HOW IT WAS! KUNSAN AIRBASE OTHER UNITS (1951-1954) Marine Ground Control Intercept Squadron 1 Marine Air Control Squadron 1

POW/MIA Honour Plaque Tibbo's POW/MIA Honour Page (N/A) 106 Field Battery RAA Assoc. Peter of Queensland, Australia

Burt's Patriot Award Burt's Place (N/A)

MOVE OFF-BASE: The Marine Air Control Squadron - One (MACS-1) moved to a location a mile-and-a-half north of Kunsan Air Base in February 1954 because of the construction of the new runway. When the 841st started filling in the rice paddies for construction of the north-south runway, the unit was forced to relocate to the north end of Kunsan. Joseph Smuts said the "MGCIS-1" was changed to "MACS-1" about 15 Feb 1954 -- the same time as their "move off K-8". The MACS-1 was assigned to the Marine Air Control Group-Two (MACG-2), 1st Marine Air Wing (1st MAW).

The unit was NOT on "Signal Hill" (Gunsmoke Hill) as previously believed but rather outside the base perimeter on a hill just north of the current Kunsan Airport. In the photo, the road coming from the north gate goes past the hill, curves around, follows base of hill and then follows the beach towards the sand hill area. The runway aligned to the east of the hill and planes did not overfly the hill.

The move was made under the command of Lt. Col. John B. Berteling (15 Feb 54 - 31 Mar 54) when he handed command over in turn to Lt. Col. Honore G. Dalton (1 Apr 54 - 11 Jul 54); Maj. James C. Jewell (12 Jul 54 - 14 Sep 54); Maj. Bernadin J. Daigle (15 Sep 54 - 3 Nov 54); and finally, Lt. Col. Lawrence L. Herzog (4 Nov 54 - 1 Dec 55) who oversaw the unit's move to Atsugi.

According to the 1954 3rd Bomb Wing Welcome Brochure, the move was accomplished February 16, 1954. Comically, it said "they are comfortably ensconced with all the modern conveniences including three clubs for the lower grades, NCO's, and officers, respectively." As you look at the pictures, "comfortably" is not the word I'd use to describe their site. Joe served with the MACS-1 from early 54 until it was moved to Atsugi, Japan in 1955. He added, "David Duxstad (Dux) and I were never stationed within the confines of K-8." In the photo below (taken in 1952), the future home of the MACS-1 is the large hill on the shoreline on the left-hand side.

Looking at the photo above, if follow the shoreline from the end of the runway until you meet the first dark green area -- that is the hill where the MACS-1 was located off-base in 1954. Continue following the shoreline past the next green area and if you look closely you will see that this a high hill. It's the hill that Joe talks about being used for physical training. Part of this hill was cut away as a rock quarry for building the Naehang Industrial Complex. Within the dark green area at the top end of Kunsan Air Base is the "Sand Hill" quarry that he mentions.

Presently, to get to the hill where the MACS-1 was stationed, go out the North Gate. Follow the road to the intersection with Kunsan Airport. Go straight ahead through the intersection for about a half-mile then turn left on a dirt road that curves left. At the fork, take the left fork which will take one uphill to the gate on the east side of the ROK Army compound. Joe talked about the location on the hill. He said, "When coming out the North Gate you followed a dirt road, past paddies and hooches; this brought you almost to a curve that made a complete left turn. Before that curve was a sharp left going slightly uphill to our gate. If you continued past our turnoff and followed the left hand curve you'd be heading straight for the Yellow Sea and the road followed around the base of our site (our site was basically the tits of two small hills and the saddle inbetween ... that would be almost directly under where the radar was..."

Currently the site is occupied by a ROK Army Antiaircraft battery. Being an active ROK military compound, no pictures are allowed. The gate is manned by an armed ROK Army guard. If one looks at the photo below, the left point towards the mudflats that are just below the drop off. This is the west end of the compound. Walking around the base of the hill (along the shore) one can see where there was barbed wire anchors cemented to the rocks and broken bottles were cemented in places as well. It appears to have been a while since they were removed. There is an unmanned machine gun emplacement at the furthest point. Scrub pines about 50 feet tall surround the base of the hill. Around the hill there are small farms but they grow mainly chilly peppers. There are no rice paddies near the base. ROK billets are nestled among the scrub pines within a simple chain-link fence. The large flat area in the photo below with the quonset huts now has a high 4-sided revetment with the interior completely blocked from view. On both sides of the hill there are seawalls indicating that these are part of the original reclaimed land areas from 1932. Scattered along the shore line there are abandoned sentry boxes as the ROK government concluded that it was impossible to protect all the coastline from intrusion. The road to the compound is up along a dirt road that goes up the far side the hill (hidden).

