The DPAA Identifies Five MIA/POW Service Members from the Korean War and World War II

From the Novemeber 2, 2022, Stars and Stripes.

The Defense Department's  Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has recently identified five missing servicemen, three from Pearl Harbor in World War II and two from the Korean War.

Both Korean War soldiers  -- Sgt.  Howard Malcom, 23, and Sgt.  Allen Tuttle, 23--  had been unaccounted for since December 1950 and died in the same POW camp, according to the DPAA.

Malcom, who died in  August 1951, was accounted for on October  25.

Tuttle, who died  in March 1951,  was identified  on October 26.

You can go to my Tattooed on Your Soul:  World War II blog to read about the Pearl Harbor sailors who were identified.

Arlington National Cemetery Marks Centennial of Tomb of the Unknowns-- Part 2

 On November 11,  -- the anniversary of the war's end, celebrated as veterans Day in the United States -- the anonymous remains were interred at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, in the newly built Tomb of then Unknown Soldier, dedicated to all unidentified Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation.

In 1931-32  a craved marble superstructure was placed atop the tomb, completing the memorial familiar to  present-day visitors.

Since then Arlington burial details have interred American unknowns from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, though in 1998 the last one was exhumed, identified and returned to his family for reburial.

Guarding the memorial around the clock are select sentinels of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment ("The Old Guard").

Arlington National Cemetery plans several events to mark the centennial of the tomb, leading up to a formal ceremony on Veterans Day.  It invited the public to visit, pay silent respect and recall the men whose names remain a mystery but whose sacrifice must never be forgotten.

 

These Are the Wars the U.S. Has Fought-- Part 2: The World Wars, Korea and Vietnam

**  WORLD WAR I (1917-1918)

The U.S. declared war on Germany April 6, 1917.

A total of 4,734,991 Americans served.     There were 116,516 killed and 204,002 wounded.

**  WORLD WAR II   (1941-1945)

16,112,566 Americans were called into service.  

405,339 were killed and 670,846 wounded.

******************************

**  KOREAN WAR   (1950-1953)

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) versus the Democratic  People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).  The United States and United Nations countries supported South Korea and China and the Soviet Union supported North Korea.

The war ended with an armistice that persists to this day.

5,720,000 Americans fought.

54,246 died and 103,284 were wounded.

**  VIETNAM WAR  (1955-1975)

There is some discussion as to when the war began for the United States.

It was North Vietnam (Communists) versus South Vietnam supported by the United States.

It really picked up for the U.S. after what was called the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

In this war, 8,744,000 served and 90,220 died and 153,303 were wounded.

--Cooter

19 Famous Folks You Didn't Know Served in the Military-- Part 1: Driver, Hendrix, Freeman and Jones

In honor of Memorial Day yesterday.

From the May 31, 2021, Gazette "19 famous people you didn't know served in the military" by Terry Terrones. 

Sure, folks know George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower served in the military.  As did Elvis.

But, here are some others:

1.  ADAM DRIVER   "Kenlo in  "Star Wars"  Two years in Marines after 9/11.  Medical discharge.

2.  JIMI HENDRIX--  Enlisted in Army in 1961.  101st Airborne.  Honorably discharged 1962 after injury.

3.  MORGAN FREEMAN--  Joined Air Force 1955.  Radar technician for four years.

4.  JAMES EARL JONES--  Army officer in Korean War

--Cooter

Corporal Edward J. Aumack, Killed in the Korean War-- Part 2

From HonorStates.com.

CORPORAL EDWARD J. AUMACK

From Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Death:  October 20, 1951  Fighting near Yongon-ni, North Korea.

Corporal U.S. Army, Korean War 

Light Weapons Infantryman

Company C, 1st Battalion,  5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team.

Service Number:  51026861

Killed in Action.  Received Purple Heart.

I was unable to find out where he was buried.

Corporal Edward J. Aumack, Killed in the Korean War

In November I did several posts on the Aumack Family Cemetery in Hazlet, New Jersey, which is being cleaned up in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog.  The small cemetery is where the remains of a Civil soldier, American Revolution and two War of 1812 veterans are buried.

