My Father: An Interview with a Korean War Veteran

Today I sat down with my father to talk about the Korean War, there were many questions, and a lot of short answers. The topic of war is not the greatest one, especially when you have served in it...

Here are some questions that I had asked...

Were you drafted or did you enlist?
With a laugh my father said "Drafted, are you crazy I never wanted to go into the service!"

What branch of service did you serve in?
"I was in the Army."

What was your rank?
"Staff Sergeant and Communications Sergeant."

Why did you join?
"I had no choice. One day I woke up with a letter in the mail telling me to either go to the service or spend 20 years in prison. So of course I went."

Why did you pick the service branch you joined?
"I didn't pick the Army, I wanted the Navy like my four brothers before me. They wouldn't let another brother go into the Navy, so they told me I had to go into the Army. I didn't want to go into the Army because I didn't want to live in a hole in the ground. I wanted the Navy because I would have a nice clean bed and hot meals every night. I did try to enlist into the Navy, but because of my brothers like I said I was turned down, and I was told I had flat feet."

Where did you serve at?
"Fort Ord, California. Camp Cook, California. Camp Stowman, California. Fort Meade, Maryland."

What was boot camp like?
"Terrible. They woke up at five thirty in the morning made you do so many exercises. You weren't allowed to walk anywhere, you had to run. Not to mention the mean sergeants and training up the ass."

What fields were you trained in?
"I was trained in the Infantry, Electronics, Heavy Mortar Company, and Intermediate Speed Radio Operator... basically a Morse Code Operator."

What was your job or your assignments?
"Being the Radio Chief I had to repair and install all types of radios. I had nine people under me and I was in charge of them. I gave a lot of orders." My dad chuckled then added "a lot like now".

Did you see combat?
"No."

Even though you didn't see any combat, were there many casualties in your unit?
"Yes."

What were a few of your most memorable experiences?
With a smile, my dad started to tell some of his most memorable stories... "I remember when I had to unload a heavy mortal shell that was still live from the mortar that was scary. I remember I was flying in a C1-19 flying box car with a parachute on my back thinking I might have to jump and telling myself that even if I had to jump, there was no way I was going to. I hate heights. Another one was climbing down a three story net down the side of a battleship into a loading barge. A fun memory was with a friend of mine who was a Private. Private Bailey. He was my Jeep Driver. One day I ordered him to wash my Jeep and on a drive back to the camps, he suddenly told me that he was going to wash my Jeep for me and a few seconds later he drove it into a river. He was a wild one. We were waist deep in water and the engine was flooded."

Were you a prisoner of war, if so, tell me about your experience in captivity?
"I was not a prisoner of war; however your mother keeps me in captivity. I have to eat when she tells me to and go to bed when she tells me to, I'm still in the service!" my dad joked.

Were you awarded any medals or citations?
"I was awarded the Korean Service Medal and the Service Medal just for being in Korea. I also was given a Good Conduct Medal and a Sharpshooter Badge."

Were you ever injured? How?
"Yes, one day a grenade landed in front of me and went off. From that day in 1952 I lost the entire part of my one inner ear, can't hear anything out of it."

How did you stay in contact with your family?
"Back then we didn't have all the fancy stuff you have now. We just sent letters by regular mail."

What was the food like?
"It all depends on where I was at. The food overseas was horrible. It was all dried food. I remember one time when I was in basic training; we had to walk out of the mess hall with our trays after we were done eating and dump it in the garbage. There was a Sergeant waiting for you by the trash can. He would write your name down and what you didn't eat. If you didn't clean your tray and the Sergeant didn't like what he saw, you were on the list for mess hall duty.

Well one day the mashed potatoes that we had were horrible. I'm not even sure they were mashed potatoes, they looked a little like them. Anyway, so I didn't want to get mess hall duty so I shoved the mashed potatoes in my pockets, walked out with my empty tray, told the sergeant the meal was great! As soon as I got back to my barracks, the mashed potatoes got flushed down the toilet."

Did the troops get any type of entertainment in Korea?
"The only people I remember putting on a show was Ramon Burr and Xavior Cugott's wife. I ended up dancing with her."

What did you do when you went on leave?
"I never went on leave. I got in trouble with the commander for that."

Where did you travel while in the service?
"Okinawa, Wake Island, Japan, and Korea."

After the service did you work or go back to school?
"I did both. I went to Pittsburgh Technical Institute for electronics and I worked as a bartender at the Roosevelt Hotel."

Was your education supported by the G.I. Bill?
"Yes."

Did you make any close relationships while in the service?
"Yes, I kept up some of the relations for about a month, but we all went our separate ways."

Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general?
"Yes. I know what those poor bastards are going through. If you're going to join the service, the worst thing in the world is to join the army. Go for the Navy or the Air force."

How did your services and experiences affect your life?
"It gave me a more rounded thought of what the world is really about and everything that the world is going through when others are sitting around in their pretty houses. There is more going on than what people think there is. The service helped me learn respect and tolerance. Not to mention learning how to defend myself with a lot of big weapons. At age 77 the only things that affect my life from the war at this point is that I have to go to the VA Hospital."

Well, there you have it, an interview with my father, Seargent James Carl Benson, a proud Veteran of the Armed Forces.