On the hill, the MACS-1 operated in a secure area with their own barracks, movie theater, three clubs (lower grades, NCOs, officers), and one mess hall. Viewing the photo above one can see the antenna arrays at the highest point on the hill and the barracks/compound slightly lower. Okku Reservoir is towards the left. He said, "The orientation is pretty good. In the upper left hand corner you can see poles sticking up. They were about 60 foot poles to avoid interference. That is the radar site. If you look a little to the right of the poles you'll see a dark spot shaped like a football, almost to the top of the photo. That's the Parabolic Antenna. The dark area between the poles and antenna is the most westward hut in the compound, the fence is directly behind it and from there it drops of sharply, but climbable, to maybe 50 or 60 feet from the Yellow. You could just about throw a stone into the water or mud, depending on the time of day. I think that's the highest point within the compound although some of the living quarters were about the same height." He said later, "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Yellow Sea was directly beneath the radar site. We used to stand out there and watch Koreans dig clams when the tide was out. It amazed us they could stand in that ice cold mud for so long."

Joe stated, "Starting from a little left of the upper right hand corner of the photo there's a light line arcing slightly downward and disappearing into the north side of the hill. That's the road going out to the sand excavation in the side of a hill where we test fired the Thompsons and if you look closely it turns inland, to the right. The road from in front of the turn to the compound that runs along the north base of the hill can't be seen because the hill blocks the view."

Joe stated that the site was built in levels. He described the buildings in the photo as follows: "Top left corner of photo. Two levels, highest where the antenna, the dark football shape,was. That was a wood frame, corrugated siding, small building. Antenna above the roof, magnetron and such in the building. We,ve already talked about the power poles, we required lots of power. There are three quonset huts, the dark line across the end of the site. They were not in line, but angled slightly from each other to conform to the shape of the land. The one to the right (north) was filled with spare parts for the radar gear. The middle one was split into two rooms, 1/3 was radar consoles and workshop, 2/3 was Op Center ( FREE TRADE call sign ). (NOTE: Joe Smuts would later remark that his call sign was FREE TRADE, but "Always wondered who the night planes we worked with from time to time. They were "WILD BOAR" on the radio.") The third hut was the radio equipment and workshop. The Op Center was between the two workshops. Most of the gear in the Op center was radar stuff and they were cabled into the radios in the other hut. There's also a lot of clutter out there such as, electronic vans, old WW 2 duece and a half trucks rigged for the vans. height finder gear and a portable radar system.'

He continued, "Coming from the radar toward the living area, to the right in the photo (east) there are 2 buildings, flat sided, that housed the power generaters, along the south fence line. The next building, on opposite side of road, is the telephone center. As you proceed from the radar site to the living area you going downhill until you reach the saddle. then there,s open space. the next thing, along the northern fence line confused me at first. Shouldn't have been anything there, so I put the magnifier on it and it appears to be three 6x trucks."

He went on, "Now we're on the saddle. Nothing on the south fence. The large building infront of the four quonsets is the HQ. It's three Quonsets put together in the shape of an H. Part on the west was sickbay and quarters for the two Corpsmen. The rest of the building was office. The four quonsets behind the HQ building were officers quarters. There's a building missing just to the right of the three parked 6xs, and that was where they built the Officers Club. Diagonally From HQs, about midway between both fence lines, is the mess and a food storage quonset just to the right of it. Mess was also three huts in H shape. Officers and staff NCOs on the west end, enlisted on the east (right) end."

Then he said, "Now we're in the living, supply and motor pool area. Three levels, we'll start with the top deck first. Five quonsets, with one perpendiculer to the other four and one straight walled building which was for the water purification gear. The perpendicular hut we turned into an E club. Later it was enlarged by adding additions on both sides. The hut next to The E club was where I bunked. Sixteen of us, all radar guys. Not Op Center Guys, we repaired and maintained all the radar gear. The hut to the right of us was for the most part empty, a little bit of misc stuff stored there. The next two huts are Staff NCO quarters. There was another flat sided building put up for their club just to the right of their quarters. Next deck is nine quonsets, with one perpendicular to the other eight. The one that's perpendicular is the enlisted head and showers. The other eight huts are living quarters. The one next to the showers was sixteen radio repair guys. The rest housed maintenance, motor pool, cooks, op center, comm and clerk personel. The small dark building on the other end of the showers is the barber shop, Korean run. this was later enlarged for a laundry too after an old wooden Korean washing machine was acquired. So much for that capitalist Yongja. The hut all by itself where the truck is driving by was used as movie theater, lecture/training hall and chapel when the Missionary from Cheju would show up."

Finally he said, "Lower deck... toward top of photo on right side. From left to right, tent and three quonsets, all supplies. next larger flat sided building was the motor pool shop and park. The one thing missing from the photo would be the guard shack at the gate. It would be off the picture to the lower right side."

