Just a few stories from my Tour of Duty in
The Land of the Morning Clam
Pfc or Cpl. Fred Townsley 1952
On the morning of May 3, 1953 at approximately 1100 hours (11
AM) aboard a R5D-3 aircraft, we started circling for landing at
K-3 Airfield Korea. As I looked at the dusty, dirty looking
airfield my thoughts were, "Why didn't I stay in school, I
would have been preparing for my graduation as part of the class
of 1953." After the landing someone from VMF-311, MAG-33,
1st MAW picked us up in a 6X6 truck and drove us to the Squadron
Office where we were welcomed to Korea.
We were quartered in the squadron recreation room until we could be moved into the regular barracks. The barracks were buildings made with corrugated metal about 16 feet wide by 32 feet long with double doors at each end and high windows along each side running about 5 feet above the deck to about 4 feet from each end of the building. The inside of the barracks was paneled with 1/4 inch plywood. There were 2 kerosene stoves in the middle aisle about 8 feet inside the doors at each end. Canvas folding cots were spaced evenly along the walls under the windows, 9 to each side. Shelves were built into the walls separating the cots and covered with some green (olive drab) material. The floors were concrete, there wasn't any insulation in the walls, and when the wind blew, you could feel it. In the winter we took masking tape and sealed the cracks as best we could. It was still cold, but beat the hell out of being in a tent.
Since we were the new guys, the old timers wouldn't talk to us
except to tell us what to do until we had been in country for a
month or until the next replacement draft (33rd) came in. The men
(old timers) would come into the Rec. Hut and play ping pong
Until 2300 or 2400 hrs. each night to keep us awake, and then
after lights out they would Klondike (Throw large rocks onto the
roof so we could listen to them roll down off the roof) the Rec.
Hut. We were sure glad when the men we were replacing left so we
could move into the regular Huts.
After we were in Korea about two months, the "Tour of Duty" was changed from 10 months in country to 12 months. Shortly after the Armistice was signed the "Tour of Duty" was changed to 14 months shore to shore. That was a "REAL DEAL", we had been in Korea for four months and still had 10 months to do in Korea.
In June of 1954 I Extended my "tour" for 3 months to
be sure that I wouldn't be "In Transit" and miss out on
promotion to Sgt.
Except for R&R (Rest and Recreation Leave) in Japan, I was in
Korea from 3 May 1953 until 15 Sept. 1954.
Shortly after getting to Korea, I was put on "Mess Duty" and assigned to the MAG-33 Staff NCO Mess Hall working in the spud locker. Most of my time was spent peeling potatoes. The potatoes were bought in Japan as we didn't get much fresh produce from the "States", so they would have orders made up sending one of the cooks TAD to Japan for a few days to buy produce. They would take a half day to buy the produce, and then the rest of the time would be an non charged R&R. R&R stood for rest and recreation leave, but it was called Rack & Ruin, Rum & Rack, I & I (Intercourse & Intoxication), and many other things. While I was on mess duty, they stored the cases of food stuff in the spud locker. I would take a case of caned fruit (small cans) and set it outside the window and the come back after dark and take it back to my hut to share with the rest of the men. I can remember the small cans of grapefruit slices, as they made a good breakfast instead of going to the mess hall in the morning. It took all morning to peel enough Japanese potatoes for the noon meal and it only took an hour or two to peel Idaho potatoes.
One day I was outside when the Korean Garbage Truck came to
pick up the garbage. The truck was about a 1929 Chevy stake
truck. The Koreans had tied rags around the tires through the
spokes to keep from running on the inner tube. It looked like the
truck was held together with bailing wire and bubble gum. The
Korean Men on the back picked up the garbage cans and emptied
them into the back of the truck and one of the men reached into a
can and pulled out a hand full of mashed potatoes and took a bite
of it and laughed about it. Guess it was better than he had been
eating.
