Posted by: Frank Gubbels - 05-22-2006, 06:34 AM - Forum: LOOKING FOR...
- Replies (5)
Hello friends.
A friend of me is looking for information about two soldiers. He is a member of the foundation which takes care about the adoption of the graves at the American Cemetery in Margraten. He tells me that it is a lot of work with research but he says: It is beautiful to do something for these men.
He adopted 2 graves but wasn't yet able to find any information about the soldiers.
I will put the information about them here andf I hope that somebody can provide me some information.
Subject: questions re Koje prison camps, 1952 and other info needed for novel I'm writing about a man who serves from the Ardennes through Germany under Patton in Europe 1944-VE-day, and later in the Korean War from 1950-53... I'd like to contact vets who were there. I need more accuracy and credibility.
I was never in the military myself, but my "hero" is a WW2 and Korean War veteran and I want to get as close to accuracy as I can. Part of the story involves the Koje camps. I need names and regiment/division info, too. Fred p.s. I was honored to visit Korea in the past year (to judge dog shows), and I visited the DMZ twice.
If you were in Korea in the early `50s or in Europe in the last year of WW2 there, please e-mail me.
Forgive me for being so lengthy in these questions. Please help me in gaining historical accuracy -- dates and persons. I understand there were several times that riots in the prison compounds broke out on the island of Koje, some 25 miles off Pusan. I took notes on something I'd read, but can't remember what reference now, and my dates may have been in error. I thought I read that a unit of the 25th Inf. Div., a battalion (or more?) rotated from the front in Feb. 1952 (under the command of a Maj. John Klein?); on the 18th a riot broke out, and a second riot occurred March 13. This time, one American was killed and 39 wounded, while 75 prisoners were killed and 139 wounded. This count did not include the bodies of those prisoners (collaborators) who were reluctant to take part in the revolt and therefore were killed earlier by the KPA officers organizing the revolt. Did these casualties actually happen at that time, March? In another place I read that the battalion was sent in April of `52.
I think I had read that the prison compound that had grown during the 1950-51 part of the conflict, had been turned into a Communist armed camp under the very noses of unsuspecting UN commandants! One such infiltrator was a North Korean general who had posed as an illiterate semi-imbecile of no rank and once in, started organizing the Communist POWs in the prison compounds and planning for revolts. By the time Klein got there (?), all of the prison camps in South Korea were actually under the control of General Nam Il (chief negotiator at Panmunjom? and) leader of the North Korean Army. In some places, they even brazenly flew the red flag over the compounds! The undercover general (under Nam's directions) and his prisoner-officers systematically killed many of their countrymen and Chinese who had surrendered voluntarily to the Yanks during various battles, and others who seemed reluctant to join the underground prisoners’ army. Revolts were staged so they could blame the UN and ROK guards for those deaths.
I got the impression that the Communists at the table in the DMZ used the repression of the revolts as propaganda, adding lies about treatment and murder of prisoners on Koje, and the negotiators and the press at Panmunjom were surprised, because they had less information about how much was fact and how much fabrication in what was going on at Koje. The propaganda made negotiating very difficult.
Was there indeed a Maj. Klein? All Google searches so far have turned up different Kleins in different eras. The only one that sounded like I might have found him was a website, www.grissom.afrc.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-051220-013.pdf but I just got "This webpage has been removed". Do I have several riots all confused? Who was the infiltrator NKPA general? I am told that in the book "About Face", Col David Hackworth says the Army decided to tie down a whole infantry division there, not just a battalion.
I may have more questions later. Thanks for whatever help you can give. mrgsd@hiwaay.net
I have received a German ID flag that was brought back from WWII. The owner recently passed away and his name is on this flag. All I can tell you is the flag was captured by a member of the 84th Division 334th Infantry 1st Platoon Anti-Tank. I'm not sure where it was picked up at, but I do know it's real. It has an area about 10 inches long and about 1 and half inches wide where it looks like something burning fell on it and burnt a few small holes and scorched some of the red where it had folded. Outside of a few stains and age it looks good. It has the names of the men and their hometown around the white center circle of the flag in ink. If anyone knows a name or you can supply any more information I would love to hear it.