According to the 1954 3rd Bomb Wing Welcome Brochure. "Security is the byword in this area of secret electronic equipment, causing the hill to be heavily fenced and guarded at all times. Visitors must receive security clearances." If you read that...the only conclusion is that the area was a high security area with state-of-the-art electronics. However, Joe assured me that it was hardly that. Joe wrote, "...the entire perimiter was surrounded by a barbed wire fence, about 8 or 10 strands I'd say. However, on the south side, towards K8, where the land sloped gradually, there was, down about 50 to 100 feet from the fence, a barbed wire concertina and a double apron of barbed wire and signs that said the area was mined. The kids watched all this done and knew there were no mines and they just walked around the barbed wire because it didn't span the full length of the site." Well, so much for security being outwitted by a bunch of kids.

As far as being a "high security area" Joe wrote jokingly about the various people allowed within the compound, "Also had Koreans that worked inside our site, and the honey bucket run, and we let Koreans from the paddies in for medical help, and we had the Padre from Cheju aboard, and the Quaker women from their mission in Kunsan because they needed medical supplies on occasion, and the members of the Truce Team and their guards. These people must have all had high level clearances, Maybe somewhere around Q or Need To Know."

Mudflats looking toward airport

Mudflats at base of hill

Mudflats at base of hill (north)

Unmanned guard post

Mudflats looking toward Kunsan Industrial area

North side of hill

Abandoned fields & Sand Hill in distance

Mudflats & Sand Hill

They had a Raytheon tech rep named Neil who accompanied them to Atsugi when they left. As to their equipment, Joe states it was "high tech" -- the CPS-19 radar was in common use in WWII. "The AF swore our radar was an antique and should have been sent to the Smithsonian."

The bottomline is that the site was not a "top secret" site. Joe stated the only thing secret was the IFF codes (Identification-Friend-or-Foe). He said, "The only thing we know of that had that classification, outside of a few people, were the documents concerning frequencies for the IFF system. Those were kept in a safe arrangement in the radar shop and could only be accessed by some Staff NCOs and some officers. Had thermite grenades inside and was to be destroyed in the event we might suddenly have to leave or be overrun. With modern gear everybody and his brother can gather frequencies easily. All the radio and radar people had Secret Classification and were bumped to Top when they became Staff I think. The officers were probably all cleared for secret and above, but I don't think the guys in the Op Center were."

The officers of the MACS-1 were primarily aviators getting in their "staff duty" to fill the squares for ground command time. For Korea, this duty was either with the MACS-1 or with the "MAGIS by the sea" at Kangnung. In 1954, Lt.Col. H.G. Dalton commanded the MACS-1 with a Major as the Exec. Joe commented, that Colonel Dalton was a "by-the-book" officer. In 1954, Col. Dalton was replaced by Major J.C. Jewell, who in turn was replaced by Major B.J. Daegle. His replacement was Lt.Col. L.L. Herzog affectionately nicknamed, "Blackjack." He seemed to reflect some of the "free spirit" that was characteristic of wartime Marine aviators. Joe remembered that he was "very visible and concerned with having happy troops." He continued, "When he'd only been aboard for a few days he and several Staff NCOs showed up at our movie just before it started. He had a bottle of booze, ice and water. Just before the movie was to start he asked if this was a group of Marines or schoolboys as he saw no beer, which had been forbidden by Dalton. He delayed the film for about ten minutes while we all went and got beer. The man was a true humanitarian. He also inspected us one Saturday morn from a low flying Cougar jet. Amongst us we called him Blackjack."

The enlisted personnel were special in that they required high test scores because of the sophistication (at that time) of the electronics. Joe noted, "All the radio and radar repair guys required minimum test scores that were higher than that required for OCS. All of us had been eligible for OCS but were turned down for various physical reasons or else we just flat turned it down. There was a bet going on at one time as to which hut, radio or radar, had the highest average IQ. Don't recall how it turned out but I think the radar hut came out about 130. We needed 120 to qualify for our schools."

Joe continued, "Planes did not take off over our site, they were west of us over the water. Hell, I've stood out there and watched a practice strafe run that we vectored in from the Yellow Sea. There was a quite a bit of paddy and hootch between us and the fence of K8." This is verified by the photo below. Behind the hill is Gunsmoke Hill (Signal Hill). The northern perimeter of the base cuts through this hill and the current road to the airport runs over this hill. To the east of this hill is the road that leads to the North Gate. Joe wrote, "The picture is deceiving because of the angle it was taken from. The Green mass you refer to is the brush growing on the north slope of the hill. It really looks flat on the Yellow Sea end, but that's a gradual slope from the hill on the south side. The north side was steeper than the south."

He continued, "There were always kids along the south perimiter when we got there. We passed our laundry thru the fence to Yongja, a major capitalist. Where I always thought the site as two small hills and a saddle between; I can now see it was one continuous land mass. Whoever did the site work, and I assume that was USA Engr's from the Airbase, moved a lot of material to build up the Yellow Sea end as the drop off to the beach was much steeper than in the pic. Maybe that's how the saddle came to be: material pushed from there out to the west end. But like I said, the angle taken from is deceiving. Look at the '54 photo of the site, where the radar is, and it's clearly quite a bit above the beach. But when it rained hard water ran to the saddle and out to the south. In one storm it washed out a large amount ground there on the saddle and had to be rebuilt with sand bags and fill."

