M. Jaeger: Today is November 6,2004. This is Michelle Jaeger, Cali Rose,
and Maria Mora's interview with veteran Kenneth Jaeger concerning his
experiences in the Korean War. It is 4 o'clock and Michelle Jaeger is
interviewing Mr. Jaeger at his home in Meridian, TX.
M. Jaeger: Mr. Jaeger, what did you do before you joined the service and
where were you living?
K. Jaeger: Well, I was living in a little town called Caseyville, in a
little community called Sterling Place, and I started working when I was 7
years old, because of the Depression and everything. And uh, through my adolescent
years I did work on farms. And uh actually, I left school in my senior year and uh I
started working for a couple of factories, which I didn't like, and then I
went to work for the railroad doing clerical work. And I stayed there for, oh I
guess, two years and then, about that time when the war started, I decided
to just go ahead and join cause 1 thought I'd be selected by the army anyway.
M. Jaeger: So you enlisted, correct?
K. Jaeger: Right, I did.
M. Jaeger: What branch of service did you choose to participate in and why
that particular one?
K. Jaeger: Well I went with the Marines because 1 had always heard a lot
about how well they fought and everything and it was always very concerned
about their people. A lot of them got injured and killed. But, I'd been
asked to go into the navy and the air force. At that point, I was 18 and
wanted to go, but my parent's wouldn't let me. When I turned 19, they
couldn't stop me as easily. I went in, but some friends of mine had been in there and
done very good jobs. A couple of them got injured, of course. But I felt I was
capable of going in there and doing a proper job. And I wanted to do
something for my nation anyways.
M. Jaeger: How intense were your first days of service and how did they
change any preconceived notions you may have had concerning your immediate
future?
K. Jaeger: I tell you what when you join the marine core your [inaudible] their early
programs, I mean there all pretty rough on you. I was never used to that kind of frantic
movement and everything. People hollering at me telling me what to do and stomping on
your feet, hittin' you in the gut, stuff like that and I was very bothered by but eventually got
used to it. Its part of their discipline program in the marine core so that you don't hit back,
you can't go against the order. So I thought it was good for me, but it was not much fun, it's
quite a change in my life.
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M. Jaeger: What kind of personality would you say that you had as an 18 yr.
old before you entered into the war?
K. Jaeger: Before I entered.. . Well I was kind of cutting up with the rest of my friends
hangin around drug stores and drinkin sodas and stuff like that. At that time I had of course
been working and I had be uh.. .
M. Jaeger: So you knew about responsibility, and you knew, you know, you
wanted to perhaps take an adventure and maybe that outlet would be joining
the service?
K. Jaeger: Well the thing is it was, it was an obligation that all of us had to have all of us
young men and I just felt that if I was going to help I wanted to help in an orderly way I
could and I had practiced in the hills over the years with my buddies shootin back and forth
at the foot with my bb guns. So uh I knew quite a bit about it before I got into it but of
course there was [inaudible]
M. Jaeger: What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome during your
first days of service?
K. Jaeger: Well like I said gettin used to their agenda, and often times we would have to get
up at four o'clock in the morning and force marches with sometimes with sand in our
backpacks and would have to walk maybe a couple miles just to freshen up to go to
breakfast. And it was in the older days ya know when they, they were kinda harsh on you,
they didn't allow much leniency at all and you would just was forced to do those things.
And like I say eventually whatever they asked you, your commanding officer asked you to
do, you did it, there were no second guesses.
M. Jaeger: In what ways did you prepare yourself physically, mentally,
emotionally, and spiritually for the war and your service?
K. Jaeger: Well ya know, I all the preparation I had as far as my spiritual life was I grew up
in a Baptist Church. My dad was the Sunday school superintendent, my mom taught in
class, so we kids were in church a lot. But Id go on up to my senior year in high school, but
I was kind of a crazy kid at that point ya know, I didn't have.. I actually was looking for
something different than the life Id been living, I wasn't the best student in the world and
then after I got that job at [inaudible] Doing the same thing day in and day out, I felt that
here I could go into the service and do something for my country and at the same time
transfer to a whole new life. So that's the reason 1 did it.
M. Jaeger: What were you trained to do?
K. Jaeger: Well I was trained as an infantry men originally, of course you know what that is,
it's a lot of [inaudible] Machine gun fire over your head and you're going to the hills that
are in California, hittin' the deck when they told you too, often times there be rounds that
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were shot right near you, that's scary more than anything. But in the infantry they teach you
all aspects of fighting, jujitsu, and bayonet fighting and we often paired and wed fight each
other with our bayonet stabbers on, we just learned how to take care of our self. How to
shoot, I was an expert with a rifle, [inaudible] oh five out of a hundred, I always had good
eyesight, shot a lot when I was just a teenager, so that came easily for me.
M. Jaeger: What was the extent of your knowledge about Korea itself, before
we went to war with them?
