John E. `Jack´ Cauley in Korea       Silver Star + Purple Heart 1 + 2

A Forgotten War's Vets Are Proud, Not Bitter
A Salute To Those Who Fought In Korea

by Joseph S. Kennedy, Philadelphia Inquirer [PA], 25 Jun 1995
http://articles.philly.com/1995-06-25/news/25688927_1_north-korea

Because it came between World War II and Vietnam, the Korean War - which began 45 years ago today - seems, to some, a forgotten war.

"There really wasn't much emotion left in this country by 1950; it had all been used up during the years of World War II. The public just wasn't ready to face another war," said John Trama, 61, a retired schoolteacher from West Chester who served aboard a Navy destroyer in a combat zone off the coast of Korea.

Like the Vietnam veterans of a generation later, the Korean War veterans returned home to an indifferent welcome. There were no military parades or national monuments.

Four and a half decades later, a Korean War Veterans Memorial will be dedicated July 27 in Washington, according to the Montgomery County Department of Veterans Affairs.

The memorial, which will be adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial, will pay tribute to the 1.5 million Americans who served in Korea during the war and to the 40,000 who lost their lives.

But area veterans of Korea say they feel no bitterness that the recognition is so late in coming.

"We did the job we were asked to do and then came home and faded into civilian life. That was just the nature of our generation," said Conshohocken Borough Council President Gerald McTamney, 64, who was an artillery forward observer with the First Marine Division.

Don Deverant, 64, of North Wales, a retired landscaper who served as an Army combat medic from February 1953 to March 1954 and received a Purple Heart, said he was proud to have been able to help the Koreans.

"They were good kids and made fine soldiers," Deverant said of the South Korean army. He added that he was looking forward to being able to visit the memorial in Washington.

Korea, which had been forcibly annexed by Japan in 1910, was divided at the end of World War II by its liberators, the Soviet Union in the north and the United States in the south.

The understanding was that each liberating nation would be responsible for the security of its area, and that Korea would one day be reunited.

On June 25, 1950, North Korean army units spearheaded by Soviet-built tanks and artillery drove across the border into South Korea in an effort to unite the entire country under the banner of communism.

President Harry S. Truman reacted quickly to the invasion by ordering U.S. troops to support the South Korean army. He also brought the conflict to the United Nations and had North Korea branded as an aggressor power.

As a result, 14 more countries sent combat troops to South Korea, and five other countries sent medical units. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander of the U.N. forces.

"I think this was a gutsy act on the part of Truman," said Jack Cauley, 65, a retired manager from Hatfield who served as a squad leader with the Eighth Army in the early phase of the war.

"At the beginning... the U.S. Army was in a sad state of preparedness. Both officers and ranks were poorly trained and poorly equipped. As a result, the U.N. forces were pushed down to the port of Pusan, where they held on by their fingertips to a defensive perimeter.... Only the Air Force and the Navy kept them in the fight," said Allan R. Millett, professor of military history at Ohio State University.

Eventually, Millett said, the U.N. troops broke out of the Pusan perimeter and landed at the port of Inchon behind North Korean lines, pushing the North Koreans north of the 38th parallel.

Cauley, serving with the Seventh Cavalry Regiment of the First Cavalry Division, pursued the North Koreans. "They were very determined soldiers, and the fighting was pretty heavy," he recalled recently.

Cauley received three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star for his service in Korea - the last for bravery in exposing himself to enemy fire as he knocked out a tank with a rocket-launching bazooka.

As the U.N. forces crossed the 38th parallel and proceeded toward the border between the Chinese province of Manchuria and North Korea, they received a warning from the Chinese Communist leaders not to come any farther or China would intervene.

At the time, Millett said, the accepted theory was that of a communist conspiracy by the U.S.S.R., North Korea and China to overrun Korea. That theory does not stand up to historical scrutiny, he said.

"The current thinking about the relationship between the U.S.S.R., North Korea and the Chinese communists is that they were three separate allied nations that happened to be communist, who were looking out for their own national interest," Millett said.

"The North Koreans wanted a unified Korea. The U.S.S.R. wanted a friendly nation on their border, and the Chinese didn't want any American troops menacing its borders."

When the Chinese came into the war, they inflicted a series of heavy defeats on the U.N. forces and almost were able to trap a part of the U.S. Army. A sea rescue saved those troops.

The military reversals created another complication: a struggle between MacArthur and Truman.

MacArthur wanted to widen the war by striking at targets in China. Truman wanted to limit military action to the Korean Peninsula. In the end, MacArthur was relieved of command in April 1951 and replaced by Gen. Matthew Ridgway.

"MacArthur was a great general, but he overstepped himself. The president is the commander-in-chief," Cauley said.

The fighting efficiency of the U.S. troops improved under Ridgway, resulting in the communists being pushed back.

That led to peace negotiations between the two sides in July 1951 and limited trench warfare on the front lines. But, Deverant said, "make no mistake about it, while these (peace) talks at Panmunjom were going on, there was still plenty of fighting and casualties."

