Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:45 | He nearly froze in Korea because of the light gear he was issued. John Meyer remembers that and the guard duty in the wee hours when he imagined all sorts of enemy swarming around in the dark.
Keywords : John Meyers Korea freezing cold sleeping bag Imjin River Chinese shoes Shoepacs beer water purification tablets
John Meyers was drafted in 1950 and thought that basic training was pretty good for a young man of 22. On his way to Seattle to ship out for Korea, he was broke but came up with a great way to get some money and enjoy some beer in the bargain.
After three weeks on the front line in Korea, John Meyers was made the company clerk. The captain's morning report was his responsibility and this led to a chilling experience when he had to visit graves registration. Since he had to go to the front every day, he was still subject to artillery and mortar fire.
As company clerk, John Meyers had several responsibilities, the captain's morning report, letters home to parents of men killed in action and writing up awards recommendations. He wrote up the recommendation for Charles Gilliland, a seventeen year old, whose heroic actions made him the youngest soldier to receive the Medal Of Honor in the Korean War.
After the Chinese intervened in Korea, John Meyer's unit was constantly on the move, often in retreat. He worked in the rear, so he saw the huge masses of refugees fleeing the fighting, some of them receiving medical treatment while there.
Strange things happen in war and John Meyers saw his share in Korea, from the gruesome to the humorous. He recalls some of them here, including the escapades of Hogan, a notorious character.
He was ready to come home from Korea and he loved the welcome he got in San Francisco, but John Meyers had about three months left to serve. He was made a platoon sergeant at Fort Ord and managed to make a difference to those men, who were in a poorly performing unit when he arrived.
