Freedom’s Voice The Monthly Newsletter of the

Military History Center 112 N. Main ST

Broken Arrow, OK 74012 http://www.okmhc.org/

“Promoting Patriotism through the Preservation of Military History”

Volume 7, Number 12 December 2020

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Important Dates

Military History Center Closed

December 25 and 26 – January 1 thru January 4

Happy Hanukkah

From the Editor

During this year, we have focused on the 75th anniversary of World War II. We have begun a new series recognizing Okla-homans, who lost their lives in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. We have told the stories of several of these remarkable men and women. We have also begun a series on the Korean War in recognition of the 70th anniversary of the war.

We featured one of the museum’s exhibits or artifacts each month. We also presented articles and events that further our mission of “Promoting Patriotism through the Preservation of Military History”, including written history, and which we hope are of interest to our readers.

We enjoy bringing you the newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading it, and with each edition, learning something new of our nation’s military history and those who made it.

The management and volunteers of the MHC wish each and every one our readers and their families a very “Merry Christ-mas” and a healthy and “Happy New Year”.

Pearl Harbor Day

At 7:48 a.m. Hawaii time (11:48 a.m. Oklahoma time), on Sunday, December 7, 1941, 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes launched in two waves from six aircraft carriers, began their surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and aircraft parked at nearby air fields. President Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy”.

One of USS Oklahoma’s anchors at the USS Oklahoma Memorial Oklahoma City

http://www.okmhc.org/http://www.lynchcreekwreaths.com/traditional-door-wreath/http://www.lynchcreekwreaths.com/traditional-door-wreath/

Regent Preparatory School at the MHC Tulsa’s Regent Preparatory School students, Alex Dupree, Lola Webb, and Shepard Mickey, donated their time on Satur-day, November 14, as a service project to clean the front win-dows of the museum and to change out the mural in the Flag Plaza to one depicting the attack on Pearl Harbor. A big “thank you” goes out to these exceptional young people.

Alex Dupree, Lola Webb, and Shepard Mickey

(Contributed by Keith Browne)

MHC Receives New Statue

John Thomas, provided the "No One Left Behind" statue. Carolyn Cur-ry, Head Artist at Hobby Lobby, painted the statue. (L. to R.)

Tom Mancino, Carolyn Curry and John Thomas

Remembering Lindsey Donaldson Peter Plank

Today, our jump team is mourning the loss and yet commit-ting ourselves to paying forward the life of Lindsey Don-aldson—teammate, friend to our veterans, and loving soul to all. Lindsey lost her life in a motor vehicle accident on Wednes-day (November 11), just after leaving our Veterans Day exhibi-tion in Tulsa.

Lindsey was a force multiplier when it came to boosting people's morale. She was all about supporting our mission and vision. As a member of our Air Wing, Lindsey quickly found a place as the unofficial CIC, “Cheerleader in Charge.” She boost-ed people’s spirits with her bubbly personality, and her positive nature rubbed off on everyone as she went about her work. That's invaluable in any organization and never to be discount-ed.

Central to Lindsey’s story is that her grandmother was a re-al-life Rosie the Riveter. During WWII, her grandmother helped assemble C-47s at the Douglas plant in Oklahoma City. Her grandmother may have driven the rivets in the very aircraft we jump from. That was among the reasons Lindsey joined our team.

All of us here feel a special connection to history when we board our aircraft. But to look at, touch, and even smell those aircraft—which smell like a classic car—and know that your own grandmother may have helped build them? That’s a bond that only Lindsey could boast. She cherished it.

Lindsey was a hands-on person. If you got to know her, it was likely because you were working on a project with her. A favorite story of our team is that one day she asked if there was anything she could do to help. One of our ground crew asked if she would be willing to learn how to drive rivets. She replied, “Yes!”, and that solidified her connection with her grandmoth-er.

Lindsey volunteered at the Military History Center in Broken Arrow. Both there, and on our team, she looked for any oppor-tunity to reach out to veterans. When she was paired with one, her sparkling enthusiasm overflowed. She took the time to care about our veterans in a way that made them feel respect-ed and cherished, and that’s a gift to them that can never be underestimated.

