Robert Olson

Company B Marines Korean War Oral History Project

Narrator:

Robert Olson (b. 1929)

Interviewer:

Gina Temple-Rhodes Cedar Story Services

Recorded February 5, 2013

At the Depot, Duluth, MN

GTR: Can you tell me a little bit about your background; where and when you were born?

RO: I was born here in Duluth, December 10th, 1929. Raised in Duluth Heights. Went to Lowell Elementary, Franklin Junior, then Central. Then I quit in the 11th Grade and I joined the Marines. Upon finishing boot camp, I was on a troop transport and went to North China. I was on occupation duty there all of 1946 and part of ’47. My duty consisted of working in, safeguarding the coal mines. There were three Coal mines in a place called Tientsin and Linsi. The Chinese Nationalists… there were about 5,000 of them that worked those coal mines. They were underground mines. But the Communists were trying to disrupt the power which would stop the pumps from pumping out the water, and there would have been 5,000 Chinese burble, burble (drowning). So, we were protecting that installation from the Communists taking over. Then, the coal that was being mined… they mined it much different than we do in the states. Everything came up out of the ground. They didn’t separate the dirt or debris from actual coal! A lot of it was slate. I later found out the difference between coal and slate; the hard way. The coal cars would be loaded. I’d catch train guard on the coal trains and we’d move that coal to a place called Tientsin. When we got to Tientsin, we had four days liberty. The train was being unloaded and then we took the coal cars back to the mine. Well, anyway, eventually we got ordered out of that province. Then we went to Peking. At Peking, my particular company was housed in the British Ligation. There, we did a lot of patrolling. At that time there was what they called UNRRA, which was a program used in Europe, but they also used it in North China.

GTR: Did that stand for something? (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration)

RO: All kinds of commodities, medicine, food, you name it. Our job then was to get it out into the villages, and get it to the village Chieftain. And he in turn would distribute it to the people. I don’t know how much got to the people. But anyway, that was part of our duties, there, too.

Well, in the almost spring-summer of ’47, we were ordered of out Mainland China, so there were no more Marines in mainland China, with the exception of the 4th Marine Regiment in a seaport City of Tsingtao. They remained there until 1949. The Sixth fleet was there to more or less protect them, because they were communists. The Communists under Mao Tse Tung had pretty much taken control of the whole of China. That’s when Chiang Kai-shek fled the mainland and went to Formosa or as we know today as Taipei. Well, what we did then, we boarded ship out of the Seaport City of Chinwangtao. We went to Guam. So, then I was on Guam for about nine months, and eventually returned to the States. The Marine Corps had kind of an Austerity program; they didn’t have money to keep a lot of people on active duty. So, we got an early out. That was in January of ’48. I got discharged. Then I joined the Reserves, or B-Company. So, I was one of the first ones in B-Company.

GTR: So, how, when you go back to High School, how or when did you join?

RO: First of all, I tried to get in when I was 15, in 1945. I left here on a bus, went to Minneapolis. They housed us in the YMCA and we slept on the gym floor. Then I took the streetcar out to Fort Snelling, got my physical, returned to the recruiting station in Minneapolis. But a young Marine lady {laughs} looked at my birth certificate, and it was a little smudged. Back in those days we didn’t have good ink eradicator. So, she said, “I don’t think you are of age, are you?” I had to fess up and say, “No.” So, they sent me back home. So, anyway, that was in the end of 1945. March of 1946, I got a letter from the recruiting officer who headed up the area recruiters. They said “We can take you now.” So, March 22, 1946, I went into the Marine Corps as an enlisted Marine. So, I was 16 and 3 months. I spent my 17th birthday in Peking.

GTR: Wow! That was young. Was that an exception they made, at that time?

RO: Well, I had quit school in 11th grade. The reason for that was that all my buddies had gone into the Marine Corps in late ’45. I had to join them. I had to be with them. There were maybe 6, 8, 10 of us from the Duluth Heights who went into the Marines.

6:28

GTR: Okay. Did they get sent earlier, or how did that work? They were off already?

RO: A couple of them were in China, too. I met with some of them again on Guam. And some went into the Reserve Unit, too. Some didn’t, some did. So, anyway, that kicked off that. And upon discharge and joining the reserves, then I worked at Marshall Wells which was a wholesale warehouse, one of the largest in the country. I worked there for a while. They were going to make something out of me. They thought I would be a good CPA. So, they had me enroll in IASS, which is International Accounting Society out of Chicago. It was a correspondence course. First twenty lessons, I aced it. I had straight A’s! But then one day I woke up and said, “No way am I going to be in an office. White shirt and tie! That ain’t for me!” Well, anyway, the Steel Plant, United States Steel out in Morgan Park had an ad on the paper for bricklayers and pipefitters. So, I went out to put in an application. I didn’t know beans from what a bricklayer was or pipefitter. Anyway, I chose pipefitter. I was interviewed and met the foreman. Normally, all the apprentices, no matter what the trade, Electricians, machinists, you name it- would have to work on the labor gang first, maybe six months to a year! I was one of the only ones… when I met the foreman of the pipefitters, after he interviewed me, I asked him, “When can I start?” He said, “Tomorrow.” {laughs} Anyway, during the course of my apprenticeship…. Well, anyway, I got married in 1949. August 14, 1949. Then of course when the Korean War broke out in June of 1950, we received orders to go on active duty. We actually should have left early in August but we got a 10-day extension, so we didn’t leave until August 21st, 1950. I had a son born July 4th, 1950, so he was only 7 weeks old when I left.

GTR: Wow. So, how did you feel? Are you in that photo of the men marching on Superior Street?

RO: Yes, yes.

GTR: What was the mood? How did you feel that day?

RO: Well, there wasn’t too many of us that were married with children. Most of us, of course, had been prior Marines. Served a hitch or so. Well, we had no assumption that we were going to go over as quick as we did. All of us that had served before… well, when we got to Camp Pendleton, on our record books they put a great big “CR”: combat ready. So, most of us were in that category, although there were a lot of them in B Company that only had that one summer camp, in June. They went to Little Creek, Virginia. I didn’t go because I was going to have the baby. Anyway, a lot of them weren’t really thoroughly trained. What we did, of course, on the ship, after we left San Diego and headed for Kobe Japan where we combat-loaded before we made the landing at Inchon, South Korea… we helped them guys aboard ship, schooling them, teaching them the weapons. In fact, a lot of them hadn’t even zeroed in their weapons. We zeroed them in off the fantail of the ship. Threw cardboard boxes out and said, you know, “Hit the box!” {laughs}

GTR: So, they were learning. You hadn’t been in combat before, had you?

