Korean War Records
Korean War Records
Jerome Altenburg (Army) Audio 1 | Audio 2 | Transcript 1 | Transcript 2
409th Engineer Brigade; 523rd Engineer Pipeline Company, Service in Pusan, Korea 1953.
Gordon R. Beem (Navy) Audio | Transcript
USS Athene, 1945; Supply tech, 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing, Korea; Service in Germany, 1950s-60s; career in health management.
David Franklin Brock (Army Combat Engineer) Documents
David Franklin Brock was raised near Spencer, Tennessee. He was drafted into the US Army during the Korean War and trained as a combat engineer and demolitions expert. He served in Korea with the 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion attached to the 2nd Infantry Division operating out of Chongpyong-ni and Kumwha regions. He returned home after the war and was a long time employee of Mallory Controls in Sparta, Tennessee.
Robert Chittum (Marine Corps) Video
Born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, Robert Chittum graduated from Knoxville High School in 1950. He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1949 and went into active service upon graduating school. He did training at Parris Island, South Carolina. He was then sent to California for infantry training, but was transferred to a tank division. He served in the Korean War for his full enlistment. He returned to Knoxville and attended the University of Tennessee for Mechanical Engineering. He later worked for the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas before finishing a law degree and working as a patent attorney for Xerox Corporation for 29 Years.
John J. Comp (Marine Corps) Audio | Transcript
Grew up in Hazelton, Pennsylvania in the 1940s; Voluntarily enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1952; training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California; Assigned to Camp Pendleton with Third Division; Deployed to Korea in early 1953 in George Company, Third Battalion, First Marine Division stationed at Outpost Esther; wounded on March 19, 1953 during Chinese assault on positions, but returned to frontlines shortly after; fought on Hill 229 during the Battle of Boulder City while the armistice was being negotiated in Panmunjom, May through July 1953; Building defensive measures through 1954 in case armistice did not hold; discharge in 1955; career in drafting and naval engineering in Lakehurst, New Jersey; retirement at The Villages in Florida
Stanley Duhan (II) (Navy) Audio | Transcript
Graduate of Virginia Tech; Air Force Reserves, 1951; Senior Project Engineer on Titan/Atlas Program
Perry G. Goad (Army Combat Engineer) Audio | Transcript
Born 1932 Albany, KY; Childhood in Sunbright, TN; Enlisted 1951; Combat engineer; D Co,13th Engineer Battalion, 7th Infantry Division 1952; Roads, Bridges, Minefields; Transport from Basic Training to Seattle and on to Korea; Combat experience; Construction duties; Conditions in Korea; R&R in Japan; Impressions of officers; Post-war, finding work; Semi-professional baseball player; 34 years at Harriman Hosiery.
Hermes Grillo, M.D. (Marines) Audio | Transcript
Born in Boston, 1923; childhood during the Great Depression; attended Brown University; attended Harvard Medical School; practiced neurosurgery; Naval surgeon in Korean War, 1951-52; Second Division, Company D; trained at Camp Lejeune; MASH; worked with 1st Marine Division and Fleet Marine Force; Postwar; married with four children; distinguished professor at Harvard University; World renowned expert in thoracic surgery; author of the textbook, Surgery of the Trachea and Bronchi; died in car crash in Italy, 2006.
James R. Henderson (Army) Audio | Transcript
Early life, Queens, NY; mother was Margy Taylor, actress & singer; drafted during Korean War; Basic Training at Fort Dix; 60th Infantry Regiment, 7th Army; Germany, Heilbronn, Stuttgart, Olm; Postwar career in the NYPD, patrolman and detective, 1957-1977; Medal of Honor presented by mayor and police commissioner.
Dr. Andrew Kang (I) (Civilian/Researcher NIH) Audio | Transcript
Civilian in Korea during WWII/Korean War; “Yellow Beret;” Medical researcher.
Dr. Andrew Kang (II) (Civilian/Researcher NIH) Audio | Transcript
A follow-up discussion of Dr. Kang’s medical career and research.
Charles “Buddy” Liner (Air Force) Audio | Transcript
Born and raised in Athens, Tennessee; Growing up during the Great Depression; Participating in the Battle of Athens as a teenager; Joining Air Force after graduating McMinn County High School; Training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio Texas; Electronics Countermeasure Operator (ECM) in the 304th Bomb Wing stationed out of Okinawa during the Korean War; Flying 18 Missions over North Korea on B29 Bombers; transfer to 509th Bomb Wing in Roswell, New Mexico and stories about crewmembers who had served in World War II; Going to school at Tennessee Wesleyan University in Athens after service; graduate school at Peabody in Nashville; career in insurance, philanthropy, and state government.