Lindsey let friendships within our team happen naturally. But once you got to know her, you discovered that she was outgoing and thrived on maintaining connections. In today’s world that typically means through Facebook and social media. In Lindsey’s world, that meant ham radio. Yes, Lindsey had

connections all over the world, and she did it the old-fashioned way—through megahertz.

On Veterans Day she arranged for our aircraft to broadcast during our flyover of the Tulsa Veterans Day Parade. Her call sign, WW2ADT.

Lindsey loved her three dogs, she loved the outdoors, and she loved her favorite holiday, Christmas. We will miss her upbeat quick responses to things like “that’s fabs” and “you're adorbs.” She had her own pop terms for things, and not a one was negative. She didn’t know how to go there. We should all be so lucky.

Above all, Lindsey loved Jeeps. Any Jeep. It could have been the WWII Jeeps at our facility or the newest Jeep designs com-ing out of Detroit. It didn’t matter. She was a “Jeeper,” a “Jeepster”, a “geo tracker.” She loved Jeep culture, and she knew that special “Jeep wave” that Jeep owners give each oth-er. Through the help of her best friend and member of our team, David Snell, she finally found a red Jeep that became hers, and which she cherished. She named it “Rosie.” Lindsey experienced true joy driving her Jeep. She was driving it Wednesday at the time of her accident, doing what she loved, finishing a day in the presence of the team that she loved.

Lindsey now smiles back at us from a distant shore, walking in a greater light which we cannot fully comprehend and rejoic-ing with those whose multitude we cannot number. As a Chris-tian, that was her faith. We believe that she would want us to share that.

As we face the loss of Lindsey—and we are all in shock and dismay—Lindsey’s advice to us would be, “We can do it!” Those were the words of the famed caricature of Rosie the Riv-eter, whom Lindsey so admired. As a team and a family, we remain steadfast in the face of a loss like this. And, despite our grief, we still must hold ourselves accountable to keep Lind-sey’s spirit alive, in the little things we do and in the big ones.

We will miss you, Lindsey. We are humbled that you shared the gift of your life with us, and we are resolved to pay it for-ward. Our thoughts and prayers go out to your family and friends with our deepest sympathies.

Yes, Lindsey, “We CAN do it! And, we will. All the Way!”

Museum Hours and Admission Fee

Tuesday – Friday: 10:00 – 4:00; Saturday: 10:00 – 2:00 Closed Sunday and Monday and major Federal holidays

Adults – $5.00 Members and Children under 18 – Free

For more information, call (918) 794-2712

www.okmhc.org

http://www.okmhc.org/

In Memoriam

Stephen Jeffery “Steve” Olsen

Steve was born on January 19, 1941, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. At some point after his birth, his family relocated to Tulsa. He graduated from Cascia Hall High School in Tulsa in 1959 and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a de-gree in architecture and a member of Phi Delta Theta Frater-nity in 1964. He also married Patricia Boerner in 1964. They were married for fifty-two years. Steve was a Captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He served two and a half years during the Vietnam War in Frankfurt, Germany, and was honorably discharged. Steve volunteered throughout his life with Catholic Chari-ties, the Church of Saint Mary, Board Member with Hillcrest Health Systems, Tulsa Regional Medical Center and The Cen-ter for the Physically Limited. Steve was very active in the Tulsa community as a member of AIA Eastern Oklahoma Chapter, Kiwanis Club, Toast Masters TIP Club, National Trust of National Preservation and the Military History Center, where he was one of the MHC’s original board members and one of the founders of the MHC. Steve was the co-founder, with Roger Coffey, of Olsen-Coffey Architects. They ran their successful business for forty years. Steve also obtained the National Council of Architectural Boards Registration for Ar-chitecture. Steve’s passion was to help people in need any way possi-ble. He loved spending time with his family, grandchildren, and pets and visiting with the Niver family, his neighbors of fifty-two years. CPT Stephen Jeffery "Steve" Olsen passed away peacefully on Monday, November 30, 2020. Rest in peace. We will miss you.