RO: Well, we’d had skirmishes with the Communists (in China). I hate to say it, but in Tsingtao, the Communists blew up our division ammunition dump. We had a number of people killed there. That was First Battalion, Fifth. I was in Second Battalion, in Peking. We pursued them. We didn’t have much success. There was thousands and thousands of people, and these people just intermingled with them, and we didn’t have much success. Especially when I was at the coal mines. We stayed in a Japanese girl’s school. We stood guard with the Chinese Nationalists and then one of us. Almost every night we were on what we called Condition Red. We were out in a sugarcane field. I remember putting the safety on and off all night, because the leaves on that sugarcane… {laughs} there was movement. Every now and then someone would crank one off, get a little over-excited.

On the train tracks, they were always trying to disrupt the coal trains. We had Marines at every bridge. Not a platoon but a squad of attached machine guns, protecting every bridge from there to Tientsin. They were always trying to disrupt the train and whatnot. Our biggest thing was to get there quick, because once we got there, we stayed with the First Tank Battalion facility. They we had four days liberty, whereas where we were out in Timbuktu, we didn’t have nothin’. So what we’d do… we’d give a K-ration to the engineer. Feed him good and tell him “More steam! More steam!” The more steam, the faster we got there. {laughs}. But we were so dirty when we got there. We would be on top of the coal car, riding on top, be on the caboose. When we got there, we were just black!

GTR: What did you do once you got there? Found some fun once you got there?

RO: It was good duty. Of course, when I was in Peking, I had the opportunity of Jade Fountain. I skated on Winter Palace, summer palace, Marco Polo bridge. The Ch’ien Gate. AT that time Chiang Kai-shek’s picture was up there. I vividly remember Hattimen Street. Being at a young age, I really seen a lot.

GTR: How did that experience in China affect what happened in Korea?

RO: Well, it probably saved me in Korea. The Chinese are noted for eating garlic. Believe, me, in South Korea and North Korea, I smelled them before they ever got to me. The garlic gave them away.

GTR: You knew that from your time there?

RO: Yeah.

GTR: Interesting.

RO: I don’t know what would have happened if I was captured and they knew I was a China Marine. I don’t know…

GTR: I didn’t realize. Had any of your other Company B members been in China?

RO: Yes, my best buddy, my foxhole buddy Ken Hardy. He was at Tsingtao at the seaport city, whereas I was inland, in the mainland of China.

GTR: Okay, so the smell… or knowing tactics, or knowing the Chinese?

RO: Well, when I was in China, in Peking especially, the Capital Division which was supposed to be the elite… honest to God! Half of them didn’t have weapons. There were kids 11, 12 years old. They were going to be ammo bearers or whatever. If that was their crack outfit, I don’t know. Of course, I learned a lot. I learned that during WWII, it was the Communists really that fought the Japanese. It wasn’t the Nationalists. Chiang Kai-shek was getting money from us, aid. And what he was doing- he had the foresight of stashing that stuff. Because he knew when that thing terminated, he was going to have to fight the Communists. So, that was something that really struck me. The Nationalists really weren’t engaged with the Japanese at all. It was the Communists that were fighting the Japanese.

GTR: Hmm. I don’t know enough of that history. Good learning.

RO: I often think: There was our mistake. WE should have never pulled out of mainland China. We should have stayed there. Then, I think things would have been different. Then again, or course, in Korea, when they came across the Yalu River and surrounded us. I don’t know why we were so scared of China at the time. They overwhelmed us because we were unprepared and whatnot. But we really should have taken them on, then. Really forceful. But State Department and powers that be…. But anyway, what we did do for South Korea; we stopped Communism in its tracks. If there was any achievement, that was the greatest thing I think we did.

GTR: That’s true, it worked.

RO: And I have to say…. Of all the countries we’ve helped in the world in my lifetime, South Korea is the most appreciative. There is n other country that appreciates us like the South Koreans. Some of our guys that have went back to South Korea and revisited… they just throw out the rug for them. They’re just fantastic. Some of the younger ones, that of course didn’t live during the Korean War, they’re a little bit different. But the elderly people that experienced the wars, they just admire us.

GTR: Hmm, returns. You yourself haven’t been back?

RO: No, I… many times I’ve thought about it. My health is declining, and I’ve got a wife now that’s got short term memory loss, so I’ve got another thing on my plate.

GTR: That’s a lot. This was events a long time ago, definitely. You’ve had a lot going on since then, and now, today. But if you can go back a little bit, to remember when you were first were heading out and what you were doing first when you got to Korea? Maybe some of first battles or other experiences that you had?

RO: Well, things went so rapidly. By the time we left by train here and went right into Camp Pendleton, from that point on, it’s surprising how the Marine Corps was so well organized. We had all-night working parties. We hardly ever slept. They assigned us a hut and a barrack or a bed, but never did sleep in it.

GTR: In Korea, once you got there?

RO: No, this was in Camp Pendleton. My particular platoon was selected to go down to the ship, at San Diego. The USS Okanogan. There was a longshoreman’s strike, so therefore we ended up as a working party, loading the ship. 55-gallon drums of diesel oil and whatnot. Drop it down into the hold and then we’d man-handle it to the bulkhead. Then our 105 artillery came down and we lashed those down. We had cables going every which way like spaghetti. We must have done a good job because we made it from San Diego to Kobe Japan without things getting loose {laughs}.

19:30

GTR: That’s good!

RO: Just before we left, they issued us our MI rifle, 2 grenades and forty rounds of ammo. We went out on the range, zeroed in the rifle with those forty rounds, threw two grenades, got on a bus and went to San Diego and that working party. Well, then, crossing the Pacific, we stopped in Kobe Japan to combat load for the Inchon landing, in South Korea. While we were there, we had a guy… his name was Timmy Killeen. He was a bagpiper. He had his bagpipes with him. So, our company commander was a little gung-ho. We got off the ship and we marched through the streets of Kobe with that bagpiper playing. The Japanese went crazy!

Well, anyway, when we got to Inchon, it happened again. Our platoon was…a lot of the companies and whatnot stayed on board ship to unload. We didn’t. We went directly into Inchon. I remember the first night. I was on a hill. I had an outpost. Charlie Company… I was in Able Company. Charlie Company had the patrols. Well, they were comin’ up…. They were supposed to approach me from a certain direction. Well, they were coming up in every direction. So, the old safety’s were going on and off all night {laughs}.

Well, anyway, we proceeded and we crossed the Han River. At that time, there was only one bridge crossing the Han River on the way to Seoul. So, we went across in amphibious ducks, which was a vehicle, an amphibious vehicle. We more or less relieved the 5th Marines who more or less took the brunt of the fighting in Seoul. We more or less cleared up the remnants. Then we pursued the North Koreans. Boy, we were hot on them. Up to the place called Ujongbu. We crossed the 38th (parallel) and then we were taken back. So, we terminated the South Korean operation at Ujongbu.

