A Time to Heal

Photo by William Straeter (AP)

July 4, 1951. Korea. In lieu of a Fourth of July Parade back home in Cleveland, Ohio, Sgt. Harry Hildreth is content to sunbathe on the banks of the Imjin River. Soldiers in Korea had periodic access to their regimental service company's modular shower facilities, trucked into place as conditions permitted.  When those facilities were not available, skinny-dipping was the alternative. While Hildreth, a 28-year-old veteran of World War II, was somewhat removed from the front lines, he nevertheless is prepared for potential hostilities. Next to him are his helmet, boots, a musette bag, and carbine with an expanded-capacity magazine. Sgt. Hildreth's uniform is nowhere in sight. It may be that his service company was providing laundry service at the time. Harry Hildreth survived the Korean War, but passed away in 1984 at the age of 62.

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.

The Identification of Leo Duquette

1949 or early 1950.  Japan.  Leo Duquette (circled) of Toledo, Ohio, out on the town.

From this festive photo, fast-forward to October 1950.  As U.S. forces push northward to recapture territory lost during the opening weeks of the Korean War, graves registration teams revisit those battle sites in search of remains.  Many sites hosted multiple sets of remains, sometimes buried, and sometimes not.  Identification of individuals was not always possible.

Search teams active to the south of Chonui found pretty much what they expected.  On July 11, 1950, the 21st Infantry Regiment's third battalion was ordered to stand fast on a ridge line that straddled the road south to Choch'iwon. It was there in October that graves registration found the remains of 164 Americans.  Time and the elements compromised much of the material that would aid in identification.  Persons who could not be identified with technologies prevailing at that time were assigned an inventory number.  Among these was X-132, who was buried as an unknown at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, better known to some as "The Punchbowl."  Officially, Leo would remain "missing in action."

Fast forward again 67 years, almost to the day.  The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is working round-the-clock to examine disinterred remains of U.S. servicemen retrieved from the battlefields of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.  On October 16, 2017, the DPAA completed its DNA analysis to determine that X-132 was PFC Leo Duquette of L Company, 21st I/R.  Like PVT Philip Thomas Hughes, Leo enlisted in the Army as a 17-year-old kid. In July 1950, at age 19, Leo and much of his battalion were surrounded by superior numbers of North Korean forces. Few of the Americans made it out alive. Leo was the son of Lucien, a carpenter, and his wife Corrine.  Both parents have long since passed away without knowing the fate of their son.

Leo is survived by some younger siblings. In November 2018, Leo's siblings received his remains for interment in northwest Ohio.

Field Hygiene

c. 1950. Korea.  These Marines hold a hard-won hilltop position. They "enjoy" field accommodations very similar to those endured by PVT Philip Hughes and his U.S. Army colleagues. Here, we see PFC Richard West of South Dakota getting a haircut. He holds a mess kit water cup filled with shaving mud.  PFC John Clements of Texas is the barber. PFC Robert Green of Oregon waits his turn, passing the time with an old magazine.

Philip's Last Journey

March 21, 1951.  San Francisco, California.  Cargo from the USS General Randall carries the remains of personnel killed in the Korean War.  These were the first of over 34,000 remains to be repatriated. For the first time in the history of American warfare, the policy of repatriation was implemented to the greatest extent practicable. The U.S. Army established a mortuary affairs facility at Kokura, Japan, where a Coca-Cola plant was converted to an assembly line for the processing of remains.  These tasks involved the proper identification of individuals, embalming the remains, and disposition of personal effects.  All of this took time, so many of the remains were interred in temporary graves while they awaited processing.
  
Pvt. Philip Hughes, killed in action on September 12, 1950, began his last journey in late 1951.  Philip was shipped in a flag-draped casket held in a rugged shipping container like those shown here. His container was transshipped to a rail car that carried him to the Defense Department's east coast mortuary hub in New York.  The last leg of his journey took him by rail to Washington, D.C, and ultimately, Arlington National Cemetery, where his final interment took place on February 27, 1952.

Dignity Takes a Break

Photo by Gene Herrick, AP

September 27, 1950. West of Taegu, South Korea, on the banks of the Naktong River.  Three months have passed since the start of the Korean War.  The clash of arms precipitated a massive flow of civilians, desperate to escape harm's onslaught. But for American troops just introduced to the melee, it's complicated.  This awkward image shows a U.S. 24th Division military policeman frisking the mother of at least one small child.  In a general sense, the civilians are innocent.  The Americans found out the hard way that civilian refugees were tactical pawns in this struggle. Most Koreans were simple peasants who had no capacity for the ideological issues that framed the war raging around them.  But they could be coerced by combatants of either side to aid and abet the war effort, simply by reporting observations of troop movements or by carrying weapons or supplies. Hence we see the invasive security measures in practice. If truth is the first casualty of war, then dignity is next on the list.

Dog Gone Dogs!

Photo by James Martenhoff, AP

March 12, 1951.  Pvt. Philip Hughes has already been consumed by the Korean War, but other American soldiers would be engaged in the conflict for another two years.  Pvt. Dick L. Powell of Findlay, Ohio is at the front lines where the U.S. Army is struggling to resist a Chinese offensive. This photo captures a precious moment of rest and repast for the private.  Having deposited his carbine behind him, Powell is as fascinated with "Fuzzy" as the puppy is fascinated with the soldier's chow. Dogs were plentiful in Korea, serving the indigenous population both as pets and as comestibles. This breed was specific to Korea.  If they weren't eaten, these dogs grew to resemble a cross between a German shepherd and a fox terrier.

December 1950, vicinity of Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.  An exhausted U.S. Marine naps behind the wheel of a weapons carrier while his newly befriended puppy whines in his ear.  Photo by David Douglas Duncan.

January 15, 1951, on a Korean airfield. Lt. J.J. Schneider (left) and Capt. J.B. Hannon (right) of the U.S. Air Force 18th Fighter-Bomber Group are perched on the wing of a North American F-51 Mustang.  Accompanying them is the group mascot, "Admiration Dawg." Dawg flew at least ten missions in Korea, sitting in the laps of various Mustang pilots.
Photo by Jim Pringle, AP.

Admiration Dawg once again, this time in the care of Lt. J.V. LeRoy.