Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:36 | Ben Malcom discusses how his Special Forces unit worked with the indigenous Montagnard people of Vietnam in order to train them to fight against North Vietnamese forces.
Ben Malcom explains how his Special Forces unit controlled several small islands off the coast of North Korea, where he helped command a guerrilla unit of Korean fighters, along with a guerrilla leader named Pak Chol, to disrupt North Korean military and economic actions as much as possible. His missions were Top Secret and even other Army leaders in the area knew little or nothing of his activities.
Ben Malcom recalls a mission to infiltrate and destroy a 76mm gun hidden inside a North Korean mountain. During the cover of night on July 14, 1952, Malcom managed to sneak 120 guerilla fighters onto the mountain and into the bunker, and describes the combat that ensued.
Ben Malcom recalls how three North Korean agents had infiltrated one of their attempts to recruit guerrilla fighters, which resulted in a series of "tremendous firefights" while Malcom's men attempted to escape the volatile area.
On a mission to gather intelligence on North Korean land targets including a hydroelectric plant, Ben Malcom's B-26 was hit nine times by anti-aircraft fire. Having narrowly survived that excursion, Malcom devised a plan to team his guerrilla fighters on the ground with Army airborne assets to take out that hydroelectric plant.
Ben Malcom recalls a story involving a fellow Special Forces operative, Jim Mapp, who helped rescue a downed Air Force pilot, Col. Albert Schinz, in North Korea.
Ben Malcom remembers a clandestine mission to bring supplies to his Special Forces compatriot Jim Mapp, who was imbedded deep in North Korea near the Yalu River.
Ben Malcom describes some of the more unique aspects of living on the small islands near North Korea. Boats were numerous and very important, and his boats were specialized to disguise their function and speed. Aircraft flying missions over the area also depended on the small islands to crash land when necessary, in which case Malcom would destroy the irreparable aircraft.
Ben Malcom describes how his Special Forces unit would capture North Korean soldiers as prisoners 150 miles behind enemy lines.
Ben Malcom describes the makeup of the 8240th Army Unit, a Special Forces collaboration between the U.S. Army and guerilla fighters in North Korea. Over 200 Americans were spread out over nearly two dozen individual units, commanding and assisting hundreds of guerrilla fighters each. Malcom's individual unit became known as the White Tigers.
Ben Malcom comments on the disappointment many of his North Korean guerrilla fighters felt that the United States didn't press further into North Korea, and instead negotiated a compromise to end the war. Some of his fighters settled in South Korea, but many stayed behind in the North, some of those even continued to report on their operations after the war.
Ben Malcom recalls the lesson he quickly learned about how to secure convoys to reduce the likelihood of taking fire from Viet Cong.
Ben Malcom remembers the bombing of the Brinks Hotel by Viet Cong forces in Saigon in December of 1964. Bob Hope was scheduled to be in the building when it was destroyed, but luckily he'd been held up at the airport.
Ben Malcom's photos show life and assignments during the Korean War with the 8240th in Korea.
