Special KWVA "W in Your Dream Vacation Fund-Raiser" Information ...

No soldier shall be left behind
By Peter Buscaino
Whether on the battlefield,
behind the
lines, in the air or on
the water, every military member
has a unique story to tell.
One such event took place at
the Inchon Harbor in April
1955.
During the debarkation and
embarkation process in the
early part of April, I was in the
very last group of GIs waiting
to board the USS General John
Pope after having served
almost sixteen months in
Korea and Japan. My first
eleven months were at the 38th
Parallel with the 3rd Infantry
Division. Then, I was transferred
to the 24th Division and
became part of an advanced
party to Camp Otsu, Japan to
replace a Marine Division that had been returned to the States.
After two months in Japan, the redeployment was cancelled
and I was sent back to South Korea for three additional months.
On the Inchon dock, there were many groups of veterans, each
consisting of 150 or so, waiting for the troops to disembark
before loading could begin. After completing basic training at
Fort Ord, CA, complete companies were shipped to South Korea
to replace soldiers who were scheduled to return to the States.
Upon arriving in South Korea, individuals were assigned to different
organizations, many not to be seen together again.
However, when lined up at the Inchon dock, many “old Basic
Training” buddies were there.
As we were waiting and watching the newly arriving troops
walking by carrying duffel bags, someone spotted the First
Sergeant (a Staff Sergeant) who put us through hell during our
Basic Training. He had earned the name of “Mickey Mouse”
because of his pronounced features.
Someone shouted, “There’s Mickey Mouse.“ Dozens of soldiers,
many of whom now outranked him, razzed him as he
walked by red-faced.
After all the incoming troops had disembarked, the embarkation
process began. One important part of the loading process
was to ascertain that each member had his service record accompanying
him. No one went anywhere without his service record
that contained vital information about the individual.
I was in the last group to be loaded. When it came time for the
group ahead of mine to go aboard, the loading stopped. Two officers
came to me.
One said, “Sergeant, this officer is a pilot and I want you to go
with him. We don’t have the service records for the group ahead
The type of plane on which Peter Buscaino flew
of you. He has a list of places these men have been. Find those
records and bring them here so we can finish loading and the ship
can be on its way.”
Coming from a poor family of seven, all the traveling any of
us did was by car or bus. None of us had ever been on an airplane,
so this was my first plane ride. The small plane, I was told,
was a reconnaissance L20. (I was later told it was an L19.) In any
event, it was equivalent to a Cessna 172 with three seats, two in
front and a back seat for the observer.
As naive as I was about flying, after I got in I looked around
for a parachute, but found none. After about the third or fourth
stop, the records were located. I told the Orderly Room clerk to
get me a ¾-ton truck and a driver.
It was about a two-hour drive to the Port of Inchon, and it was
late afternoon when I arrived. The dock was completely empty,
except for the group without the records I had in the truck. Since
my group had already loaded, and many had heard the order for
me to get the records, it was known aboard ship what the delay
was.
As the truck rolled down the dock to the gangplank, the hooting
and hollering resembled a presidential visit. You can imagine
the anxiety and excitement that each person felt, most having
served over a year in South Korea.
Of the over 4,000 people aboard, I was the last enlisted man
to board the USS General John Pope, followed by several officers.
In less than two hours we were on our way to Bremerton,
Washington.
NO SOLDIER WAS LEFT BEHIND.
Reach Peter Buscaino at 2260 Alta Vista Place
Prescott, AZ 86301
19
The Graybeards
May – June 2009