Veteran Transcript
Charles M. Lynch
[August/24/1929]
[Time Start 0:00:00.0]
“Today is Saturday September 6, 2008. I am here with Charles M. Lynch at his house in Greenville, Ohio and I am Michael Pheffer. Mr. Lynch is 79 years old and was born on August 24, 1929. Mr. Lynch is my great uncle. Mr. Lynch served in the Korean War. Mr. Lynch was in the 700th ORD battalion and held rank of 1st lieutenant.”
MBP: Were you drafted or did you enlist in the war?
CML: I was drafted, but I could have had a student deferment. I was between my junior and senior year at Indiana University. But at the time, the Korean War had started on the 25th of June in 1950. President Truman committed American troops on the 25th of June while the North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel. As part of the United Nation effort on the 28th of June president Truman committed American troops. So immediately the United States began to revitalize their armed forces, which had been diminished after the Second World War. They were calling back the World War II veterans. I had a talk with my mother and father and particularly mother was upset and my dad understood the situation I told them if my number came up in the draft that I would not take a student deferment. It did come up in August and I got orders to report and I did not take a deferment and then I was inducted into the Army on the 11th of January, 1951.
MBP: Where were you living at the current time when you were drafted?
CML: We were living in Union City, Indiana.
MBP: Why did you want to join the army?
CML: Why did I want to go in? I felt I had a responsibility and we had just come through a major war, the Second World War. The veterans from that conflict were being called back in to duty; I was twenty years old and there wasn’t any reason why I should be sitting in the class room while these other guys had already fought one war. If they needed any help then I was going to help them.
MBP: That was a very good reason.
MBP: Why did pick the service branch you joined?
CML: Well, I didn’t really pick the service I was in. I was called up in the draft.
MBP: Do you recall your first day in the service?
CML: Oh, yes. I can recall that quite vividly. Mother and dad took me to Winchester and there was a group of around forty of us, I believe, and there was a bus waiting for us there. After a little bit of paper work there we finally got on the bus and went to Indianapolis. There was some additional processing there. There were some other groups in Indiana coming in also there to Indianapolis. As I remember there where several bus loads of us that left Indianapolis for Breckenridge, Kentucky. Which is were we took are basic training.
MBP: What did it feel like?
CML: Well it was a different experience. Anytime you’re injected into a crowd of strangers there’s always that degree of uncertainty. You never know exactly what’s going to happen. There was quite a diversity of opinions and feelings I should say. I think some of the men were excited; some of the men were concerned, some of the men were very blasé about it, and well some took in stride and honestly some were worried. I can’t say I was deeply concerned about it.
[0:6:29.0]
MBP: Tell me about your boot camp/training experience?
CML: I will never forget the first morning. He got to Breckenridge. Breckenridge had just been reopened, it had been a Second World War camp and had been shut down immediately after the Second World War. It was, to say the least a very rustic atmosphere. We had no energy, we got there late at night or early morning of January 12th. The temperature was below 0˚; there was absolutely no heat in the barracks. We were each issued mattresses, blankets or sheets, I don’t remember what else. We got to bed about midnight and we were awakened at three o’clock in the morning. Told to get dressed. We still hadn’t been issued any army issue. But the non-com in charge was told to pick out a couple of us (I wasn’t one of them) and told them to go down to the furnace room and get a bucket and mop. I don’t know where they got the water, because we had no water at that time, but they brought a couple of buckets of water, one for downstairs and one for upstairs. They had three or four mops. They told us to mop the barracks. We put the water on the floor and then the mop down and the mop froze to the floor. That’s how cold it was. They finally got us, I suppose it was six thirty or seven o’clock, and then took us to eat to a mess hall that was functioning, just a basic platoon formation and immediately after that took us to supply quartermaster to issue us our gear. I really, I really don’t remember; the rest of the day I think we were getting things ready in the barracks. I know the next day we had, first thing in the morning called out to a callosity and really didn’t have anticipation. I can’t get it day by day but it was three or four days before we got into a complete military regiment. Basically the reason for that was the camp just wasn’t ready. I mean there weren’t enough facilities there to activate a training schedule. So that was initial experience at Breckenridge.
