Corporal Flook was a member of Headquarters Battery, 52nd Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on July 5, 1950, forced to march to North Korea on the "Tiger Death March", and died while a prisoner at Chunggang-Jin, North Korea on November 18, 1950. His remains were not recovered.
Awarded
Prisoner of War Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.∼Grady was the uncle of my friend Penny. Here is something she wrote recently about her uncle:
"My Dad and his brother were very close. They grew up in the 30's & 40's and there was only 1 year difference between them. My dad's brother, Grady, was older.
When Grady was 17 (in the later 40's) he got caught talking to a girl outside her bedroom window. Back then it was a big deal and since Grady had kind of a rebellious reputation, he was given 2 choices:
1. Join the workforce
2. With parents permission, join the Army.
He chose the Army. He ended up loving it and was quite good at it. He was asked to go to Officers School and was set to go when the Korean War was about to start. He could have still gone to Officers School but he CHOSE to go to Korea & fight with those that he trained with. He landed in North Korea July 3, 1950. On July 5, he was captured. He was barely 19 years old.
During the whole duration of the Korean War, my dad's family received conflicting reports. They said he was captured, then he was MIA, then he was KIA, back to MIA, back to being captured. They didn't know. My dad's mom had to be institutionalized. When the War ended, he was still unaccounted for.
Flash forward to the 1990's. My dad was watching a show on the Korean War and it was showing footage of our military from the Korean War. There, on TV my dad saw him. His brother. He had only seen photographs of him and now he was seeing camera footage of his brother. It sparked a passion in the family to track down & find out what happened to my Dad's brother. The 700 Club came to our house and did a special on the family. We got in contact with people who knew people who knew people. After about 6 months of searching we finally found a man who was actually with my Dad's brother the day he died.
The North Koreans had captured him. They tortured these men. The starved them, marched them in the ice cold with very little clothing and no shoes. The North Koreans were barbaric.
My Dads brother died at the age of 19 of pneumonia & starvation. It was November of 1950. One of the guys in the group wrote the names of those who died on the inside of a toothpaste tube. Grady's name was there. My Dad was FINALLY able to get closure for his brother. Too bad his Mom & Dad died before they could.
He was part of a pretty well known group called The Tiger Group. "The Tiger" was a name that the captured military gave the officer in charge of him because he was so ferocious. There have been many books & shows on The Tiger Survivors. I just wish my Dad's brother could have been on of the survivors.
The guy who was with my dad's brother when he died said that the North Koreans made them bury the dead bodies with only spoons & their hands. The ground was frozen so they couldn't do a good job. They have barely recovered any of the remains because I am sure wild animals made off with them. Grady's were never recovered."
Awarded
Prisoner of War Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.∼Grady was the uncle of my friend Penny. Here is something she wrote recently about her uncle:
"My Dad and his brother were very close. They grew up in the 30's & 40's and there was only 1 year difference between them. My dad's brother, Grady, was older.
When Grady was 17 (in the later 40's) he got caught talking to a girl outside her bedroom window. Back then it was a big deal and since Grady had kind of a rebellious reputation, he was given 2 choices:
1. Join the workforce
2. With parents permission, join the Army.
He chose the Army. He ended up loving it and was quite good at it. He was asked to go to Officers School and was set to go when the Korean War was about to start. He could have still gone to Officers School but he CHOSE to go to Korea & fight with those that he trained with. He landed in North Korea July 3, 1950. On July 5, he was captured. He was barely 19 years old.
During the whole duration of the Korean War, my dad's family received conflicting reports. They said he was captured, then he was MIA, then he was KIA, back to MIA, back to being captured. They didn't know. My dad's mom had to be institutionalized. When the War ended, he was still unaccounted for.
Flash forward to the 1990's. My dad was watching a show on the Korean War and it was showing footage of our military from the Korean War. There, on TV my dad saw him. His brother. He had only seen photographs of him and now he was seeing camera footage of his brother. It sparked a passion in the family to track down & find out what happened to my Dad's brother. The 700 Club came to our house and did a special on the family. We got in contact with people who knew people who knew people. After about 6 months of searching we finally found a man who was actually with my Dad's brother the day he died.
The North Koreans had captured him. They tortured these men. The starved them, marched them in the ice cold with very little clothing and no shoes. The North Koreans were barbaric.
My Dads brother died at the age of 19 of pneumonia & starvation. It was November of 1950. One of the guys in the group wrote the names of those who died on the inside of a toothpaste tube. Grady's name was there. My Dad was FINALLY able to get closure for his brother. Too bad his Mom & Dad died before they could.
He was part of a pretty well known group called The Tiger Group. "The Tiger" was a name that the captured military gave the officer in charge of him because he was so ferocious. There have been many books & shows on The Tiger Survivors. I just wish my Dad's brother could have been on of the survivors.
The guy who was with my dad's brother when he died said that the North Koreans made them bury the dead bodies with only spoons & their hands. The ground was frozen so they couldn't do a good job. They have barely recovered any of the remains because I am sure wild animals made off with them. Grady's were never recovered."
