75th Operations Squadron

James Lewis Lowe wrote on May 30, 2008

City and State: ASTON PA

Unit: 75TH OLPERATIONS SQUADRON

Service or Relationship: Air Force Veteran

Comments: James Lewis Lowe wrote on April 27, 2010

Comments: UPDATE, April 2010:

In December 1953 our unit, the 75th Air Depot Wing, consisting of over 2,000 enlisted and officer personnel, having assembled earlier at Kelly AFB, San Antonio, sailed from Corpus Christi, TX, on the USAT General Walter H. Gordon, AP 117, through the Gulf of Mexico, the Panama Canal, out the Great Northern Pacific route, docking at Yokohama the end of December 1952. After a brief shore leave, we re-boarded our ship, sailed and docked at Pusan where a large LST took us in freezing cold weather to the Chinhae Air Base, K-10, better known as Dog Patch, APO 970. Everyone was totally exhausted after the 28 day journey, glad to set foot on solid ground in spite of cold weather.

To date, I have located a few persons who made that grueling trip through monstrous storms including a typhoon that threatened to rip the ship into pieces of scrap metal, dumping seasick passengers and crew into the frigid ocean. I am writing these lines in search of others who experienced that unpleasant nautical event to contact me so that we may exchange remembrances, photographs, and current interests.

Military tours tend to change us in many ways: attitude toward life and death, importance of family and friends, aspirations for the future, and more. In my case, having served at the Chinhae Orphanage with Rev. Lee Yak-Sin, my call to Christian ministry was confirmed. Returning to the States in December 1953, I met my darling wife Joann at the St. Louis train station; she was carrying our first son whom I had never seen before. After being discharged from the AF in November 1954, I returned to Tennessee Temple College, Chattanooga, graduating in 1957, then to Crozer Theological Seminary, Upland, PA, graduating in 1960. My experiences in Korea enabled me to follow as a Christian minister.

My return visits to Chinhae in 1985 and 1991 encouraged me to read and study Korean history and culture. I approached this study by searching for and collecting Korean picture postcards issued from 1898 through 1960, stamps, coins, soldiers mail with Hubba Hubba hand stamping sent from Korea 1950-1954, and Korean folk art. I've traveled to numerous countries searching for postcards and Korean folk art of all sorts. Actually, I purchased the first old card that came to my attention a postcard shop next the train station in Munich, Germany, in 1984; it was a prized 1910 view of German missionaries eating while native Koreans watched from a balcony. I have assembled a world-class collection, and have participated in Shin Yong-Suks public postcard exhibition program at Inchon.

Since retiring, Ive devoted several hours daily to this pursuit. It would be a pleasure to hear from readers who have similar interests. Contact me through KWP or directly at ClassicPostcards@gmail.com.


Keywords: 75th Operations Squadron, 75th Air Depot Wing, Kelly AFB, San Antonio, TX USAT General Walter H. Gordon Panama Canal Chinhae Air Base K 10 APO 970, Jan. - Dec. 1953; 5th Air Force (Rear), USS Gordon, cryptographer, veteran of AF and Navy, retired as US Navy Chaplain with the rank of Captain, 1989. Baptist minister, 1954 to present; schools attended: Eastdale Grammar School, Central High Chattanooga, Tennessee Temple University, Bob Jones University, University of Chattanooga, West Chester University, Julliard School of Music, Culver-Stockton College, Eastern Baptist University, Delaware County College, University of Pennsylvania, Temple Baptist Theological Seminary, Crozer Theological Seminary, Juilliard School of Music, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, and Oxford Graduate School Dayton with lectures and independent research at Oxford University, Oxford, England; taught high school for 10 years, Pennsylvania State University for 15; traveled in several countries.

