Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

COMBAT STORIES FROM Korea

Norman Kling | Marine Corps Reserve - Marines

5:09   |   Radio technician Norman Kling came ashore in Korea, briefly looked over a battered city, and hit the road in a truck. He began following the front as it moved around the peninsula. He wasn't in a combat role but he did singe off his eyebrows at one point.

More From Norman Kling

Keywords   :     Norman Kling    Korea    radio    Hungnam    Hamhung    Masan

Videos ( 12 )
WWII
  • Norman Kling  |  WWII  |  Multiple Units  |  3:56

    Growing up in St. Louis, Norman Kling enjoyed walking around the town with his brother. On Sundays, they got dimes for the streetcar but they walked to the park because they had another idea about how to spend that money.

  • Norman Kling  |  WWII  |  Multiple Units  |  4:24

    Norman Kling was working in a drug store at the soda fountain when a friend announced he was leaving to join the Marines. That got him thinking. He had a job lined up as a cutter in a dress factory but he didn't see himself spending a lifetime doing that.

  • Norman Kling  |  WWII  |  Multiple Units  |  4:10

    It was to the west coast that Marine recruit Norman Kling was sent for boot camp. That would make him a "Hollywood Marine," to east coast recruits. He found the hard nosed methods of the drill instructors to be comical, in some cases.

  • Norman Kling  |  WWII  |  Multiple Units  |  5:13

    After basic training, it was off to radio operators school. New Marine Norman Kling still had to drill while learning this job. When a sergeant from the Air Wing was put in charge of the detail one day, it soon became apparent that they didn't do a lot of drilling in the Air Wing. (Caution: coarse language.)

  • Norman Kling  |  WWII  |  2nd Marine Division  |  8:06

    The radio shop at Camp Elliott was in a cramped space in a big warehouse building. They weren't allowed to expand but an enterprising tech sergeant scrounged some lumber and built a loft space. Norman Kling was staining the railing above when the company commander walked up just beneath him.

  • Norman Kling  |  WWII  |  2nd Marine Division  |  5:32

    It was late in 1941 when Marine Norman Kling got his first furlough. He had a nice visit with his folks in St. Louis and it was at a bus station on the way back to San Diego that he heard some astounding news.

  • Norman Kling  |  WWII  |  2nd Anti Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division  |  6:33

    Marine Norman Kling was in sick bay when his unit shipped out to New Zealand. He wound up in the new 2nd Anti Tank Battalion headed for the same area. He was skeptical of the need for this type unit in the Pacific. He was also skeptical of the poker playing of the communications officer.

  • Norman Kling  |  WWII  |  2nd Marine Division  |  4:36

    Once they got to the Pacific, it was apparent that the ill conceived anti-tank unit was not really needed in the islands. It was deactivated and radio repair specialist Norman Kling was folded back into the 2nd Marine Division. He kept their radios working until it was time to go home.

Korea
Cold War
Showing : Korea Videos
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