Sep/Oct 2005 - Korean War Veterans Association
Sep/Oct 2005 - Korean War Veterans Association
Sep/Oct 2005 - Korean War Veterans Association
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
units of approximately four hundred men.<br />
In fact “the Japanese set up a ‘ Kim<br />
Special Activities Unit’ to track down Kim<br />
Il Sung and his allies” (Bruce Cumings,<br />
The Origins of the <strong>Korean</strong> <strong>War</strong>:<br />
Liberation and the Emergence of <strong>Sep</strong>arate<br />
Regimes, 1945-1947 (Princeton, NJ:<br />
Princeton University Press, 1981), 35.<br />
2. Kim was never captured by the<br />
Japanese and never served in the Soviet<br />
army. Cumings states that “the best evidence<br />
that [he has] been able to locate<br />
suggests that Kim [never went to Russia<br />
and] got no further than Khabarovsk, just<br />
across the Manchurian border during the<br />
period from 1941 to 1945; . . . was not an<br />
officer in the Soviet army; but did have<br />
contact with and training by the Soviets.<br />
American intelligence developed information<br />
in 1947 that Kim and his guerrillas<br />
retreated to the Khabarovsk area after the<br />
intense Japanese counterinsurgency campaign<br />
in Manchuria . . . and stayed there<br />
until the liberation [of Korea in 1945]”<br />
(Cumings, 400).<br />
However, I commend Mr. Klein for his<br />
making a significant contribution to the<br />
literature describing the role of the Soviets<br />
in the <strong>Korean</strong> <strong>War</strong>.<br />
Wilson A. Heefner, M.D.<br />
COL AUS (Ret)<br />
Presentations to the 245th<br />
Tank Battalion<br />
I thought you might be interested in a<br />
couple photos I took in the fall of 1952 in<br />
Korea of presentations to members of the<br />
245th Tank Battalion, 45th Infantry<br />
Division. One shows Captain Victor<br />
Moore, a company commander, receiving<br />
the Bronze Star. One other person in the<br />
photo, Captain Jarmon, also received the<br />
Bronze Star.<br />
In the other photo, Col. Clement is<br />
awarding the Purple Heart to one of our<br />
medics, Private John Moncrief, 120th<br />
Medical Battalion, who was assigned to<br />
the 245th Tank Battalion, 45th Infantry<br />
Division.<br />
Moncrief was wounded on a recon<br />
patrol. Another medic on that same patrol,<br />
Private Vachon, came back in a body bag.<br />
Dr. John E. Laura, 8 Parkington Circle,<br />
E. Syracuse, NY 13057-8264<br />
No Metal, So New Medals<br />
Interesting Insights Into The History<br />
Of Medals<br />
Compared to later wars, WWII and<br />
Korea were disorganized when it came to<br />
awards and decorations. The criteria for<br />
award of the Bronze Star medal allow it to<br />
be granted for heroism, achievement or<br />
service. When it is awarded for heroism, it<br />
carries a “V” device for valor. Additional<br />
awards are recognized by an oak leaf cluster,<br />
but only one “V” device is worn, even<br />
if more than one Bronze Star was for heroism.<br />
During WWII and Korea, recommendations<br />
for awards for heroism weren’t<br />
always prepared, submitted, and approved<br />
as they should be. We all have seen<br />
awards granted decades after the deed to<br />
correct this. Heroism is a short-term,<br />
intense act that stands out. Achievement<br />
Captain Moore receiving the Bronze Star (L-R) Major Fleig, Adjutant; LTCol Clement CO, Cpt. Moore,<br />
Capt. Jarmon<br />
Col. Clement awarding the Purple Heart to Pvt.<br />
Moncreif<br />
is something that covers a longer period,<br />
say days or weeks, and while not as<br />
intense, is worthy of achievement.<br />
Service may cover months or even years,<br />
but when viewed in terms of its total<br />
value, it is also worthy of recognition.<br />
I have the Bronze Star with one oak<br />
leaf cluster from the Vietnam era. I am<br />
not a hero: no “V.” One was for meritorious<br />
achievement, and the other for meritorious<br />
service.<br />
My late father-in-law served in WWII<br />
and earned the CIB. He and many others<br />
were granted a retroactive Bronze Star<br />
medal for meritorious service upon application<br />
for it. It was realized after the war<br />
that those who qualified for the CIB or<br />
CMB should have been awarded a Bronze<br />
Star for meritorious service. Spending the<br />
amount of time under fire that they did<br />
meant that the thousands of little acts of<br />
daily “heroism” deserved special recognition.<br />
Lots of awards and decorations slipped<br />
through the cracks during WWII. There<br />
was a metal shortage, and a lot of GIs didn’t<br />
get their medals. Rather, they received<br />
just a citation and/or entry in their records!<br />
Things were better during the <strong>Korean</strong><br />
<strong>War</strong>, but award of the Bronze Star medal<br />
for achievement or service still did not<br />
come up to standards. Awarding a Bronze<br />
Star medal for meritorious service to<br />
<strong>Korean</strong> <strong>War</strong> CIB/CMB holders would<br />
correct a recognized oversight. No, it<br />
would not correct all the oversights and<br />
errors of omission, but it would help to do<br />
so. (I did not serve in the 1950-53 <strong>Korean</strong><br />
59<br />
The Graybeards <strong>Sep</strong>tember - <strong>Oct</strong>ober <strong>2005</strong>