Then we returned to Inchon and we boarded Japanese LST. Q043 was the designation of that Japanese LST. It was manned by an all-Japanese crew. They communicated by whistles, which was quite interesting. Well, anyway, after our entire division was all set to make the task force go to North Korea and hit Wonsan, that particular morning, that Japanese crew on that LST, they screwed up. They didn’t change the ballast. In Inchon, there was a 3-foot tide. They screwed up with ballast in the LST so as it slid back, the cables got caught in the prop. So, in the meantime all the rest of the ships left and we had to get a Navy diver to go down and untangle, so that put us a day behind. So, they next morning then, we took off. It was foggy and dreary. It was maybe 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. As we were coming out of the Inchon harbor, here was a pile drive floating ship. Lo and behold we hit that, and we sunk it. Then we went out of the Inchon Harbor into the South China Sea, and started taking water in our well deck. Well, they had screwed up our bow doors, so we had to pull back into the harbor, get a Navy repair ship, and repair the bow doors. Well, now we’re two days behind. In the mean-time, the main task force has left. The Missouri, the cruiser St. Paul, the works, you know. When we finally got underway…we had sealed orders. Of course, the main task force didn’t make the assault at Wonsan harbor according to schedule, because Wonsan was so heavily mined. There again, we only had a couple of minesweepers. So, anyway, they were delayed. What they did was go so many nautical miles North, do a 180 degree turn and come south, north, south, north. Meantime, as we’re going north, luckily they’re going south and we met up with them. Otherwise, we would have gone in all one. We would have never made it.

GTR: Which harbor was that again?

RO: Wonsan. When we got into Wonsan, our regiment and company was in the point, so luckily… we were starving, because we had ate our assault ration. We were living off the Japanese crew’s rice. We were getting rice 2,3 times a day. I don’t eat much rice anymore {laughs}. Anyway, we got into Wonsan. The goofy North Koreans through these villages would have their wares out on the street! Well, we were like cannibals. We’d take the apples or whatever. Not being very good guys, but we were hungry! {laughs}

Well, then we set up on a hill, I remember. I sent one of my fireteam leaders, (his name was Willie Kent) him and his fireteam into the village to see what we could round up for chow. They found some chickens and they got some potatoes. So we got a fire going. We were almost like animals. We didn’t even pull the feathers off. We burnt the feathers off the chicken. Then, we cooked up them potatoes. Well, we had the surprise of our life because the potatoes had been frozen, and we didn’t know that. Frozen potatoes, you don’t know that until you take and open it and it was black inside.

GTR: Oh, no!

RO: So, anyway, we did have the chicken. But then our company commander trooped the line, and he said, “Okay, you guys, don’t come crying to me if you get Beriberi!” Oh, Beriberi! {laughs}. Well, form that point, we went from Wonsan to Hamhung. In Hamhung was a great big gigantic warehouse. Oh, it was huge. So, our company was in there, and our Battalion, and second battalion. Anyway, we were just milling around, really having nothing to do. We were building fires, it was getting chilly. It was getting smoky in there and everything else. There was a lot of unrest.

Finally my platoon leader came over and said, “Saddle up your platoon, Bob. I got a mission for you.” Okay. So, I can’t remember, it must have been the Sixth Fly that took us. Anyway, we went clear across the town of Hamhung. Here was another great big two story building. My job was to get the North Koreans out of there and keep them out of there and secure that building. Oh, I had one hell of a time. There was no windows in it, and two floors. After I cleared the first floor, they’d be up on the second floor. By the time I cleared the second, they would be down on the first. We had one hell of a time keepin’ them out of there. Finally we did get the building secured. Then, during the night, we heard vehicles, and we seen the black-out lights. Here it was our first Medical Battalion, which is our people that were going to use that building to set up our division hospital. They took over, then. I can’t remember how I got back to the Company, but we did, somehow.

Well, then we jumped off November 1st. November 2nd… holy, oh man. We were going along this mountain road, ridges on both sides. Here’s a ROK division, which is Republic of Korea, an Army division. Holy Man, they were fleeing like crazy. So, they had hit the Chinese. The Chinese just brutally disrupted them… just had ‘em on the run. Well, for some unknown reason, the rumor was, “Oh, they’re not going to bother with us. They’ll let us go up the Yalu River. We’re going to be on garrison duty.” Well, then we all started griping. Garrison duty? That means wearing a field scarf which is a tie and all that. Oh, we started griping about that. We didn’t want no part of that!

Well, little did we know, November 2nd our company would run into a whole regiment. While we were down below, there was kind of an orchard, and a little rise. We were starting to get sporadic fire from the ridge. It was hard to pinpoint because they had smokeless powder. We couldn’t figure where their positions were. A friend of mine in machine guns section attached to my squad… he was right next to me and had a 30 caliber can of ammo on the little rise, there. He went up to reach for it, and boom! Right through the hand. Anyway, I got him evacuated.

The platoon leader said, “Saddle up! We’re going to take that hill.” So, we did. We took the hill. For four days, we fought the Chinese on that hill. We couldn’t hold it. We went up with 260 guys. Four days later, we came down with 112. Finally, they relieved our company and battalion. Somebody, a regimental surgeon said, “You can’t commit them anymore. Those guys have had it.” So, we were in reserve, then, for a few days. It was interesting on that hill. We could hear the clang-clang-clang of a tank. Little did we know, it wasn’t one of our tanks. It was a Russian T-34. It came right into our Battalion CP, and really raised hell with our 81 mortars, our battalion people and whatnot. I was happy I was up on the hill. I’m a grunt up there.

Then, after that fourth day. We called our artillery on top of us, to keep them off us. On that fourth day when we finally got relieved, I was on the ridge. We seen four more tanks! But geez, they were stupid. They were dug in in revetments. If they would have revved them up, they could have wiped out our battalion. I’m quoted in “Retreat, Hell” because I’m the one that hollered out, “Tanks!” And I guess you know, that’s just like stopping your heart {laughs}.

GTR: I suppose. And what hill was this?

RO: 532 in Sudong. Well, then we set up in defensive positions. That I wasn’t too comfortable with, because up at the top of that plateau was a place called Koto-ri. The North Koreans had 76’s. That part was alright. But we were getting the incoming. Then, our platoon leader… he called all our squad leaders together and he told us that they were using proximity fuses, which is timed fuses, which is air bursts, instead of point detonating. Point detonating, unless you get a direct hit, you’re okay. You might get some shrapnel. But when you’ve got PT, timed fuses, then you’ve got air bursts. You ain’t got a Chinamen’s chance. So, anyway, that disrupted us. Then, our platoon for some unknown reason, they told us, “Saddle up!” There’s a report of about 75 Chinese comin’ into our positions. “Set up an ambush!” So, we pretty much got set up. Lo and behold, down this river bed came a jeep with four guys. They were division reconnaissance people. They were hell bent for this mountain road, this ravine road. They gave us away. The next thing I know, the Chinese had us pinned.