MBP: How did you get through that and stay positive?
CML: Well, it improved daily. Situation improved daily, facilities were improved. But the toughest thing we had to fight was the weather. 1951 was an extremely cold winter. I can remember distinctly as our training increased, are first day on the rifle range I can remember that very well, it was ten below 0˚. So, we thought we were training for an arctic experience somewhere. So the last of January and early February had very cold temperatures. But, we survived.
MBP: Your only war you fought in was the Korean War, right?
CML: Oh, yes. The only war I fought in was the Korean War.
MBP: Were exactly did you go? [Locations]
CML: Well a lot of things happened before I went over seas. Two weeks before basic was over; fortunately when in the army when we went in we took a series of test in Indianapolis, before we got on the buses. Two weeks before basic training was over I got a call to report to the orderly room. We had just gotten back from Berwick. So, I reported to the orderly room, I was told that the company commander wanted to see me. So I reported to the company commander’s office. When I went into his office there was another captain and like colonel. The company commander said these gentlemen want to talk to you, and he left the room. The like colonel we have may have checked your scholastic record evidently. I was carrying three majors in college; I had a major in chemistry, a major in physics, and a major in mathematics. This captain and colonel said how would you like to go back to school. I said well that’s not why I joined the army. They said well we have a proposition, we would like to send you to school for thirty months. Now I can’t remember all of the school choices. But I can remember some of them. They wanted to send me to school for thirty months there would have been five universities involved. I remember distinctly the first one they mentioned was MIT and another one they mentioned was Notre Dame, I believe the university of Chicago was one, and I know the university of Iowa was one. Now I’m not sure about Chicago and can’t remember the fourth school I mean fifth school. They said when I graduated I would come out with a masters degree in engineering. Of course I don’t know what’s going on here, and then I said well what’s the catch here. They said if you agree to do this you’ll have to after that thirty months you will have to enlist into the army for three years. I said well what would my assignment be. They said well we want to put you with the guided missiles. In 1950 who had ever heard of guided missiles, I didn’t even know what a guided missile was hardly. I knew during the Second World War we had the V-2 bombs but that’s the only missile. They said you would have to go to Huntsville, Alabama. I got to thinking about that, and said well let me give this some thought. Thirty months, two and a half years three years in the army that’s five and a half years. I said gentlemen I’m not interested in making a career out of the army. I said I didn’t come in the army for that. They said well we are sorry to hear that, well if you aren’t interested in that will you agree to go to O.C.S. That is six months of training and 18 to 24 months additional service. I forget if it was eighteen or twenty-four. So I got thinking about that. The Second World War had ended five or six years ago and we are in another war. If I get out of this thing, all in one piece. And then they start another war in five or six years and I get called back. Do I want to get called back as a corporal or a private. Or do I want to come back as an officer. So I agreed to go to O.C.S. as an insurance policy, looking at the future.
