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Bill
Porter: Korean War Interviewed By: Terry Gust (Midwest City Rotary Club Interview) Interview Date: March 29, 2004 Q:
How are you today, Bill? A:
Well, I’m doing fine up to this point. Q:
See, now you thought you could answer them all “yes” or “no” and
I stumped you right off the bat, didn’t I? (laughter). Alright, the first
question is when an where were you born? A:
Well, I remember that (laughter). Q:
You were there, right? A:
Yea, my mother and a medical doctor, I remember. I was born December 27,
1933 in a little place called Enterprise, Tennessee. Quite enterprising. Q:
That’s neat! Now let’s see, question number 2 is, when did people
first begin thinking that the US might get involved in Korea, if you know? A:
Actually, I wasn’t concerned about that at the time. Q:
Let me see, you would have been in – about 1950 you would have been,
what, 17? A:
Sixteen years old, actually. I had just turned 16, I think. Q:
Sixteen years old. A:
I turned 16 in ’49. Q:
So, do you have any answer? Do you have any memory? A:
Actually, I don’t have any memory. I know some of the history. Q:
Well, this is “when did people first being thinking” – like in your
family. Did you . . . A:
Oh, I doubt that my family even considered it. Q:
Now were you still living in Tennessee at that time? A:
Right, ah-huh. Q:
And, so national conflicts weren’t big in your . . . A:
They weren’t big at all, in fact, ah, there was nothing real big!
(laughter) Q:
Well, when did you first learn about Korea at all? A:
Actually, I first learned about Korea when I got my orders. I didn’t
even think about it when I got my orders to go there. Q:
So what did you do . . . A:
Because the orders were printed – they just said “Far East.” Nobody
knew where we were going. Q:
Well, but we’re skipping a beat here now. You didn’t join the
military when you were 16, did you? A:
Oh, no, no, no! I joined the military when I was, ah, 19. Q:
Alright, let me get back to the questionnaire, then. Was the war expected
or did the war and the US involvement come as a complete surprise to you? A:
Yes, it came as a complete surprise. Q:
You never even heard of Korea? A:
Ah, probably not. I doubt it. Of course, that’s been 50 years ago. Q:
Well, I know, you’re an old guy and have trouble remembering what you
ate yesterday, right? A:
Yea, I probably knew about it, you know what I mean. . . Q:
But it was pretty much a surprise? A:
Yea, it was not something that was a great, ah, conversation, you know,
at that time. Q:
Just kind of came about. Alright. A:
What is a foreign war when you’re 16 years old? Q:
How old would have been when the war broke out? A:
Ah, it broke out in ’50, so, see I had just turned 16. Q:
No, 1950, you’d have been . . . A:
Yea, but I turned 16 in 1949 . . . Q:
What’s your birthday? A:
Ah, December . . . Q:
December . . . A:
So I had just turned 16. The war probably broke out about June of 1950. Q:
Alright. So at that time you’d have been 16, OK. A:
Sixteen years old on my way to 17. Q:
Alright. And you weren’t in the military when you were 16? A:
No, huh-ah. Hadn’t even considered the military. Q:
You were still in high school, right? A:
Yes, still enjoying myself. Q:
Yes! So, you weren’t a World War II veteran? A:
No, no. Too young for that. Q:
So, it says, if you weren’t in the military, were you drafted or
enlisted? What happened there? A:
Well, you know it’s kind of interesting, ah, I had a friend in the
little town that I lived in, and I knew I was going to be drafted, and he knew
he was going to be drafted because in fact, we were getting to the point where
we knew (emphasized)
we
were going to be drafted. Q:
Now you’d have been what, 18? A:
Ah, you know, I was 19 then because I had just – well, now wait just a
minute, that was ’53. Ah, no it was ’52. I joined in ’52. Q:
You joined in ’52 and you were 18 then? A:
Let me think a little bit on it. Ah, I can’t remember whether I was . .