Well, anyway, there was a Corsair on station. My platoon leader, he said, “Okay, Ollie, get the front-line air panel out so he knows where our positions are.” Well, I had a fireteam leader by the name of Hampton Thomas from Roanoke Virginia. I tried to get over to him to get the front-line air panel out of his pack. He was cracking on me. I never got it out of his pack in time. The next thing I knew, I looked up, and here is that Corsair dropping a 500 pounder. Well, we got a number killed in my platoon. I got a concussion. I was knocked unconscious. The platoon withdrew. It was almost night-time. They withdrew back to their original positions. Then they were getting ready to go out and find me. Luckily, I came struggling into my own friendly lines. Then they put an evacuation tag onto me, and they were going to evacuate me to Japan. I said, “Oh, no, I’m not leaving my buddies.” So, I ripped the tag off. The corpsman gave me something, I don’t know what the hell it was, to calm me down a little. So, anyway. From there, we finally rode in trucks from Funchilin pass to Koto-ri.

35:10

In the meantime, the second Battalion had taken over the point for a few days. So when we got to Koto-ri, it’s about 10 below zero. We were kind of in low ground. I wasn’t comfortable at all. I like high ground. The gooks were all around us. Our supply officer, his name was Lieutenant Sparrow. We called him The Bird. He come up with a jeep and trailer. In the trailer were shoepacs and socks and innersoles. We were all issued our shoepacs, two pairs of innersoles and two pairs of socks, wool socks. Well, then, we thought we could give him our boondockers, because we didn’t need them no more. No, we had to keep them. Boy, we weren’t happy with that. Well, anyway, it was so cold, it was about 10 below, then, I could hardly unlace my boondockers to put on my shoe pacs. We were all uncomfortable, because we were on low ground. The gooks were looking down on us. Finally, our company… there was a train track and a river, partially frozen. There were parts open. There was a bunch of ties along that railroad track. My company commander said, “Hell, they know we’re here anyway. Go ahead and build some fires. So, we did. We got them ties burning, and got warm enough to get our shoepacs laced up. Then we took our boondockers and put ‘em around our necks the next morning. Well, I’ll tell you, it wasn’t 100 yards and there were no more boondockers around my neck! {laughs}

GTR: I suppose you didn’t need any extra weight at that point!

RO: No. Well, from there we had a few more engagements. Then we got to Hagaru. There again we had some more engagements. From there we ended up at the Chosin, the tip of the reservoir. That was about the 27th or 28th of November. Our last big reconnaissance patrol. Our company went on. I’ll never forget it, because we had lost communication with our ’81 mortars. We had lost communication with our 105 artillery. Lost communication with the Battalion. We were out in Tinbuktu with no communication with nobody. One of the reasons was the batteries of the 300 sets, in that cold weather, it wasn’t there. And our 536’s, our portable radios with the platoons, they were useless anyway.

But our Exec office, Lieutenant Holvader, was our company commander. Our original company commander Captain Banks, I don’t know to this day what happened to him. Somewhere between Hagaru and Yudam-ni, he left us. I don’t know if he had frozen feet or what. Our platoon Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Van Ziele, he left us too. I don’t know what the circumstance on him, was either, so I more or less took over as Platoon Sergeant of our platoon. On this patrol, our purpose was to seek out what strength they had, and then the Fifth Marine Regiment was going to take over our Seventh Regiment. We’d been online since November 2nd. Here it’s November 27th. They were going to the next day take over from us and take the point. Well, about 3:00, 3:30, 4:00 in the afternoon, it was just getting dusk. The first Platoon was on our left, we were on the right. We seen this white flag being (waved). All of a sudden, Lieutenant Mitchell and a fireteam and his interpreter approached that white flag. They got within about 50 yards or so of that white flag, stayed down, and all hell broke loose. Well, he engaged them hand to hand. Of course, all of them were killed. He got the Medal of Honor, although we’ve never got him out.

We had a guy, his name was Broils, in our company. He really had a severe wound. The burp gun had got him this way and this way, almost cut him in half. So, we took turns all that night carrying him out. Boy, that was difficult because we were already beat and exhausted. To carry him, who was a big man. On a ridge, a guy is on the lower side trying to hold the stretcher level. He can only go about 10 yards and he’s got to have a relief. Every guy in our company took turns. We did get him out. He died of wounds the next day. But our Battalion commander, Lt. Colonel Davis, he sent Baker Company the next day to try and retrieve Lt. Mitchell. He didn’t get over the second hill. There were so goddamn many Chinese. So, we never did get him out. He’s still there.

41:00

GTR: He was the Medal of Honor winner?

RO: Yes. Then our platoon leader, Lt. Bradley, he called al his squad leaders together and pretty much put the scenario out that we were trapped and there was no relief coming or anything. Our commanding General OP Smith, he was going to consolidate our regiments and fight our way back 70 miles to the sea. So, in the meantime, between Hagaru and Yudam-ni, there was a pass called Toktong pass. Fox Company was position to hold that pass. That company, Fox Company, some of our Duluth men were in that. Wayne Picket, who was taken prisoner, one of my best buddies who served with me in China, Johnny Vaydich; he was killed there. Chuck Pearson was hit real bad, there.

Anyway. The Division Commander had our Lieutenant Colonel Davis, and then he had Lieutenant Murray from the Fifth Marines. He got them guys together and he said, “We’ve got to get Toktong pass. We’ve got to secure it, otherwise the Fifth and the Seventh and the Eleventh, which is artillery, will never get out of Yudam-ni. So, the Fifth Marines went by road. They had so many roadblocks and whatnot, they were unsuccessful for two days. Finally, Davis proposed his plan. Well, we were the ones that were on the point on the way up. We never took the roads. We took the ridges. So, anyway, he convinced General O.P. Smith that’s the way we’re gonna get to Fox Company. So, we did.

December 1st, we set off early that morning. It took us all day and into the night to reach Fox Company. I’ll never forget it, because they had staved off a regiment, and one more attack and they would have been done. Some of them only had a handful of ammo left. So, we took over their positions then. What that permitted was the rest of the Seventh and the rest of the Fifth and the Eleventh Marines, who were in a convoy on the mountain road with all the wounded, were able to move. But that’s where they suffered immensely with cold weather. You know it was 20, 30, 35 below, then. At least us grunts in the assault, in the attack, we were moving, you know.