I wasn’t particularly concerned about expressing my authority. I thought it would be a good thing if I got out and got married and happened to have a family in five years. It would me much easier if I went back as an officer. So I was assigned after I get out of basic. I was ok for O.C.S. but before you can go to O.C.S you go through another nine-week leadership school. Which I took at Breckenridge. That was an interesting experience, basically, that leadership school was nine weeks of learning. Really it was a teaching course, you were taught how to conduct classes and do training. How to motivate your understudies/ students, it was very interesting. I thought it was a very worthwhile training course. Then after we actually got out of that I was assigned out on the range section for a couple of months. After that I got my O.C.S orders and I had been assigned to the army general school at Fort Riley in Kansas. Now the army general school was not a school for generals. The army general school was for the people that army had conducted for its courses in a number of facilities. All of them except for Riley were for specific divisions of the army. The infantry officers were at Fort Ben in Georgia. The artillery training school was I believe at Fortville in Oklahoma. The engineer’s training school was, I think Belvoir, Virginia. Communications officer training school was Fort Dix, New Jersey. Armory school was Fort Knox. But at Fort Riley, the training we got there was a multi-division training schedule. Our classes started October 10, 1951 and then graduated April 10, 1952. Out of that class we had men that were assigned to infantry, we had men that men were assigned to artillery, we had men that were assigned to armory, we had men that were assigned to the engineer core, we had men that were assigned to signal core, and we, like me, had a few men that were assigned to ordinance. After I graduated from O.C.S. I was assigned to Aberdeen Proving Grounds to take some additional ordinance training. They shipped be to Aberdeen and I went threw what they call United States army basic training course. It was sort of a weapons and mechanics course. I learned everything about army weapons from 45 caliber pistols to 155-millimeter guns and Hal liters. And once you get out of there you can take anything apart and put it back together. It included some fire control; it was a basic ordinance training deal. After I got out of there I was assigned to my oversea assignment. Which was in the Far East.
MBP: Do you remember arriving in the overseas assignments?
CML: Oh, yes. I think I had a thirty-day leave. I left the trooping grounds and got home. I was to report in Seattle Washington on the 22nd of December. There was a big storm and the airport at Dayton, Ohio couldn’t get a flight out. So I wired the commanding general in Seattle and told him about the situation and would get out as soon as transportation was available. I got out there on Christmas Eve of 1952. When I arrived the first thing they said was that I had a three-day pass. To bad I didn’t know that because I could have stayed over Christmas. But anyways I spent three days in Seattle and went back to the post and did some overseas processing. They then put 46 of us on news year’s day of 1953 in shipments at either 5 in the morning or 5 in the evening. I was on the 5 in the evening flight there was 46 of us in that group. We left at that airport and then flew up to anchorage Alaska. We then got into Elmendorf at three o’clock in the morning they then gave us breakfast. After that we got back on the plane and was about an 8-hour flight to Elmendorf. From there we flew to Sibiu, which is a little island at the very end of a chain of islands. It was the very last island at its strip. I remember distinctly the runway ran the entire length of the island. When our plane stopped and landed there our nose was right at the tip of a huge bank of snow. We ate there and got back on the plane, we had a very rough flight on the way there. Very rough. We got back on the plane and headed to an air force base right outside of Tokyo. I talked to the pilot and he said that it was the roughest flight he had ever had. We had forty-six men in the plane and we were sitting in bucket seats. This wasn’t a converted airline. This was a freighter; we were in buckets seats along each side of the fusil lodge. Out of that 46 men, this is not pleasant, forty-four of those men were deathly ill. You cannot imagine what that inside of plane looked like when we landed. And how you kept from getting sick, if the motion didn’t get you then the atmosphere did. It was an extremely unpleasant sight. Fortunately I didn’t get sick, luckily. We landed at the base and where taken to a base in another area of Japan. We spent about another week being processed with some additional processing at that base. We then had an option to do a little bit of sigh seeing while there. But they then sent me to another school. Because evidently they knew the war was winding down. They had even started peace negotiation in 1951. The Chinese weren’t interested in ending things that fast. The people heard there might be a possibility of chemical and biological and with the advent of atomic weapons in Russia. Possibly radiological warfare. So the army had set up a school in Japan that is about 100 miles west of Tokyo. A beautiful village and we stayed in excellent facilities. There was a magnificent runway there with a primary area where the fighters were trained in the Second World War. Here we had two weeks of intense training in chemical and radiological warfare. How we could command positions and incase of an attack of chemical warfare, while we would try to handle the situation as best as our ability. Then after those two weeks I was shipped to the port of Embarkation and we were there for seven or eight days. We then left there and landed in Pusan, Korea. I cannot give you the exact dates of that, I don’t remember. But at Pusan we of course had more processing. There we got on a train and went up the lake in South Korea. Our Final destination was Sole. We were processed there and given are final assignments. I was assigned to the 45th division and then got on a truck the next day and got into the headquarters around maybe one or two o’clock in the afternoon. I was immediately assigned the 700th ordinate battalion. Then I was given transportation over to that unit and reported. The next morning Colonel Stack mad me the division army officer. I went straight to work after that.