I wrote about them, and also came across the name of this Army soldier from Hazlet, New Jersey, with the same last name, who was killed in the Korean War.  I am of the opinion that he is likely a member of the family.

From Honor States.org. 

--Brock-Perry

Deaths: Charles Sanna and His Swiss Miss Cocoa Mix-- Part 1: Built Submarines in WW II

CHARLES SANNA  (1917-2019)

From the April 5, 2019, Chicago Tribune  "He poured genius into Swiss Miss cocoa mix" by
Harrison Smith, Washington Post.

And, he was a builder of submarines during World War II and invented towering spray dryers.  But, he was best-known for his Swiss Miss cocoa mix.  I sure had a lot of that while growing up.

"Fiddling at his kitchen stove in the late 1950s, standing over a pot of creamer, sugar, cocoa and vanilla, Charles Sanna... was on the verge of a culinary breakthrough."

At the time, he was chief engineer at Sanna Dairies, a Wisconsin business founded by his father, an Italian immigrant who sold his own mozzarella and ricotta.  During the Korean War they had supplied the U.S. military with powdered sweetened whole milk coffee creamer.

To avoid penalties written into Army contracts for failing to make enough creamer, the company had overproduced the creamer and now had warehouses full of the stuff

Something  needed to be done with it and Charles decided to do something about it.

Honor Flight Chicago-- Part 3: How It Started

Co-founder of the Honor Flight Chicago hub is Mary Pettinatto, who took her step-father to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. shortly after it opened and encountered  one of te very first Honor Flights.

She was so moved that when she returned to Chicago, she co-founded the Chicago hub with the help of three other women in 2007.   The first flight took off in 2008 and now they have gone to D.C. 95 times.

With the aging of the orld War II veterans, they opened the flight to Korean War veterans in 2016 and this year to Vietnam War veterans.

"For our Vietnam  veterans, who returned home to open animosity and hostility, the day has proven to be one of healing and closure -- a true 'Welcome Home' that is 50 years overdue," says Doug Meffley, co-director of Honor Flight Chicago.

--Cooter

Honor Flight Chicago Opens Up to Vietnam Veterans-- Part 1

From the Nov. 8, 2019, Chicago Tribune "Next generation of warriors."

"They may not have felt like warriors in the years Vietnam veterans fought a thankless fought a world away.  But thanks to organizations such as Honor Flight Chicago, that has changed.

"Honor Flight Chicago, a not-for-profit, has for the past 11 years flown World War II and Korean War veterans to Washington, D.C., free-of-charge to visit the national war memorials built in their honor.  In 2019, the organization  began including Vietnam-era veterans in this Day of Honor."

A well-deserved honor.  I just can't believe how so many were treated when they came home during and after the war.  It kind of reminds me of the way Confederate veterans are being treated these days.

Deaths: Gene Wolf: Mr. Pringles and Science Fiction

GENE WOLFE (1931-2019)

From the May 2, , 2019, Chicago Tribune "Science-fiction writer with a literary touch" by  Harrison Smith, Washington Post.

"Gene Wolfe was an industrial engineer who helped devise the cooking  process  for Pringles, the stackable chip, then turned to fantasy and science-fiction writing to craft intricate, philosophically rich novels that explored faith, war and distant planets, died April 14 in Peoria, Illinois.  He was 87."

I never read any of his writings but am sure a fan of his Pringles.

He served as a combat engineer in the Korean War, an experience that left him shaken and startled by loud noises upon his return.

While working as an industrial engineer for Procter & Gamble, he developed the frying process for potato shingles that are used to make those delicious Pringles chips.  In time he came to resemble the cartoon figure on the cans, the broad-faced man with the bushy handlebar mustache.

Ray Boro, USN-- Part 3: The Marines Sure Loved Their Corsairs, War Experience, Home

The Marine pilots loved their Corsairs and really flew in close to support their Marines on the ground.  Navy Corsair pilots didn't get as close in.   Ray is happy that his squadron was the last in the Navy to have Corsairs and Korea was the last hurrah for the Corsairs.