In Memoriam

Arles E. Cole

Arles E. Cole was born in December 20, 1923, on a farm near Porum (Muskogee County), Oklahoma. He enlisted in the Navy on December 31, 1940, just after his seventeenth birthday. He received his basic training at San Diego followed by four months at the Navigational School. His first posting was on the USS West Virginia, where he went aboard on August 31, 1941. West Virginia was sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack, De-cember 7, 1941. A bomb, that turned out to be a dud, created a hole through which Cole was able to crawl out to the main deck. Once there, he helped other crew members escape and noticed the flag was down and raised it. Cole was later assigned to the minesweeper/tugboat, Turkey, to supplement her short crew. After receiving additional navigational schooling, he was assigned to the new destroyer, USS Prichett. He served aboard Pritchett for the remainder of the war participating in naval battles in the Caroline, Mariana, Palau and Philippine islands and Iwo Jima and Okinawa, where the ship’s crew fended off at least one kamikaze attack. Cole’s last rating was Quartermaster First Class (equivalent in rank to an Army Sergeant). After the war, Cole returned to Tulsa, where he eventually gained employment with Southwestern Bell Telephone that developed into a thirty-five-year career. He was active in his church and community. He also participated in veterans’ organ-izations, wrote books and spoke at several Tulsa schools about his war experiences. He was the past president of the Tulsa Last Man’s Club, an organization of Pearl Harbor survivors. He is recognized as the last Pearl Harbor survivor in the Tulsa area, and as far as we can determine, in Oklahoma. QM1 Arles E. Cole shipped out on his final voyage on Friday, December 4, 2020. Fair winds and following seas.

This Month’s Featured Artifact

This Korean War winter uniform was worn by TSGT Robert Roy “Bob” Masters, when he served in Korea from April 1951 to February 1952 as a medical/surgery technician with the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H.). TSGT Masters’ artifacts were donated by his daughter, Mrs. Mary Beth Gionta.

Korean winters are brutally cold, with temperatures in North Korea often falling to thirty or more degrees below zero, much colder when wind chill is considered. The green wool uniform worn under a lined field jacket was common. A sweat-er and long underwear were also commonly worn under the field jacket. The pile cap was favored because the ear flaps pro-vided warmth and protection from the wind. Most of the med-ical personnel did not wear name tags on their uniforms. There were many different variations of the snowpacs (snow boots). They had felt inserts that had to be removed and replaced pe-riodically. Most of the men fighting in Korea preferred to wear standard issue, rubber galoshes over their combat boots rather than snowpacs.

The 8055th M.A.S.H. was attached to the 24th Infantry Divi-sion in Korea. The 8055th was the first such hospital in the U.S. Army and the prototype for future M.A.S.H. hospitals. It was formed on July 1, 1950, at the 155th Station Hospital at Yoko-hama, Japan. Its mission was to “receive non-transportable patients from adjacent division clearing stations and prepare them for evacuation”. (See the October 2019 newsletter for more about TSGT Masters.)

CPT Dr. H. Richard Hornberger wrote the novel, MASH, (1970) under the pen name, Richard Hooker, in collaboration with W. C. Heinz. The book was based on Hornberger’s experiences with the 8055th M.A.S.H. during his tour in the Korean War. The book inspired the movie and television series, M*A*S*H, (1972-1983). Except for the anti-war rhet-oric in the television series, Hornberger was the model for Hawkeye Pierce. Above, Hornberger (left) is in front of the original swamp.

Honoring Veterans Peter Plank

There were no veterans’ programs for me to speak at this year due to the coronavirus, but I was asked to be a part of Veterans Appreciation Week at my college alma mater. I set up uniform displays at various buildings on the campus of South-ern Nazarene University (Oklahoma City) to honor military he-roes who have passed. My Jeep was displayed in front of the campus SNU Vets Center to highlight their veteran students. Over 400 of the current enrolled students are military veterans. I was proud to represent the Military History Center by display-ing uniforms of those who have served in the United States Armed Forces. (Below is one of the uniform displays.)

