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VMA-121
1953-1956
I was not a pilot. I was just a lowly aircraft mechanic. I arrived at K-6 and VMA-121 in March 1954 and served with them until March 1955.
VMA-121
1946-1982
Greetings:
I was ground crew machanic in VMF 121 while they were reserves up in Glenview NAS, IL. We got activated in 1951 and sent to El Toro where we received the AD-2 Skyraider. All the personnel got jumbled and reshuffled and I wound up in the VMF-251 with the AD-1s. I can't remember a Tom Collins so possibly he didn't rejoin the VMF-121 until they got to Korea (Tom was with the VMF-121 at this time testing the Skyraiders at El Toro but joined from the VMO-3, not Glenview, IL - Ed.). That was the best squadron I have ever been in for comraderie from the CO down to the lowest private. We had picnics, dances, bowling teams, all belonged to the American Legion, and a meeting each Saturday drill night at the local road house 'till the wee hours...
We all socialized at each others' homes. When we were activated, we had enough talent to finish building a few homes. That was all destoyed with the Korean War. Part of the crew stayed on active duty. Many got completely out!
Some came back to Glenview Reserves to form another squadronm but it wasn't the same. We had a bunch of hippie replacements that sued the Marine Corps for forcing them to get a haircut. I joined the Marine Air detatchment there to help train the newbees. We took them to El Toro for a two week manuever. I was the only one trained to work on the F8F "Bearcat" so I was busy. The long-haired reserves went to the enlisted club the first night there. It was the biggest riot you would ever see at a Marine club. When those reserves took off the wigs and let their hair down, the regulars couldn't stand it no more. Tje base commander ordered our long hairs to stay out of sight.I went to Korea (K-3) after that and didn't come back to Glenview NAS until 1975 as the Maintenance Chief for the Reserve Group 47 and Flight Engineer Instructor for the first reserve KC130F squadron.
VMA-121
1952-1953
I arrived in Korea in March of 1952 and returned home one year later. I would like to tell you about how I ended up in the Marine Corps. There was a draft existing at this time and you could be deferred if you were attending college full time. However, I had to pay my tuition and so worked at the Chicago Tribune full time during the day and attending college part time in the evening. In October of 1951 I was told to report to the induction department in Chicago, fully expecting to go into the Army for two years. After being sworn in, we were lined up and told to count off by fives. I was a five. The sergeant then told us that fives would be going in the Marine Corps. and would be leaving for California (Camp Pendelton, San Diego - Ed.). that evening. It appears that they were not getting enough men to enlist in the Marine Corps. Having seen all those war movies with John Wayne landing his troop on the beaches of the Pacific I had no desire to become a Marine. However, there was no chance for a change and so I spent nine very difficult weeks in boot camp in San Diego. I joined a squadron at El Toro airfield and shortly learned that I would be going to Korea. I took some tests during the ensueing months and ended up as a sergeant in aviation intelligence.
A little about the VMA-121. I believe it was a Marine reserve squadron flying out of Glenview Naval airbase in Illinois. At the beginning of the Korean War, they were activated and sent to Korea. Many of the pilots that I met in Korea were older who may have participated World War II. These men were not happy being called back into active service. And some of the replacements to these pilots were. It was sad to see twelve of our pilots die by being shot down or tor other reasons. I have no idea of the age of your grandfather when he died (He turned 30 about 2 months before going to Korea - Ed.). The result of my service in the Marine Corps was that upon release, I was eligible for the GI Bill. I could now return to college full time and earn both a bachelor and master degree. I became an elementary school principal in a suburb of Chicago. I returned home on USS Sitkoh Bay in March 1953. I returned home on the [USS] Sitkoh Bay in March 1953
I have no recollection of your grandfather's name or the accident. I was a sergeant in the intelligence office of VMA-121 and remember that about twelve pilots were lost during the year that I was in Korea. Most of them were shot down by 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft fire. You may know that they dove down on their targets, using dive brakes that extended from both sides of the fuselage. I believe that as they retracted those brakes and pulled up, they were quite vulnerable.
K-6 was at Pyongtaek-ni. It was an old Japanese airfield and the runway was made of something called Marston matting. They were perforated strips of steel which would interlock. I believe that the runway was about 5000 feet long. Once or twice, an Air Force jet would try an emergency landing and go right off the end into a rice paddy. The hangars were really revetments built into the hillside and this is where the mechanics would work on the planes, In the winter the would try to board up the entrances to keep out the cold. And it was very cold in the winter with the wind coming off the Yellow Sea. The enlisted men lived in double-reinforced twelve-man tents. I don't remember how the officers lived. There were two other squadrons at K-6, both flying [F-4U]Corsairs. Their numbers were
VMA-212 and VMA-323. When I joined the squadron, it was at K-3 which is near
Pohang-dong. It's on the east coast above Pusan. The squadron moved to K-6 about a month later. .