His aircraft carrier arrived in Korea in 1952.  Mr. Boro said that his pilots saw action, but he never did.  He never even saw Korea except on occasion way off in the distance.  None of his ship's planes were shot down though some returned with bullet holes.

"We had jets, F-14s.  The enemy had MIG jets."

Life on the Boxer was "compact."  The Flight Deck was often a madhouse.  Much of the time it was the old military axiom "Hurry up and wait."  He remembers that one man lost his life when he fell overboard and was lost at sea.

On June 11, 1953, his ship left Japan for home.  Four destroyers accompanied the carrier back to the United States.  Ray was unaware that his half-brother was on one of them.  He didn't find out about it until after his discharge.  He had joined the Navy because of his half-brother and several uncles being in it during World War II.

--Cooter

Ray Boro-- Part 2: The Corsairs, VF-44 and Korea

Here he joined VF-44.  (VF stands for fighter squadron.)  They flew those vaunted old World War II fighters  F4Us, better known as Corsairs.  Ray is very proud of those Corsairs:  "We were the last squadron to have them.  The others were sent to France."

Being the newby in the squadron, his first job was in the library.  Then you went to the night shift and then you became a plane captain.  Soon after arriving, he was directed to preflight a plane.  Only problem was that he "did not know the first thing about preflighting a plane."  However, in time he was trained to do so.

Another job he had was taxiing his plane.  And that was by far the worst thing he had to do as he had to be very, very aware of those props.  And not just from your plane, but the other ones as well.

After Jacksonville his squadron was transferred to the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain, but weren't there long because its catapult broke.  They were needed for launching the planes.  So, VF-44 ended up on the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea (CV-43) and USS Boxer (CV-21) and off to Korea they went as the Korean War was underway.

--Cooter

Korean War Veteran Chuck Class-- Part 4: The P-51 Mustang

One poignant story Mr. Class was about the P-51 Mustang pilot that had been shot down.  Most of the aircraft he saw were World War II vintage, very few jets.  This plane had been shot down, but the pilot had been able to make a crash landing and the plane was upright.  But the plane started smoking and Mr. Class was close enough that he could see the pilot slumped over in the cockpit.

He wanted to rush over to the pilot's aide, but enemy troops were nearby and firing at the plane.  The smoke turned into flames and burned the whole plane.  That was a hard one.

Mr. Class did his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.  He was drafted into service.

--Cooter

Korean War Veteran Chuck Class-- Part 3: That Portable Shower

A really big treat for his unit was when portable showers would be brought to them.  "That was just great and they had warm water!"  This was a real big thing.

There were Korean homes in the countryside, but they were most often abandoned and just about everything taken from them.

They built Bailey Bridges made of steel and put together much like an erector set.  These were developed by the British during World War II and were noted for ease of construction and where you didn't need cranes or heavy equipment.

A major job of Mr. Class' unit was clearing minefields, both U.S. and Korean.  The American fields were supposed to have mines put in at a certain distance apart, but that was a rare occurrence.  They sure didn't appreciate that.  Anti-tank mines were dug in deeper than the anti-personnel ones.  They used mine detectors.  He became quite the expert on mines during his service.

Most of the mines he picked up were American and you were somewhat safe if you were behind the mines as they faced the enemy.  But a problem was whether or not the mines had been booby-trapped.  If they thought that had been done, they would loop a string or rope around the mine and get twenty feet away and pull it.

He had a near-miss once from an American hand grenade turned into a booby trap.  He realized right away what he had tripped and hit the ground hard just before it went off and luckily was not hit.

--Cooter

Korean War Veteran Chuck Class-- Part 2: The Turkey Dinner

Fortunately, he was never wounded during the conflict.

As an engineer, he usually wasn't near the front lines, except when his unit would give the infantry a night off and take their places along the front lines.

Both North Koreans and Chinese wore the same uniform.  U.S. and South Korea forces also wore the same uniform. About the closest he ever came to seeing the enemy was seeing them on a distant hill. "They were shooting at us and we were shooting at them."

In 2000, he and his wife went to Washington, D.C. and visited the Korean War Memorial.