The list of names that may be correctly spelled:
Antonio Avillegas.......Globe AZ.
Clarence Plante......Minneapolis, Minn
Robert Burch........Newark, N.J.
Richard M. Kaskamen........Rock Island, Ill.
Girla (not sure of correct spelling)..San Antonio, Texas
Seabees, Soldiers Create Security Points for Iraqi Forces
Story Number: NNS060518-01
Release Date: 5/18/2006 7:32:00 AM
By Journalist 1st Class Benjamin Franklin, Multinational Force - West Public Affairs
AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq (NNS) -- Seabees and Soldiers of the 9th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) completed major projects in May that will directly aid Iraqi Security Forces in their efforts to reinforce security and maintain stability in Al Anbar Province.
The goal was to create several security posts that would be manned entirely by the Iraqi army and would help them to maintain law and order.
The overall operation was a cooperative effort between the Seabees and the U.S. Army.
“We are building all the steel and wooden structures for their fighting positions, and are preparing the berthing spaces with electrical and air conditioning,†said Builder 1st Class Andrew Bugs, special projects supervisor. “The U.S. Army will drop it off, and then we’ll build the sites. Once finished, the Iraqi army will take them over.â€
NMCB 40 Seabees are constructing these projects at a detachment site. Steel Worker 3rd Class Pablo Sanchez helped reinforce steel conex boxes so that they would support the weight of a heavy steel fighting position and layers of sandbags. This unit will house a defensive machine gun nest for the Iraqi forces.
“Collectively, our crew burned about 500 welding rods on this project,†Sanchez said. “We build a lot of things for people, but this is the first time that I’ve been able to set a camp up for the Iraqi forces. I hope this helps to protect the Iraqi troops so they can accomplish their work.â€
A challenge to completing the projects was a swamp located at the end of a waterway that separated the Seabees from the project sites. Movement around the far end of the waterway was even less desirable because it meant placing the convoy at greater risk from other hazards.
To solve the dilemma, the Army’s 46th Engineer Construction Battalion (ECB) was called in to create a road along the waterway and directly across the edge of the swamp. The 46th ECB is a subordinate unit to the 9th NCR and is a valuable pool of highly skilled engineers that the Seabees can rely upon to handle difficult projects.
Soldiers operating bulldozers, bucket loaders, dump trucks and road graders spent days moving large volumes of earth to create a new convoy route. The crew used more than 2,000 cubic yards of rubble to fill in the edge of the canal from its six-foot depth.
“We’ve been working long hours trying to get this done,†said Army Staff Sgt. Ronnie Kilgore of the 3rd Earth Movers Platoon, 46th ECB. “Even though it’s hot, we still work hard. We know it’s important that we get this road complete.
The importance of this road goes well beyond any single military project. It provides military teams with the ability to operate more effectively. “It makes the insurgents have to watch more areas now,†said Kilner.
While the 46th ECB strengthened the road for convoy trucks, NMCB 40 completed its prefabrication projects. The U.S Army was invaluable in supplying materials and handling the logistics.
“The Army is loading the trucks and moving them out for us. They are providing us with security,†said Chief Utilitiesman Ismael Macario, assistant officer-in-charge of NMCB 40.
Soon afterward, the Army’s 506th Infantry (1st Battalion), a supported unit of the 9th NCR, and the Seabees successfully completed the security projects. Iraqi Security Forces are now in place and are increasing their efforts to provide security.
“The force protection measures we are taking will be saving their lives. It is a show of force,†said Macario. “This is a center point for turning one area over to the Iraqis. We have troops training the Iraqis how to maneuver, and the Army is taking them out on patrols. We have Seabees out here building positions and assisting them in force protection – helping them take back their country.â€
