• some Koreans). At any rate, by Christmas Day, , we had accumulated
enough pheasants and ducks that we invited over one hundred local Kore-
ans onto the compound for a Christmas dinner. Among the guests was
Raymond Burr, a TV actor famous for his portrayal of Perry Mason, the
criminal lawyer. Mr. Burr made a habit of visiting troops overseas each
Christmas, and his appearance at our small outpost was a real treat for my
soldiers.
Over the course of that initial assignment, it became apparent to me that
most American soldiers, even the officers, were poorly prepared for duty in
Korea. Not only were we unable to speak the language but we were also to-
tally ignorant concerning Korean customs, history, and culture. I made
many clumsy mistakes in dealing with ordinary Koreans that I look back at
now in embarrassment—for example, entering a house with my boots on,
being too direct in addressing issues with Koreans, and such. I vowed that
if I ever returned to that country, I would be better prepared.
In early I was reassigned to the United States, where I spent about
eighteen months assigned to an air-defense unit near Kansas City and later
attended the Armor Officers Advanced Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Fol-
lowing this was a transfer to Hawaii for a staff assignment with the Pacific
Army Headquarters. By this time the Vietnam War was going strong, and I
was ordered to join the st Infantry Division in Vietnam in late . I served
with the st Division for several months and saw combat often. I was
wounded, though not badly, and recovered quickly enough to be given com-
mand of a company in the central part of Vietnam north of Qui Nhon. My
company’s area of operations included a territory we shared with both
South Vietnamese troops and a Korean division, though with few Ameri-
can units in the area other than my own.
My experience with the South Vietnamese forces was not always posi-
tive. Our company was a small and somewhat isolated unit, and in the event
we were attacked by a larger enemy force, we were dependent upon the
nearby friendly forces to assist us with artillery fire and ground reinforce-
ments. In more than one case, the Vietnamese failed to respond, and once
they even mistakenly fired their artillery directly into our positions, wound-
ing several of my men and narrowly missing me. Frustrated by this, I con-
tacted my battalion headquarters, explained the situation, and requested
that either American or Korean units be reassigned as my backup unit, re-
placing the South Vietnamese. After several days with no response, I decided
to take matters into my own hands and directly contacted the commander
of an adjacent Korean unit.