John Carpenter wrote on 2005-01-13 07:31:30.0
Comments: My dad was 1LT Edward C Carpenter. He and CAPT John Burke formed the 420th as an Active Reserve unit in Tule Lake, CA in 1949-50. Both Burke and Carpenter were Army officers with reserve time to work off, and no local unit. My dad had led a topo det in WW II, so they applied to form one. Problem was the timing - they had had a few meetings, but didn't even have their equipment, and they got activated for Korea. So, we went to Ft Huachuca, AZ for training (just before it became a Signal Corps base, which it still is today).
Capt Burke took the 420th to Korea, and the commander had my dad stay and form and train another topo det just like it - the 572nd. But by the time that unit was trained up, peace had broken out in Korea, so the 572nd went to Beale AFB (which the Army CE was building as a SAC base), and there they published the base newspaper. Very different duty for combat map makers, but they could run the repro equipment.
So, the 572nd is a 'cousin' of the 420th.
As my dad told the story, Capt Burke brought all personnel home with him, even though the unit saw action and was surrounded twice. The people of Tule Lake, CA should acknowledge John's good and careful leadership of the 420th.
Keywords: Capt John Burke, 420th topo det, 572nd topo det
|