MBP: Were there many Casualties in your Unit?
CML: In the 700th battalion, No. Because we were the support battalion. But in the 45th division, Yes. Keep in mind that here we are talking about district. I joined the 45th on the first of February. And the Korean War started in 1950. The Korean had chased the United Nations almost completely out of the country. They had chases them down clear to the little perimeter of Pusan. They finally held there but after the United Nations facilities had an opportunity to get their feet on the ground and obtain proper supplies and proper troops. Macarthur broke out of there, he made a secondary landing north of there and troops began to roll allover the North Koreans clear up to the alum river. That’s when everything went to Pot because when they were ready to cross the alum and chase them into china, the Chinese put up two or three armies. And the United Nations troops didn’t have that kind of strength to be put in that kind of situation with room to flux. Again the UN troops were chased back half the length of Korea and back to the 38th parallel. That’s where they were when I joined the activity over there. A little something about the 45th division is that the 45th division was an automatic; everything was in a state of flux. It was a part of the 10th core, 10th core was guarding the extreme eastern area of Korea. We were from the ocean. I don’t remember if it was the 2nd or 9th core that was to our left. But the tenth core was made up of the 45th American division; the 5th rock division and I believe the 7th rock division (which was not standard T.O.E by American standards I believe). The 45th division would have ordinarily have been to American standards contained with three regiments. We had three regiments plus a regimental combat team and what was a Philippians combat team that was all under general Ginger. It all operated as part of the 45th division. I don’t know what exactly you are looking for Michael. You asked about number of casualties. As I said that time the M.L.R. was pretty stable.
MBP: Were you awarded any metals or citations?
CML: Uhhm, yes. I was awarded the Bronze Star and I had the Korean Campaign ribbon with two battle stars.
MBP: How did you earn these? [Awards]
CML: Well, the citation read: First Lieutenant CHARLES M. LYNCH, 02265469, ordinance Corps, United States Army, company B, 700th ordnance Battalion, 45th Infantry Division, distinguished himself by meritorious service in connection with military operations against an armed enemy, in Korea, from 10 February 1953 to 25 July 1953. Serving as armament Officer and Platoon leader in the armament section, Lieutenant LYNCH performed his assigned tasks in a most exemplary manner. He led and supervised his section throughout critical and hazardous conditions. His advice, suggestions, and recommendations were enthusiastically received by the using arms and upon their implementation proved to be both sound and practical. Lieutenant LYNCH’s outstanding ability, initiative, and fine soldiery conduct reflect great credit upon himself and the military service. Entered the Federal service form Indiana.
MBP: Back to Combat, What was it like, what was the experience of combat?
CML: I was not a combat soldier. I was a support of the service. Although I supported the combat arms and was on the N.L.R. a lot I never considered myself a combat leader. But one funny thing happened that I will never understand. Our division was an augmented division we were a standard American division with three regiments plus we had a regimental combat team under General Ginder’s command we also had a Philippine battalion combat team under General Ginder’s command. Now when I arrived there it was the 19th Philippine combat battalion team. Probably march or early April the 19th rotated and being replaced by the 14th combat battalion team. The thing I don’t understand is that they sent me and had me pick out a detail of EM’s to go back to core area and inspect the 14th combat battalion team. They said to make sure that they were ready for combat. I was in charge of that detail; I could never understand why they sent me back there instead of a line officer. But they did and I don’t know why they sent me back there but that’s the situation.
MBP: Can you tell me a little bit about your life in the service? How did you stay in touch with your family?
CML: Letters.
MBP: How often could you send letters?
CML: Not often enough according to my mother.