Joe added about the photo above, "This photo looks west from in front of the hut I lived in. You can see we were about the same height as the radar site, give or take a little. Building on the left is the E Club, on the right is the shack for water purification. Photo was taken in '54; you can see the cement slab we put in, one on each side to put flat roof extensions on the hut. The add on for this side had large glass windows which we had difficulty obtaining. Don't remember for sure but I think the Aussies flew in the panes of glass for us. Hard for enlisted to get much carry on coming back from Japan."

The quarry that Joe called "Sand Hill" is still there as though some giant took a butterknife and sliced a major chunk out of it. As one drives west down the road to the Kunsan airport, you will see this quarry to the right and the base on the left. The scar in the hillside is visible from miles away. It is still in use, but as a storage area for sand and concrete materials for building roads. He continued, "...and there was at least one or two hooches right there where the road made a right hand turn to the north, followed the shoreline for a ways then made another right back in a bit to some hooches in front of what we called the sand hill. Somebody had removed a lot of material from the side of this hill; probably for construction of the airbase at one time." This was the quarry where the "808th & 841st Engineering Aviation Battalions (SCARWAF) had taken material to build the runway. There were separate quarries for rock and fill.

Joe continued on about "sand hill". He said, "We called it sand but it was hard stuff just like our site was. It was tan in color or maybe a little reddish tan. The new CO and I test fired 14 Thompson sub-machine guns out there against the side of hill ( south side ), where the material had been removed, one day shortly after he assumed command. We also zeroed rifles there sometimes." The scars to the side of the mountain can be still seen today from miles away and this would have been an ideal firing range site. As the north-south runway was completed by the time Joe got there, the quarry was abandoned.

He continued, "...a bit north of the sand hill was the tallest hill in the immediate area and had a commanding view of the whole area. There was an old cement bunker on top built by the Japanese and there were a number of burial mounds on the sides of the hill (it's my understanding that the higher the Koreans got buried on a hillside the more important they were? Anyway, we climbed that as part of our physical fitness training." The Japanese bunker he mentioned was still in use by the ROK Army for coastal defense until the 1990s. After that manned bunkers were eliminated for the whole west coast. The bunker is still in place, but abandoned. Right below this bunker are the scars of the rock quarry operations that were used to build the Naehang (outer port) Industrial Area. About half of the hill has been gouged away. The dirt and rock was used to construct the dikes for the tidal reclamation project that built up the Daewoo Automobile factory area. The graves have all been relocated as part of the reclamation project.

View of Sand Hill to north (1954) Yellow Sea to left (Click on photo to enlarge)

Sunset over the Yellow Sea with U.S. flag flying (1954) (Click on photo to enlarge)

The regulations for control of the Marines "going off-base" required them to reenter the base by the North Gate and then exit from the Main Gate (East Gate). Joe states, "...to go to Kunsan we had to enter K8 thru the North Gate and exit thru the East Gate. There was no other road to town from our site. That's absolute fact. We got in trouble over the two gates at one point and about 20 of us had Mast the following morning, that's your equivalent of Office Hours. We all escaped taking a one stripe bust by the skin on our teeth." (NOTE: The statement that there was "no other way" to town is strange as the Lautensach's 1932 map shows a small road/path from the "Sand Hill" that ties into the Kunsan road near the Okku Reservoir about 5 1/2 miles away. But that would be the long way around.)

Joe went on, "One thing I think we can totally agree on is the Water Point shown on your map. We had no water supply of our own but we had twice as much purification equipment as we were supposed to have. The water guys ran one or two loads a day in a water tank truck from what they called the Water Point on the Airbase. There was talk of running a pipe up to us but to my knowledge that never got off the ground; probably because someone knew we were not permanent residents." Today at 'Water Point" there is a high water tower with the "Wolfpack logo" painted on it.

There was also an incident that Joe remembers involving a prostitute living near the quarry area. Joe said, "This sand pit or hill was also the place where one of the USAF or USA persons shot and killed one of the business women. In the latter part of 54 small groups were allowed to do a little duck hunting. This guy took advantage and stopped to visit the ladies. There was a difference of opinion about remuneration and it resulted in the shooting. K8 had jurisdiction over the paddies, but as they refused to render medical treatment to the locals it was one of our Corpsmen who went out to see if she could be kept alive. Result was a no. All we ever heard was that the shooter was transferred Conus. We were in favor of castration followed by a firing squad." There were frequent incidents where local nationals were shot during and after the war as Koreans attempted to sneak into the base at night to steal anything not nailed down. Remember that these were desperate times of poverty, deprivation and starvation. People lived in hastily constructed mud wattle huts or in extreme cases, holes dug in hillsides. In Kunsan in 1954, the wartime population of 100,000 -- mostly North Korean refugees -- had not dispersed. Kids without shoes scavenged in the American garbage dump just off base for scraps of food. As to military men escaping punishment for major crimes, it was unfortunately true. There was no Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Korea until 1964. Basically, the military did as it pleased and the Korean government acquiesed as 100% of the Korean budget came from U.S. aid. Local authorities could be easily bribed and corruption was rampant.

