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Hall of Famer [22127]
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Good Ole American Ingenuity -- Korean War
May 29, 2017, 10:03 PM
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Our company (205th. Signal Repair Company) was composed of five teams with about 25 men in each team, Each team was assigned to a Division or other Army unit. During my time in Korea I was at no time together with the entire company. We would often hear about some special event or problem that men in other teams had encountered. This story was relayed to me and I believe it was about the team assigned to the 24th. Division.
Although there was radio communications, land lines were still being used with lines strung from the forward positions to the communications tent. The team leader received a message that the switchboard at the communications tent was having a severe problem and needed immediate attention. Not knowing the severity of the problem, the telephone crew took another switchboard in case repairs were considered too lengthy. The switchboard was a small unit, having only eight terminals.
Arriving at the communications tent, the repair men were surprised to see eight North Korean POWs sitting at the rear of the tent near the switchboard, each one holing a wire in each hand. An armed guard sat nearby. The switchboard operator informed the repair men that only one terminal was in operating mode. When a call came in from the front, the POW holding the leads to that line received a "jolt". The switchboard operator attached those leads to the one operation terminal to receive the message. If he had to relay the message, he wrote it down, connected the proper leads to the terminal and passed the message along to the intended recipient. He used a little American ingenuity to solve his problem temporarily.
The repairmen decided the best approach was to replace the switchboard. It didn't take long to complete the job and a check to all of the forward positions indicated everything was in operating order. The switchboard operator told the guard he could take the POWs back to the compound. When the POWs left the tent, everyone was wearing a big smile. They had enjoyed all of the "jolts" they could stand.
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110%er [5737]
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Cool story and Thank You for your service!
May 29, 2017, 10:34 PM
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Happy Memorial Day!
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CU Guru [1923]
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Thanks for sharing!***
May 29, 2017, 10:41 PM
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CU Medallion [53716]
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LOL!! Nowdays, whoever came up with that cure would be in
May 29, 2017, 10:52 PM
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the more trouble than you could shake a stick at......If two men in black suits knock on your door in the morning, don't answer it Joe.
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Hall of Famer [24509]
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Happy "belated" Memorial day!!!!!
May 30, 2017, 3:19 AM
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My dad served in the Korean War, stationed out of Fort Jackson, Cootville, SC.
This war needs to be talked about more.....
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Orange Blooded [4186]
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sounds like the advertising campaign started there
May 30, 2017, 6:52 AM
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" reach out and touch someone."
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Walk-On [139]
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Re: sounds like the advertising campaign started there
May 30, 2017, 8:57 AM
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I can promise by first hand experience the jolt that those hand cranked phones produce will wake you up lol. We used to send out LP/OP (listening post / Observation Post) with hand sets and a field phone. We would sneak up on new soldiers and wait for them to connect the lines. When they had the raw wires to connect to the phone we would crank our phone and watch them scream. Military life leads to some humorous events
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