On July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed and the guns fell silent.

The war ended in a military stalemate, with the armistice line just across the 38th parallel.

South Korea's independence was maintained.

***

They Called It A Police Action

by Kenneth A. Tipper, The Way Things Were, Veterans Post [FL], Feb 2000, p11
http://VeteransPostNews.com

It was called a United Nations police action when it started, but to the soldiers who fought in the Korean War, it turned out to be much more than that. Before the two sides agreed on an armistice on July 27, 1953, many thousands had given their lives defending South Korea against Communist aggression.

On June 25, 1950, North Korean Communist forces poured across the 38th Parallel into South Korea. President Harry Truman secured a mandate from the United Nations to drive the Communists from that poorly defended nation. A 17-nation force, under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, landed at Pusan in southeast Korea, and threw up a defensive perimeter as Soviet-equipped North Koreans raced down the peninsula.

Among the Americans defending the Pusan Perimeter was John Cauley, a member of the 7th Cavalry, of Battle of the Little Big Horn fame. John, a native of Hazleton, PA, had joined the Army after graduating from high school in 1949. After basic training at Fort Dix, NJ, he was sent to Fort Benning for advanced infantry training. At the outbreak of the Korean War, he was a member of the 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division, which landed at Pusan in August, 1950. He was attached to the 1st Cavalry Division, 7th Cavalry, as a 30 cal. Machine-gunner, which immediately headed north towards the Pusan Perimeter where the U.N. forces were trying to stem the North Korean drive to the south.

"We were in combat immediately, together with the 8th Cavalry on one side, and the ROKs (South Koreans) on the other," recalls John. "They hit us with mortar rounds, and we dug in. That night, they came at us all night long, blowing bugles, and they came so close that two of them fell dead into a foxhole next to mine. Next morning, they fell back, and another guy and I went out to count their dead. We stopped counting after 250."

John's unit stayed in that position for two more nights, and was attacked both nights. On the third day, they fell back to new positions. Fighting went back and forth, and John's unit took a key hill which was vital to the security of the whole Pusan Perimeter. Had they not taken that hill, the North Koreans could have taken Pusan, which was a staging area for the U.N. forces.

The 7th held that hill for five days, and out of 580 men they incurred 246 casualties. For that action they were awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. It was during the Pusan Perimeter operation that John's sergeant was wounded, thus John took over the squad and was later promoted to sergeant, first class. Reinforced, the 7th took part in Operation Lynch, which was the initial breakout of the Pusan Perimeter. They headed north, and met with the 7th Division at Osan. Two days later, they were on patrol when two Russian-made tanks came crashing through buildings in a village and attacked the leading section of John's unit. Though not a member of a bazooka team, John grabbed a rocket launcher and ran toward the lead tank, loading and firing two rockets, which destroyed it and diverted the second tank, which was destroyed by other members of his unit.

They kept heading north, across the 38th Parallel into North Korea, skirmishing with the Communist forces, and the United Nations forces seemed to be in full control. John said they had visions of getting home for Christmas, but they had a big shock coming.

President Truman asked MacArthur about the chances of Chinese intervention. MacArthur replied that if the Chinese had intervened earlier, it might have been a problem, but that he no longer feared their entry into the war. That turned out to be a false prophecy. In late November, 850,000 Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River and drove the U.N. troops out of North Korea.

Then followed one battle after another, with the Chinese sending human walls of men against the U.N. forces. John was shot in January, 1951, and spent a month in a hospital in Japan. Recovered, he went back into the action. "...more battles, more hills, more patrols, until, in August, I was sent home," John remembers. "The war was over for me, but not for the other guys."

John was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf clusters. His injuries included a bullet in one knee, and shrapnel wounds in other parts of his body. He did not receive those and his other service medals until July 3, 1995, when he was presented with them at a ceremony in front of the Korean War memorial in Norristown, PA.

Says John, "I just didn't get around to ordering my medals until I got involved with the Korean War Chapter of the 7th cavalry. We meet at reunions all over the country, and I've met many men from my old unit, some of whom fought alongside me in Korea." John has served as President of the Chapter, and as Chairman of the Board.

This writer met John as the result of reading a letter he sent to the Ocala Star-Banner [FL] about recent revelations from a Korean War Veteran that U.S. troops fired on a group of refugees under a bridge in the battle zone. John has no recollection of his unit having fired on civilians, but does have definite recollections of infiltration of refugee groups by North Koreans who attacked U.N. troops under cover of the civilians. "I was 100 yards away from an incident when infiltrators opened the door of an ambulance and threw in a grenade," he recalls. He said they were constantly indoctrinated about the danger of this kind of guerilla warfare.