K. Jaeger: I just knew it was there from geography, it was just a peninsula stuck out there. I
didn't know too much about it at all, about the weather conditions that are native there, it
was a very mountainous place; it was awfully cold in the winter and awfully hot in the
summer. Its actually is on the same parallel as St. Louis, where I live, so but the height was
a lot more and that bothered me a lot more because it was awful cold.
M. Jaeger: What was the 38th parallel?
K. Jaeger: Well the 3gth parallel was a line across from one sea to the other sea on the
peninsula of Korea. It was established by the United States and Russia after the Second
World War. Of course the northern section was handled by the Russians and the second
was handled by the United States.
M. Jaeger: Where in relation to the 38th parallel did your service take you?
K. Jaeger: Well when I got there in 195 1, they had already gone up and down the peninsula.
[inaudible]. And then we were retaking all that land that they had lost, and the most
important part was the seaboard sector on the Western side, what they were trying to do is
establish a more pronounced main line across there rather than use the 3gth parallel. And in
order for this to be accomplished and getting a similar line of ground we had to take all this
just north of the 3gth parallel. We were I guess about twenty-five, thirty miles north of the
parallel in my first combat there and it was quite rough [inaudible]
M. Jaeger: What did your daily duties consist of during your service?
K. Jaeger: You mean in the battles? Well in combat especially if your on the move ya know,
mainly just try to stay alive because their throwin bombs at you, not necessarily bombs, by
that times bombs hadn't been [inaudible] we hadn't ran into them yet, but a lot of shells ya
know mortar shells, . . . shells and you were just tryin to stay alive and it was so difficult
going from one hill to the next. Often times you had to just use your ingenuity to get from
one level to another. So it was a disturbing time just to go from one point on a hill to
another, and if you didn't take the point that you were tryin, you just had to dig in at night
and then wait till the following morning and start all over again. Usually everybody would
travel very lightly, except that I had three rockets on my back the whole time through my
first combat and it was a struggle just to get around. But at night time when they tried to
come back to get whatever, wed shoot the ones that tried to come back and we'd toss
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 3
grenades and it was quite spooky to say the least.
M. Jaeger: Who were you referring too? Who is your enemy?
K. Jaeger: Oh well it was the North Koreans, were the primary enemy, and of course the
Chinese had come in at the Yalu River in the fall of 195 1 and it was really the Chinese and
the North Koreans were ahead of us the whole time. Sometimes wed be facing two or three
divisions with our regimen, I mean it was tough serving.
M. Jaeger: Food and provisions were provided by various means during the
Korean War. What source was most evident in relation to your area and unit?
K. Jaeger: Well like I said we were really advancing in the fall of August, September, and
October, when we were advancing, the only way that they could re-supply us is by
helicopter, which was the hard way because we didn't have that many helicopters and you
had to build places for them to land. But mostly they had South Korean laborers, often
times the enemy would infiltrate those and we didn't know they were there. And they were
often given our positions. So we had to be very careful with those people, and a couple
times we had to shoot at a couple and bring them back. Because they'd just see us off the
hill and start to go back to their old side [inaudible].
M. Jaeger: In the intense daily routines of constant vigil and preparedness,
was there any time for luxuries such as relaxing or enjoying a hobby or
holiday?
K. Jaeger: Not really in combat, you didn't have much of that, sometimes when you were in
defense, you might get a few hours of something to eat, something special. One of the
games we played was a very dangerous game, and that was our dinner club, fun between us
each other. We all had knives and bayonets so we had a game called stretch. And the idea
was put six or seven guys in a circle and start throwin' at his feet and stickin' the knife and
if it stuck he had to stick his foot out there to that point. Then he would do the same thing to
the guy on the other side or whomever he wanted to throw it too ya know. Well it got pretty
dangerous and one time I had to pull a bayonet out of my friend's foot, I hadn't placed it
there but somebody else had. Well that kinda ended that game because they said anybody
doing it from then on would get a court marshal, so we had to stop doing that sort of game.
The entertainment we had if we got a package we'd share it with others, but we had to be
careful on the front line because you can't assemble in one place, they spot you that way. So
we had to do it ya know in a hole or small bunker or something. One thing my folks sent me
a song book or two song books one time, and we had a sizable bunker at that time, there
was about five or six of us and we'd get in there and sing those songs.
M. Jaeger: So how did you stay in touch with people at home?
K. Jaeger: Well ya know it was so vague that most of the time we didn't know what the date
was and ya know [inaudible] didn't know. Or some of the people handed you the phone
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 4
[inaudible] it was just a kind of a drab everyday routine that you had to put up with it was
[inaudible] of course.
M. Jaeger: How did you stay in touch with people at home as well?
K. Jaeger: Oh ok yeah. Very seldom did ya have paper ya know. We used to have what they
call victory letters or something. And it was complete, ya know, on its own you wrote on it
and they packaged it up and send it off. But if you didn't have any of those ya know
somebody might have an old one or you'd get one from the CP. And we often wrote on
toilet tissue because we didn't have paper, and that was kind of a rough way to write ya
know but we managed it. We had contact with our folks, or I tried about once a week or
evcry ten days, but then things got hot and I knew they were getting reports back about a
thousand marines being hurt in one week, or were casualties at least in one week and I knew
my folks were just going crazy.