Shortly after getting off mess duty, I made Cpl. (E-3) and was
assigned to Squadron Cpl. of the Guard. The night that I had
duty, Capt. Ted William's was SDO (Squadron Duty Officer.
He talked to me a little that evening, and when he started making
up his cot for the night, he pulled out a set of sheets he had
brought to the Operations Office to use since the squadron did
not have sheets. He said that he was so poor when he was growing
up that since he made it big in Major League Baseball that he
wouldn't be without sheets if he had anything to say about it. I
guess that he was the first really famous man that I met. I sure
missed an opertunity to get an autograph.
One night during the winter of 1953-54 while standing Squadron Guard, Cpl. Ted Wolfe was walking Squadron Guard for VMF-115. While we were sneaking a cigarette behind the buildings separating our squadrons, we got to talking about the MAG-33 Group Guard roving patrol not stopping when the Squadron Guards challenged them, and Ted said that they would stop for him. They did! About an hour later, I saw the jeep leave the H&MS-33 area and head up the VMF-115 Flight Line. About a minute later I heard a shot go off in the VMF-115 area. By the time I got up to the end of my post where the road crossed the taxi way toward VMF-115's area, I started challenging the Group Guard, Sgt. of the Guard; Group Guard, Officer of the Day; the VMF-115 Officer of the Day; the VMF-115 Commanding Officer; the VMF-311 OD; and the Cpl. of the Guard from Group Guard Company. There may have been a couple of others, but anyhow Ted got their attention and made the fact known that the roving patrol had not been stopping when challenged. About 2 hours I noticed the Roving Patrol coming down my post, so I squatted down behind the nose landing gear of one of our F9F-5 Grumman Panther Jets and put my whistle into my mouth. When the headlights of the jeep passed by me, I gave a big blast on the whistle dropped it and hollered HALT. Before I said halt, the jeep almost did a nose dive it stopped so fast and the driver and other man were both standing outside with a flashlight shining in their faces hollering Group Guard. They didn't check out our posts any more that night or at least not during my shift.
Sometime during the summer after the Armistice was signed one of our F9F-5s crashed into Yong Gil Man Bay just north of the K-3 Airfield. A few days later after the plane was pulled up on the recreation beach to the northeast of our squadron area. Some of us were at the beach having a few beers and Capt. G. L. Martin our A/C Maintenance . Officer asked if " Goldie " and another ordnance man could disarm the 20 mm cannon. I helped but don't remember what I did. We got an atta-boy for our help. (If it had happened during the Viet Nam War, we would probably have gotten at least a Letter of Commendation.)
Another day Pfc. O. J. Pissano was de-arming a plane coming in for a 30 hr. check and didn't clear the chamber and let the bolt slide home and fired a round off. It sure cleared out the shops, offices and coffee shop in a hurry. As Far as I know, he never made Cpl.
In June 1953 just before I got off of mess duty, Sigmun Rhee (President of the Republic of Korea) came to K-3 to present the Korean Presidential Unit Citation to the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. (11Jun53 I think.) They closed the Airfield down for a couple of hours to have the ceremony and pass in review, but for the day that Rhee was there, they took all the ammo (for the M-1 Rifle) away from us and didn't give it back until Rhee had left K-3. It seems that just a few days before he had released a bunch of POW's who didn't want to go back to North Korea, a few miles from Po'Hang. It seems that the powers that be had the idea that some young Marine was going to shoot the Mr. Rhee.
Around that time Maj. John Glenn (Astronaut) who was an exchange pilot with the U.S. Air Force flew into K-3 to visit with some of his friends in VMF-311, and while he was visiting, some of the men painted "MARINES" on the underside of his F-86. Then they asked him to make a low pass over the field. There were a lot of pictures taken that day. One appeared in "LEATHERNECK" magazine in early 1992.
