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November 11 2001 Newsletter
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Table of Contents
1. Dedication for Veterans Day 2001 - Bob Hammond 57FAB
2. War Letters, PBS Special - Nov 11
3. CILHI | DPMO - remains returned to Japan | Hawaii
4. British Korean War Veterans
5. POW/MIA Radio show, Dave Murray
6. US Navy in Korea - Philippine Sea (CV 47)
7. Thank You!, to our visitor's, members and sponsors
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1. Dedication for Veterans Day 2001 - Bob Hammond 57FAB
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Mr. Robert (Bob) Hammond of Anaheim, California - RIP
On November 1st, 2000 an early morning phone call from
Bob Licker informed us of the death of a veteran who had
come to epitomize what the Korean War Project has been all
about.
Today, we wish to dedicate our Veterans Day to that veteran,
his family, and all of his many friends who miss him:
- Mr. Robert (Bob) Hammond of Anaheim, California -
Bob Hammond was a member of the 57th Field Artillery Bn, (A
Battery)at the Chosin Reservoir, on the east shore with
other elements of the 7th Infantry Division.
Not far away, at Yudam-ni, were the massed forces of the
US Marines with the rest of the fighting forces arrayed
along the frozen and difficult road leading from Hungnam to
the reservoir area. The story of this fight is well known
but not all of the men are well known.
Hal and I came to know of this after meeting Bob at the
"wall" of the National Korean War Veterans Memorial on
dedication day, a hot summer day in July of 1995.
By chance, I introduced myself to a man kneeling at the
wall. He was placing small rocks on printouts of casualties,
those nice KIOSK Honor Roll pages that everyone was
obtaining from the hospitality tent that IBM was operating.
The emotional effort of this tribute was very evident on his
face and his wife, Ruth, had her hand on his shoulder, as
well as trying to get her camera to work, with difficulty.
I stepped up and offered to take a couple of pictures for
them. Their camera would not work so I sent a young friend
off to find Hal who had his array of professional camera's
at work, elsewhere.
While waiting for Renee to find Hal, I found out about Bob's
story and why he was at the dedication.
Bob Hammond was the only survivor of his squad, the rest all
killed at Chosin Reservoir. The Honor Roll pages anchored to
the ground by those rocks was his tribute to those men and
the battle.
This was also his first public attempt to deal with all of
his thoughts and emotions from over the years, it showed on
his face, clearly.
Hal, Renee Blue and I spoke with the Hammonds while getting
the pictures taken for them. We learned about those horrible
days at the Reservoir, the men for whom Bob was paying
tribute and what this new memorial meant to him.
It was almost like we were the only ones at the wall but
thousands of persons were passing along, inches from our
little huddled group.
Upon returning to Dallas, Hal rushed the video and rolls of
film to processing. We were not surprised to see that the
photo's of Bob turned out to some of the most impressive of
the lot. Large blow-up's were made and sent off to the
Hammonds, out in California.
(See our main Looking For page on the website, where this
photo is located.)
Not long afterward, Bob sent us a long letter telling of his
new found capability to express his grief over his pals who
did not make it home. He had written the Orange County
paper, all of the families of his friends and Bob's own
family, relating his war experience.
That was just the start for this quiet veteran!
From July of 1995 through his last day on Nov 1, 2000, Bob
Hammond found his voice in letters, song, poems and deeds.
He became a strong veterans advocate, joined the Orange
County Chosin Few which met at El Toro USMC air base,
reaching out to veterans of the Chosin Reservoir both Army
and Marine.
Ruth and Bob even used their travel agency to create theme
trips for Korean War Veterans on the Mississippi River.
Bob Hammond's story came to be known to many of you and Hal
and I came to know many of you via Bob and the Chosin Few
and our "Looking For" section where Bob's photo proudly is
displayed.
Bob died quietly in his office, early on Nov 1st 2000 where
he had gone after returning from a long anticipated 50th
Anniversary of his High School. In that office were hung,
many pictures and memorabilia from Korea and the Chosin Few.
His funeral was well attended by veterans, friends and
family. Jan Curran, KWP Board member and Diamond Bar
resident, attended the funeral on behalf of the Korean War
Project.
--
Click on Bob Hammond's photo to see rare pictures of the
57th Field Arty Bn at Chosin, by Bob Hammond --- editor
-- Bob Hammond is featured in War Letters, the book --
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2. War Letters, PBS Special - Nov 11
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On Veterans Day, Nov 11th, PBS will be airing a special
documentary centered on War Letters: Extraordinary
Correspondence from American Wars (Scribner)
This is Andrew Carroll's, Legacy Project book that has been
on the New York Times Top Ten list since sales commenced on
May 15th, and featured on our web site and newsletters.
For Details, check your local listings and at the following:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/warletters/
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3. CILHI | DPMO - remains returned to Japan | Hawaii
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From: Steve Thompson (via email)
Subject: Remains of U.S. Servicemen Recovered in North Korea
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 578-01
(703)697-5131(media)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2001
(703)697-5737(public/industry)
REMAINS OF U.S. SERVICEMEN RECOVERED IN NORTH KOREA
Remains believed to be those of eight American soldiers,
missing in action from the Korean War, will be repatriated
in formal ceremonies Saturday, Korea time. This repatriation
marks the end of this year's operations.
The remains will be flown on a U.S. Air Force aircraft from
Pyongyang, North Korea, under escort of a uniformed U.S.
honor guard to Yokota Air Base, Japan, where a United
Nations
Command repatriation ceremony will be held.
Note:
For those of you in Hawaii, the Repatriation Ceremony will
be held at 0900 this coming Tuesday the 13th at Hickam Base
Ops.
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4. British Korean War Veterans
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--a-- New web site
www.communigate.co.uk/ne/thehill
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5. POW/MIA Radio show, Dave Murray
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Dave Murray and company have been putting on an excellent
radio show for many years now, devoted to issues surrounding
POW's and MIA. Here is some show and web info:
On Sunday, November 11, 2001 POW/MIA Freedom Radio, 5:00
(eastern time)
POW/MIA Freedom Radio can be heard on the internet at:
www.americanewsnet.com/
www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/5434/daveindex.html
Dave Murray's Fight for POW/MIA's
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6. US Navy in Korea - Philippine Sea (CV 47)
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-- Action reports for the Korean War --
John Edward Robinson "Robbie", reports to the KWP about
growing documentation online about the USN in Korea.
We shall keep watch on the web site to see the expansion of
more official information about the Navy in Korea.
At the Naval Historical Center:
https://www.history.navy.mil/branches/philippine-sea.html
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7. Thank You!, to our visitor's, members and sponsors
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Hal and I don't get much chance, anymore, to correspond
directly with our growing family of member/sponsors and web
site visitor's.
So, we would like to use the newsletter to reach out and
give a big THANK YOU! to all of you who have used the web
site over the years.
The input of information, photo's, and documents has made
the KWP a meeting place for people from all over the
world.
The financial contributions of our sponsors and members has
made it possible for the Korean War Project to continue, we
are indebted to all of you, THANK YOU!
Hal and I feature our Membership page to list those of our
members and sponsors since March of 1999 at:
https://www.koreanwar.org/html/membership.html
Thanks to all of you for helping make the Korean War Project
successful.
Regards,
Hal and Ted Barker
hbarker@kwp.org tbarker@kwp.org
Korean War Project
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