M. Jaeger: Where was your first combat experience and what do you remember
most about it?
K. Jaeger: Well it was it was in the little town called, North of Ingie, and that was as we was
approaching the 3gth parallel. What I remember most about it was the shells fallin' around,
because it was the first time anybody of us new men had heard of combat activity. And as
we trenched along at night along the river we had to wade in and out of, these shells became
closer and began falling on the side of the hills and it was such a strange job pulling with all
your equipment and everything. Ya know onc point we started going up a mountain side
and things got worse because we had to stop every so often and I remember seeing my first
casualties, men that were being carried by two men and trickling down just outside of our
column and it was awfully frightening at that point. It was awfully tiring and I think we
spent thirteen hours getting to the point where we needed to be and I remember the faces of
the men that we were relieving and the dead bodies around there and all the destruction. It
was really rough on me and everybody else, especially the new mcmbcrs.
M. Jaeger: Was this the first time you had ever experienced death?
K. Jaeger: Well yes, I was in a couple car accidents prior to that, but nothing to this degree.
M. Jaeger: How did you react to it besides fear? Did you.. ..I mean.. .does it do
like the movies where they just, you pass out because of the smell or
anything? Or how does that.. . .
K. Jaeger: No, I was dulled considerably and I was anguished and I looked around and
didn't say a word. See all of this death and destruction around here, and I needed a rest so I
rested in a shell holder. Another young man who had been in combat for over a year, he sat
down next to mc and a sergeant came along and he looked us. He knew what we were
feeling, he had been through that before and he came to talk to us and at that point I was
kind of spiritually thinking anyway. And he told us that all marines had to go past that
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 5
division of civility and savagery and they had to do it with the power above ya know. And
he talked to us for a minute or two and he seemed almost like my dad and at one
point.. .Christ.
M. Jaeger: What was the most frightening moment during your service?
K. Jaeger: Oh.. .my entire service?
M. Jaeger: Yes.
K. Jaeger: Well perhaps when I was flying in a plane down in the Caribbean, and it was a
C-46, an old dilapidated plane, and we were transferring from Degas Island to San Juan for
liberty, ya know, go have a good time. And when we got around half way and then suddenly
the plane fell over and dove something like 5,000 feet from 9,000 feet level. And I had no
control over that plane, and a lot of fella's had fallen out of their seats, I hadn't because I
was belted. And I really felt I'm really in for it now, been to Korea now I'm going to die in
an airplane. Two young twenty-one year old pilots straightened that ship out and we made a
crash landing on a little island and boy we were all thankful for that.
M. Jaeger: Were you ever injured, and if so, to what extent?
K. Jaeger: Yeah, I was injured pretty severely when we were hauling barbed wire on our
backs from a battalion headquarters and these were 115 pounds on a pack board. And when
we started out, they started throwin' these rungs at these mortar rounds and most of them
were landing far ahead of us. Then we got back to I guess two miles or so on a mountain
trail, and then we come back and when we started back they saw us again and they started
throwin' them again and it scared us to death. Every time we'd go down, we'd run halfway
down the hill because the wire would just overweight you. And anyway, we did it about
seven or eight times and they were landing long and I thought maybe we'd get over this hill
and they won't do that. And about that time one hit just about thirty-five feet below me, and
I was just tryin to go down and I was down on one knee and suddenly, I was just swooshed
up the in the air by the percussion of that explosion. I could hear all the shrapnel going by
my head and I mean I thought about a lot of things, and I was looking down and I thought,
I'm going to die right here. And its unimaginable but you think about so many things when
this happens [inaudible], my sisters, my friends, [inaudible] for I finally hit. I was of course
blacked out, I was unconscious [inaudible] and then I rolled all the way down that hill and
the other side of that [inaudible], and it was probably the scariest one I was in and the most
I was injured because I was in aid station for four days and they wouldn't take me back for
x-rays because I didn't have any shrapnel. So they made a cane out of an old tree,
[inaudible], actually it was just a tree limb that the corporal shaved out of. And of course
that was kind of the impediment for me for the rest of my life because it hurt both my legs
and low back every time I stood up.
M. Jaeger: What unit did you serve with?
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K. Jaeger: I was with the Howe Co., 3rd Battalion, first marine, first marine division and
incidentally the Howe Company that I was with is back in this country as an association.
And there's about 100 hundred of us in that organization, but there may be five or six
hundred of us in that organization [inaudible] but were narrowing down, a lot of the men
are dead already, a lot of them of course died over there, some of them died afterwards with
[inaudible].
M. Jaeger: Could you describe the men you served with?
K. Jaeger: Most of them were good guys, often times when we'd go into battle with
veterans that had been there for a while ya know, they had friends die. They didn't want to
make another friend and see them die or badly injured, but eventually friendship takes over.