Air Force folks at Kunsan reported that the Marines stayed by themselves and only came out of their compound to visit the PX. Because the hill was about four miles from the PX, visits were done by truck. Joe said, "Now when someone decided to check out a truck and make a run to the PX, which usually started with someone in the motor pool, word spread by telephone and whoever wanted made a beeline."

There appears to have been very little contact between the USAF and Marine personnel throughout their time at Kunsan. Like the other Marines at Kunsan from the VMF(N)-513, the relations between the Air Force and the Marines were not cordial. However, as they had their own mess and officer/nco clubs the MACS-1 did not mingle with the Air Force. Joe stated, "Relations with USAF and USA was not very good. Those who had been aboard K8 swore we were relocated because we were unwanted and not liked. There is a good argument that can be made in proof of that, but, there's also the fact that we were part of the Naval Service (remember at that time the Corps was not written into law - it was basically a line item in the Navy's budget) and we had certain governing regulations that didn't matchup in some areas with theirs. We also talked swabbie lingo; such as, deck bulkhead, hatch overhead etc. etc."

The friction between the Marines and the Air Force was real and long-standing. However, it appears to be on a person-to-person level -- rather than on an inter-Service level. In 1952, Jim Curzon of the VMF(N)-513 remembered being welcomed to the MACS-1 Officer's Club after the Air Force asked the Marines to never come back to their O-club and NCO Club. Later the VMF(N)-513 built their own private O-club and the MACS-1 was always welcome at their 25-cent-a-drink club. The VMF(N)-513 departed K-8 for K-6 (Pyongtaek) in 1953 and some persist in saying it was due to this friction -- though in reality it just made good tactical sense to put two Marine air units together.

Joe added some more details of this friction with the Air Force. "There were several Korean business ladies that lived out there (in the rice paddy area) and there were regular nightly trips made by APs or MPs from K8 to look for guys who had snuck into the paddies. This got to be a problem as they'd sometimes crank a round or two in the air as they drove past the base of our place. Needless to say, this really scared hell out of the guards walking the north perimeter. It was solved one night when our guards were prepared and when a few rounds left the jeep every guard on that side let go with riot guns as the jeep followed the base of our site. The distance was too far for the riot guns to reach, but it made a lot of noise and the problem never repeated. "

However, the MACS-1 was on good terms with the 77 Squadron RAAF who were TDY to Kunsan after the 49th FBG left in 1954. Joseph Smuts stated, "The Aussies of the 77th RAAF, on the other hand, were a horse of a different color. They were frequent visitors to the site and always welcome. Good people and fond memories." Joe also contributed a newsletter about the MACS-1 close cooperation with the Aussie group. It details the saving an Aussie aircraft from ditching at sea and a friendly drill competition between the units. The MACS-1 newsletter 3 Sep 1954 is in two pages. "United Nations Harmony .. Marines Keep Yellow Sea Alert...Have Aussie Buddies" read the headline. The article was written by TSgt Patrick R. Carroll.

"On a weather-beaten hill overlooking the Yellow Sea, a U.S. Marine in a van picks up a phone and dictates a terse message.. "Scramble Flight Two...unidentified aircraft heading 120 at reference plus 5000."

The call sets off a chain reaction that is unique in many ways. The messages crackles into the intercom box of an Australian Interceptor Squadron and two pilots already in their planes kick them over, wheel them around and speed down the runway of a U.S. air base. (SITE NOTE: The 77th RAF aircraft were positioned at the end-of-runway area of the present Kunsan AB runway. Their facilities for the enlisted was where the Seabreeze facility is -- while officers were billeted in the BOQ area.)

The three units operate in a perfect example of United Nations cooperation here in Korea. Despite the truce, they are ready for any emergencies that may arise. The Marine was a member of Marine Air Control Squadron One commanded by Major James C. JEWELL of Oklahoma City. It is the job of the radar unit to be the eyes and ears of all the United Nations forces in southwestern Korea.

The Australians flying twin jet Meteors are part of the 77th Royal Australian Air Force Squadron, one of Australia's more famous fighting units and one incidentally that hasn't been stationed in Australia in 12 years.

It is commanded by a slim, soft spoken Australian pilot, Wing Commander Douglas R. BEATTIE.

This team of Aussie and Marine using an Air Force base, have picked up where they left off in World War II. They have gotten so used to working together that they sound like they are in the same unit.

