the battlefield.
But I am sure that the American Army history in Korea War
should be able to identify what airfield, what evacuation and also
who the lieutenant and black sergeant were because the hospital
must have the records of the officer.
Now I would like to repeat this story in different angle so that it
could help find them. The location of the hill was somewhere
between the areas of Iljookmyon and Kwang-Joo in Pyongi-Do,
from about 20 to 30 miles South-East of Seoul. The time was the
“January 4th Retreat” by the Chinese Army participation to
Korean War. My memory is not clear but I suppose the Division
Mark was “horse head”. But I cannot say it was for sure.
I sincerely hope that this story be published in your Graybeards.
This story is true and correct. I shall never forget your kindness
for the rest of my life. The following is the address and name,
same as the one I gave to the lieutenant. I hope that if he still has
the address and name, he can identify comparing with it. Thanks,
Choi, Dae Yul, 74 – Dong 104 ho, Siyong Apt, Sinchon- Dong,
Songpa-Ku, Seoul, South Korea.
(Thank you Choi for the letter. Although I could not print your
address in Korean, I expect someone will contact you by the
address above or the Graybeards editor and we can pass it on
another way. Your photo and story should be enough to get some
feedback.)
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I am looking for Red Adams, the Mess Sergeant for the 388th
Chemical Smoke and Generator Co. or anyone that remembers
that I had Yellow Jaundice in Korea. Contact Stanley E. Gade,
January/February, 2000 Page 51