White House Christmas – 1941

Roosevelt family members in front of the White House Christmas tree – 1941

Two weeks after the United States declared war on Japan and eleven days after the declaration of war on Germany, Brit-ish Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived at the White House to meet with President Roosevelt. Except for a one-day visit to Canada to address the Canadian parliament, Churchill was at the White House for three weeks. The President and Prime Minister and their civilian and military advisors engaged in numerous meetings to discuss, and come to agreement on, how to proceed with the war. The most important agreement reached in those early discussions was the creation of a com-bined joint chiefs of staff to manage the war. The President and Prime Minister held business meetings every day except the day Churchill made his trip to Canada. On the first Christmas morning of World War II, the Presi-dent and Prime Minister traveled up 16th Street to attend church at Foundry Methodist, as one of Churchill’s aides rec-orded, “surrounded by a bevy of G-men armed with Tommy-guns and revolvers.” Security was exceptionally tight during Churchill’s visit. Members of the British delegation also attend-ed, along with General George Marshall and General Henry “Hap” Arnold. The Stars and Stripes and Union Jack hung side by side next to the altar. After hymns were sung and Christmas tidings offered, the British and American delegations headed back to the White House. Before they sat down for Christmas dinner, Churchill and Roosevelt, along with their aides, held more meetings.

Christmas dinner was served at 8:00 p.m. The President and Mrs. Roosevelt invited a total of sixty guests – family and friends. Of course, the Prime Minister was the guest of honor. They dined on classic American dishes, starting with oysters on the half shell with crackers, clear soup with sherry, celery, as-sorted olives and thin toast. The main course featured roast turkey, chestnut dressing, sausage-giblet gravy, beans, cauli-flower, sweet potato casserole, cranberry jelly, grapefruit salad, cheese crescents and rolls. The meal ended with plum pudding and hard sauce, ice cream, coffee, salted nuts and assorted bonbons. Champagne flowed liberally as numerous toasts were made. Churchill asked for Johnnie Walker (Scotch whiskey) in his glass. He probably needed something stronger, as he had heard nothing but bad news all day. He had received word that Hong Kong had surrendered the previous day – Christmas day in the Far East – and the Japanese were making good headway down the Malay Peninsula toward Singapore.

The Roosevelts at Foundry Methodist Church – (L. to R.) the President’s mother, Eleanor Roosevelt, the church

pastor, the President and his son, James.

After dinner, the guests gathered to watch newsreels and a movie, Oliver Twist. When the reels were being changed, Churchill excused himself to work on a speech. He would be addressing a joint session of Congress the next day.

Prime Minister Churchill addresses a joint session of Congress, December 26, 1941.

Source:

Weintraub, Stanley, Pearl Harbor Christmas, A World at War, Decem-ber 1941, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2011

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fjuicyecumenism.com%2F2012%2F05%2F25%2Ffdr-and-methodysts%2F&psig=AOvVaw3bOkACtkUTR2ZokPeC9Ayh&ust=1583555421324000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCNi32emBhegCFQAAAAAdAAAAABADhttps://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fstory%2F2016%2F12%2Fwinston-churchill-addresses-congress-dec-26-1941-232903&psig=AOvVaw03w9Ifh1xcfK5qnRje4iwU&ust=1583555803729000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKia8raDhegCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAU

Korean War – Disaster

When the CCF entered Korea in October 1950, they were entirely a light infantry force. They had no motorized transpor-tation, no tanks or other armored vehicles, only light artillery (75mm was the largest.), no modern communications system – they used whistles, horns, and flares to communicate on the battlefield. Their medical system was primitive; their soldiers were poorly clothed; their rations were what they could carry or forage. On the other hand, UN forces were heavily armored, had abundant artillery up to 155mm, were well equipped, clothed and fed and had an elaborate medical system including field hospitals and a casualty evacuation system. Above all, the UN had complete control of the air. Although, the UN forces were outnumbered, especially at the points of attack, they held an overwhelming superiority in heavy weapons, transportation, communication, logistics and air. So, how was it that the CCF were able to defeat Eighth Ar-my on the battlefield and force it into a rout? The Army’s de-pendence on motorized vehicles worked against them in northwest Korea in the winter of 1950. It was road bound in a hilly and mountainous country with no roads worthy of the name. MacArthur’s rush to get to the Yalu, and his insistence that there were but few Chinese in Korea, prevented field commanders from occupying the high ground along the roads. That and the lack of sufficient forces to establish a solid front enabled the CCF light infantry to infiltrate the front and flanks, then move deep behind UN forces in overwhelming numbers. The CCF occupied the hills, and with their mortars, light anti-tank weapons and abundant machineguns played havoc with UN forces. This caused panic among almost all units and ranks within the affected units.