"We would be unable to operate without the Marines of MACS One, and of course, the Marines would be ineffective without our planes," says Beattie. "We have learned to depend on each other and from that dependency comes a spirit of cooperation that is hard to define."

"We Australians have a very sincere respect for Marines as fighting men and individuals and this Marine Squadron measures up in every way."

And the Marines, feel exactly the same way about the Aussies.

JUST TO KEEP IT in the family, one Marine attached to MACS One, Capt Wallace E. Anderson of Cardiff, Calif. Anderson has been in Korea, his wife, Lorna, and their three children have returned to Australia for a visit. Mail being what it is in Korea, Capt Anderson is way ahead. The Aussies fly his mail to his wife on their regular courier runs and she in turn writes to via the 77th RAAF Squadron, avoiding the long delay from Australia to the Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, and then back to Korea.

Basically the job of the Marine radar squadron is to maintain a continual 24-hour watch in this sector aimed primarily out over the Yellow Sea toward the coast of China. Intricate radar gear sweeps this vast area and when an unidentified "blip" appears on the radar screen the call for "scramble" goes down to the Aussie outfit.

From there on it is a team play in which the Marines attempt to vector Meteor jets into perfect attacking position on the "bogey." The Aussies out fully loaded for combat. When they sight the target they send back a Tallyho and then make an identifying run. If it shouldn't be friendly aircraft they are ready for business.

ANOTHER MISSION of this Marine unit is a search and rescue force. This was illustrated recently when one of the Aussie pilots ran into difficulty out over the Yellow Sea.

As Wing Commander Beattie explained it, "Out boy got himself tangled up there somewhere and got a bit confused. He became lost and out down to our jet to save fuel. Just about the time he tried to call in for his position your Marine unit cut in. They had been folling hima all the time. They did such an excellent job that they vectored him in on a direct line with the runway."

"He ran out of fuel eight miles out, but because he was in such a perfect position he managed to glide in to a safe landing. That saved us a plane and very probably the life of the pilot. I don't think you can ask for better cooperation than that."

Despite the cooperation there is also a spirit of friendly competition especially among the enlisted men. A recent challenge finally ended with drill competition between Aussies, Air Force, three ROK units and the Marines. The Marine team drilled last. After some fancy maeuvers they finished with a Queen Anne salute.

When the results were tabulated and the Marines had won, the Aussies, who had finished second, had one complaint ... "Queen Anne salute, but ye have no Queen!"

MACS-1 Newsletter (Page 1)
MACS-1 Newsletter (Page 2)

However, the Marines did not do things quite according to Hoyle. There was an incident in which the MACS-1 liberated a Jeep from an unfortunate USAF 2nd Lieutenant. Joe wrote, "Anyway, when it was coming on Chritmas '54 there was talk over chow and beers about what could be done about something for the Old Man. Good ideas were few and mostly stupid. A lot of the equipment was left over WW2 shit. The AF swore our radar was an antique and should have been sent to the Smithsonian. The guard jeep look like it took a direct hit somewhere along the line. Old duece and a half trucks. The ammo I had was head stamped '43. The Col's jeep, though of the newer style, had problems in both appearance and operation. Now when someone decided to check out a truck and make a run to the PX, which usually started with someone in the motor pool, word spread by telephone and whoever wanted made a beeline. In this case there was quite a few so a 6x was used. As guys filtered out of the PX we gathered around the truck, smoked, talked and waited for the last one or two to come out. Just as we had everybody we started with, up drives a brand new 2nd Lt in a brand new jeep. You've been there, so you know when somebody is new. After you been there for a while one appears a little salty. This Lt goes in the Px and a few guys check out the jeep, which has very low mileage and say "Why can't we get stuff like this?". Then someone thought out loud, "Wouldn't that be great for the Skipper". That's about all that was said. A bunch jumped in the jeep and worked at covering AF markings. Everyone else in the 6x. Tucked the Jeep right in behind the truck, got waved thru the north gate, they very seldom stopped us there, and up to hill it went, staight into the shop. A day later it had been painted forest green, red bumpers with our ID, and some fictitious serial number. It got hidden and dragged out for the Col at Christmas. No questions were asked, no explanation was given. Last time I saw the jeep was on the docks at Kunsan and I'm sure it went with us to Atsugi."

Before you say, "tsk...tsk" about this theft. Listen to what Paul Noel, Col, USMC (Ret) said about this story. "A major sin is to steal from another Marine or Marine unit---although the latter has eased when aviation squadrons 'confiscate' momentoes from sister squadrons. To steal from another Armed Service, especially in a forward area, is a Marine avocation!!!!! Extra points if it is Navy!!!!" He continued, "Stealing jeeps got so bad (short term) that driver would remove the rotor from the distributer when the jeep was parked. Not to be snookered, we carried a rotor in our pocket, took the jeep, and eventually abandoned it (after removing the rotor for future use.) I had a maintenance group that set a record of 30 min flat to 'liberate' a jeep trailor from the Navy, repaint in MarCorps green, stencil on new numbers, and have back up paper work. One time at K-6, I and several other officers went with the Group XO in his sedan and made off with a framed picture, probably a naked babe, from the local K-6 USAF unit O Club. This was more like a retalliation fraternity prank, although the Air Force folks did not see it that way." He continued, "The key is Marines do not steal from anyone for themselves personally--but OK for the good of the unit---as long as it is not from another Marine unit. Some where there would be a brother being hung out to dry. This is tradition and ancient history, but you will not find it written in an official document. Today? I hope the same. So run the jeep story."