In fact I had never been through that, when new men came in I was friendly with them all
the time. Most marines were just friendly and liked a lot of horseplay or wrestling, like a
bunch of kids.
M. Jaeger: Did you make any close friendships and are they continued today?
K. Jaeger: Yeah of course, you make friendships, these people are just like brothers
actually, because your protecting each other all the time. And of course some of them
[inaudible] after they came back to this country you lost track of 'em. And now they have
ways of finding these people and like I said my old outfit is re-associated over here in this
country. And they try to find as many of our old friends, I found two of them, that were real
close with me while I was in Korea in those major battles. And I visited them last year at
Branson, Missouri where we had a reunion. And I likely wouldn't of found my association
at all had I not just kept trying to find somebody, not only to make friendship again with
them, but also I needed some witnesses to injuries I've had. And so there was a fella by the
name of Fred Harry, out in Spokane, Washington. And, then my old sergeant, I got in touch
with him, and he lives in Idaho, he has a small ranch, horse ranch. And were in touch
virtually every week.
M. Jaeger: Who led your unit and how was their leadership influential?
K. Jaeger: Well, it was Staff Sergeant in charge of our section, our section was made of two
squads. And we were attached to Howe company, we really were in part of the platoon in
action. My sergeant was the one that I spoke of and he was an outstanding man, I mean in
the worst of conditions he always had a smile on his face. And he had been there about six
or seven months before I had and it was a good to have a man like that because it relaxed
you. And he would try different offbeat things to try to beat an enemy. And I remember he
and I once found a trench, and these people, these north Koreans and Chinese, 1 don't know
whether they was together that day or not, but they were about fifty yards ahead of us and
we couldn't make a move because we had lost a lot of men and everything. So he and I had
found this trench, and I would take my helmet and run it across at the top and they'd shoot
at it like crazy. And then he was sittin back there shootin at them, knockin them off as they
were tryin, and then we'd reverse our positions. And that was an old Tom trick, that we
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 7
used to use as children. And ya know it actually worked, I mean we wore those guys down,
every time one got up to shoot we'd take 'em out, ya know. He was just that type of guy,
he'd go from that to very sophisticated moves, as well as just being a calm influence and
helping us make those drives. Cause ya know when you start loosing a lot of numbers, you
have to play [inaudible].
M. Jaeger: What was the biggest problem your unit had to overcome?
K. Jaeger: In the combat situation?
M. Jaeger: Well, even internally. Like were their divisions?
K. Jaeger: Oh I see, ya know, actually there wasn't any major problems. I didn't particularly
care for our section leader and I don't think he cared to much about me either, but the thing
was we had to work together in order to live, and in order to advance and in order to
complete our defensive job, whatever we was doing. So ya know you couldn't have these
little grudges with anybody, they were soon worked out in a tent or something someplace,
because you had to settle an issue like this with anybody else in a fist fight and it solve it. I
did that one time and guy was my friend forever.
M. Jaeger: The 1950s preceded the Civil Rights Movement. Were you aware of
any racial tensions or discriminations among your unit or the other units
you came into contact with?
K. Jaeger: No we, there was none of that over there like it was in Vietnam. Ya know, we
were the tail end of the WWII veterans. We were the kids that took our wagons around and
hooked up [inaudible] and picked up steel, stuff like that, to help our older brothers. So, we
were of a little different mode. So consequently, we didn't have those kinds of problems.
We'd all polished our concerns about the nation and perhaps our ability to fight one day by
just reading the newspaper and fallowing suit and play [inaudible]. So we were dedicated
perhaps a lot more than these people. There was no drugs that I know of that were
introduced, but there was uh, alcohol was a lot introduced. But sometimes that was
refreshing.[laughs] It calmed us down a little bit.
M. Jaeger: How did casualties affect your unit?
K. Jaeger: Well everybody was disappointed. I mean if somebody close that died ya know,
you thought about it for the next 24hrs. As some more hostile action took place then it went
alittle further back in your mind. But, uh, it was always tough to lose somebody. And even
those that were injured very severely. You really wish it hadn't happened. And uh, so you
just went on with your live. But, those are the things that every combat person has to go
through.
M. Jaeger: What do, what did you think the first time you saw a Korean?
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 8
K. Jaeger: [laughs] Well the first one I saw were civilians, of course, and most of them very
nice. I never saw many women or, but a few men, and very polite. And the workers we had
were fun guys too you know, we'd make friends with them. We used to practice jujitsu with
them, wrestle with them. It was enjoyable as long as it was a South Korean and the North
Koreans were terrible people they killed so many of our young men over there, slaughtered
and buried them and they hung a lot of them up by wires and tortured them before they
killed them. So the North Koreans were mean people because the Japanese had Korea for
years, you know, until they were beaten by us and uh, they had trained them in the same
style in treating people, especially in the service. They were very rough they'd do all kinds
of things and kill people just with a knife like over in Iraq and that's why you were terrified
of them. Some times these guys would get behind us, 10 or 12 sneaks in a line and there
would be 5 or 6 marines with their throats slit the next morning .So it was scary business.
