Looking back on the Korean War

I recently posted four articles about the Korean War (1950-1953) based on interviews with my father, James A. Seitz. He served in the U.S. Army at a medical aid station near the frontline at the end of the war and into the armistice.
One of the drawbacks to the blog format is that a series of articles such as this is posted in reverse order. To provide better organization for the series (and also to post a few more photos), here is the series as it was meant to be read:

Part 1: Reporting for duty

Part 2: Near the frontline

Part 3: Entertaining the troops (a visit from Marilyn Monroe)

Part 4: Back home

Photos (top to bottom) from James A. Seitz:
James A. Seitz outside officer’s mess hall in South Korea, 1953
Seitz with U.S. Army sign that says “We’ve done so much, for so long, with so little, that now we can do anything with nothing,” South Korea, 1954
South Korean village and rice paddies, 1953
South Korean village main street, 1953

Reflecting on the Korean War today

Part 4: Back home

My father, James A. Seitz, returned home from the Korean War in April 1954. He was there for the final four months of the war and stayed nine months following the armistice.
I interviewed my dad about his experiences in the war:

What stands out the most?

I’m just thankful that I survived, because I saw enough deaths and enough suffering. When you lose some people that you’re responsible for that’s pretty heartbreaking. You say to yourself, “Boy, they left their families back home.” It’s not easy.
All three (who died under my command) were single. They were young guys – 18, 19, 21, somewhere in that age range.
When you’re there you’re thinking two things: one, how long am I going to be there and, two, I’ve got to make sure we stay as safe as we can.

Was it a good idea for Americans to get involved in the Korean conflict?

You’d hate to think that a country that’s been invaded can’t be saved.
Was World War II worthwhile? We invaded Europe to drive out the Germans. It all could have been Germany today.
Korea was divided after World War II, because the Japanese took over Korea during the war. The Chinese had been there. They had a North and South Korea anyway. North Korea invaded South Korea to take it all.
North Korea literally took over the country. When America came in, they came in just at the tip of the peninsula and they drove them back.
When I got there it was basically at the line … they had driven that far. And as far as I know there was no intent to drive them any further than that. They agreed to peace but no change in land (after three years of conflict).

Looking back

Nobody ever talked about whether it made sense for the U.S. to be involved, he said.
Seitz spent a little over a year in Korea and endured one winter there.
He wrote letters home every week, but wasn’t able to call from Korea.
He entered the service as a second lieutenant and was promoted to first lieutenant while in Korea. After returning home, he earned the rank of captain while serving in the Medical Service Corps, U.S. Army Reserve.
While in Korea, Seitz bought some china and a red silk robe with a dragon on the back. The robe was ruined by dry cleaners in the states, my mom, Alice, said.
But what about all those letters Dad sent home?
“Your dad wrote to me regularly. I got a letter a week,” my mom said. “There were a lot of letters. And he described in detail what was going on. I kept every one of them in a nice big box.” She had them when they moved from Madison, Wis., to Detroit in the early 1960s.
So what happened to them?
“I burned them,” she said.
Why?
“Because I got mad.”
She calls that action a “very big regret” now. “You go through the rest of your life regretting certain decisions.”

My dad and Marilyn Monroe

Part 3: Entertaining the troops
While serving at a U.S. Army medical aid station in Korea during the Korean War, my father, James A. Seitz, witnessed some pop culture history.
Movie star Marilyn Monroe visited the troops in February 1954 to sing a few songs and entertain the soldiers. Seitz was at the Bulldozer Bowl when the 27-year-old Monroe sashayed onto stage wearing a slinky, plum-colored sequined dress.
“The crowd of fellas there was so excited. They would have done anything she asked them to do,” he said. When she walked out on the stage, the crowd of men just “roared.”
Getting a visit from the gorgeous movie star cheered the spirits of the troops, he said. “She didn’t have to do anything. She just had to walk out on stage practically.”
At one point, Monroe said “come to me” and the soldiers rushed the stage.
Monroe later mingled with the troops. Seitz took a few snapshots like many other servicemen in attendance.
Monroe and baseball great Joe DiMaggio were newlyweds on a trip in Japan, when the bride took a detour to Korea to entertain the troops. She performed 10 shows in four days with the USO, in front of audiences that totaled more than 100,000 servicemen.
The sex symbol later recalled that the trip “was the best thing that ever happened to me. I never felt like a star before in my heart. It was so wonderful to look down and see a fellow smiling at me.”
The temperatures in Korea were bitter cold during the four days Monroe performed, but she said later that she felt only the warmth of the adoring soldiers.
She sang “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” “Bye, Bye Baby” and “Do It Again,” interrupting her performance to crack jokes with the soldiers about their fondness for sweater girls. “You fellas are always whistling at sweater girls,” she teased. “Well, take away their sweaters and what have you got?”
She returned to Japan from her exhausting trip with a 104-degree temperature and a slight case of pneumonia. DiMaggio nursed her back to health before the couple continued their honeymoon, touring some of Japan’s smaller villages, according to media reports.
Monroe’s side trip became a point of contention between the newlyweds, who divorced later that year.
“It was so wonderful, Joe. You’ve never heard such cheering,” Marilyn said.
“Yes, I have,” DiMaggio replied.
Marilyn Monroe wasn’t the only notable figure, my father photographed in Korea. He also snapped a few shots of then-Vice President Richard Nixon as he inspected the troops.