J. C. Mason (Army) Audio | Transcript
Pre-war life in Maryville, TN; Father, brothers, cousins served in military; Enlisted November, 1951; Basic training, Fort Ord, CA; 7th Infantry Division, 32nd Infantry Regiment; Arrived Korea, June 1952; Kumhwa Valley; Combat against Chinese and North Koreans; Wounded at Triangle Hill; Post-war; National Guard service.
Joe Pete McKeehan (Army) Website
Private First-Class Joe Pete McKeehan was born on December 24, 1925, in Elizabethton, Tennessee. He was a graduate of Happy Valley High School. He served as a member of F Company in the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was killed in action on January 7, 1952, only 2 months after he arrived in Korea. McKeehan was 26 at the time of his death and left behind his wife, Mrs. Virginia Dugger McKeehan, and daughter, Jo Ann McKeehan. He was awarded several honors: a Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and Republic of Korea War Service Medal. He is laid to rest in the McKeehan Cemetery in Elizabethton, Tennessee.
P. Neal O’ Steen (Navy) Audio | Transcript
Prewar life in Bedford County, TN; Enlisted Jan. 1941; Philadelphia Naval Hospital until Dec. 7, 1941; Naval Recruitment Station, Philadelphia until June, 1943; Sole medical staffer aboard USS ATR-23, rescue tug, in eastern Pacific, 1943-1946, Pharmacist’s Mate, First Class; U.S. Navy Reserve 1947-1951; Korean War at Norfolk Naval Air Station 1950-1951, Chief Hospital Corpsman; Postwar; UT-Knoxville, Class of ’50, Journalism; Kingsport Times, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot; Director of Publications at UT-Knoxville, 1957-1985.
Col. John W. Patrick (Ret.) (Army) Audio | Transcript
Childhood and life in Detroit and Highland Park, MI; recollections of Pearl Harbor and war time life on the home front; Wayne State University; drafted April, 1943; Fort Benning, GA; role as instructor; deployment to Korea, 1945-1947; assignment to the 7th Infantry Division; life in Korea; ROTC instructor; deployment to 1st Infantry Division, Germany, 1950; integration of the military; reassignment to Taiwan, III Corps Operations adviser; return to Korea, 1961 as part of VI Army operations staff; Korea government coup, 1962; testing of nuclear munitions in Nevada; ; promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, assignment to Vietnam; preparations for deployment, including language and cultural training; adviser to South Vietnamese troops, promotion to colonel, return to the United States; thoughts on draft vs. volunteer militaries.
Walter Seivers (Army) Documents
Sergeant Walter Seivers was born July 21, 1926. He attended Knoxville High School and worked at White Stores Grocery before joining the United States Army to serve during World War II, and upon his return he married Helen Lucille Davis in 1946. He was called back to service in October 1950 with the 1st Marine Division in Korea. In September 1951 Seivers was killed in action by an artillery round while attempting to take part of the Hwachon Reservoir, nicknamed the “Punchbowl.”
Dorothy Vollmer (USMC) Documents
Captain Dorothy Vollmer was born in 1927 in Harrisburg, PA. Inspired by her Brother, who served in World War II, she joined the local Civil Air Patrol during the conflict, selling war bonds to support the cause. She enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1949, and her MOS was personnel administration. She served as a drill instructor for new recruits at Parris Island, and worked at recruiting and administrative roles in many postings stateside. Though she was never stationed overseas, her work was instrumental to ensuring success on the homefront. Her work as an administration clerk typing correspondence and pay forms during the Korean Conflict allowed for women Marines to be stationed all over the United States rather than only serving in Washington DC. After her twenty one years of service, Vollmer worked as a realtor in Memphis until her death in 2012.
W. Lewis Wood (Navy) Audio | Transcript
Born 1925, Starkville, MI; family background and childhood in Memphis, TN; Great Depression; University of Tennessee; 1943; enlistment in Navy, 1944; training Fort Oglethorpe, Aviation Electronic Technician; training, Great Lakes Naval Station; discussion of advanced electronics training; stationed Corpus Christi, TX; released from Navy, 1945; work with power plant, Little Rock, AK; return to University of Tennessee; ROTC; enlistment, 1950; infantry training; assignment to the 45th Infantry Division; racial tensions during desegregation of the military; front line experiences; tensions between reservists and regular Army personnel; Japan, interactions with Japanese and Korean civilians; interactions with Commonwealth troops; Yonchon Corridor; awarded Bronze Star; return to the U.S.; feelings about Korea and China.