All those times we were in show up to here (shows waist), slipping and sliding. Walking zombies. We were so exhausted. We were living just on dry units. B1 and B2 and B3s. B1 has crackers and jam. The B2 has two chocolate bars. The B3 has cookies. That’s what we lived on, because the heavies were frozen. There’s no way that you could eat chicken and vegetables, ham and lima beans or any of that unless you had a helmet with water and a fire, which is out of the question. So, that’s what we lived on. The other thing that saved us is the Air Force came over and dropped some supplies. In those supplies were Tootsie Rolls. The Tootsie Rolls saved us, really. That gave us the energy that we needed, really.

GTR: Jim Morrissey was telling me that was possibly some sort of miscommunication? But it worked out?

RO: Yeah, yep.

GTR: Do you still eat them?

RO: Oh, boy. At every reunion, whether it’s our Battalion or our Chosen few Reunion, the company, they are outstanding. They provide us with all the Tootsie Rolls we want. In fact now, the last reunion that I was to in Minneapolis two years ago, they got a sugarless one, which I’ve never seen on the market, but we had them at our reunion. Boy!

GTR: That’s good! What were you drinking? Could people melt snow?

RO: No. Your canteens were froze. Your water and whatnot. Just the snow and ice, yeah. But what was so difficult was that you couldn’t dig in, because the ground was froze. Furthermore, most of our pick-matics and trenching tools- they broke on the way up. What rest we got… we never did get sleep, because we were pretty much engaged all the time, morning, noon and night, but when you did get a chance and have a lull… In my own instance, that was one of the things that saved us, was our mountain sleeping bag and our parka. But I never zipped up my sleeping bag. Morrisey was in Charlie Company. I was in Able. We never lost a man in a sleeping bag, but Charlie did. I seen those guys that never got out of their sleeping bags, bayoneted. So, I used to get in with my shoepacs and everything, but never zip it up. You’d lay on the ground, maybe for 10, 15 minutes at the most. Your body heat would pull the moisture from the frozen ground. So, you actually hurt. Then you’d turn on your side, and the same thing would happen. You’d turn on the other side, the same thing would happen. So, you never really slept, but you did get some rest.

Well, then, after we secured Fox, then we got into Hagaru. Then from there, they… Luckily, our division commander had our Marine engineers build an airfield there. So, a lot of the guys were flown out. The wounded and whatnot, out of that airfield. From Hagaru, we went to Koto-ri and the same thing; they built an airfield there, too, and a lot of our guys were flown out there. So, I’m one of the unique ones. I’m one of two in my platoon, of the originals, that survived. I never was hit, other than that concussion, a number of times. One of 21 of my company. I oftentimes wonder, why am I here? I don’t know.

48:00

GTR: You don’t know, even there, why there?

RO: Yeah, then at Koto-ri, we had to make sure the Funchilin Pass was secure. Well, what the Chinese did, they blew that bridge. So, the Air Force flew over spans. The engineers then put them spans up. Otherwise, we were screwed. There was no other way… it was so narrow. Otherwise, the whole division never would have progressed beyond that. That was December 8th, the coldest day of my entire life. It was a blizzard; it was about 40 below zero. We didn’t know what windchill was, then. It was 70 below or whatever. The wind and snow… anyway, our company was on them ridges, to keep the Chinese off the engineers as they were putting in that span. Finally we got out, or I did, and my company, December 10th, which happened to be my birthday. 21 years old. Yep.

Well, then the engineers, in their dump trucks, had all loaded with frozen, dead Marines. They dumped them. Then we were in the port of Hungnam. We had to go over and identify those that we could. Then from there, we boarded the USS General Sullivan Troop Transport. I’ll never forget that, because as we boarded, the Navy guys were just crying their eyes out. They just couldn’t believe what they were seeing. I hadn’t had my clothes off for 46 days, hadn’t shaved, hadn’t washed. We were just walking zombies, you might say. We got on board that ship, me and my buddy Ken Hardy. I wanted a shower so bad! So, we got up to where the shower room was, and there was a big mound of clothes. Oh, man; almost covering the entrance way to the shower room. So, we didn’t have any other clothes than what were on. Anyway, we climbed over that mound of clothes and we took a shower and we were a little bit down, because we knew we had to put those same old stinkin’ clothes back on. Well, out of nowhere came this Marine, splendidly dressed in dungarees. He had a locker box. What the hell unit he was in I’ll never know to this day. He pulled out some new dungarees and gave them to me and Ken. Holy Man, I couldn’t believe it. From there, we went to Pusan because our ship was a two-stacker and the draft on that ship was too much for the port city of Mason.

51:00

So, again, we transferred from the big ship to the Jap LST. So, we went from Pusan to Mason in the Japanese LST. Well, then the port was, oh, the call it the Bean Patch in Mason. That was the place the division was going to rebuilt. Well, as we got into this terrain, it was flat. I was looking for tents. There ain’t no tents! Well, we got there and the tents are all on the ground. We ended up putting up the tents. We didn’t have enough for everybody, so… they were perimeter tents, and normally they house 12, maybe 15 at the most. We had about 20. We were getting replacements in. So, what I would do is… everybody would turn on their side. Then I’d say, “Now!” And if you were fast enough, you got to lay on your back. If not, you stayed on your side! {laughs} Well, then, we had those potbelly stoves run by fuel oil. We were only allowed five gallons, so that wouldn’t suffice. So, we were going into the 1st Marine regiment’s area and the 5th Marine regiment area, stealing their fuel {laughs}.

GTR: What was your rank or title at that point?

RO: Sergeant. Buck Sergeant. When I left there I was a Corporal.

GTR: When you left Duluth, you said?

RO: Yes. Well, then we’d rebuilt the division, and next thing I know we’re on another LST. We left Mason and went up to Pohang. Anyway, went up to another port city… it will come to me maybe, later, in South Korea. Then we moved inland to Wanju. Then we were in what they called the Spring Offensive. Took a place called Hon-song, Chun-chon, in the central part of South Korea. We seesawed back and forth there. I was able to… they had a point system. If you got the purple heart, if you got any medals, you got points for that. So, my buddy Ken Hardy, he got rotated in April. He wasn’t going to leave because I wasn’t leaving. I had one hell of a struggle with him. “You’re leaving! You’re coming back!” Finally he did. Anyway, then the next month, in May, I got rotated. What they did at the time, in the Infantry companies and platoons and Infantry squads, there usually would be like three privates or PVC, maybe one corporal and one sergeant, maybe one staff NCO. And then the point system. Ken had the Bronze Star, and I had the Navy and Marine Commendation, the medal with combat V for Valor. There was a difference for one point. That was why I didn’t get to go in April {laughs}.