Keywords: 75th Operations Squadron -- Kelly AFB, San Antonio, TX -- USAT General Walter H. Gordon -- Panama Canal -- Chinhae Air Base -- K-10 -- APO 970 --

James Lewis Lowe wrote on March 14, 2004

City and State: ASTON PA

Unit: 75TH OPERATIONS SQUADRON, CHINHAE, KOREA

Service or Relationship: Air Force Veteran - Korea

Comments: James Lewis Lowe wrote on April 27, 2010

Comments: UPDATE, April 2010:

In December 1953 our unit, the 75th Air Depot Wing, consisting of over 2,000 enlisted and officer personnel, having assembled earlier at Kelly AFB, San Antonio, sailed from Corpus Christi, TX, on the USAT General Walter H. Gordon, AP 117, through the Gulf of Mexico, the Panama Canal, out the Great Northern Pacific route, docking at Yokohama the end of December 1952. After a brief shore leave, we re-boarded our ship, sailed and docked at Pusan where a large LST took us in freezing cold weather to the Chinhae Air Base, K-10, better known as Dog Patch, APO 970. Everyone was totally exhausted after the 28 day journey, glad to set foot on solid ground in spite of cold weather.

To date, I have located a few persons who made that grueling trip through monstrous storms including a typhoon that threatened to rip the ship into pieces of scrap metal, dumping seasick passengers and crew into the frigid ocean. I am writing these lines in search of others who experienced that unpleasant nautical event to contact me so that we may exchange remembrances, photographs, and current interests.

Military tours tend to change us in many ways: attitude toward life and death, importance of family and friends, aspirations for the future, and more. In my case, having served at the Chinhae Orphanage with Rev. Lee Yak-Sin, my call to Christian ministry was confirmed. Returning to the States in December 1953, I met my darling wife Joann at the St. Louis train station; she was carrying our first son whom I had never seen before. After being discharged from the AF in November 1954, I returned to Tennessee Temple College, Chattanooga, graduating in 1957, then to Crozer Theological Seminary, Upland, PA, graduating in 1960. My experiences in Korea enabled me to follow as a Christian minister.

My return visits to Chinhae in 1985 and 1991 encouraged me to read and study Korean history and culture. I approached this study by searching for and collecting Korean picture postcards issued from 1898 through 1960, stamps, coins, soldiers mail with Hubba Hubba hand stamping sent from Korea 1950-1954, and Korean folk art. I've traveled to numerous countries searching for postcards and Korean folk art of all sorts. Actually, I purchased the first old card that came to my attention a postcard shop next the train station in Munich, Germany, in 1984; it was a prized 1910 view of German missionaries eating while native Koreans watched from a balcony. I have assembled a world-class collection, and have participated in Shin Yong-Suks public postcard exhibition program at Inchon.

Since retiring, Ive devoted several hours daily to this pursuit. It would be a pleasure to hear from readers who have similar interests. Contact me through KWP or directly at ClassicPostcards@gmail.com.


Keywords: 75th Operations Squadron, 75th Air Depot Wing, Kelly AFB, San Antonio, TX USAT General Walter H. Gordon Panama Canal Chinhae Air Base K 10 APO 970, Jan. - Dec. 1953; 5th Air Force (Rear), USS Gordon, cryptographer, veteran of AF and Navy, retired as US Navy Chaplain with the rank of Captain, 1989. Baptist minister, 1954 to present; schools attended: Eastdale Grammar School, Central High Chattanooga, Tennessee Temple University, Bob Jones University, University of Chattanooga, West Chester University, Julliard School of Music, Culver-Stockton College, Eastern Baptist University, Delaware County College, University of Pennsylvania, Temple Baptist Theological Seminary, Crozer Theological Seminary, Juilliard School of Music, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, and Oxford Graduate School Dayton with lectures and independent research at Oxford University, Oxford, England; taught high school for 10 years, Pennsylvania State University for 15; traveled in several countries.

Keywords: Chinhae, January through December, 1953. 75th Operations Sq., 5th Air Force (Rear), cryptographer, veteran of AF and Navy, retired as US Navy Chaplain with the rank of Captain, 1989. Baptist minister, 1954 to present.