Warriors and Scholars: A Modern War Reader

Combat in Korea: Reflections by a Once Young Soldier

148 COMBAT฀IN฀KOREA:฀฀ REFLECTIONS฀BY฀A฀ ONCE-YOUNG฀SOLDIER Col.฀Henry฀G.฀Gole’s฀initiation฀to฀combat฀came฀as฀a฀draftee฀ during฀the฀Korean฀War,฀where฀he฀served฀in฀1953฀as฀a฀rifleman ฀and฀BAR฀(Browning฀automatic฀rifle)฀man฀before฀being฀ promoted฀to฀sergeant฀and฀squad฀leader. After฀receiving฀his฀bachelor’s฀degree฀from฀Hofstra฀University ฀in฀1957,฀he฀served฀a฀three-year฀stint฀as฀a฀high฀school฀ history฀teacher฀and฀coach.฀In฀the฀meantime,฀he฀found฀time฀to฀ earn฀a฀master’s฀degree฀from฀the฀Fletcher฀School฀of฀Law฀and฀ Diplomacy฀in฀1958฀and฀a฀master’s฀degree฀in฀education฀from฀ Hofstra฀in฀1960. Gole฀reentered฀the฀Army฀in฀May฀1961฀and฀remained฀until฀ 1988.฀He฀continued฀his฀formal฀education฀while฀in฀the฀Army,฀ earning฀a฀master’s฀degree฀in฀history฀from฀Stanford฀University฀ in฀1969.฀After฀completing฀infantry,฀airborne,฀and฀ranger฀training ฀at฀Fort฀Benning฀in฀1961,฀Gole฀served฀two฀Special฀Forces฀ tours฀ in฀ Vietnam฀ (1966–67฀ and฀ 1970–71),฀ the฀ latter฀ with฀ MACV-SOG฀(Military฀Assistance฀Command฀Vietnam-Studies฀ and฀ Observations฀ Group),฀ an฀ unconventional฀ warfare฀ task฀ force฀engaged฀in฀highly฀secret฀operations฀throughout฀Southeast ฀Asia.฀He฀had฀earlier฀completed฀a฀Special฀Forces฀tour฀in COLONEL฀HENRY฀G.฀GOLE,฀USA฀(RET.) 149 Combat฀in฀Korea:฀Reflections฀by฀a฀Once-Young฀Soldier Germany฀(1963–65).฀ Gole฀was฀assigned฀to฀the฀Special฀Assistant฀for฀the฀Modern฀Volunteer ฀Army,฀Department฀of฀Army฀Staff,฀1971–72,฀and฀played฀a฀role฀ in฀planning฀for฀the฀all-volunteer฀Army฀as฀conscription฀was฀phased฀ out.฀Colonel฀Gole฀is฀also฀a฀scholar฀of฀national฀repute.฀He฀taught฀European ฀history฀at฀the฀U.S.฀Military฀Academy,฀1977–80,฀and฀served฀at฀ the฀U.S.฀Army฀War฀College,฀1980–84฀and฀again฀from฀1986฀to฀1988฀as฀ Director฀of฀International฀and฀West฀European฀Studies.฀ He฀earned฀his฀Ph.D.฀from฀Temple฀University฀in฀1991฀and฀is฀ the฀author฀of฀numerous฀articles฀and฀book฀reviews฀on฀history,฀military ฀education,฀the฀Bundeswehr,฀NATO,฀war฀planning,฀and฀special฀ operations.฀He฀continues฀to฀teach฀on฀an฀adjunct฀basis฀at฀the฀Army฀ War฀College.฀His฀book,฀The฀Road฀to฀Rainbow:฀Army฀Planning฀for฀ Global฀War,฀1934–1940,฀was฀published฀in฀2003.฀His฀Soldiering:฀Observations ฀from฀Korea,฀Vietnam฀and฀Safe฀Places฀(Brasseys)฀is฀due฀out฀ in฀early฀2005.฀His฀current฀project฀is฀the฀biography฀of฀Gen.฀William฀ E.฀Depuy. Combat฀has฀been฀described฀as฀1฀percent฀terror฀and฀99฀percent฀ boredom,฀but฀I฀found฀it฀to฀be฀low-grade฀fever,฀fatigue,฀blackheads,฀and฀ defecating฀in฀the฀woods,฀usually฀at฀a฀time฀and฀a฀place฀not฀entirely฀of฀ one’s฀own฀choosing.฀I฀intend฀to฀convey฀my฀sense฀of฀being฀a฀combat฀ soldier฀in฀Korea.฀The฀essence฀of฀the฀experience฀is฀in฀the฀details฀within฀ the฀spirit฀of฀the฀time,฀but฀mostly฀it฀is฀about฀the฀men.1 I฀left฀college฀to฀volunteer฀for฀the฀draft฀in฀1952฀because฀I฀wanted฀ to฀be฀the฀Audie฀Murphy฀of฀the฀Korean฀War.฀Since฀I฀was฀born฀in฀1933,฀ the฀war-in-my-head฀was฀World฀War฀II.฀I฀followed฀that฀war฀like฀a฀sports฀ fan,฀keeping฀scrapbooks,฀mostly฀of฀sleek฀aircraft฀and฀beautiful฀ships.฀ Who฀would,฀after฀all,฀save฀pictures฀of฀grown฀men฀rolling฀in฀mud฀and฀ 1 ฀Editor’s฀note:฀Colonel฀Gole฀presented฀this฀paper฀at฀the฀UNT฀Military฀History฀ Seminar฀on฀September฀26,฀1998. 150 Korea snow?฀I฀cheered฀on฀my฀uncles฀and฀the฀other฀guys฀who฀fought฀it,฀for฀ they฀were฀heroes฀to฀me.฀In฀1952,฀it฀was฀my฀turn฀to฀serve. Basic฀training฀was฀fun฀and฀filled฀with฀the฀stock฀characters฀I฀had฀ seen฀in฀the฀Hollywood฀version฀of฀the฀Army.฀Discipline฀in฀that฀brownshoe ฀Army฀was฀arbitrary,฀and฀our฀training฀cadre฀was฀third-rate.฀Most฀ of฀ them฀ were฀ ignorant฀ drunks.฀ Further,฀ this฀ NOO฀ YAWKER฀ was฀ stunned฀to฀see฀in฀the฀bus฀station฀at฀Blackstone,฀Virginia,฀signs฀at฀water ฀fountains฀and฀toilets฀declaring:฀WHITES฀ONLY฀and฀COLORED.฀ Camp฀Pickett฀was฀integrated;฀Virginia฀was฀not. After฀basic฀training,฀there฀was฀no฀doubt฀concerning฀my฀ultimate฀destination .฀I฀crossed฀the฀Pacific฀Ocean฀to฀Korea฀via฀Japan฀with฀4,500฀souls฀ at฀nine฀knots฀aboard฀the฀good฀ship฀Montgomery฀Meigs.฀Some฀twenty-five฀ years฀later,฀one฀of฀my฀colleagues฀in฀the฀History฀Department฀at฀West฀Point฀ was฀then-new฀Major,฀and฀now฀four-star฀General,฀“Monty”฀[Montgomery ]฀Meigs.฀His฀family฀has฀been฀littering฀American฀battlefields฀with฀its฀ bodies฀for฀several฀generations.฀Nice฀man.฀Good฀family.฀Rotten฀ship.฀Life...