By November 28, MacArthur began to realize a crisis was developing on Eighth Army’s right flank. With the collapse of the ROK I Corps, he realized Eighth Army was in danger of being surrounded. He ordered Walker to retreat to a new line around Sunchon, thirty miles south of Kunu-ri, a village a few miles south of the Ch'ongch'on River. Second Infantry Division fared worse than any U.S. division in the retreat. It had to remain in place as long as possible to prevent the CCF from breaking through on the right flank and surrounding Eighth Army. On November 29, 2nd ID began its retreat down the Kunu-ri-Sunchon road, a narrow ribbon with hills on both sides. MG Laurence B. Keiser, commander of 2nd ID, believed the CCF had created a simple, but strong roadblock just south of Kunu-ri. By the time he realized it was more than that, Chinese riflemen, machineguns and mortars were devasting the 2nd ID. The CCF had created a nine-mile-long fireblock, which the U.S. soldiers later call “the gauntlet”. A third of the 2nd ID had become cas-ualties by the time the Division got through the fireblock. Rather than trying to establish a defensive line, Walker seemed to be concerned only with getting out before being surrounded. The retreat degenerated into what the soldiers called a bugout. Constant fear of being trapped or surrounded, and the constant retreat caused morale to sink. Eighth Army was bugging out so quickly that it lost contact with the CCF. The gap between the opposing forces quickly grew to the point that corps and division commanders had no idea where the

Chinese were. Walker had clearly lost control of his army. The retreat continued until Eighth Army was well south of Seoul. In the meantime, in northeast Korea, MG Edward Almond ordered X Corps to withdraw to the port city of Hungnam. A task force built around 1st BN, 32nd Infantry RGT, commanded by LTC Don Carlos Faith, attempted a breakout east of Chosin Reservoir. Task Force Faith began their breakout on December 1, but the CCF had control of the hills, and the breakout was stopped cold the next day. Faith was killed at the final road-block, and everyone else still alive, including many wounded, in the convoy was either killed or taken prisoner. Several hundred had already abandoned the hopeless breakout and walked across the frozen reservoir to the marine lines.

Survivors of Task Force Faith walking across Chosin Reservior

On the west side of Chosin Reservoir, about 14,000 men of the 1st Marine Division and survivors of Task Force Faith fought their way from Hagaru-ri to Koto-ri, arriving there on December 7. Along the way, a provisional battalion of marines and sol-diers, aided by close air support, cleared enemy roadblocks along the escape route. Air Force, Navy, and Marine cargo planes dropped ammunition, food and medicine to the column. Fighter aircraft bombed and strafed enemy positions and troop concentrations. On December 9, the marines were joined by a column of 7th ID soldiers retreating from east of the reservoir. The withdrawal from Hagaru-ri to Hungnam was a well-organized and disciplined fighting withdrawal all the way.

MacArthur had ordered a seaborne evacuation, and most of X Corps reached the relative safety of Hungnam. About 105,000 troops, 98,000 civilian refugees, 350,000 tons of cargo and 17,500 vehicles along with artillery were evacuated between December 11 and 24, while naval gunfire held the Chinese at bay. Demolition teams blew up the port after the evacuation.

Sources:

Appleman, Roy F., Disaster in Korea, Texas A&M University Press, Col-lege Station, Texas, 1989 Appleman, Roy F., Escaping the Trap, The US Army in Northeast Korea, 1950, Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas, 1990 Appleman, Roy E., East of Chosin, Entrapment and Breakout in Korea, 1950, Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas, 1987 Sides, Hampton, On Desperate Ground, The Marines at the Reservoir, The Korean War’s Greatest Battle, Doubleday, New York, 2018