Frank Griepp, Chaplain of the 7th Cavalry in Korea, wrote a book about his experiences in the war. His opening paragraph reads, "They'll shoot you so quickly you'll never know what hit you. Or cut you so instantly you'll never see the blade. Or cripple you so suddenly you'll wonder how it could have happened. You will never suspect these people to be armed, or believe what children can hide in their baggy clothes until you have felt the knife twisting in your insides. Or imagine what apparently refugee girls and women can carry concealed on their persons until the grenade explodes at your feet." These were a compilation of warnings given to Chaplain Griepp by wounded Veterans of the war at Camp Drake in Japan.

John has some good memories of Korea. He remembers the Greek and British soldiers who were attached to his unit. "They were tough soldiers, and we could always rely on them in battle." Then there was the South Korean girl the unit "adopted" for a while. "She stayed in our kitchen, and the guys contributed money towards her education. She later went to a Catholic orphanage," he said.

John left the Army in September, 1952, after three years, one month, and 27 days, even though he almost re-upped. "I liked the Army, but there were other things going on in my life, and I decided against it." One of those things going on in his life was Marjorie, to whom he has been married 46 years. They have four children, nine grandchildren, and live in Oak Run.

These days. the Korea Veteran likes to play golf and water volleyball, swim, exercise, and work as a starter at an Oak Run golf course. Besides his membership in the 7th Cavalry Korean War Chapter, he is a member of American Legion Post 933 in Hatfield, PA. and V.F.W. Post 4781 in Ocala. He and Marjorie are members of Queen of Peace Catholic Church.

Of the U.S. participation in the war, John says, "We never questioned why we were there. Our guys knew we were fighting Communism. Harry Truman was President. and we had a lot of respect for him."

Author's note: With 36,000 U.S. troops still guarding the 38th Parallel from possible intrusion by North Korea, there is an uneasy peace in that country. John Cauley is confident that he and his comrades-in-arms did the right thing when they defended South Korea from the Communists of North Korea and China.

***

Korean War veterans gather in Gatlinburg

by Fred Brown, Knoxville News Sentinel [TN], 09 Sep 2011
http://KnoxNews.com/news/local-news/korean-war-veterans-gather-in-gatlinburg

GATLINBURG [TN] -- John Cauley's first day in Korea in 1950 was not a good one. He saw something that gave him pause and sent fear rattling through his bones.

Cauley was with the U.S. Army's 7th Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division in the Pusan Perimeter, a spit of land at the very southern tip of Korea where U.S., United Nations and South Korean troops had been pushed. Practically surrounded by North Korea forces, the end seemed near just weeks after the war began.

Cauley, 81, of Ocala, Fla., is one of about 40 Korean War veterans who have been at the Glenstone Lodge in Gatlinburg this week participating in the annual reunion of the 7th U. S. Cavalry Association.

Although regimental chapters have been meeting in various sections of the nation, the old soldiers have never come to the Volunteer State, home to many of the regiment's Korean War veterans.

Cauley said he had landed in what is now South Korea Aug. 20, 1950. Korea was parched by a drought. Beneath a broiling sun, the regiment was sent to the front lines of the Pusan Perimeter to help stop the North Korean army's seemingly unstoppable advance. Seoul, Korea, had fallen to the North and now it appeared the entire country would surrender.

"We were headed toward the Nakdong River (near the Port of Pusan) where the heaviest fighting had taken place already," Cauley said.

As the regiment marched to the sound of the guns, he looked up to see a heavy-duty U.S. Army truck lumbering along the narrow road.

"We were going down the hill and the truck was coming up the hill. It was filled with bodies. American soldiers. That was enough to scare hell out of you," he said.

Since joining the Army, he had worried that he had been assigned to the 7th Cavalry.

"Everybody knows that was Custer's regiment," he says, referring to Gen. Armstrong Custer, who got the regiment annihilated in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.

"We fought all night," Cauley said of his first battle. "And finally they had to throw artillery on top of us to save our lives. We had 250 killed."

"We were up north with the Marines. My captain was wounded but he shouted for me to grab a bazooka and knock out the (T-34 Russian) tanks."

And Cauley did just that, running through a blizzard of bullets, finding a bazooka and blasting a menacing T-34. He then shot another, blocking other North Korean tanks.

For his action, Cauley won the Silver Star, the nation's third highest military award for combat heroism.

In January 1951, Cauley was wounded and returned to the United States.

"The war is never out of my mind. I always think about these things and the good friends and what happened to them," he said.

The regiment's final banquet is set for tonight at the Glenstone Lodge. There will be no speeches, just old soldiers remembering their war in Korea as their numbers slowly dwindle.

Veteran John Cauley of Ocala, Fla., was a Sergeant First Class with the 7th Cavalry during the Korean War. He is a recipient of a Silver Star and is in Tennessee for the annual reunion of the 7th Cavalry Korean War Veterans Chapter being held at the Glenstone Lodge in Gatlinburg. He is pictured at the Glenstone Lodge on Wednesday, September 7, 2011. (Saul Young/News Sentinel)
Silver Star + Purple Heart 1 + 2


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