I did not realize that my father's life had been so interesting. Earl was born in 1930 in Knoxville, Tennessee. At the age of 17, he volunteered and enlisted in the Marines. For a kid who had never been out of the Knoxville area, Parris Island, South Carolina, would be a rude awakening. Earl went to Nashville to enlist, but the recruiter said that he did not weigh enough. That night my father bought a bunch of bananas to eat the next morning. He ate the bananas and just barely weighed enough to enlist. It was 1:00am when he arrived at Parris Island, and the drill instructor met them at the bus. By 2:00am, their clothes and hair were gone right along with their individual identities. Earl was now part of a group that would soon be tested in battle. Earl was attached to the First Marine Division, and trained as a machine gunner. He was called to use that training when the conflict in Korea escalated. Earl was part of the 15,000 allied ground troops sent to Korea to push the North Koreans out of South Korea. The most famous battle in the Korean campaign was fought at the Chosin Reservoir. In Breakout, Russ states "the Chosin pitted about 15,000 allied ground troops, mostly from the 1st Marine division, against 120,000 Chinese in ten divisions who had been ordered to annihilate the allies to the last man" (1999, p. 3). The 15,000 allies suffered 12,000 casualties, including more than 3,000 killed and 6,000 wounded plus thousands of severe frostbite cases from the -30 degree temperatures. The division emerged from the ordeal with a Presidential Unit Citation for "decisively defeating seven enemy divisions." The Chinese suffered an estimated 37,500 casualties, including 25,000 killed and 12,500 wounded. President Reagan cited the Chosin as among the epics of military history in his first Inaugural Address. The Chosen Few newsletter described it as "unparalleled in U.S. military history…an epic of great suffering and great valor" (1983, p. 1). A total of 13 Congressional Medals of Honor and 70 Navy Crosses were awarded for the campaign, the most ever awarded for a single battle in the U.S. military history. I have a newspaper clipping dated December 7, 1950, where the Knoxville News-Sentinel covered a letter that my dad had written to his mother. My dad did not expect to get out of Korea, but his letter spoke of his Lord, home, family and friends.
I did not realize that my father's life had been so interesting. Earl was born in 1930 in Knoxville, Tennessee. At the age of 17, he volunteered and enlisted in the Marines. For a kid who had never been out of the Knoxville area, Parris Island, South Carolina, would be a rude awakening. Earl went to Nashville to enlist, but the recruiter said that he did not weigh enough. That night my father bought a bunch of bananas to eat the next morning. He ate the bananas and just barely weighed enough to enlist. It was 1:00am when he arrived at Parris Island, and the drill instructor met them at the bus. By 2:00am, their clothes and hair were gone right along with their individual identities. Earl was now part of a group that would soon be tested in battle. Earl was attached to the First Marine Division, and trained as a machine gunner. He was called to use that training when the conflict in Korea escalated. Earl was part of the 15,000 allied ground troops sent to Korea to push the North Koreans out of South Korea. The most famous battle in the Korean campaign was fought at the Chosin Reservoir. In Breakout, Russ states "the Chosin pitted about 15,000 allied ground troops, mostly from the 1st Marine division, against 120,000 Chinese in ten divisions who had been ordered to annihilate the allies to the last man" (1999, p. 3). The 15,000 allies suffered 12,000 casualties, including more than 3,000 killed and 6,000 wounded plus thousands of severe frostbite cases from the -30 degree temperatures. The division emerged from the ordeal with a Presidential Unit Citation for "decisively defeating seven enemy divisions." The Chinese suffered an estimated 37,500 casualties, including 25,000 killed and 12,500 wounded. President Reagan cited the Chosin as among the epics of military history in his first Inaugural Address. The Chosen Few newsletter described it as "unparalleled in U.S. military history…an epic of great suffering and great valor" (1983, p. 1). A total of 13 Congressional Medals of Honor and 70 Navy Crosses were awarded for the campaign, the most ever awarded for a single battle in the U.S. military history. I have a newspaper clipping dated December 7, 1950, where the Knoxville News-Sentinel covered a letter that my dad had written to his mother. My dad did not expect to get out of Korea, but his letter spoke of his Lord, home, family and friends.
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