June 2011
Spring flows into Summer and thoughts turn to the Suan Camps where so many men were held in 1951. After Chinese forces entered the war, the U.S. EIGHTH Army and the U.N. Command were pressed southward, back into present day South Korea. Heavy fighting ensued as the Chinese took Seoul and tried to consolidate and move farther south across a broad front. Battles followed, month by month, from January through May, before lines began to stabilize a little below what has now become the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
A flow of POWs began to move northward, from smaller actions and especially from three major battles, around Hoengsong in February, below Chorwon in April, and east of Chunchon in May. Men moved north by stages to large holding camps near Suan, North Korea. The so-called Bean Camp was used first, through April 1951, then the Suan Mining Camp, May through December, and finally a Collection Camp, in 1952 and 1953 for later actions. The site of the Collection Camp is tricky: the Chinese announced a location that matched one of their Army Headquarters, but we now know that they re-opened the far end of the former Mining Camp, under a new name, instead.
Let’s do a little more map work! Once again, you’ll need a home computer, or your local public library. Use Google Maps, in satellite mode. You can drop down on the locations you pick, almost anywhere on Earth. Don’t worry, the librarian can explain “how to,” if need be. The map references that follow are in East longitude and North latitude. They are pretty exact, down to a hundred feet or so. Just read them as they are, including spaces and the comma. When you are ready, punch them in. As soon as the map image shows on your screen, you can zoom in, zoom in, zoom in, down to helicopter level.
The Suan Bean Camp was at 126 21 40 E, 38 42 10 N.
The Suan Mining Camp was at 126 21 55 E, 38 46 55 N.
The phony location for the Suan Collection Camp was 126 26 35 E, 38 52 00 N, within the narrow valley. But it was really at the eastern edge of the Mining Camp, cited above.
We have another reason for writing now about the Suan Camps: more identifications. Our recovery teams have never been allowed to work there, but when the North Koreans turned over human remains during 1990-94 in the 208 caskets, “the DPRK 208,” about a third of the badly mixed remains came from the Suan Camps. Table work at the Lab in Hawaii continues, and so does DNA sampling for the Lab in Rockville MD. These are the men from the Suan Camps that we have identified and returned to their families [several others are in work, and many more will follow]. Every time I look at this list, it grows a little:
SFC Patrick James “Pop” Arthur. Hq 2/38 Inf, POW 18 May 1951.
Cpl Robert Shirley Ferrell. A/503 FA Bn, POW 12 February 1951.
PFC Green Finley, Jr. K/9 Inf, POW 12 February 1951.
PFC Junichi Fujimoto. L/5 Cav, POW 15 February 1951.
SGT Carl Berton George. A/38 Inf, POW 12 February 1951.
MSgt Roy Earl Head. Hq/49 FA Bn, POW 11 February 1951.
Cpl Leslie Ray Heath, A/5 Inf, POW 23 April 1951.
SFC John Harvey Holman. D/38 Inf, POW 12 February 1951.
SFC Walter Leroy Hood. C/15 FA, POW 13 February 1951.
CPL Floyd Edward Hooper. I/19 Inf, POW 4 February 1951.
PFC Ross William Katzman, G/38 Inf, POW 17 May 1951.
PFC Peter Kubic. K/9 Inf, POW 12 February 1951.
CPL John Wilbur Lutz. 1 Ranger Co, POW 19 May 1951.
SGT Lawrence Alexander Meredith. Hq/187 RCT, POW 13 February 1951.
Cpl Allen Lyle Mettler. K/9 Inf, POW 12 February 1951.
SGT Brunko Runko Miljus. K/38 Inf, POW 12 February 1951.
PFC Myral Norman Moore. K/23 Inf, POW 28 January 1951.
1LT Jack J. Saunders. B/15 FA Bn, POW 13 February 1951.
CPL A.V. Scott. A/503 FA Bn, POW 12 February 1951.
Cpl Arthur Leo Seaton. A/503 FA Bn, POW 12 February 1951.
PFC John Morrise Washington. A/503 FA Bn, POW 12 February 1951.
PFC David Woodruff. K/9 Inf, POW 12 February 1951.
September 2011 (Johnny Johnson, Tigers)
During this last year, we’ve lost several good friends, including PFC Wayne Archer “Johnny” Johnson of Tiger Group, early in June. Those closest can tell his story best, but I can add a little, looking from the outside in. Johnny Johnson was captured on 11 July 1950 while serving in L Company, 3rd Battalion of 21st Infantry. He made his way north to Seoul and Pyongyang. At Pyongyang, a total of 52 men from Tiger Group printed their names on black boards in a school house where they were held, before continuing north to Manpo in September. Another group of POWs which followed Tiger Group is far better known for using blackboards at Seoul and Pyongyang, but Tiger Group did it first, about a month earlier, at Pyongyang. We know that Johnny and a few friends were already trying to keep some notes, and this use of blackboards may have helped to make the idea of “names” even more solid in their minds. The list that they prepared gradually took shape afterwards, first in the Apex Camps from November 1950 through October 1951, and then at Camp 3 on the bay below Changsong, where most of Tiger Group was held afterwards.
Johnny Johnson was released from captivity during Big Switch on 29 August 1953. He returned to the United States aboard the transport, U.S.N.S. General W.M. Black (T-AP-135). Johnny was debriefed at some length aboard the W.M. Black, between 1 and 6 September 1953. He was an absolute “God send” to those taking notes. It’s often been told that the “Johnny Johnson List” was little appreciated. But that does not tell the whole story. One of his debriefers recorded, “proved to be most cooperative in answering questions. He has a list of 449 men who were killed or died while captive. He will make sworn statements . . . .”
Now his work began in earnest. Johnny Johnson wrote, and wrote, and wrote. A great stack of blank forms was placed before him, and using his list as a guide, he began to fill them out. He reported the passing of many friends on individual Armed Forces Far East 545s, “Returnee Report on Death of an Individual in Captured Status.” I’m still working through these forms. They provide much the same information as his original list: name, serial number, unit, date of death, and, very importantly, home town back in the United States. These forms were later re-transcribed by typing, and several copies were made, so that other debriefing NCOs and officers could compare them with reports from other returning men.
Together, Johnny Johnson and a few friends had a fine collective memory for names. Now the process that built the list was given full play. Some names were unique. Some were remembered by several men. But one of the greatest services that he provided was to sort through similar names. He knew the differences, by home town, by unit, and sadly, by place and date of death. Friends had helped to feed him information, and he had kept it faithfully, often memorizing. Johnny Johnson and his friends did not simply report, they differentiated. Among the men whom he positively identified were three who had died on the train en route from Pyongyang to Manpo, and several others who had joined Tiger Group later, after it had arrived at the Apex Camps, and even a man who died aboard the barges that took survivors from the Apex Camps down the Yalu River to Camp 3. This is a gift that keeps on giving . . . and I, among many others, am very grateful.