There were also some very touching stories. Joe told about an orphan that was taken in by the unit. His name was "Jimmy." Joe recalled, "Jimmy was special to all of us. Korean, orphan, about ten years old, swore like a good Marine, played a good hand of poker, a fine game of ping pong until you dropped one just over the net where he couldn't reach and his temper fired up. The story goes that when the Marines were withdrawing from North Korea, as well as a lot of Korean refugees, that Jimmy was handed off by Koreans who had no way to care for an orphan; let alone their own family. Not knowing what else to do they just evacuated the kid with them and figured they'd worry later. Push came to shove and he just stayed with us."

"It didn't take him long to realize that as individuals we came and went. Our tour was 14 months port to port unless we extended our enlistment or were held for the convenience of the Corps; like myself, I wound up with 15 1/2 months because of the move and wound up with only 64 days left on my enlistment when I hit the States. He had a way of identifying and attaching himself to particular guys. When he knew that the guy he'd adopted for himself was close to going Conus it was time to shop for another. He would move into the quonset where his attachment was, and room would be made for him. When I got there J J miller was his adopted buddy. Before J J left Jimmy had decided on Rich Keller who lived in our hut and he remained there until we left."

"His education was looked after and if we even thought he had not attended school or we found there was a school problem the hammer came down until we found things were corrected. Don't know if they still do it, but then the rat population exceeded the human by a substantial margin. The kids were given days off called Rat Days and they had to return the following day with ten rat tails. Even though he had all of his shots and vaccinations this wasn't allowed and whoever was his attachment would arrange for a bribe to the teacher. This also helped in finding out if he was having problems at school."

"Jimmy was generous to a fault. In the winter he'd sometimes come back to the site without all his clothes. He'd explain that some other kids needed them more. By what we bought and what familys sent he always had good clothes."

"Obviously when we got orders to shut down the radar and pack everything for shipment panic set in. Keller and several others volunteered to adopt jimmy but were immediately turned down. Keller's Mother , who was a widow said she'd adopt Jim but that too got returned with a rejection. As I recall, one other family tried but that got rejected also. By then time had run out. We had a good relationship with a Catholic Missionary on Cheju Do who ran an orphanage as part of the Mission and he agreed to take Jim. As much money as we could muster was turned over to the Padre for Jim's upkeep. Now this is hearsay. George Fisher who stayed in the Corps, became a mustang and I believe retired as a Major told our buddy Duxstad that he'd somehow checked up on Jim and found that a Typhoon had blown across Cheju, damaged the orphanage and Jim had been killed. A good try but a sad ending. We truly loved Jim and enjoyed the other kids that hung around like Yongja, Irving and Joe."

EPILOGUE: In Feb 2004, Joe Smuts wrote the following:

About Jimmy ! ............the way I got it, he was dropped off with the Marines at the evacuation at Wonsan following the withdrawal from the reservoir by a Korean family that had picked him up as an orphan, but had enough problems taking care of themselves, so passed him to the Marines thinking he'd have a better chance and not overburden themselves. Not knowing what to do, they just loaded him on the boat and from then on lived with us. I believe I mentioned before that he knew we came and went, so when whoever he had attached himself to was about ready to leave he'd find another to attach himself to. When Dux and I arrived he was with J.J.Miller, who was not an officer, but a Sergeant in our motor pool. Dux and I are both sure that JJ spent some time on Cheju, so Jimmy most likely would have gone right along with him. When JJ was ready to go CONUS, Jimmy picked out and attached himself to Rich Keller who was a Radar Repaiman like Dux and I, so Jimmy wound up living with us. So where Proudman says there was a Jimmy with the Marines on Cheju that was most likely because he was with JJ. No one, including officers and others who showed up on our site ever said anything about he shouldn't be there and he was always treated as being one of us.

I've covered the part with you before that we could not find a way to get the kid back to the States and got put with Father Ryan on Cheju. Now, Rich Keller and George Fisher both stayed in the Corps. They were both on the way to Great Lakes Naval Training Center in about 1961 or 62 as instructors and showed up at Dux's for a visit. Some time after Dux and I got out, the guys with our MOS and time in the Corps were given a test and, according to the them, were virtually all promoted to Limited Duty Officers (LDO). Rich told Dux he'd gone back to Korea and went to Cheju to check out the kid, but found that a typhoon had blown thru the Island, done a lot of damage and that Jimmy had died in the storm. I've looked up typhoons in that period and find that a typhoon "MAEMI" did extensive damage in Korea in 1959, and that at least part of Cheju was within the eye of the typhoon. It all seems to add up, but I wanted to make sure with Dux that I had the dates and that it was Rich who went back before I dug myself in a hole with wrong info.

