Korea Farewell

Another superb image from the Doug Price photo collection.

Early 1951. Pusan, Korea. Despite the sign affixed to the building that says "NO PHOTOGRAPHING," Maj. C.B. White of the 15th Field Artillery, U.S. Army 2nd Division, captured this dock-side image of a brass ensemble in 1951 as he departed Korea for Japan. A steady rain was underway at the time. The Eighth Army usually provided modest fanfare to send each batch of troops on their way to and from Korea. While the photo resolution is sketchy, it may be evidence of personnel integration at a time when the Army was still playing catch-up to Truman's Executive Order 9981.

Pvt. Philip Hughes was one of the first (and youngest) U.S. Army soldiers to depart to Korea at the beginning of the conflict. He entered Korea via this same port on July 3, 1950. His remains came back from Korea in 1951 as he was subsequently prepared for final interment in Arlington National Cemetery, just a few miles from his boyhood home in Washington, D.C.