(chuckle)
MBP: What was the food like there?
CML: Of course when we were at base we had a hot meal. The guys on the M.L.R. ate a lot of can rash in very seldom did they ever get a hot meal. One thing I still laugh about is if we cam back off the line at night. Say we got back at the base at midnight, one o’clock, and two o’clock. It was not unusual for me to have a couple of yams on me, and we would be hungry. The army got SPAM and we always go over to mess camp and snitch one of those cans and a jar of mustard. Along with a loaf of bread, and had our self some SPAM sandwiches before we hit the sack. I never complained about the food. We had other things to worry about.
MBP: Did you guys have plenty of supplies?
CML: When I got there, as I already stated I was there late in the game. Early on the supply situation was horrible. I felt sorry for the guys that got there when the war had just started. But we had a couple of times when a couple of our supply routes were cut off. We then have to have a lot of stuff brought by helicopter. One of the toughest things and things we didn’t have enough was up to date maps. But as far as combat supplies, we were well supplied by the end of the war. I would say if there was anything that had inaccuracy at that time would have been that the clothing wasn’t the best clothing in temperature and style wise.
MBP: Did you feel any pressure or stress while in the war?
CML: I hope he doesn’t see this but our battalion commander was a piece of work, he was something else. He was a nice guy but he could be as hard as nails. I found out he could be a much nicer guy one night when Lieutenant Bacau and Lieutenant Johnson and I got about half crocked. We decided we would go back to core hospital because there were American nurses back there. The only way we could get back there was to go over the NG pass. Going over the NG pass in the daytime was a nerve wrecking experience, but going over it at night was downright foolish. But we decided to go all the way over it. We got back to core hospital and walked in the officer’s quarter door there. Of course the first guy I see is colonel stack our battalion commander. I think about half of he division staff was back there. He never said a thing about it the whole way back. Then the next morning we got an officer’s call and he never mentioned it. I thought we get chewed out with no end but we didn’t.
MBP: Was there anything special you did for good luck?
CML: NO. No, I never had a superstitious ritual.
MBP: How did you keep and others entertain themselves?
CML: The Chinese kept us entertained a majority of the time that we were there. The enemy supply particularly there ammunition supply was completely different then ours. We got our ammunition supply basically on a thirty-day program. The Chinese and North Koreans seemed to get their ammunition supply on a seven-day program. I suspect possibly have been the result of logistic problems. Nonetheless their philosophy was massive firepower; they used a lot of artillery and mortar fire. We then came to see that we could figure out their supply schedule and we knew that for four or five days we were going to get extremely mortar and heavy artillery every night. Then we had one or two days were nothing would happen, it gave us a chance to rest up, relax, and maybe we had some time to play cards or do something. Maybe even spend the night shooting the breeze together. That’s about the only time we had to be social and interact with each other.
MBP: Did they ever bring in entertainers or entertainment for you?
CML: No, Not were we were. We did have one time; a group of USO entertainers came up to our rear base. I will never forget it because I had a nice time. Don Taylor who was a B actor, well he was in some A films was in our officer’s bunker. Erin Bur, a Mr. Iron side was in our bunker and a young lady but I forget here name. She was a B actress and she was there. Don Taylor was lucky he didn’t get shot, the guys didn’t like him. He got half hitched and made a complete ass of himself. That the only time we had any kind of outside entertainment.
MBP: What did you do when you were put on leave?
CML: On Leave I had one “R and R” in June. I left with another lieutenant name Mel Moses and we were both golfers. I had been fortunate to spend a little time in Tokyo before I got assigned to Korea. So we decided that we would take our R and R in Japan were we thought we might have a chance of finding a golf course. We went to Japan that the closes Golf Course was farther up North from were we were. So we got on a train and headed up north to the golf course. We found a little nine-hole golf course and played golf. We ended up catching up to a lady who was playing by herself and she asked us to join her in finishing up the game with her, so we did. Then after that she took us into the club and we had a drink together. So she asked what we were doing, were we were, what our outfit was. Mel and I then said that we were going back to the other city that we originally went to that was southern from here. She said oh, don’t do that. Her husband was a commander in the air force and that there was going to be a big celebration that night. She said they were going to be overly short of men and that we should stay for the party. So we stayed and when we partied. END OF STORY. (chuckle)
MBP: Where there any pranks or things you did to other people?