Some years after their visit to Dux's, he got a phone call from George. Fisher was about to retire, which would have been about 1972. While in George got his Master's Degree. He had accepted a job somewhere in the Philadelphia area. Dux can't remember if he was retiring as a Major or Lt. Colonel. No subsequent contact. Appears to me that Dux and I took the wrong path. I do know that the officer in separation really went to work on me about shipping over and that me MOS was one they didn't want to see separate. Offerred a sizable bonus if I would, almost as much as they had paid me in the three years. Dux got the same treatment.

Hope this makes everything complete on Jimmy.

The pagoda was constructed by the Japanese and filled with trash in 1955 when Joseph Smuts saw it. The shelter had a commanding view of Kunsan. When seen in 1987 by Kalani O'Sullivan, the pagoda was in a state of disrepair. By that time, the pagoda was hidden by trees that had been planted in the 1970s and the hillside of Wolmyong Park was completely different. Finally in the mid-1990s, it was demolished during the fervor to remove all traces of the Japanese occupation.

Eunjeok-sa (temple) was discovered by Joe Smuts on one of his walks through the countryside as he walked past the reservoir (city water supply) and downhill in what is now Sambuk-dong. When Kalani O'Sullivan visited the temple in 1987, the buildings were still there and it was quite picturesque. However, in the mid-1990s, the buildings were demolished and new larger temples were built on the same location. In addition, the apartment buildings and various restaurants started to crowd in on the temple. Though the temples are beautiful, the garish fountain and brightly painted day-care center on the temple grounds detracts from its beauty. However, over the hill the old farm road along the reservoir has been transformed into a concrete walking path with street lamps and benches that stretches to Wolmyong Park. It is quite beautiful and makes for a pleasant walk.

Moon's Marriage ceremony in Iri (Iksan) (Click on photo to enlarge)

Old Man at Bus Depot in Kunsan City (Click on photo to enlarge)

Joe commented on the photo above, "This was taken in Kunsan, spring of 1955, on the way to Moon's wedding. Moon asked us to stop in town to pick up a cousin or some sort of relative; instead we wound up with about 6 or 7 people. This old boy let me take his picture and in return I gave him 2 Camel cigarettes. Dux decided he'd take a picture of him a few minutes later. Dux only smoked occasionally and always out of my pack, he didn't offer the old boy anything and was about to have the walking stick applied to his head when I handed him my pack to cough up the 2 smoke payment."

Years later in the 1960s, the MACS-1 hill was known as "Marine Hill" -- but by this time a rumor had grown about it as well. Robert Koester (then of the 3rd Bomb Wing at Yokota) was TDY to the base in the 1960s and related that the hill was where the Marines fought to the last man when the North Koreans invaded the South. It would make a nice movie, but it ain't true. There were no Americans at Kunsan when it fell to the North Koreans. The ROK Marines did fight a delaying action between 16-20 July 1950, but they were fighting in the Changhang and Iri (Iksan) area. The name "Marine Hill" comes from the MACS-1.

LST bound for Japan (1955) Kunsan Harbor (Click on photo to enlarge)

Changhang landmark smokestack from the LST (1955) (Click on photo to enlarge)

When the threat from North Korea diminished, the unit was reassigned ot MAG-11. It departed Korea in spring of 1955 for Atsugi NAS, Japan. Joe mentioned, "Log on to http://www.relia.net/~dsimonich/ and you'll bring up the history of LST883 in the Korean War. It's complete thru their third cruise in Korean waters and that covers thru the cease fire. It's an interesting read and the ship did return to Korea for a fourth go. I guarantee it. They picked us up at the docks in Kunsan spring of 55. I've pictures of it. They stuck it in the mud big as life. What was supposed to be a quick load and go turned out to be three or four days long."

For its actions in Korea, the MGIS-1/MACS-1 received the Navy Presidential Unit Citation (Sep-Oct 50 1stMarDiv, Reinf.); NPUC (1951 1stMAW); Army Distinguished Unit Citation (Nov-Dec50 1stMAW) (NOTE: This award was later changed to the Army Presidential Unit Citation); Navy Unit Citation (52-53 1stMAW); Korean Presidential Unit Citation (15-17Sep 50 1stMarDiv,Reinf./50-51 1stMAW/51-53 1stMAW); and Korean Service Medal (one silver/four bronze stars).

Currently, MACS-1 is stationed at MCAS Yuma, Arizona. Contact information can be found at Detachment Delta MACS-1 MACG-38.

For reunion information for the MGCIS-1, contact Bobby Clark at showr2@mcia.com.

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