Keeping the troops in line

Seitz had one of the most important duties during his time in Korea – He was responsible for distributing beer to the men in uniform.
“The troops drank a lot of beer,” he said. “As an officer I had the responsibility for the distribution of those things. We would divide up what we got and take it to the various units.”
Schlitz was a popular brand of beer, judging from my father’s photos.
The troops drank so many cases of beer that beer cans became a popular roofing material for the locals. (See photo below.)
Sometimes the men had other things on their mind than having a few beers. Once Seitz had to go tent-to-tent tossing out prostitutes.
“We were not too far from Seoul. One night I discovered that one of the Koreans had brought some ladies into the camp,” he said. “So we went from tent to tent throwing out Korean women who were there. Gosh, that was amazing. We never expected anyone to be bringing girls into the camp. They were there to make some money.”

Photos, top to bottom (By James A. Seitz, except where noted):
Marilyn Monroe at the Bulldozer Bowl, Korea, February 1954
Monroe mingles with the troops, Korea, February 1954
Monroe on stage, Korea, February 1954 (Photographer unknown. From the website of Edward Piercy.)
Shipment of Schlitz beer, Korea, 1954
Korean home with beer can roof, 1953
Check out videos of Marilyn Monroe's Korea visit on Google Video and Dailymotion.

Next: Back home

My dad and the Korean War

Most Americans think they know about the Korean War from watching the TV show “M*A*S*H” (1972-1983), which was set there.
But the series was more of an allegory about the Vietnam War, which was in progress when the show began. “M*A*S*H” lasted for 11 years on CBS. (Long enough to see star Alan Alda go from young with dark hair to old and gray.) The actual Korea War lasted three years.
My father, James A. Seitz, served in the U.S. Army in the Korean War in 1953 and the armistice in 1953-54.
“The Korean War: Years of Stalemate” provides a good recounting of the conflict.

Part 2: Near the frontline

James A. Seitz discusses serving at a medical aid station in the Korean War:

The line was maybe 75 miles north of Seoul. It was very mountainous and hilly there. The line was almost along the crest of one of the hills. The aid station was back behind the second row of hills. That’s where I was.
Literally almost a day after I was there, the North Koreans bombarded the frontlines where our people were and then attacked. They came up over the hill and attacked. And we had over 100 people who were injured and shot and many were killed. They all came through the aid station.
They were bombarding with artillery when they attacked so the troops all went underground to escape the attack. Of course, some of them were injured by the artillery. But we had a truckload of Chinese – you can’t call them Koreans because most of them were Chinese – and we threw them in the truck and sent them back. They were dead.
We had over 100 casualties and about 15 dead at that time. We worked from midnight and were still working at 6 o’clock the next morning trying to take care of the wounded. The ambulances came out to our place and loaded them up and took them to the division hospital.
We were in an aid station right on the line. The MASH units were farther back. They were south of us. They had to be in a position so that they could fly helicopters in without being shot at.
We were within two miles of the frontline. We had ambulances to bring in wounded from the line. It was very tough to retrieve the wounded, no question about that. Some of them were brought back in jeeps, whatever they could get a hold of.
What we did there was primary care, make sure we could stop any of the bleeding that was going on, clean ’em up if we could and then send them on to get further treatment.
I supervised.
I supervised privates and a couple of sergeants. They were trained to work in an aid station. They were trained to take care of cleaning up injuries and administering some medication if needed.
I lost three of my men during that time … aides.
They were on the front line and they got killed by the artillery.
That was an eye-opener.
They were on line to support the troops right there. They carried an aid kit that was intended to stop any bleeding that they could.
The thing we feared the most was artillery. They would fire during the day. Of course, you don’t know when it’s coming. All of a sudden, it’s BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! and there are bombs exploding around you. There was no way of knowing when it was coming or anything like that.
All they’re doing is shooting in a general area. We’re behind the hill and they don’t know exactly where we are.
They shot sometimes in the front of the hill because we had people there to watch them and make sure they don’t come up the hill to get anyone.
The hills were barren from the fires. An artillery piece would come in and explode and some of that would start a fire.
It was all ground combat. They had no airplanes. We had air support though. But we didn’t see many airplanes fly over our area.

Where we were living, we had dug into the side of the hill. So where we slept was partially underground. We dug into a hill, so that when we stepped out we were level with the ground but there was a hill behind us.