GTR: But you did go in May… May of…

RO: ’51. Yes. Then I had a delay en route, a furlough, and then I ended up in Quantico, Virginia, a Marine base there. My job there was to train in the PLC or the Platoon Leaders class, teach them the weapons and whatnot. It was a good base, but the duty was terrible. I’d have to get the weapons out on the parade ground right after chow in the morning, and then the officers, would work with them until 11:30, they’d go for chow. If I could have had somebody protect the weapons on the parade ground, fine. But no, I had to bring them back into the Armory, and then check them out again and get them back out there by 13:00 or 1:00. That was just gettin’ me down.

GTR: And you were just back! How long did you have to stay there before you got back to Duluth?

RO: Then, finally in August, we had the opportunity to get out. So, I got discharged then. Then I went right back into the Reserve Unit. We formed what we called, at that time, the 16th Infantry Company. Then, we became the 16th Special Infantry Company, and then the last Company we had was designated 65th Rifle Company. And that was in 1961 or 2. By that time I had obtained the rank of First Sergeant. Then, the Marine Corps had an Austerity program, and they cut out all kinds of reserve units throughout the country. Ours happened to be one of them. By that time, I had 16 ½ years total, active and reserve Marine time. So, I could have went to Minneapolis. In fact they were going to send a plane up for me. They wanted to put me in the 26th Rifle Company. Well, the Gunny and the First Sergeant were like this (together) and they wanted to put me there (between them), and I said, “Uh-uh!”

So, I had a chance then to go into the Marine Air Wing, 126th Rifle Co USMC. I said no… I was almost tempted to throw away all those years. Then they had what they called a Try One program up at the 148th Fighter Group So, I thought, “Oh, man! How can I be Air Force after being a Marine?” Well, Try one out, I’ll give it a year. So, I joined up there. They put me in group training. So, they give you the job of being a DI to train all the Air Force personnel coming in. So, I loved it! I made all of them Marines {laughs}. I just loved it! Well, anyway, they were having problems with security. Of course at that time we were flying the F-89. We had the weapons systems, the nukes and all that, so a breach of security and they would ground those planes, and that would make those pilots not too happy. So, anyway, they gave me a double task of not only training the recruits, but getting the security straightened out, so I took over as the Security Police Superintendent. That was quite interesting, because their morale was down, no one was getting promoted. They weren’t passing their 3-level, 5-level, 7-level, 9-level SKIP test, which is specialty knowledge tests. So, anyway, I set up a program of turning that around. I had 21 people ready to go up for testing. The Chief Master Sergeant, his name was Kirk Jones of CBPO, which is Consolidated Base Personnel Office, he fought me. He said, “Ollie, you can’t put up 21! Pick 6 or 7 out of the 21.” I said, “Nope. I won’t do that. I’ll break their morale. I’ve got these guys on a violin string!” so, finally he caved in and I put all 21 in, and all 21 passed {laughs}.

GTR: What years was that?

RO: That was from ’62, and I retired from there in 1979. I put 14 years in there.

GTR: Was that just reserve? You were working elsewhere also?

RO: Yes, I was working at the Steel Plant. So, anyway, I retired with a total of 30 years and 3 months Active and Reserve Service from up there. It was a good unit. Although, my first love was the Marines, always will be. I had nothing but respect for the people up there. It was kind of unique, because the draft was on, and people were coming into the Guard 25 and 26 years old, just to escape the draft. So, I didn’t have real young kids. I had college kids, but it worked out good. So, my time there was great.

GTR: So, what role did you role in Korea play in that work, or your later work professionally?

RO: Well, I guess the one thing is, you’ve got to have determination. Yep. And, of course, I became pretty much involved civic-wise. I started as the assistant Grievance man, became Grievance man, secretary of the grievance committee, and then I eventually became vice-president of the Union, then president of the Union. And of course, the plant was in jeopardy. I tried to save it from going down, in ’79. In turn, then, I served on the Duluth City Council, took Bob Boden’s place. Then I served on the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District. I was one of the original board members, appointed by Governor Anderson, and served as Chairman and eventually as Executive Director! So, I’ve had quite a lifetime full, right up to here! {laughs}

GTR: Yes, lots of things going on! Do you think even the early Marine experience… did that help discipline? Someone told me recently that Marines age well, or Marines are very successful in their lives, after service…?

RO: I would have to say, Marine training probably is the most essential thing that stays with you the rest of your life, in all of your life.

GTR: What part of the training?

RO: Well, discipline, for one thing. And knowledge. You can’t do a job half-way, you’ve got to do it the right way. And not only that, treat people like you’d like to be treated. After the (Steel) Plant closed, I had 31 years there. I semi-retired. I ended up at 3M, down at Chemolite Plant in Cottage Grove, MN, as a steam fitter. Low and behold, next thing I know, they’ve promoted me to supervisor of all the crafts in their plant! Well, then, it got to be a little much. I’m drawing a full retirement from US Steel. The government’s getting it all. I thought, “What the hell am I doing? I’ve got three places. I’ve got a place in Hastings. I got a lake place at Island Lake, and I’ve got a house in the West End. I’ve got three places. I thought, let’s get my head out of the sand!”

GTR: Yes, too much activity? So, if you go back a little bit before that, like when you first came back from Korea. You said you’d left a 7-week old. So, how was the return?

RO: Oh, I’ve got to tell you about that. When I left, we didn’t have much money. I had a paycheck coming, which I had to sign a letter so my wife could get it. Well then, her mother and two of her sisters… I was renting a house in Gary, at 101st. If it wasn’t for her mother and her two sisters moving in with her, I don’t know how my wife would have made it. The other thing that happened at that time… Congress hadn’t appropriated money for reservist’s dependents. The active duty married people got their (money), but… That didn’t happen until January of 1951.

1:04

So, at the end of the South Korean Operation, after Ujonbu and we returned to Inchon, all of us married men got paid 80 bucks. And I sent that home. I didn’t get paid again until I got out of the Chosin Reservoir in December. Then I got 270 bucks. I sent that home. In the meantime, the wife went to the Red Cross, and she got some help. But they also had known that we got paid and so my wife, being naïve, she paid it all back. She really had a struggle there.

Of course, when I got discharged and back, well that wasn’t going to work out, with my mother-in-law and two sisters, so we moved out of the house and we got an apartment in New Duluth, you know. She had it tough, boy. She had it really tough.

GTR: That’s too bad. I didn’t realize it was different for the reservists vs. the active duty for dependents. Were you able to get any mail or any word from her the whole time you were there?