In the H&MS-33, MAG-33 Group Photo Shop (a Quonset Hut), the photographers had blown up a picture of Teague Cutties bosom. The door to the photo lab opened right between her boobs. She was a rather short Korean woman with a gigantic set of boobs. I mean big! During the winter of 1953-54, a bunch of us from the squadron went down to see her one week-end. I think it was about 76 miles form K-3 to K-2. The roads were not paved, and reminded me of the roads in Lincoln County Oklahoma when I stayed with Uncle John in '47-'48-'49. We road in the back of the Material Sections Weapons Carrier. It had a canvass top which was installed, and all except the driver and his shot-gun road in the back. I think there was about 6 of us. It turned out to be about a 2 hour or more like a 3 hour ride down to Teague. (South from K-3) It was cold and we all had on long johns, utilities, and cold weather gear. Even had on Mickey Mouse Shoes (Cold Weather Boots), only they didn't keep your feet warm unless you were walking. The didn't do anything to help keep your feet warm if you were riding in the back of a cold Weapons Carrier. After we found Cutties house, we all went inside the court yard (compound) and Cuttie just opened up the front of her coat and blouse and showed us her boobs. They were LARGE. we could avail ourselves of her services for $5, or one of her girls for $2. Then we still had a 2-3 hour drive up north to K-3 and good old VMF-311. Don't remember much about the trip except for the bumpy roads and how drab the country looked.
I went through some of the same area in November 1984 when I
went to the Reunion in Korea to visit my son Stephen. The roads
were paved and in good condition, the homes had electricity, and
none of the houses had straw roofs. Compared to what Po'Hang
looked like in 1984, in 1953-53 Po'Hang looked like something out
of the middle ages, or at least the 19th century.
This is a few pages from The Blow and Go the MAG-33 Paper
This is copied from part (1/2) of page 3 & 4 of the 12 Oct. 1953 MAG-33 mimeographed newsletter. It was in with things my mother had saved over the years and passed on to me after mom passed away in Sept. 1993.
Blow and Go Page 3
Ordnance was forced to drop out of the league because of a
recent work load, but MABS still has a handful of hard charging
squads ready to do battle. The writer would like to take this
opportunity to inform all MABS department that any bits of news
will be welcomed and certainly printed in future Blow and Go
issues.
NEWS OF VMJ-1
Everything around VMJ-1 seems to be running smoothly. We are
glad to see the twenty-sixth draft go home. Our football team is
still going strong ! We have won two and lost one. The team is
coached by Capt. Santelli and W.O. Comeau. We are letting it be
known that we are trying for the champion-ship. Remember of VMJ-1
welcome aboard Lt. Col. Albert L. Jones. Col. Jones will be our
new executive officer.
Happenings Around VMF-311 Swollen thumbs and aching muscles
reveal the fact that the officers of VMF-311 are busy playing
carpenter. Out of the ruins of the C.O.'s front porch and living
quarters is raising a club to rival the Mocambo and Ciro's. the
amazing "can-do" man on this job is Capt. Amos T.
Baushke. He can saw chandeliers from scrap lumber. One casualty
of the project is 2nd Lt. Jim Morgan who pounded his finger
instead of the crooked nail. Strange things are happening. Plans
are being drawn up for an elaborate volley ball court, more
showers and stateside heads. Lt's going to be so nice around the
old squadron soon it'll be hard to get people to go home or on R
& R. The squadron, in conjunction with B & G, is really
going to town on making this squadron and group Number 1. The man
to see with any ideas for built in blondes, or what have you, is
B & G officer for VMF-311, Capt. Dick Prave. Beer, boxing and
beef were the features of the party thrown by VMF-311 ordnance.