The General’s Platoon

CPL Randle Hurst in Korea (No. 10) – 1950

Randle Melville “Randy” Hurst was born in Oklahoma City on June 19, 1929. He enlisted in the Army on June 28, 1949. After basic training, Hurst was trained as a military policeman. In October 1949, he was posted to C Co., 519th Military Police Battalion in Yokohama, Japan, as a member of “the General’s Platoon”. The platoon’s mission was to provide security for LTG Walton Walker, commander of Eighth Army, and Eighth Army Headquarters located in downtown Yokohama. In the spring of 1950, the platoon was redesignated the 502nd Reconniassance Platoon. After the North Korean invasion of the South and America’s commitment of troops to Korea, Walker had his command post (CP) setup in Taegu, which would, within a few weeks, be within the Pusan Perimeter. There were about forty-five men in the 502nd Reconniassance Platoon. They were responsible for continuously guarding the General as well as his CP. During his time in Korea, Walker was more often than not away from his CP. He was always on the move, either in his small observation plane or racing around to various units in his Jeep. When Walker traveled by Jeep, he, his driver and radioman rode in the lead vehicle, while the guard detail trailed them in a Jeep. Besides the guards’ personal weapons, they had a .50 caliber machine-gun mounted on a pedestal attached to the floor of the Jeep behind the front seats. One of Hurst’s assignments was to man the machinegun when he accompanied the General; otherwise, he remained on guard duty at the CP. With the initial success of UN forces and the capture of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, Walker moved his CP to that location. The CP was setup in the capitol building and Walker occupied Kim Il-Sung’s office. Hurst arrived at the new CP on November 11. His guard position was outside Walker’s office door, when the General was present. When Walker was away from his office, Hurst performed his guard duties inside the office. The men rotated responsibilities at the CP, and when not on guard duty at Walker’s office, Hurst walked a guard patrol around the building grounds or Walker’s residence.

Two weeks later, the Chinese launched their Second Phase Campaign, and within a few days, Eighth Army was in full re-treat. The ROK I Corps on Eighth Army’s right flank had been

completely routed, and Eighth Army was in danger of being surrounded. Walker ordered his CP relocated back to Seoul. Hurst and another platoon member, a CPL Barns, were ordered to remain behind with a military police platoon, while a team, whom Hurst called “pencil pushers”, made a final clean-out of the file cabinets, desks and other storage areas. As soon as they were finished, Hurst and Barns were to head for the new CP in Seoul. In the early morning of December 5, they mounted their Jeep and left Pyongyang, the last Americans out of the city. Hurst remained with the 502nd Reconniassance Platoon during LTG Matthew Ridgeway’s and part of LTG James Van Fleet’s tours in Korea as successive commanders of Eighth Army. Hurst was discharged on November 15, 1952. Sometime afterwards, he decided he wanted to be a smokejumper (a person who parachutes into forests to fight fires). During 1954-56 and again in 1958-62, he jumped ftom a base in Missoula, Montana. At some point, he jumped into the Gila National Forest in Arizona. In 1969, he wrote a book entitled The Smokejumpers and dedicated it to the Gila smokejumpers. Smoke jumping is not a fulltime job. Jumpers are called on only when they are needed. That gave Hurst an opportunity to pursue a college education. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1959 with a degree in geology and from the University of Montana in 1969 with a degree in mathematics. He taught school in Fresno, California, for fifteen years. Upon his retirement, Hurst returned to Oklahoma. At the time of his death at age seventy-three, he was working as a security guard for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. CPL Randle Melville Hurst died at his home in Mustang (Canadian County), Oklahoma, on February 23, 2003. He is buried in Resthaven Gardens Cemetery in Oklahoma City.

Randle Hurst – date unknown

Editor: Sometime after his tour in Korea, probably in the 1970s or 80s, Hurst compiled a ninety-nine-page typewritten manuscript – “The History of the 502nd Reconniassance Platoon in Japan and Korea, 1950”. In the second volume of his Korean War history series, LTC Roy E. Appleman (U.S. Army, Ret.) quoted extensively from the manuscript describing in detail Hurst’s and Barn’s experiences during their last days in Pyongyang and their exit from the city.

Primary source:

Appleman, Roy E, Disaster in Korea, Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas, 1989

Christmas Miracle in Korea Craig Bowman, Military History Online

Fifteen years ago, former Army PFC Norman Deptula sat in his warm home in Webster, Massachusetts, and wrote the re-markable story of a Christmas miracle that occurred in 1950.

Deptula was serving with the United Nations Forces in South Korea during the campaign that was well underway in October of 1950. They were working their way up the Korean peninsula and slowly clearing the North Korean forces out, when the Chinese entered the war throwing 300,000 men over the Yalu River. It was a bitterly cold winter and the influx of the Chinese fighting force put an end to the UN forces hopes of returning home for Christmas as they quickly discovered that facing the Chinese was an entirely different kettle of fish to facing the North Koreans.