RO: Well, we’d get mail. Of course, Ken Harding, my best buddy, he had a girlfriend. I used to let him read my letters. My fireteam leader Willie Kent, another close buddy, I used to leave him to read my letters, too. The one difficult thing I did have was finding writing paper to write home. The only way I really managed to do that was at times, when I had the opportunity to get off the hill or the ridge and get down to where our 1st Battalion was located, where the 81st Mortar section was, there was Gordy Nelson from Duluth, there was John Brazerol from Duluth, both B Company men who were in that unit. Being that they were kind of rear echelon company, and H&S Company, Headquarters and Service, they get what they want. They don’t give a damn about us grunts up on the hill. Anyway, they used to give me paper and whatnot. At that time, we could write free. We didn’t have to have no stamps or anything. In fact, I have kept all of the letters that I wrote. I’ve got them. Letters I wrote my wife.

GTR: Wow!

RO: Well, in the winter there, when it was below zero and all that, I didn’t have mittens. We had wool gloves with the leather insert on the outside. You could not keep warm with them. That’s why so many of us got frozen hands. There were some units that had a mitten with a trigger finger. I don’t know where the hell they got them, but my company didn’t. I had written home for choppers and wool socks. My wife somehow managed to get them and sent them. But they never ever got to me. The gooks probably got them. They did intercept a lot of our mail during the Chosin campaign. And then the wife would occasionally send me a picture of Steven, my youngest. You know.

GTR: Hmmm. And that wasn’t as common, was it? There weren’t that many of you who were married with kids, at that point?

RO: No, no. There was a few in the platoon, and we used to exchange pictures and whatnot, show each other. It’s kind of funny at times. I remember, there was times I couldn’t remember how she looked. You know. Of course, I had a responsibility of looking after the guys of my squad, too. I think that came from my prior service in the Marines. That’s one thing about a Marine; he looks out for another Marine at all times. That’s why we’re so proud that we came out with everyone that we could. I won’t BS you… there were some that we didn’t get out…. {pause}.

GTR: Hmmm. Well, such crazy conditions that you had to deal with… So, how was returning, then, to meet your son that you hadn’t seen since…?

RO: Well, I had that apartment in New Duluth. He took to me real good. Things overall turned out real good. Yeah.

GTR: What about the overall reception from the community? Did people know where you’d been or what you were doing? How did that go?

RO: At the Steel Plant, the guy that was in charge of apprentices… I was still an apprentice. I hadn’t become a journeyman yet. They would put an article in the publication every now and then, keep track of me. There was another one called Bob Effinger, he’s passed away now, a B Company guy. He was a welder up there in the Duluth Words USS Steel Plant. Other than that, there was very few of us in the Plant who were recalled in the Korean. Other than prior service Marines who knew me in the Plant, some Army, some Air Force, but other than just the former military, they cared less. The Korean War, as far as they knew… well, it’s the Forgotten War, period.

GTR: So, what would you hope would be different for veterans returning today, from various conflicts? Anything about the reception or how they’re being supported when they come back?

RO: Well, the wounded warrior program is outstanding. I think the community really has to support that. The troubling part of the last two wars, or the current wars… The only ones that really know that there’s a war going on is the ones that have got somebody in it. What have we sacrificed? Nothing! Nothing. But the type of wounds these people are incurring, with loss of limbs, with the IEDs and whatnot, oh, that’s devastating. I don’t care what our priorities are around the world, our first priority is to take care of those people. Boy, I’m telling you. They deserve everything that we can do to better their life for the rest of their lives.

GTR: Definitely. There wasn’t as much awareness or sacrifice for the Korean War, here, even at that time, because people had forgotten about it. They had sacrificed so much in the Second World War.

RO: Yes, yes.

GTR: But they were they just done at that point? They just didn’t have to sacrifice as much?

RO: Well, during WWII, you know, you couldn’t buy things. There was rationing, there were gasoline rationing and all kinds of things. Although there was a concerted drive, even in the schools, to buy Victory Stamps or War Bonds, and whatnot. We don’t have any of that, now!

GTR: Right, we don’t.

RO: We’re fighting wars and we’re not paying for them. Of course, that started with the Vietnam War. Lyndon Johnson, he screwed up on that one. He never paid for it and ever since then, I guess we think that we can take care of the world without paying for it, and look at the mess we’re in now. Man! Personally, I don’t condone either one of these wars. We can never ever solve religious wars. These people have been engaged in that since day one, and that’s never going to change. And I’m not a firm believer that they even want democracy. To me, with Afghanistan, get out tomorrow. It can’t come soon enough. I had a nephew in the Army. 14 months in Iraq. 400 patrols. He’s one lucky boy. He came back. He’s with the reserve unit on Park Point. Me and him were like this (together). I encouraged him. I said, “You know, Jared, you’re going to get recalled again if you’re going to stay in that unit. Why don’t you consider going up to the 148th?” He did. And I’m really happy.

I’ve got another nephew in the Marines. Three tours in Iraq. Three tours in Afghanistan. He’s still in. Well, when he was young in ROTC, his commitment was, “I want to be like Uncle Bob!”{ laughs} But he’s still in. Now, luckily, he’s in San Diego. He’s going to become a Drill Instructor. Just got promoted to Staff. The one thing, being in all the combat I’ve been in, you cannot deploy these people four and five times with the kind of stress! Can you image waking up every morning, saddling up and going out on the vehicle and in the back of your mind, “Am I going to return or aren’t I? Am I going to hit an IED?” That’s STRESS! My terminology of combat is: I would prefer being on the offense. I HATED defense. I hated to sit on a hill and take incoming. That ain’t for me. Uh-uh. I want to move. I want to be in the offense. Which was luckily what happened in our era, over there. In late ’51 and ’52, it was status quo. Pork Chop Hill, Bunker Hill and all that baloney. So, you are dormant, in a defensive position. I’ll take that hill! And take your causalities along with it. The day after that, they take it. Two days later, “Let’s retake it!” Baloney!

GTR: Mmm-hmmm. I can’t imagine. With yours… you were still in the Reserve when you returned. Were you pretty sure you weren’t going to be deployed again?

RO: Well, the Vietnam War was on. I hate to say it, but I was eager to get recalled and go to Vietnam. It’s in your blood! I would have went without any hesitation. Although I did have a mandate with my two boys, Steve and Scott. I said, “Listen. I’ve more or less, in our family, contributed. You guys don’t have to.” Although the oldest did join the 148th. The youngest one didn’t. I encouraged them, “No, you don’t have to go!”

GTR: How old were you when the Vietnam events were happening?

RO: That was in ’65, ’66, ’67, ’68.

GTR: So, you weren’t recalled. You were old enough that…?

RO: Well, see, what happened in the Korean War when they called all of the Reserve Units as a Unit. In Vietnam, what they were doing then was calling individuals. They had learned from the Korean, to take a whole Unit, well… I have reservations about that theory of thought. Now, of course, it’s whole units again.

GTR: They thought it had less impact to the community?