M. Jaeger: Is it true that some Korean children were recognized as possible
threats to UN forces, because they were potential carriers of dangerous
enemy weapons?
K. Jaeger: No that happened in Vietnam. But I don't think it ever happened among the
South Korean and I don't think it ever happened among the North Korean. I wasn't into
North Korea that far. But the original force was but uh, the people over there in South
Korea and North Korea, I felt sorry for. Because they were right in this this, this uh, meat
grinder, ya know, that continued up and down. As I discovered in the last 10 or 12 years. In
fact, Scott, ya know, in an article, he searched out that 4 in a half million of the civilians
both North and South died and another 3 and a half million Chinese and North Korean
[inaudible]. So it was a big score.
M. Jaeger: How would you describe the troops' morale during your experience
in the war and what do you think contributed to it?
K. Jaeger: Well you know, morale was pretty good because uh. You were disappointed
about what you had to do all the time you know, but the main thing was trying to stay alive.
And if you were in events of course, you were trying to build your defenses better all the
time. You were always thinking, and a lot of times we'd be pulled at night and so, uh, I was
in assault platoon and our job was detonations. Detonations like machine guns and of
course, we had the flame throwers, and the rockets. So we always had a lot of demolitions
around. The helicopter would bring up all this stuff up North. We didn't have to bring this
stuff up and we didn't have any plane time and I was a substitute flame thrower so I had to
know about those things. At night before we would sleep and on guard, we'd keep 50
percent on it and two men on two holes would stay awake all night long. But, I would, take
what you called, Jerry can of jelly gasoline and I'd put 2 or 3 of these TNT blocks on it and
then I'd tape old cartridges around it, and then I'd put double wire on it. When they got
close, if they triggered it, they were gone. 1 did that every night religiously, people thought
I was crazy. But for one night, I got 2 or 3 of them with that and uh, but you never knew
where they were at. And I got so adapted at hearing them and you could smell them because
they ate a lot of garlic and the wind coming that way you could smell them right next to you.
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 9
So I'd take a hand grenade and hold it one thousand, let the pin go, let the spoon go, and I'd
count one thousand one, one thousand two for seven second. And then I'd throw it as high
as I could in that position where I could hear and smell and they'd come right down over the
top and explode. And it would injure a lot of them. You could hear hollering and backing
up. But I devised ways to keep myself safe and my buddies.
M. Jaeger: How do you feel about Koreans and the country of Korea today?
K. Jaeger: Well, you know, I think it's wonderful what has happened to South Korea. Now
there's a lot of mischief among younger people right now who don't realize what we did
for them and they're making sounds, resistance to democracy. You always have these kinds
of people. Even all the way to the United States you have that. And its just the young people
rebel most of the time. I was one of those at one time. So, I know how it is but, uh I just
think it is a wonderful thing what we were able to do. They were able to become Industrial.
They have wonderful cars now. I drive one of their Hyundai. And I just think it's
remarkable we salvaged that for them. Because otherwise, had the commies taken over
everything would've been gone. And so, I was quite pleased with that job.
M. Jaeger: What skills or lessons did you learn and how have they affected
you today?
K. Jaeger: Well, uh, the skills I learned on the job was how to survive in the mist of lots of
misery, lots of explosions, lot of smoke, and debris in the air, and hang on to your original
thoughts and uh.
M. Jaeger: How did your views on life change because of the war?
K. Jaeger: Oh, well, it didn't change much because I've always been a person that went up
against a lot of hardships and in that case 1 adjusted to the warfare as well. But uh,
unfortunately warfare is a lot different from playing a football game. But I think that
everybody as a result tried to work collectively as much as possible to get the job done.
Help others that were wounded, you'd carry out the dead. It was a job you never had to do
any of that in society.
M. Jaeger: In what ways did your personality change during the war?
K. Jaeger: Well, I don't think my personality changed a whole lot. Uh, when I got out I was
often nervous at times and if explosions were nearby, I was on the ground. I was dancing
one time and on the dance floor doing a jitterbug and somebody threw a firecracker and 1
was on the floor hanging on and here this man had lost it. Anywhere you were or if an
explosion went of or a firecracker went off I was on the ground. And I hated the 4"' of July
for 10 years after that because it was so spooky 1 had those reflexes. It would just grasp my
attention so quickly and my reflexes so fast that I'd be on the floor, I couldn't help it.
M. Jaeger: Being an ocean away on the Korean Peninsula, and hindered by
delayed communications due to the distance. How did your service affect
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 10
your family at home?
K. Jaeger: Oh, my folks were often upset, my sisters, my cousin they all wrote to me and 1
couldn't always respond because lack of paper [inaudible], but I know my folks told me
that that after I got back that we had all these battles they'd hear on the radio about some of
the marines being killed and I know it was devastating for them. Fortunately, I never had to
go through that.