Deptula was a member of the 581st Signal Radio Relay Com-pany. The fact that he was not a frontline soldier made little difference. He saw and experienced the horrors of war as much as any infantryman. The UN forces were pummeled as they fought their way through the Chinese forces to get to Hungnam. It took them twenty-six hours to make forty miles to the port city, where a decision had been made to evacuate them. In the midst of bitter icy weather, they undertook the evacuation of the UN troops, their equipment and some 98,000 refugees. The scene at the docks was straight out of hell. A dark, bitter day of utter confusion, noise, anguish and fear with people and equipment being loaded onto anything that float-ed. Deptula climbed aboard a freighter on that grimy, polar day with the cold reaching into his bones as he and his company set sail for Pusan, four hundred miles away.

When they disembarked at Pusan, it was only to be loaded onto a derelict train where they did their best to make them-selves comfortable in icy, unheated carriages furnished only with wooden benches. Nothing could block out the cold wind that came in past whatever was stuffed into the holes in the broken windows, and everyone was chilled to the bone by the time they had travelled the seventy miles to Kyong-ju (Ed. Gyoengju). Unsurprisingly the company was in a dismal frame of mind on arrival and illness abounded. Fevers, chills, septic throats and other injuries plagued the men, but worse were the unseen scars that refused to heal; their psyches had been ir-reparably damaged by the horrendous sights they had seen; the frozen bodies dumped into mass graves dug by bulldozers and the awful wounds suffered by many comrades.

The days passed and their tired, dispirited bodies healed physically, but Christmas was drawing near, and there was no hope of being at home with loved ones for this most sacred of Christian holidays. Being in a strange land so far away meant that carols, services, turkey and trimmings were all just fanciful dreams. But, strangely enough one of those dreams was about to come true. They were huddled around trying to keep warm on Christmas Eve when they were told that there was a Catho-lic church in Kyong-ju and the priest was to hold a midnight Mass. Transport was to be provided, and everyone was invited. This little miracle meant so much to these men so far from home on this cold, Christmas Eve, and the idea of being able to celebrate the birth of Christ was very precious to all of them.

As they wished their comrades a Happy Christmas, they boarded the trucks and one man started to sing “I’ll be home for Christmas”. Looking out into the cold, clear sky where the stars looked close enough to touch, they listened to the voice that encapsulated their hopes. The church had war damage, the bullet marks were clearly visible on the outside walls, and the windows were broken, but no church could have looked more beautiful to these men. They were very surprised to see that the church had two entrances and that men used the one on the left and sat on little wooden chairs set in rows on the left-hand side of the church. The women entered through the right-hand door, leaving their shoes in the rear of the church, they covered their heads with white shawls and taking a straw mat from a pile at the door they made their way to the right-hand side of the church. Many of the women carried infants strapped to their backs with wide bands of colorful cloth. The darkness was kept at bay by a few candles on the altar, and bright silk banners were suspended from a ceiling that was slowly losing its plaster. One banner proudly declared “Mahry Xmas”, to the amusement of the servicemen, but the senti-ment was warmly acknowledged by everyone present, and the incorrect spelling was glossed over by the warm reception handed out to the servicemen. The altar was draped in silk and decorated with flowers and candles, and it stood between a beautiful nativity scene, complete in every detail and a proper Christmas tree decorated with all the baubles, tinsel and orna-ments. The scene brought a lump to Deptula’s throat as he im-agined the tree that would have been carefully trimmed in a home many thousands of miles away on the other side of the world.

Korean nuns dressed in blindingly white wimples escorted the local schoolchildren into the church, where they sat on lit-tle wooden chairs at the front. Deptula could only wonder at the difference between the nuns with their scrubbed charges and the servicemen in their stained and torn uniforms, but the love emanating from all the Korean people instantly put the servicemen at ease. One of the nuns played the organ, an an-cient instrument that was seriously out of tune. She was ac-companied by a girls’ choir singing carols in Korean, and when the servicemen recognized the tunes, which was no easy feat, they joined in singing in English. A cacophony of sound rose up to the heavens from that little church, but nothing could have sounded sweeter to any of them. The entire mass was said in Korean, but at the end, Father Kim, the Korean priest, turned to the servicemen and gave them a blessing in broken English. He ended by saying, “The Mass is ended; go in Peace”.