RO: It’s got pros and cons to it, you know. When we left, in all of our Infantry Companies, and some in Artillery. Like in my own squad, I had two guys from Duluth. Willie Kent and Ken Hardy. In the Company there was a number of them. Able Company. Baker Company. Charlie Company. Weapons Company. Man, all kinds of Duluth guys. And then Janesville, and Davenport , Iowa. You know, different locales throughout the country where Reserve Units were. Of course, the Marine Corps, at the beginning of the Korean War, didn’t even have a full Division. We had a Brigade. 1st Marine Brigade, which was formed on Guam when I was there. So, in order to get a Division put together, they had to put us Reserve Units on active duty, and that made up the 7the Marine Regiment. The 1st and 2nd Battalion. The 3rd Battalion was made up of the Marines who were on a mid-cruise in the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean, and the Brig. Wherever they could find a warm body, made up the 3rd Battalion of our regiment in the 7th Marines.

Other than that, we only had two Battalions in the 1st Marine Regiment, two Battalions in the 5th Marine Regiment. So, I mean, that’s how bad off we were in the beginning of the Korean. Because after WWII, everything went (spiraling down). The Marine Corps primarily had to rely on the Navy. We were under Navy jurisdiction. They used to give us the crumbs. Well, then finally, through the efforts of Colonel Deveroux and a number of outstanding Marines, we finally got Congress to authorize, by law, the Marine Corps shall consist of three Marine Divisions and three Marine Air Wings. That held true, pretty much, for a long period of time. But again, now, we’re in jeopardy. There are people out there who want to abolish the Marine Corps. They think there’s duplication between the Army and the Marine Corps. Well, let me tell you, Army’s good, but they don’t light a candle to the Marines! {laughs}

GTR: Why is that? Is the training different? Are there different people?

RO: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely!

GTR: There’s discipline in the Army, too, right?

RO: Oh, yeah, I don’t take anything away from them. But I know one thing. If I have an option to serve with the Marines or the Army in combat, without a doubt, it’s the Marines.

GTR: Just better training?

RO: Oh, absolutely. Yes. And the doctrine. The doctrine. {laughs} But there’s some outstanding units in the Army. There’s some outstanding units in the Navy; the Navy SEALS and whatnot. The Navy SEALS came about because the Navy was kind of thrown into the backfield the last number of years, so they came up with the Navy SEAL deal. Which is great, but let me tell you, we have what we call Force Recon in the Marines. They are as good or better than the Navy SEALS. They don’t get the publicity. I’ve taken our Reserve Unit to Coronado, California for two weeks training when the SEALS were training. One thing I instructed all of my guys in the company was, “Don’t mess with them! They used to get up at 3:00, 3:30 in the morning and go run for about 10 miles. Then we used to eat together in the same chow hall. You can have a conflict. Be amicable in your conversation, but don’t get out of the pattern or we’re in trouble! {laughs}

GTR: There’s so much about that culture I’m not familiar with, but that’s great to hear about pieces. Well, thank you very much! Is there anything else I haven’t covered? We’ve covered the three main sections, your background, how you came to be in Korea, and then after the return. When you first started meeting with the other Company B members, having reunions?

RO: 1975. Ed McKeever, who is the founder of our B Company get-togethers. We had gone to school together at Franklin, so we knew each other. I was instrumental in assisting and helping him getting this thing off to a flying start. So, we waited 25 years for the first get-together. 1975. Then every five years thereafter, we met, and then finally after we got the Korean Memorial on the Lakewalk, we’ve been getting together…it’s been two years now, that we have a mini-reunion every year. Everyone really looks forward to it. Of course now, our numbers are diminishing and our health problems prevent a lot of people from other parts of the country from participating. But, oh man, ‘75, ‘80, ‘85, ‘90, ‘95… oh, they were terrific years! Yes.

GTR: So, no meetings at all until 1975? Once you came back, you weren’t getting together?

RO: No. We pretty much were all on our own, trying to make a living, trying to adjust and whatnot. Yep. When you think back, it’s astounding. 25 years, and we didn’t do nothing? Yep, that’s right. I kept in communication with some because I went back into the Reserves. A lot of them had some obligated time in the late 50’s, and when they completed that, they disappeared. Other than that, we pretty much… well, we’d see each other occasionally, but nothing formal or informal.

GTR: VFW, or any other?

RO: Oh, that’s one thing that we did stay pretty much in it. We had what we called an exclusive all-Marine post, Marine Post 577. American Legion, which I was commander for a number of years. We used to meet at the second floor of the David Wisted Post #28 of the American Legion club rooms. That had David Wisted, which was WWI, Zenith City Post, which was WWII, and then we were obliged to meet in their facility. Marine Corps Post 577. Then we also had Navy Corpsmen admitted to our post. We had that… we were an energetic bunch for quite some time until finally some of the leadership kind of…. We finally disbanded. We were hard chargers there in ’52, ’53, ’54. In fact, we were going to buy the Oatka boat club on park Point, which was dormant. Erwin Oreck and Harry Vertelney, all astute WWI veterans, talked us out of it. As I think back, boy, we should have! We had aspirations.

GTR: What was that building that you were meeting?

RO: Oh, it was a building on Second Street. 2nd and 3rd West, upstairs. The Legion Post was David Wisted and Zenith City, which was WWII vets. David Wisted was WWI. They kind of took us under their arm and gave us a place to meet.

GTR: What role do you think those meetings, or then the later reunions have played in returning or helping you in your life?

RO: Well, the camaraderie is just outstanding. We have so much respect for one another. We look forward to seeing each other. We’ve got our lunch coming up Wednesday. You can hardly wait to be there!

GTR: That’s tomorrow already. That is a month, year-round meeting?

RO: Yep. We’ve added to it a Christmas party in December, 2012. Other than that, we have the mini-reunion in August. Of course, then we have our Memorial Day thing at the Lakewalk at the memorial. And then we all participate in the Veteran’s Day in November.

GTR: That’s great. We’re wondering… I don’t know why the Historical Society wanted to help do this project right now, but wondering if there are any lessons to be learned from the veterans coming back today? What they can learn from your experience with that long reunion history?

RO: If I had to address that subject matter, I’d say, “Don’t wait too long.” Do it right quick. Even the WWII guys, they waiting way too long. The 125th, you know, they’ve been meeting together a long time, but even they would have liked to get together even earlier. Even ourselves. We probably shouldn’t have waiting that long, although we did have the exclusive Marine Corps post.

GTR: That’s good. Just the camaraderie and the support for each other, having a shared experience and all that? That’s part of that?

RO: Yes, yes. To most of us, not all, it’s therapy. (interview ends when narrators needs to head downstairs)

GTR: Well, thank you very much for all this!

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