M. Jaeger: How did religion play a role in your life during the war?
K. Jaeger: Well, I counted a lot on my faith. Because over there you don't have much to
grasp for. Except for a foxhole and so it always played a big role for me. It helped me at the
upset of the cinema meeting two people it kind of set the tone for the rest of my life over
here because as soon as I had that little session with that Sergeant, whoever he was, I was
set for the rest of the time. It was only just before I came home, about three weeks or four
that I served. One night I was on the machine gun and I kept seeing things and I knew what
it was but I wasn't going to take any chances. I was hearing noises and throwing grenades
and I was just getting skittish cause I thought 1 might make it out of there alive. So finally,
[inaudible] one of the commanders of the hole came down and said, "How would you like
to take a rest?" and sent somebody else. It was one of those things where fatigue was taking
over and I was glad he came down and did that cause I was seeing things.
M. Jaeger: Could you describe any specific moment that impacted your
religious views?
K. Jaeger: Well I think I mentioned it yesterday at the outset. Because when I got to that
position after we had left our caravan and walked twelve hours [inaudible] and then I saw
all these disgusting, deteriorating things, you know. All these men with hallowed eyes, you
know, those are the wounded, and seeing where the dead were lined up. That got me
thinking, "Am I going to make it to you know another day?" You know it was total
devastation. And that's when I started thinking a lot about my religion and [inaudible].
M. Jaeger: What day did your service end, and how did you react to the
realization that your work was done?
K. Jaeger: You mean when I left the service?
M. Jaeger: Uh hum.
K. Jaegar: Well, I was rejoiced. I was starting to have problems with my legs and I couldn't
march very well any more. And I was starting to have problems with my lungs. My lungs
were [inaudible] because when I came back I had calcium build up in my lungs. And I
hadn't had it before I went over there. They always said it was something that wasn't going
to affect my movements or operations. Which it didn't, but eventually it became a real
problem. I had to have an operation on my lungs. But I was happy to get out and in fact, they
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 11
were offering three jeeps at fifty dollars a piece. And I felt like buying a couple of them
because they were old jeeps of the time of WWIl and [inaudible].
Tape: End of side I
M. Jaeger: Due to the general lack of knowledge among the American
concerning the Korean War, what kind of homecoming did you receive, and how do you
suppose their ignorance contributed to it?
K. Jaeger: Well, I don't think the American people were ignorant of the war, they detested
it. And they wanted it to be over because just five years earlier they had the Second World
War to finish up. The homecoming wasn't very joyful for me because it was just, we landed
in San Diego, there was a little boy out there with about five or ten girls there and that's
about the only reception we got. Ironically, after I'd been away you know for over a year my
folks had moved to another place up in Collinsville, and when I tried to find my way home
I missed my father who'd planned to meet me up at Collinsville. He went on to St. Louis for
some reason. So there I was up at Townsville with a seed bag sitting on it about 7 o'clock in
the morning. And I didn't know where I lived, didn't know what the telephone number was.
Finally a man came along saw me, thought he knew me. And then he knew where my mom
and dad lived and took me home. So there wasn't much of a reception by the general public.
They were so disgusted by the war. Perhaps worse than in Vietnam, they never even
responded to us in any way. They didn't spit on us, and they didn't seem like they liked us
very much. The Korean war was an awful, forgotten war. It was a phantom war to the
people. Because they just let it fly by, they didn't think anything about it. Only the guys that
fought in it feel highly of about what they had accomplished. I don't think the rest of the
public fell in love with it. [inaudible] So we lost out and that's kind of disappointing to see
[inaudible] .
M. Jaeger: On the day the war ended, where were you, and how did it make you
feel hearing the news that the battle was over?
K. Jaeger: Uh, that was in 1954, July 1954, it was around the time of my birthday and I
think I was working back on the railroad. Of course I was very glad because I knew what
they were going through. There was an awful lot of them that were killed in a nip turn
moment towards the end of it because they had a lot of battles trying to determine a line, a
main line as opposed to the 3gth parallel. So I was very glad, because I was sad that
[inaudible].
M. Jaeger: After facing extreme physical conditions, constant danger, and
the ubiquity of death during the Korean War, how hard was it to adjust to a
normal life after your service?
K. Jaeger: It wasn't hard at all. [laughs] Yeah, I was a lot more weary of course, of
everything going on around me [inaudible] In fact, I always felt a lot of the time that I was
being challenged and I wasn't in crowds and stuff like that. I was very [inaudible] I
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 12
immediately started back college and I started forgetting about it, I forgot about it, for ten
years. Except for the skittishness, outside of that I don't think I had any major problems. I
fit right in. I went back to work and finished my college in 1959 as elongated as it was. I
started in forty-three.
M. Jaeger: How did your experiences contribute to your thinking about war
and military service in general?
