Sep/Oct 2005 - Korean War Veterans Association

Korean
War
Veterans’
Mini-Reunions .................
Company B, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division
I am a member of Chapter # 142, Korean War Veterans
Association, based in Frederick, Maryland, where I spent
my youth. However, I have lived in Latta, SC since I retired
from the US Army in 1980.
Three of us Korean War veterans, I, Glen Dohrmann, and
Bud Ball, members of Co. B, 5th Cavalry Regt., 1st Cavalry
Division, held a real mini-reunion at Abingdon Manor in
Latta on February 24, 2005. An article covering the gathering
appeared in the March 17, 2005, Dillon (South Carolina)
Herald.
The three were at “Old Baldy” together when then Lt.
Griffin was hit in the right temple with a fragment of a
Chinese 82mm mortar round. Griffin, who had flown with
the U.S. Air Force for three months during the summer of
1951, had directed many air attacks against Hill 346. This
time, he was a victim.
Dohrmann, who was a lieutenant at the time, asked then
Sergeant Ball to put a bandage on Griffin’s wound. However,
blood continued spurting from Griffin’s wound, so
Dohrmann asked Ball to apply a second bandage. Then,
Dohrmann and Ball made sure Griffin was taken to a helicopter
that would transport him to a M.A.S.H unit. Griffin credits them
with saving his life. Yet, the three did not get together again for
53 years.
772nd Military Police Bn.
Standing (L-R) Glenn Dohrmann, Bud Ball, Joe Griffin; Seated (L-R) June Ball,
Betty Dohrmann
Unfortunately, Bud Ball died of a heart attack on April 28,
2005, only two months after their get-together. As Griffin noted,
“How fortunate it was that we got together in February.”
Joseph T. Griffin, Jr., P. O. Box 206, Latta, SC 29565
Several members of the
772nd Police Bn. Veterans
Association and guests got
together in April 2005 in
Tucson, AZ. It was the unit’s
10th Reunion.
The battalion, whose motto
was “On Our Mettle,” was represented
in Pusan, Wonsan,
Hamhung, Hungnam, Kyung-
Ju, Andong, Uisong, Taegu,
Yongchon, Chechon, Taejon,
and Yongdong-Po after arriving
in Inchon 8 October 1950.
Joel C. Davis, P. O. Box
342, Luckey, OH 43443-0342
32
Members of the 772nd MOP Bn. in Tucson
September - October 2005
The Graybeards