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Applejack --- (Korean War)
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Applejack --- (Korean War)


May 8, 2017, 4:53 PM

I'm flipping from WW2 to the Korean War. This story appeared in the Nov.-Dec. Issue of THE GRAYBEARDS, official publication of The Korean War Veterans Assoc. The earlier version had us leaving Pyongyang on Nov. 27, 1950. I made contact with a former company mate, now living in Scotland, who maintained a diary, His records show we left Pyongyang on Dec. 1, 1950. I have deleted part of the story for brevity.
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The orders I received in a registered letter delivered to my office on a Tuesday afternoon in mid-Sept., 1950, was blunt. Report to Fort Hood, TX next Monday morning. I called to plead for a two week delay. The response was terse, "It is imperative you report as ordered". Those were not the words I wanted to hear.

I had served over 3 1/2 years during WW2, part of that time in the European Theater. Sometime after my discharge I joined the Inactive Reserve with the understanding I would be recalled only in a dire emergency, after the Active Reserve, the National Guard and other units. Wrong !!! My stay at Fort Hood was brief. A train ride to San Francisco and a plane awaiting me at Travis Air Force Base to transport me to Tokyo. A couple of days at Tokyo and then a troop ship to Inchon, South Korea. on the Yellow Sea. All of this in about 30 days. I literally went from the mid 90's at Fort Hood to well below freezing at Inchon.

I thought the winters in Europe were bad but compared with what I found at Inchon, the winters in Europe seemed rather balmy. The ride from Inchon to Pyongyang, North Korea, was not a pleasant journey but that's two other stories for another time. I joined Team "C" of the 205th. Signal Repair Company in late October. There were five teams in our company, each team consisting of 25 - 30 men. A team was assigned to a Division or other Army unit. Team "C" was located in a huge warehouse that could have easily served as a cold storage facility. A few days later, one of the other teams returned from front line support and we moved to a huge unfinished apartment building.

A member of the other team had come in possession of several bushels of apples. We ate apples and we ate apples and had hardly put a dent in our supply. Someone suggested we make some "applejack". One thing GIs learn after entering service is to "scrounge". So the call went out., "we need a container for the applejack". One never questions where or how, just do it. Fortunately one of our members found a five gallon small neck glass jug. We were now ready to go to work. Out came the pocket knives and we began to cut the apples into small pieces and stuff them down through the neck of the jug. We got some sugar from the mess tent, found a stopper and a short piece of plastic tubing and we were in business.

Later, as the Chinese Army was approaching Pyongyang, it was almost certain we would be heading South sometime soon. Knowing we had to protect that jug while traveling over some extremely rough roads, we fashioned a crate and found some old rags as cushioning material. On the day of departure, we placed the jug on one of the trucks with specific instructions to those on the truck to guard that jug with their lives, if necessary.

The Chinese came knocking at the North entrance to Pyongyang on Dec. 1, 1950 and we left the South Gate. We didn't know our final destination or when we would get there. The roads were terrible and filled with refugees fleeing to South Korea. All the bridges had been destroyed, and with all of the other problems, we traveled at a snail's pace. We finally arrived at Pusan on Dec. 8. Several days later two more of our teams joined us. One of the teams had lost some men and several teams lost equipment.

We had forgotten all about the jug of applejack until New Years Eve. Someone asked, "where is the jug of applejack". One of the guys said he knew where it was and went to retrieve it. When he returned, what we saw was some of the nastiest looking stuff one could have imagined. It looked like someone had dumped a quart of Georgia red clay in the jug. Well, at least we had to try it. One of the guys volunteered to be the official taster, We got some gauze out of a first aid kit, placed it over his canteen cup, tilted the jug and our came a dirty red liquid. The eyes of every man in the tent was focused on the face of the official taster. He took a small sip and then a bigger sip. A smile came over his face and a shout, "fellows, we've got some good applejack". Out came the canteen cups and we had a wonderful New Years Eve party. That was some good applejack !!!!!

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Re: Applejack --- (Korean War)


May 8, 2017, 6:25 PM

In my opinion, the Korean War memorial is the most moving one in Washington, just stunning. Do include it in a visit, it's near the Viet Nam memorial.
The conditions for our soldiers in the Korean War were terrible. And we rarely hear about that war, I think because it was so soon after WW2.
Approx US casualties:
37,000 died, 103,000 injured, almost 8,000 still unaccounted for.

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Re: Applejack --- (Korean War)


May 9, 2017, 12:10 AM

I was just thinking about getting off TNet for the night.. Until I saw a Joe21 story. I can always spare a few more minutes for a Joe21 story.

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Thanks for sharing!!!


May 8, 2017, 7:02 PM

,

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