The fighting was very, very erratic. During that period, I think we only had three or four what you might call assaults. That first assault occurred the first week I was on line. That kind of sets you back.
There were several divisions spread all across the country.

At one point, the South Koreans felt the U.S. needed to protect some mines.
I don’t know what they were mining. But they were digging something. And apparently the government felt we needed to protect them so they wouldn’t be destroyed. We had eight of us who were there.
The people who were living there were very poor. It was really tragic. We would eat Army food, obviously. We had a kitchen and all of that. And in the evening they would come to the gate of our place and beg for whatever food we had left over from our meal. … We gave it all to them.

Next: Entertaining the troops

Photos, from top to bottom, all taken by James A. Seitz 1953-54:
Tanks near the frontline
Convoy of U.S. Army vehicles
Barren hills in the warzone of the Korean War
Sign warning about the Demilitarized Zone ahead
South Korean soldiers man a DMZ checkpoint

Remembering the Korean War

The Korean War is often called the Forgotten War.
Taking place between World War II and the Vietnam War, the Korean War ended with a whimper in July 1953 when North Korea and South Korea signed a truce that officially divided the peninsula. That line of demarcation, known as the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ, still separates the two countries to this day.
The Korean War lasted from June 25, 1950, until July 27, 1953, according to Wikipedia. In the United States, the war was officially described as a “police action” because there was never a declaration of war by Congress.
Time magazine chose the American Fighting-Man as its Person of the Year in 1950.
My father, James A. Seitz, served for more than a year in the U.S. Army in the Korean War.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he worked two years at his father’s pharmacy in Menomonie, Wis., until he was drafted.
He was engaged to my mother, Alice L. Kelly, when he was sent to Korea in February 1953. He returned in April 1954.

Part 1: Reporting for duty

James A. Seitz discusses the Korean War:

When I was in college as an undergraduate, they had a program that would prepare you to get a commission if you completed it all – the ROTC program. I took the course and during the summer I went to camp.
So when I graduated I was unofficially an officer. I wasn’t an officer yet because I hadn’t been called into service, but I had all the qualifications for it. I’d go in as a second lieutenant.
Not too long after I graduated lo and behold I get a notice from Selective Service to take the physical.
So a busload of us went for a physical. And I looked around on the bus and most of those guys had been there before. You could tell by the way they were talking about it. Many of them had taken the physical and had failed. They were grumbling, “What am I doing here? I already had one.”
So I went up to the Twin Cities in a bus from Menomonie. We drove up to St. Paul in the morning and came back in the afternoon.
Within a week, I got a letter that said I’d passed.
So I got on the phone and called the Army and said, “Well, listen, I’m going to be drafted. I might just as well go into the service as an officer. So could I get called in?” And the man said, “Oh, heavens, we’d be glad to have you. Come down to Milwaukee and have your physical.”
So I went down to Milwaukee and had the physical and quite frankly I was a little edgy because I thought, “I’ve got to pass this one.” I took the physical and the doctor said, “Well, your blood pressure is up a little bit. We can’t take you.”
And I said, “Well, my gosh, I took the physical for the service and they passed me and now you’re telling me I don’t pass?”
And he said, “Well, maybe we should give you some additional tests. Can you stay overnight? We’ll test you again tomorrow.”
So I stayed overnight and they took my blood pressure two or three times and he finally said, “Well, you pass.”
Within a couple of weeks I was shipped out. It was pretty fast.
They sent me down to San Antonio, Texas, for two weeks to familiarize us … All of the guys who went down there were fellas who were in the same category I was. Some of them were dentists, some were doctors and all that.
They gave us some lectures. We went out in the field for some overnights and things like that.
From there, I was sent up to a camp near Boston.
I reported there and they said, “You’ll be here two months and then you’ll be sent overseas.”
I was in Boston for two months then I went home, was there for a few days, and then took the train to Washington state. And then I got on a plane and flew up to Alaska. We flew to one of the islands just off of Alaska for fuel. Then we flew to Japan. In Japan, I stayed there a week.
Then I got on a boat from Japan to Korea.
I stayed for about a week in Seoul, Korea … and finally went to a colonel there.
There were two of us and he says to the young guy, “I’m sending you to such-and-such unit.” And he said, “Oh, great, I’ve got some friends there.” And the colonel said, “Oh. I changed my mind.” (Laughter.)
A couple of days later they put me in a jeep and we drove all the way up to the frontlines.

Next: Near the frontlines

Photos (top to bottom):
Time magazine’s Man of the Year for 1950: the American G.I.;
James A. Seitz outside a U.S. Army tent in Korea, 1953;
U.S. Army camp in Korea, 1953 (Photo by James A. Seitz);
Helicopter pad at U.S. base in Korea, 1953 (Photo by James A. Seitz)