K. Jaeger: Well in warfare, it makes it look easy in television or the movies except for real
warfare. And everybody could see that it's quite difficult. Most of your friends are thrown
out the window and every battle has a different circumstance, so when your closer to the
situation we had to adjust all the time. Of course, you have a book that's put out by the
Marine corps. and we all tried to live up to that code presented in that book. But when
conditions arise, you have to adjust all the time. Like normally you have 5 to one VR
[inaudible] we had to change tactics. I was very tried and I didn't like it. In the VR army
[inaudible] Almost like a continual circle and you from time to time had to change tactics
you couldn't let it go.
M. Jaeger: Are you a member of any veterans7 or other organizations related
to your service and why?
K. Jaeger: Well, I used to belong to a Marine corp. when this was going on and I stayed
with them for 3 or 4 years. I wasn't very happy with it because this was held at the
American Legions with a lot of drinking and I didn't enjoy it. But here recently our How
Company was the re-associated over here. When they got in contact with me I knew I could
meet with a lot of my old friends and I originally met two before I moved up to the How
Company. Then now when I went to France and I knew two or three others I was on
September fifty-one and one was the platoon leader and I hadn't seen him since that day.
And I saw two or three others that I hadn't seen for a long time. There's a lot more of those
fellows I'm sure that are still alive. [Inaudible] Three days after I left, and I was worried
about this because they were all new men and I had fun trying to train them. Three of them
dead and seven of them wounded, cut the whole section down to seventeen. You have to
have that train in your own mind a lot of them didn't have it and I was scared to death that
this would happen and one of the guys actually beat me home [inaudible].
M. Jaeger: Did your service change the way you felt about America or about
democracy in general?
K. Jaeger: No, No, I've always been a patriot. Dedicated to the country, you know any, of
those forces you go into can be a little rough some of those forces were worst than others.
But as long as we live, I believe there's always going to be wars and rumors of wars, and
people who don't believe that are going to find themselves wandering in a lot of trouble, if
they don't try to face up to it. The modern day forces are now volunteers but it may be such
that there some of those Islamic countries keep spreading terrorism across the world and
there will be other terrorists as well. [Inaudible] We as a country need to organize
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 13
[inaudible] to be more careful. But as far as matters I didn't change my mind about the
country at all.
M. Jaeger: Did you believe it was right or necessary for America to get
involved in the Korean War?
K. Jaeger: Well I knew that it had to be stopped, because at that point you know Russia and
China were trying to dominate the world and of course we were trying to protect our
interest as well as Britain, France and everybody else. And I knew it was at a peak where
something had to give. Well it gave over there and came back down in South Korea
everybody knew we had to go over there and defend it and take back what belonged to the
United Nations.
M. Jaeger: In a book highlighting the Korean War, historian John Miller cites April 11,
1953 as the day Operation Little Switch occurred. 605 UN POWs were exchanged for
6030 enemy prisoners. Do you feel this was a fair trade?
K. Jaeger: I do, but you know there was 8000 men that became prisoners of war or were lost
in battle. We never figured out where those men are. Like in Vietnam it was 4900. So as I
was telling you, often times they'd surround groups of men, especially in the army and they
would get caught and line them up and just mow down our people. Uh, yes, I think it was a
fair trade because any time we were able to get any of our men back we were very fortunate.
There were thousands of men dying in prison camps over there. [Inaudible] They didn't
treat them right, they didn't feed them right. Like I said they had the Japanese mentality and
they had been over seen the Japanese for forty years. They were just like them.
M. Jaeger: How did this exchange reflect the relationship between UN forces
and enemy forces at this time?
K. Jaeger: Well I tell you what, it was very angry, they were angry with the UN. We
represented the UN at that time and we had 90 percent of the material and troops over there
so they were actually fighting us. They were disgusted by that. They fought ferociously and
they argued in secret over two years in, [inaudible] and I think they were glad the war was
over because they lost almost 30,000 men themselves. Our total loss was I'd say about 54
thousand.
M. Jaeger: In hindering the spread of communist control in Southern Korea by
defeating Northern Korean forces, was the outcome of the war worth the effort
America invested in it?
K. Jaeger: Yes, I do believe that. Of course, we didn't think our country was prepared for it.
Our country was not prepared from the onset. Truman brought it down from 13 million men
in uniform down to750 thousand, that's in all the branches. So we weren't prepared to do
anything. Consequently a lot of our men went over there on the onset [inaudible] We were
a little better off when I got there one year later because we had a lot of things, we had
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 14
tanks. But, uh, I do think the war was worth the effort because our era of troops was the first
to stop the communists in their tracks, because of the land it was South Korea, and
prevented them from advancing further. However, they did go into Vietnam and they were
able to override us for several years not just those 12 years. I think perhaps our dedication,
since ninety percent of us were over there, our dedication was created [inaudible].
M. Jaeger: How great of a role do you think the communist force played in
the Korean War?