His unit had their own cooks so they didn't have to eat the c rations.  They bought their own food and ate well.  He remembers one Thanksgiving where they had the complete turkey dinner, but had a glob of ice cream melting into it.

--Cooter

Korean War Veteran Chuck Class, 89-- Part 1: The Sweater

I interviewed Mr. Class on Wednesday, December 12 at the American Legion Post 703 in Fox Lake, Illinois.

He has been with the post for 42 years in a multitude of jobs, including past commander.  Right now, until the end of December 2018, he is the Adjutant and Financial Officer and lives in nearby Spring Grove.

In the Korean War, he was in the Army in the First Cavalry, supposedly moved by vehicles, but he recalls more often by a lot of marching.  He arrived on scene in 1951-1952, when most of the "nasty stuff" was over and fighting was mostly around the 38th Parallel.  The early part of the war involved battle lines going all the way to the northern part of the peninsula and to the southern part.

Mr. Class  was with the engineers and involved in a lot of bridge and road building as well as explosives (especially disarming mine fields).

The weather in Korea is much like it is here in the Midwest, cold in the winter and hot in the summer.  He arrived over there in June and by December it was pretty cold.  He remembers being very thankful for a sweater he received.  But one time he took the sweater off on a warmer winter day while his unit was working in a mine field.  A shell came in, exploded, and perforated that sweater.  "Thank goodness I wasn't wearing it."

--Cooter

North Korea Returns Remains of 55 Americans Killed in the Korean War

From the July 29, 2018, Chicago Tribune  "Kim's end game remains to be seen" by Eric Talmadge.

North Korea made good on a promise to President Trump by returning 55 sets of apparent remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War.  But it expects something in return -- a peace treaty, or something much like it.

Friday was the 65th anniversary of the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War , which concluded not in a formal peace treaty but an armistice agreement that was supposed to be temporary but has stayed in effect ever since.

The remains of more than 5,000 American soldiers are believed to be recoverable in North Korea and it is possible that they have gathered hundreds more of the remains

The remains were flown to Hawaii where they will undergo scientific testing to determine if they are human, American or of Allied troops.

A Step In the Right Direction.  Welcome Home.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier-- Part 2: Vietnam War Unknown's Name Is Found With DNA

The first unidentified U.S. soldier from World War I was placed in the plaza of the Memorial Amphitheater in 1921.  (The body was carried from France to the United States in the USS Olympia of Spanish-American War fame.)

A simple message is affixed to the memorial, "Here rests in honored glory and American soldier known but to God."

Nearby are the crypts of the Unknowns from World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Twenty years ago the remains of the Vietnam soldier was exhumed for DNA testing and found to be Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie and he was later buried in St. Louis.  The Vietnam crypt now sits empty and since DNA samples are obtained from soldiers today, it is unlikely we'll have another unknown soldier after Vietnam.  Perhaps missing, but not unknown.

10 of the Strangest Moments in the History of War-- Part 2: Tootsie Rolls Delivered as Ammunition

5.  A bathroom break causes a war.  The Marco Polo Bridge Incident July 7-9, 1937, in Beijing, China, vs. Japan.

4.  Tootsie Rolls delivered as ammunition at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Korean War, Nov.-Dec. 1950.

3.  A blind king charges into battle on August 26, 1346.

2.  A soldier becomes a veteran of three armies.  Was in the Japanese, Soviet Union and German armies during WWII.

1.  British sink their own flagship, the HMS Victoria.  1893 collision with HMS Camperdown.

--CooterRolls

Honor Flights Extended to Korean War Veterans-- Part 4: A Special Fraternity

Tom Cafferty, 86, served as an Army medic in the 1st cavalry Division during the Korean War, said he is looking forward to seeing the names and statues in D.C. on the Honor Flight later this year.  During the war, he built roads and placed mines.

Lou Kueltzo, 81, filed his application in 2008 and is eager to meet his fellow veterans.  They are a part of a special fraternity.  "Us veterans like to talk about the good times more than the bad," he said.  "You know you'll be able to sit down and talk, and they know how you feel and why you feel the way you do."

For more information visit honorflightchicago.org.

--DaCoot