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Chinese and Korean. They would provide their information to the
CIA operatives. They, in turn, would write a report, and Sergeant
Baker would reduce the report to a coded message that would be
transmitted at a prearranged hour to a designated airplane.
The author is detailed in reporting their mission, the sub voyage
to the coast, the Chinese protectors, the equipment, the vehicles, and
the preparations made for their arrival.
They are put ashore on January 11, 1952, at Kosong, NK. They
travel by night, contacting the in-place spies. They hide during the
day to avoid being bombed.
They travel through Wonsan, NK, then on to Munam-pi, Sibyonni,
Kumchon, Yonan, Haeju, Ongjin, and finally to the west coast of
NK. They are to signal a navy ship and are to be rescued. All along
this route of travel they meet the in-place spies and obtain their
information.
They encounter Communist soldiers along the way. A battle
ensues between their protectors and the Communist. Seven of the
ten group members are killed, as were the National Chinese who
were to protect them.
Only Boyd, aka Sergeant Michael Baker, and two companions
survive the battle and continue their trek to the west coast of NK.
The two companions die. Boyd is rescued by helicopter and flown
to South Korea. He is debriefed and returns to the States. All seems
well and he continues his military career.
The questions arise as to how the in-place operatives were to be
contacted and how they would know when and where to meet the
convoy as it trekked across the North Korean countryside. Who put
these operatives in place, and what was the final fate of these spies?
Then, these thoughts might occur to the reader: how did President
Truman learn of the in-place spies…who was Colonel
Brown….what did the reports sent by Sergeant Baker from the CIA
operatives contain….why did the author leave such vital information
out of his book?
The details of these accounts are almost beyond belief. After all
these years, after all he suffered in North Korea, after the classified
briefings and debriefings he could still recall the most minute detail.
The reviewer searched for a ghost writer and found none until at
the end of the book, and he is found there. Still, the minute details
of the mission, the operation by Nationalist Chinese troops, facing
roadblocks, all of these together caused the reviewer to doubt the
authenticity of Operation “Broken Reed.”
But, it is a must read for everyone, especially those of us who
were there.
Reviewer’s Note: I was in the first group of Air Force personnel
sent into South Korea. We arrived at Pusan in the late afternoon of
June 29 or 30, 1950. We were to go to Taejon, South Korea to establish
air operations under the 5th U. S. Air Force.
We traveled by Korean train from Pusan with two Air Force men
acting as the engineers of the train. South Korean rail workers
would not operate the train for us. However, we were stopped
between Taegu and Taejon by a unit of the U. S. Army.
General Dean was there. He told us to reverse course to Taegu,
take a side track to an old Japanese air field east of Taegu, and
establish air operations from there. I was in the Air Police Squadron
(same as Military Police in U. S. Army) and the security, safety, and
protection of Air Force resources was our mission.
Along about April or May 1951 a check point guard advised our
PMO that an individual was at his location and he could not understand
the man. I took an interpreter and went to that check point.
There, I found an oriental man of 30 to 35 years of age who was
wearing very rough clothing such as a Korean farmer might wear.
With my limited command of Japanese, I attempted to converse
with him. The interpreter tried to talk to him. All of this was to no
avail. We thought he might be a deserter from the Communist army,
a spy trying to learn about us, or a front man for an attack on the
air field. Finally, he grasped the hem of his left pants leg and tore it
open.
From there, he took a small rolled up bit of paper, about onefourth
of an inch wide. This he unrolled to a length of ten inches and
showed it to me. Typed on this length of paper were instructions to
take this man to the O.S.I. at once. (The O. S. I. is the Office of
Special Investigations and is the counter intelligence arm of the U.
S. Air Force.)
I put the man in my Jeep with the interpreter and a guard and
took him to the O.S.I. agents, who were quartered near the air field.
That was the last I saw of this man.
At that time I realized this man must be a Chinese operative
working behind enemy lines gathering intelligence for our forces.
Could there have been a connection?
James S. Allen, 109 Market Street, Water Valley, MS,
jimallen@ms.metrocast.net
RECON from page 57
had upon perceptions and actions of American soldiers, looking to
see if the military’s integration policies influenced the civil rights
movement. The intended title of my paper is: “The Korean War:
Overture to the Civil Rights Movement.”
While scholars of military history continue to debate the
nomenclature, Korean War historians of the Civil Rights movement
(CRM) have created a more expansive framework for the
study of activism and race relations in the United States.
For an increasing number of students of the CRM, events leading
up to the Brown decision or the Montgomery Bus Boycott
shed light on organizing initiatives among African-Americans and
what were perceived as Cold War imperatives: the post WWII
projection of America’s war for democracy and against totalitarianism—in
all its forms.
The desegregation of the military was one of the key events in
this “long Civil Rights movement” and the Korean War played a
substantial role in changing perceptions and policy regarding
desegregation. I am hoping to locate veterans (both combat arms
and supporting arms) of the Korean War to interview on their personal
experiences involving race, racism, desegregation, and integration
during the period leading up to and including the Korean
War.
Thank you very much for your time and assistance.
Crispien Van Aelst, 2407 W. Berwyn Apt. 2A,
Chicago, IL 60625, (312) 330-7751 (anytime),
crispien@mac.com
67
The Graybeards
May – June 2009