K. Jaeger: Oh, you mean the Communist doctrine itself?
M. Jaeger: Yes.
K. Jaeger: Well, that's all that we were fighting, the Communism. See because we actually
didn't start out fighting China and we didn't start out fighting Russia. Russia had pilots.
Russia was equipped with cannons and ships. But the communists were pushing North
Korea to do this and finally China saw us almost taking all this and they just override us and
created over 200 thousand troops and swamped us [inaudible]. The reason they got
themselves out of there not only that but they went on patrols and got all these army
members caught up in caravans and wounded [inaudible] brought them all the way back to
the coast.
M. Jaeger: How do you think history would have changed if the communists had
won?
K. Jaeger: Well I don't believe they would have stopped. I think they would've gone over
and taken Taiwan and then piece by piece. They would've tried to take every Asian country
they could.
M. Jaeger: Looking back now at the Korean War, is there anything you wish
you had done differently?
K. Jaeger: Well, you know, I probably could've gotten out of the war itself. And, when I
joined, I forgot to tell them that I had migraine headaches since I was fourteen. And you can
not join the service with migrainc headaches. They did asked if 1 had headaches and it never
even dawned on me. I'd only had three episodes of migraine since I was fourteen. And I'd
forgotten all about it. I would've gotten out of it completely and I might of done that. But I
doubt it because my friend were with me and I probably would've just gone ahead.
M. Jaeger: How do you feel about the common Amcrican mentality that "this
war was a mistake?"
K. Jaeger: The Korean War, oh well, a lot of people thought that. Initially they thought it
would be a brush fire war, they said it would last 6 months like the one in Iraq now. But it
went on and on, it was a short difficult war to fight because of all the [inaudible] very hilly,
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 15
a lot of ditches, gulley's, and everything. They thought it would be easy to go over there
with the tanks, but the tanks couldn't hardly operate over there in the mountains. On the
east coast the [inaudible]. We finally ended up over there. But I think it was essential. The
war was fought because like I said, the communist were trying to take over the world at that
time and they might have had they won the war.
M. Jaeger: Were your experiences in the war anything like what you expected
them to be when you were enlisted?
K. Jaeger: Yeah, pretty much. The fellows that I knew they were very vocal, and it was
going to be rough. I didn't realize how rough, how much shouting and pushing around and
stuff like this. The reason I never punched back was that you'd get discharged. But if you
punch one of these guys your out of business. If a guy really wanted to get out all he'd really
need to do was punch one of them. [inaudible] It was there discharge. [inaudible]
M. Jaeger: Did you ever consider the possibility that the Korean War could have turned into
another WWIII?
K. Jaeger: Oh yes, yes I did. In fact, at that time 1 went over to MacArthur, the general of
WWII, he wanted to land in China and come up through China and take the army out
because that's where most of them were and then just go up above Korea there. At that time
we probably couldn't have done it. [Inaudible] But, I'm glad it was short lived because ours
was a lot like Vietnam in that sometimes whole North Korea regiments got behind us and
sometimes you 'd have to fight three hundred and sixty, we were ready for anything. And
you'd turn around all night long and they'd pop up.
M. Jaeger: Overall, do you think the war had a positive or negative impact
on Korea?
K. Jaeger: It had a positive impact on Korea they just loved us at that time. [Inaudible] For
One year, for eleven months I didn't see one woman. I take that back. I went in [inaudible]
over there where there was a woman and said hello and she was the last one I think I ever
saw over there until I got ready to leave. And I was allowed to tour around this little town.
First time I ever saw people. I was touring with a large black, very dark man and there were
several leagues of children. Little kids and they wanted to touch my face they'd touch his
face. They couldn't harmonize that you know, they thought I should be either white or
black and he laughed about it too. [Inaudible] But, we had a pretty good time just touring
around. They let us off mostly because we were going home. We got to know more about
civilization itself.
M. Jaeger: What would you like for younger generations to learn from your
experiences in the Korean War?
K. Jaeger: Well you know, I think a lot of the younger people are going to [inaudible] as
long as there's mankind there's going to be people who are going to want to take other
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 16
peoples property and civilization and I think they better be prepared for that, instead of
protesting it so much. I heard the whole country during Vietnam, you know, and I don't
think it was handled the right way. I know it wasn't. But you know I respected the ones that
respond to the call to go. I have no respect for the people who try to downgrade our
government and put or troops in danger because the enemy realize that going on and they
were just going to keep on fighting hard. So I believe our young people ought to start
studying history more. You won't find much in history about Korea in the history books.
They just kind of overlooked it. Just one or two paragraphs. And I think that's unfair. One
of the major reasons is you couldn't find a corresponded over there to talk to. I only saw one
while I was over there. All of them were gather around [inaudible] and the negotiations and
they didn't even know what was going on around. They didn't [inaudible]. So therefore,
they were the early historians who were going to write the history on the Korean War. And
I find that objectionable.
M. Jaeger: Well, thank you for your time Mr. Jaeger.
K. Jaeger: Oh, thank you.
MS 315. Veterans History Project Jaeger - 17