Corporal Flook was a member of Headquarters Battery, 52nd Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on July 5, 1950, forced to march to North Korea on the "Tiger Death March", and died while a prisoner at Chunggang-Jin, North Korea on November 18, 1950. His remains were not recovered.
Awarded
Prisoner of War Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.∼Grady was the uncle of my friend Penny. Here is something she wrote recently about her uncle:
"My Dad and his brother were very close. They grew up in the 30's & 40's and there was only 1 year difference between them. My dad's brother, Grady, was older.
When Grady was 17 (in the later 40's) he got caught talking to a girl outside her bedroom window. Back then it was a big deal and since Grady had kind of a rebellious reputation, he was given 2 choices:
1. Join the workforce
2. With parents permission, join the Army.
He chose the Army. He ended up loving it and was quite good at it. He was asked to go to Officers School and was set to go when the Korean War was about to start. He could have still gone to Officers School but he CHOSE to go to Korea & fight with those that he trained with. He landed in North Korea July 3, 1950. On July 5, he was captured. He was barely 19 years old.
During the whole duration of the Korean War, my dad's family received conflicting reports. They said he was captured, then he was MIA, then he was KIA, back to MIA, back to being captured. They didn't know. My dad's mom had to be institutionalized. When the War ended, he was still unaccounted for.
Flash forward to the 1990's. My dad was watching a show on the Korean War and it was showing footage of our military from the Korean War. There, on TV my dad saw him. His brother. He had only seen photographs of him and now he was seeing camera footage of his brother. It sparked a passion in the family to track down & find out what happened to my Dad's brother. The 700 Club came to our house and did a special on the family. We got in contact with people who knew people who knew people. After about 6 months of searching we finally found a man who was actually with my Dad's brother the day he died.
The North Koreans had captured him. They tortured these men. The starved them, marched them in the ice cold with very little clothing and no shoes. The North Koreans were barbaric.
My Dads brother died at the age of 19 of pneumonia & starvation. It was November of 1950. One of the guys in the group wrote the names of those who died on the inside of a toothpaste tube. Grady's name was there. My Dad was FINALLY able to get closure for his brother. Too bad his Mom & Dad died before they could.
He was part of a pretty well known group called The Tiger Group. "The Tiger" was a name that the captured military gave the officer in charge of him because he was so ferocious. There have been many books & shows on The Tiger Survivors. I just wish my Dad's brother could have been on of the survivors.
The guy who was with my dad's brother when he died said that the North Koreans made them bury the dead bodies with only spoons & their hands. The ground was frozen so they couldn't do a good job. They have barely recovered any of the remains because I am sure wild animals made off with them. Grady's were never recovered."
Awarded
Prisoner of War Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.∼Grady was the uncle of my friend Penny. Here is something she wrote recently about her uncle:
"My Dad and his brother were very close. They grew up in the 30's & 40's and there was only 1 year difference between them. My dad's brother, Grady, was older.
When Grady was 17 (in the later 40's) he got caught talking to a girl outside her bedroom window. Back then it was a big deal and since Grady had kind of a rebellious reputation, he was given 2 choices:
1. Join the workforce
2. With parents permission, join the Army.
He chose the Army. He ended up loving it and was quite good at it. He was asked to go to Officers School and was set to go when the Korean War was about to start. He could have still gone to Officers School but he CHOSE to go to Korea & fight with those that he trained with. He landed in North Korea July 3, 1950. On July 5, he was captured. He was barely 19 years old.
During the whole duration of the Korean War, my dad's family received conflicting reports. They said he was captured, then he was MIA, then he was KIA, back to MIA, back to being captured. They didn't know. My dad's mom had to be institutionalized. When the War ended, he was still unaccounted for.
Flash forward to the 1990's. My dad was watching a show on the Korean War and it was showing footage of our military from the Korean War. There, on TV my dad saw him. His brother. He had only seen photographs of him and now he was seeing camera footage of his brother. It sparked a passion in the family to track down & find out what happened to my Dad's brother. The 700 Club came to our house and did a special on the family. We got in contact with people who knew people who knew people. After about 6 months of searching we finally found a man who was actually with my Dad's brother the day he died.
The North Koreans had captured him. They tortured these men. The starved them, marched them in the ice cold with very little clothing and no shoes. The North Koreans were barbaric.
My Dads brother died at the age of 19 of pneumonia & starvation. It was November of 1950. One of the guys in the group wrote the names of those who died on the inside of a toothpaste tube. Grady's name was there. My Dad was FINALLY able to get closure for his brother. Too bad his Mom & Dad died before they could.
He was part of a pretty well known group called The Tiger Group. "The Tiger" was a name that the captured military gave the officer in charge of him because he was so ferocious. There have been many books & shows on The Tiger Survivors. I just wish my Dad's brother could have been on of the survivors.
The guy who was with my dad's brother when he died said that the North Koreans made them bury the dead bodies with only spoons & their hands. The ground was frozen so they couldn't do a good job. They have barely recovered any of the remains because I am sure wild animals made off with them. Grady's were never recovered."
Gravesite Details
Father: Harold And Flook