CML: Oh my. I mentioned the colonel, so back at the base station, which is six to seven miles behind MLR. We had this opening that cut into the side of a mountain or hill. It was about twelve feet deep and eighteen feet long; it was cut into this side of a hill. In our sleeping quarters we had this little Brooklet that ran between this openings and were we slept. And there was a bridge that ran across to there that was about four feet wide. Of course we were pasted the night light. So it was about a four to five foot drop at the end of this bridge, it was like a little trench and it always had about seven inches of water in there. You had to feel around for the guardrails to get across this little bridge. One night Jimmy Buca and a couple of guys waited a couple nights till the colonel was really tipsy. The colonel liked to drink a nice amount of Cream de Menthes after dinner and he often got really tipsy. So jimmy and those guys cut the rails off the bridge and then colonel Stack didn’t make it across the bridge that night. That’s the biggest prank that we ever had. Fortunately the colonel never found out who cut those rails off.
MBP: What did you think of the officers and fellow soldiers?
CML: First class. First class.
MBP: Did you keep any personal notes?
CML: No. I kept no diary. I kept nothing.
MBP: After the war do you recall the last day of your service?
CML: Yes, sir. I stepped off the airplane at the Dayton National Airport at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon on October the 9th, 1953.
MBP: What was that like for you?
CML: It was nice to be home?
MBP: What did you do in the days and the weeks after you got home?
CML: Well dad asked me if I wanted to go back to school or want I wanted to do. I said well I want to go to work. I got home on Thursday and went to work on Monday.
MBP: Do you remember were you worked?
CML: Ya, I worked at the Lynch Supply Company.
MBP: Was your education supported by the GI Bill?
CML: No, because all of my schooling and education was before I went into the war.
MBP: Did you make any close friendships in the service?
CML: While I was in the service yes, I made some close friendships. Everybody was pulling through for everybody else and everyone was caring for each other. Like I said early I haven’t seen Jimmy for over fifty years. Forty years ago I did stop in on one person and it still felt like yesterday. I think any veteran will tell you this: there is a bond that builds. Those kind of circumstances make it so there’s a bond were nothing can break it. Once you have been through that it is something that is difficult to explain but it is sometimes even more bonding then some family relationships.
MBP: Did you join any veteran clubs?
CML: I joined the lifetime American Legion and I’m a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. And those are the only to clubs I belong to, I guess.
MBP: Later in your life what did you proceed to do as a career after the war?
CML: Well I was in business.
MBP: What exact business were you involved in?
CML: I was in distribution and manufacturing.
MBP: Did you military experience change your view on the military? And Wars?
CML: O, I think so. I think anyone that has served in the military has rethought how they looked at the military.
MBP: Do you attend any reunions?
CML: Regrettably I haven’t. There has never been any battalion reunion. If there were any reunion I would like to attend I would love to see the guys from AOC class forty-three from the AGS. That’s six months of officer training school. We had a lot of fun together as a group. It was a very interesting and life changing experience.
MBP: How did you experience of the service affect your life?
CML: Well, I can say I can actually put that in words, its difficult. I don’t think it’s had any significant difference. I don’t think it changed my focus at all and I would probably say the only affect it had was it delayed what I was going to do for three years. Because I would have probably done the same thing anyways.
MBP: Before the End is there anything else you would like to add that we have not covered yet in this interview today?
CML: I can’t think of anything other than the fact that I’m to old to do it again now.
MBP: Okay thank you very much for doing this interview with me. Thank You.
CML: Thank you Michael.
[Time End 1:06:39.1]