. Q:
Stumping the . . . A:
It must have been ’53 when I joined. Yea, January of ’53. Yea,
that’s when it was January of ’53 was when I joined. Q:
It was? A:
Ah-huh. Q:
And you said you knew you were going to get drafted, so instead of being
drafted, you . . . A:
Yea, I didn’t want to go into the army or the marines, you know. Q:
So what did you do? A:
I joined the air force! Q:
Alright. Where did you go enlist? A:
Where did I go enlist? Q:
Yea. A:
Ah, I think I enlisted – well, you know, I may have gone to Nashville. Q:
So, let’s see, you graduated from high school in 1952. A:
’52, yea. Q:
And then after high school, did you have a job, or what was going on? A:
Oh, yes, yes. In fact, I worked the full time I was in high school. Q:
Oh, you did? A:
Yea. I worked as soda jerk. At the time that I, ah, joined the military,
I was working for a guy that owned a large store there in the little town I was
in. . . Q:
You were a store clerk of some kind? A:
Oh, yea, yea. He had a huge store. Sold anything and everything. Q:
Alright, so, fearing that you were going to get drafted, you joined the
– you enlisted into the air force. A:
Right, enlisted in the air force. Q:
And you stayed in the air force the whole time? A:
Four years. That was it. An obligation of eight years at that time –
four years active duty . . Q:
And four years of reserve? A:
And four years in reserve, ah-huh. Q:
OK, getting back to our questionnaire here, what were your personal
feelings about going off to war and what were your feelings in regards to
communism and the anxieties and tensions it created in the United States? Well,
that’s about six questions, isn’t it? So, first of all, what were your
feelings about off to war? A:
Well, if I had known I was, I would have been scared to death! Q:
You did know that . . . A:
All I knew was that on the orders is said Far East, you know, that could
have been Japan. Q:
So you didn’t know . . . A:
No. Q:
And so when did you know you were going to this war area? A:
After I got to Japan, you know, processing center. Q:
Well, you knew there was a war going on? A:
Yea, after – yea, but, ah, I didn’t think I was going to Korea, you
know. . . Q:
You didn’t think you were going to the war? Even though we had a war
going on for two years with Korea? (laughter) You didn’t put two and two
together? A:
I wasn’t concerned about it. Q:
Well, you were from Tennessee, weren’t you? (laughing) A:
That’s exactly right! Q:
So, the second part of this question is what were your feelings in regard
to communism – do you remember back then? A:
Oh, oh yea, I remember very well that communism was kind of like a bad
deal. Bad policy. Q:
Alright, so then . . .and the anxieties and tensions it created in the
United States? A:
Well, you know, when you think of communism, I think of the Soviet Union,
you know, primarily, and so, they were involved in supporting North Korea when
the conflict started in 1950. Q:
OK, or the Chinese? A:
Yea, the Chinese and the Soviet Union supported them. Q:
Yea, the Chinese and Russians didn’t like each other, did they? A:
Yea, yea. They had problems with each other. Q:
Yea. But at any rate, did the people you know – your friends and
acquaintances feel the same way? A:
Well, I’m sure they did. Q:
You have specific memories of that, or . . . A:
Not specifically. Q:
OK, but pretty much your thinking is that the whole country was very
anti-communistic at the time. A:
Oh, absolutely. In fact, if we thought of a communist, we thought of –
let’s shoot him! I mean that’s a bad attitude, but . . . Q:
Was it that way when you were in high school, or when did that first come
about? A:
I don’t really know. Q:
You know, we had been allies with the Russians in World War II, so. . . A:
Yea, yea. Q:
So when did that shift come over? A:
I always think of communism as a bad thing, you know, not something you
want to be a part of. Q:
So, but you don’t have any distinct memories of, like, one day all of a
sudden it was bad? A:
No, no. Q:
Just kind of following on the TV or the radio. . . A:
No, traditional upbringing, I imagine, you know.\ Q:
OK, well it couldn’t have been tradition – it didn’t even exist for
a while there. . .alright, now. Did all the people you knew want to join the
military and serve? I guess this would be classmates, what-not. A:
Ah, I really don’t know. You know, there was no, ah, ah, reservations
about serving, I don’t think. At that time, there didn’t seem to be, you
know, as compared to later years, the younger people . . . Q:
So, people . . . A:
Well, they weren’t protesting and all. . . . Q:
But you didn’t want to get drafted, so you weren’t crazy about
serving, were you? A:
Well, I just wanted to be sure that I served the right place! Q:
You didn’t want to be on the ground in Korea with a rifle in your hand,
is that it? (laughing) A:
But I did that, though. I didn’t plan it that way. Q:
You didn’t want to do that? A:
No! Q:
So I assume that a lot of other people weren’t crazy about going to
Korea and fighting. A:
I’m pretty sure they were, you know. Hardly anybody would just tell you
. . . Q:
Never even heard of . . . A:
Nobody was like Kerry, you know, “give me the front line!” Q:
So this wasn’t like, from what you had heard about World War II –
where everybody was really gung-ho? A:
That’s true. I don’t think it was. Q:
How did your family feel, or your girlfriend, how did they feel? A:
You know, that’s kind of interesting. My dad – it was the first time
I was leaving home, and he said – I left home early in the morning and, ah,
they had just eaten breakfast and he just got up and shook my hand and said,
“I really don’t know what to tell you or anything like that, but more or
less just to take care of yourself and do the right thing,” you know, that
sort of thing. Q:
So, he wasn’t gung-ho about “go get those communists. . .” or “go
get those . . .” A:
No, no, nothing like that. Q:
So it was like doing your patriotic . . . A:
Girlfriend? I lost my girlfriend! (laughing) Q:
She really didn’t like you going, huh? A:
She was anxious to get rid of me, I think! Q:
But she wasn’t worried for you or any . . . or it wasn’t that close
of a relationship? A:
Ah, not, not as I know of. Q:
OK. Where did you go to basic training? A:
San Antonio, Texas, where they still do, you know. Q:
Where is that, Fort Sam Houston? A:
No, it’s ah, Lackland Air Force Base. I guess it’s still Lackland Air
Force Base. Q:
Explain your experiences and impressions of basic training. A:
Ah, you know, I was kind of disappointed in it. It was more like the boy
scouts than it was anything else. I mean it was very . . . Q:
Wasn’t real tough on you? A:
No, not at all. Q:
Not a lot of exercising? A:
No, I thought it would be real rough, you know, but it really wasn’t. Q:
So they didn’t overdo the exercise? A:
Oh, not at all. Q:
It wasn’t as difficult as . . . A:
You know – no, basically all they did was teach you how to march, you
know. Q:
Did they – was this the picture of where you see the sergeant screaming
at people? A:
Oh, yea, we had that. Q:
You did have that? A:
Yea. Q:
That didn’t make an impression on you, huh? A:
Yea, it did, but in fact. . . Q:
But they did do that – the drill instructors would scream at you and .
. . A:
Oh, they would get right in your – nose to nose, you know, and really
lay it on you strong. Q:
But you didn’t mind that, apparently. A:
Yea, I minded it, but nevertheless, it was still easy. Q:
Alright. A:
When I think of hard, I think of, ah, real stringent – like combat duty
and that sort of training. We didn’t have a lot of that sort of training. Q:
No running through – underneath barbed wire . . . A:
Oh, we did some, but nothing that. I can remember one time. . . Q:
Did you shoot guns? A:
Oh, yea. Q:
Throw hand grenades? A:
No, no hand grenades. We did the gas chamber, you know . . . Q:
Did you backpacks and take 20 mile walks? A:
Oh, nothing like that. I remember one time. . . Q:
This is the air force, right? And this I why you picked the air force? A:
This is the air force!. Q:
Well, now after you got through with the basic training, where did the
military send you? A:
Ah, I went to school at Scott Field, Illinois. Q:
What did you learn? A:
Ah, they taught me administrative duties, like classification specialist
and records keeping and this sort of thing for military. Q:
How long was basic training? A:
Ah, I don’t remember. Probably January and February. Q:
A month or two? A:
Yea, probably January and February. Q:
Two months. A:
Yea, probably. Q:
And then you went to this school in Illinois for how long? A:
For a very short period of time – well, see I left to go to Korea in,
ah, June, so . . . Q:
So a couple of months in school, then you went to . . . A:
Yea, two or three months in school. Well, I think they gave us, yea, I
took off from the school and went home a short time before I left to go to
Korea. Q:
Now, did you actually go to Korea or did you spend it all in Japan? A:
No, I actually went to Korea. Q:
So you went to Japan, and then from there. . . . A:
See, the process – you go to San – actually Oakland, California. . . Q:
Yes. A:
And then we got on a ship – a terrible ship! Q:
Didn’t like that, huh? A:
No. And, and went all the way to Japan where there was a processing
center. Q:
That take you a couple of weeks to sail over there? A:
Yea, a long time. In fact we were – let me tell you this – we were
out to sea three days and they ceased fire in Korea. . . Q:
Oh! So you’re through! Good news for you, huh? A:
They could have turned around and went back home, you know, they heard I
was coming. Q:
But they didn’t do that? A:
They ceased fire. . . Q:
But they didn’t send you straight back home? A:
They didn’t turn around a go back home, no. In fact, we spent some time
in Japan before we flew over – they flew us over to Korea. Q:
From Japan? A:
Yea. In fact, I got on that plane and it was the first plane I ever got
on where they had parachutes, and I said, “Hey, what’s wrong with this
plane? I haven’t been used to putting parachutes on?” Q:
You didn’t want that, did you? (laughing) So what was your – so
there’s a cease fire going on. . . A:
Yea. Q:
What’s your rank at this time? A:
Oh, just one stripe. Q:
So what would that be, corporal? |