An Honorable Discharge

My other memory of the trip home had to do with about 20 Republic of Korea officers who came with us. They were on their way to schooling provided by our army.

Since they were not accustomed to American food they asked if they could provide their own rations. Their main meal would be kimshi, mostly fish heads and sea weed. Knowing the smell that it creates, the ship’s officers declined their request and the Koreans were required to go to the officers’ mess with us.

The first night out, we were seated with Korean officers at the same table. A large bowl of jelly was placed about every three places for easy access. One of the bowls happened to be directly in front of a Korean officer and he proceeded to eat the entire thing as if it were a salad. He got terribly sick from it, not being used to rich food and particularly that much of it.

After that incident, I noticed the other Korean officers would wait until one of us ate something and then they would follow. When we ate a fork of potatoes, they would do the same, et cetera. Even then, they did not fare with our rich cuisine. Near the end of the voyage, they were allowed to eat some of their own food.

I had an earlier indication of the oriental mind and habits when at OCS in Oklahoma. This was not first hand knowledge, but after being in Korea and learning some of the culture, I think now there must have been a lot of truth to the story being told at the time.

A group of Korean officers (similar to those aboard ship with us coming home) was training at Ft. Sill when we were there. Although they were already commissioned, they were taking the same basic course we were, learning artillery fire command procedure.

They were given the opportunity to come to the United States because they were the best and brightest South Korea had. Because of their prominence, it was incumbent upon them to do well in their courses.

Even with this background the American colonel in charge of the Korean group was taken aback when the Korean commanding officer came to him and asked, “Where do you go to shoot a man?”

It appeared one of the Korean students had gotten a grade of B on a gunnery test and that brought shame on the entire group. Our colonel convinced the South Korean he could not execute a man for bad grades and even if he could, B was not all that bad a mark.

We landed Oct. 21 at Ft. Lewis, Washington. Ironically, when we hit port in the United States, I ran across some of the guys I had taken basic training with in Hawaii. They had opted not to apply for OCS because they didn’t want to commit to the extra time. They were now short timers, but on their way overseas. I was not only a short timer who had gotten officers’ pay and privileges, but was headed for discharge.

We were shipped immediately to Camp Carson, Colorado for discharge, which officially occurred on Oct. 24, 1953.