The section get-together was a big success with plenty of
charcoal broiled steaks and enough beer to wet the whistle. 1st
Lt. George Garner put a grand party for the boys. Pfc Ed Moore
and Cpl. Leon Raper managed to put away plenty of chow while
watching the feature attraction of the day, boxing. A real scrap
between Pfc's Johnny Sauceda and Gilbert Cervantes was such a
closely fought battle that it had to be declared a draw. VMF-311
ordnance gang has a real boxing team and they'll challenge anyone
foolish enough to tangle with them. The gauntlet has been thrown
down... somebody will pick it up, so watch for some real bouts to
come. Two new faces are around the pilots ready room of VMF-311
these days, 2nd Lts. John Butler and Donald Pritchett. The
squadron lost Capt. James Murdock to the stateside Marine Corps.
1st Lt. Marque Debenport shot up a storm in the Air Force meet at
Johnson AFB, Japan. In air to air gunnery he got 96 hits for 120
rounds, for an average of 80 % and that's shooting. 1st Lt. Don
Harding scored a perfect mark in skip bombing, putting four bombs
in the bull for four bombs dropped. The meet is still in progress
but the pilots of VMF-311 will be right up at the top if they
continue their present performances. Lt. Col. Martin Oelrich,
C.O. VMF-311 returned this week from TAD in Japan where he was
keeping a weather eye on the gunnery and bombing team from the
squadron. Back from R & R for a rest are Major Joe Davies,
Capt. Lowell M. Corwin, 1st Lt. Tom St. Dennis, S/Sgt Jesse
Collier, Sgts. John Odom, Bob Thompson, Charles Wise, Cpl. Fred
Townsley, Pfc's Salvator De Santo, Ken Freudenthal, Richard
Jocobs, James McGuire, Ronald McGuire, Willian Phillips, and
Johnny Sauceda. A good time was had by all. Pfc Ken Freudenthal
even managed to get picked up for speeding in a rickshaw, a neat
trick anytime. J. H. Mayer, 2nd Lt.
Hedron 33
Congratulations goes to two Hedron officers on their promotion during the past week. The Adjutant, Dwight W. Seymore, exchanged his gold bars for silver ones. The Assistant Group Intelligence Officer, George R. De Line, found Captaincy awaiting him on his return from TAD. The Squadron Office lost its First Sergeant, Technical Sergeant Lewis G. Blinn, due to rotation. The Group Adjutant, Major Jerome A. Krinbring also departed for CONUS. Lieutenant Colonel R. W. Batdorff was transferred from S-4 to VMF-115 to become their new Exec.
FIRE PREVENTION Seven hundred million dollars ! Boy, that's a
lot of R & R money. Yet the fire loss in the USA exceeded
that figure in 1952. Why do we say fire prevention ? Because
information compiled by the National board of fire underwriters
proves that 90% of all fires could have ....
The preceding was on half a page torn down the center from the Oct. 12, 1953 Blow and Go, which I must have sent home to Mom, in Oct. 1953.
I can remember a little of that R & R since it was my
first after the Armistice was signed on July 27, 1953 and we had
to check in with the United Nations Truce Team when we went out
of Korea. I remember the flight to Itami AFB, Japan because we
had to check out of country at K-9 Airfield in Pusan, Korea, as
the pilot must have been in a hurry to get back to Japan as he
flew down a valley or valleys all the way to K-9. and I remember
looking out the windows of the R4Q-1 Flying Boxcar and looking up
to see the tops of the mountains. After landing at K-9 they let
us off the aircraft, but told us to stay close as we were leaving
ASAP. I remember someone asked an "Airman" where the
"HEAD" was located and he said they didn't have any. So
someone asked where we could take a leak, and the
"Airman" said the latrine was over there behind those
barrels. It was and we did. I took six R & R's between 3 May
1953 and 14 Sept. 1954 while I was in VMF-311 at K-3 K-3
Airfield, Korea near the town of Po'Hang Dong on Yong Gil Man Bay
on the east coast of Korea. The city of PoHang was on the north
perimeter of the "Pusan Perimeter" or the farthest
south that the durn commies got when they invader Korea in June
of 1950. On visits to Po Hang, you could see where buildings were
missing/damaged and bullet marks upon the walls.
