My father-in-law Bill Harrington passed away on Sunday,
December 28, 2014 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Reno, Nevada. He had been fighting a battle with pneumonia
since Thanksgiving.
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| Bill Harrington, Korea 1951 |
In 1951 and 1952, Bill was fighting another battle in
Korea. He and his wife Irma put together
a scrapbook of photographs and mementos from his time in the U.S. Army. Several years ago I interviewed Bill about his
Korea experience. When we completed the
interview, Bill and Irma lent me the scrapbook. Here is the text of that interview
interspersed with some historical context and a few of the photos and
documents. I share this with all of you
as a tribute to my father-in-law.
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| Bill Harrington was an extraordinary fisherman. |
Bill Harrington was living in Boron, California at the
outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. The
North Koreans with the help of their Soviet military advisors had invaded South
Korea on 25 June 1950. The United States was initially reluctant about entering
this military conflict between the governments of North and South Korea. General
Douglas MacArthur made a personal visit to Korea to assess the situation on the
29th of June 1950. General MacArthur recommended the immediate
commitment of American ground forces. President
Truman then authorized the employment of Army combat troops to ensure the
security of a port and air base at Pusan, South Korea. He also approved sending two Army divisions
from Japan to Korea and the creation of a naval blockade of North Korea.
The Selective Service System ordered Bill to report to the Local
Board in Bakersfield, California. He was
directed to bring sufficient clothing for 3 days. In a foreshadowing of his future career as a
Greyhound Bus Driver, he was ordered to report to report to the Pacific
Greyhound Bus Station in Mojave, California at 8 a.m. on the 20th of
February 1951 for the trip to Bakersfield. Andy Fiore was the Greyhound driver. Bill recognized him later when he went to
work for Greyhound.
From Bakersfield he went to Los Angeles for further processing. He transferred to a special bus that ran to
Fort Ord, California. Bill arrived at
Fort Ord on Washington’s Birthday. By
March 1, 1951 Bill had completed his Army processing and had been assigned to a
training company at Fort Ord. He was
inducted as a Private to Company M of the 63rd Infantry Regiment at
Fort Ord. Bill completed eight weeks of
basic training at Fort Ord and then stayed for another six weeks of cooking
school. Tutor Robinson was a friend from
Boron. He went into the Army a little
earlier than Bill but they were together for a time at Fort Ord. Tutor was in Charlie Company.
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| Bill Harrington and Tutor Robinson Fort Ord, California 1951 |
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| Bill Harrington and Tutor Robinson Fort Ord, California 1951 |
After he completed cooking school, Bill was transferred to
Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg, California.
He was supposed to go to Fort Huachuca, Arizona but he was late getting
back to Camp Stoneman. The MPs took him
straight to the boat for Korea. They
went from Camp Stoneman through Concord and Lafayette and over the hill to Oakland
and across the Bay Bridge in the back end of an old 6x6 cargo truck. He had to wait a week on the ship at the
pier. He could not even call Irma. This experience had a lot to do with why he
never wanted to be late to anything ever again.
TO BE CONTINUED