After his discharge from the Army, Deptula attended Boston University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science de-gree and taught biology at Bartlett High School in Webster. All his Christmases since then have been observed with his wife and family, but nothing could ever come close to that aching cold Christmas celebrated in a tiny, run-down church with a Korean priest saying mass in a language he could not under-stand. At that point in his life, he needed the peace offered by his God for all the horrors of war that were threatening to overwhelm not only him but all his comrades as well.

Oklahoma’s Fallen Heroes of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

Derek Anthony Stanley

Derek Anthony Stanley was born at Claremore, Oklahoma, on November 25, 1985. He grew up in Tulsa with his mother and brother. He graduated from the Thunderbird Youth Acad-emy, Cycle 21, Alpha Company, Class of January 2003 – Pryor, Oklahoma. He joined the Army in 2004. He took basic training and advanced training in the 3rd Chemical Brigade, both at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. After training he was posted to B Co., 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team (TF Spartan), 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. His unit deployed to Afghanistan on March 15, 2006.

CPL Stanley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on June 5, 2006. The 3rd BCT was engaged in heavy combat with nu-merous killed and wounded, but we could find no information directly pointing to why this young man took his life.

CPL Derek Anthony Stanley was laid to rest in Fort Gibson National Cemetery. He was twenty years old.

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division

Melvin Leslie Blazer, Jr.

Melvin Leslie Blazer, Jr. was born on February 28, 1966. (birth location uncertain). He was a 1984 graduate of Moore High School in Moore, Oklahoma. He joined the Marine Corps some years after high school. He was a fifteen-year veteran at the time of his death.

On December 12, 2004, SSGT Blazer was assigned to K Co. 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Ma-rine Expeditionary Force. On that day, his unit was operating in Fallujah in Anbar Province in Iraq, when they came under at-tack. SSG Blazer was killed in the fire fight.

SSG Melvin Leslie Blazer, Jr. was laid to rest in Resthaven Gardens Cemetery in Oklahoma City.

The MHC Salutes Iraq War Veterans

Iraq War Service Ribbon

March 20, 2003 – December 18, 2011

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United States Space Force

LTG Stephen N. Whiting, first commander of the newly re-designated Space Operations Command, receives his first salute as commander from Space Delta and Garrison commanders and senior enlisted advisors during a cetemony at

Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado – October 21, 2020.

Displaying the Space Force flag are (L. to R.) Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett, Chief of Space Force Operations GEN John Raymond, Chief Master Sergeant Roger Towberman, the senior Space Force NCO, and President Trump.

The newest uniformed United States military service is the Space Force. It was founded on December 20, 2019, within the Air Force, just as the Marine Corps exists as an independent service within the Department of the Navy. The senior officer is the Chief of Space Force Operations. The first, and current, Chief of Space Force Operations is GEN John Raymond, who has a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff equal to the chiefs of the oth-er member services.

The mission of the Space Force is to “organize, train, and equip space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. Its responsibilities include developing military space professionals, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine

for space power, and organizing space forces to present to the Combatant Commands.”

GEN Raymond unfurled the Space Force flag for the first time ever, in the White House Oval Office on May 15, 2020.

GEN David D. Thompson, Vice Chief of Space Operations, swore in the first four Space Force recruits at the Baltimore Military Entrance Processing Station, Fort Meade, Maryland – October 20, 2020.

Space Force Birthday – December 20, 2019

Christmas During World War II

President Roosevelt addresses the crowd at the Christmas tree lighting from the south portico of the White House –

December 24, 1941. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is to his right.

Servicemen celebrate Christmas on Guadalcanal – 1942

LTC William E. King, Chaplain of the 45th Infantry Division, conducts Christmas services near Venafro, Italy – 1943.

BG Anthony McAuliffe, deputy commander of 101st Airborne Division, and his staff sat down to a sparse Christmas

dinner in besieged Bastogne, Belgium – 1944. Third Army broke the siege the next day.

Freedom’s Voice is the voice of MVA, Inc. dba Military History Center, a 501(C)3 private foundation, as a service to its members and supporters. Contents may be reproduced only when in the best interest of the Military History Center. Please direct comments or suggestions to the Editor at khcook469@gmail.com. Ken Cook, Editor.

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