Interview with Franklin Jack Chapman:
At Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. In Camp Carson I received training in heavy weapons, a track vehicle which was the “weasel” at the time, (they called it a “weasel”) and cross-country skiing and rock climbing. Then in December 1949, we went to Alaska for two months on maneuvers. We returned from Alaska in March or April and then I was sent to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, to help...read more
William E Baker
William E. Baker was a member of Service Battery, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was among the men who kept ammunition moving forward to the battalion’s firing batteries. He was captured near Kunu-ri, North Korea, on 30 November 1950. After a few days in the local area, he began marching, usually at night, from village to village, arriving at Pukchin-Tarigol, the...read more
June 2013
On 11 April 2013, a long journey came to an end. Capt/Chaplain/Father Emil J. Kapaun [Hq/8 Cavalry, POW 2 November 1950, death reported on 23 May 1951] posthumously received his Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama. Nine surviving POWs who had known him were there, alphabetically: Gerald “Bob” Cavagnaro, Richard A. Caverly, Ray Michael Dowe, Jr. Robert L. McGreevy, Herbert A. Miller, Joe...read more
March 2013
I’ve often been asked, how many men were Prisoners of War (POWs) during the Korean War? I don’t know exactly, and this story is worth telling. Government figures are quite good, and the number most often seen is 7140. It takes in 2701 men who died as POWs, 4418 who returned alive, and 21 who refused to come home. Those who came back alive include Little Switch and Big Switch,...read more
June 2012
More of us are using home computers, or even “smart” hand-helds, so here is an updated list of POW camps we’ve spoken about. You can enter latitude and longitude from the right-hand column in Google Maps, go to satellite mode, and zoom in. WGS-84 is today’s international map system. A few comments follow: Camp Context Used WGS-84 for Google Kosan pre-Apex Oct 1950 126 08 00 E, 41 02 45 N...read more