Military Unit History

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DartmanX

Military Unit History

Legg inn av DartmanX » 15 apr 2005 15:47:04

I have a question about a semi-recent military unit history. First, the
background:

My grandfather was assigned to Company D, 7th Medical Battalion, 7th
ID, in 1946-1947. At the time, the unit was in Seoul. One of the items
in our possession is his photo album from while he was over there. (I
recognized one or two of the landmarks in the photos from when I
visited Seoul).

The "family story" goes that of all of the people in that photo album,
only my grandfather and one other made it out, apparently due to a
North Korean ambush during the opening phase of the war. Something
doesn't make sense, though. None of the (admittedly limited)
information on the Internet about the 7th mentions anything like this
supposed ambush/massacre.

So, would the easiest way to get further information be via the Freedom
of Information Act? Unit histories are considered "permanent" records,
and so should be stored by the Archives. However, the time and probably
expense of making this request makes me wonder if there is an easier
method I am missing.

Unrelated: my grandfather was in Company D, which was a "Clearing"
company, versus a "Collection" company. Does anyone know the
difference?

Thanks,
Jason

Huntersglenn

Re: Military Unit History

Legg inn av Huntersglenn » 15 apr 2005 19:22:58

The Korean War didn't officially begin until 1950, during the dates you
mention, there were two major powers in Korea -- The U.S and the USSR
(Russia had gained control of Korea in an earlier war and the Soviets
kept up that claim). The Soviet Union held everything down to the 38th
parallel, and any surrending Japanese troops north of that line would
surrender to the USSR, those south of that line would surrender to the
U.S. This decision was made in 1945. It would be two years before the
United Nations established the government in South Korea, in Seoul (with
free elections). The Soviets didn't like that happening and they set up
a government in their held territory and organized the North Korean
Army. After this, the Soviet Army reportedly evacuated the north (this
would be around 1948), and the U.S. evacuated the south, with the
exception of a small military advisory group (this was by June of 1949).

Given all of that, it's very possible that Company D was attacked by
either a newly formed North Korean unit (which at that time most likely
would have been run by the Soviets) or by a Soviets unit, and I think
it's most likely the Soviets, and that can be why you're finding it
difficult to find anything definite on the attack -- given Cold War
tensions, I don't think the US would have gone around blaming attacks
that couldn't be proven.

Some states have veteran's records in their archives. You could try
your home state (or the state where your grandfather lived if it's not
your home state) and see if they have any veteran's records. If the US
government is pulling things out of the records of men in certain
situations, then some paperwork might have escaped notice and found it's
way into the state archives.

Of course, there's also the chance that the reality is a bit skewed and
that it was your grandfather's unit who began the attack and that's why
there's no record of it. I had an uncle who was in the Marines back in
those days and there were a lot of things he was involved in that never
made it to the newspapers, and that I'm sure are not in his military
records.

If you could track down dependents of the soldiers who were killed, they
might have information on the "official cause of death" that was sent to
them, especially if any medals were involved -- I know from family
experience with Vietnam that a short description of the battle in which
someone died was given in the citation for the medal, but I don't know
if this was done in previous wars.

Good luck,

Cathy

DartmanX wrote:

I have a question about a semi-recent military unit history. First, the
background:

My grandfather was assigned to Company D, 7th Medical Battalion, 7th
ID, in 1946-1947. At the time, the unit was in Seoul. One of the items
in our possession is his photo album from while he was over there. (I
recognized one or two of the landmarks in the photos from when I
visited Seoul).

The "family story" goes that of all of the people in that photo album,
only my grandfather and one other made it out, apparently due to a
North Korean ambush during the opening phase of the war. Something
doesn't make sense, though. None of the (admittedly limited)
information on the Internet about the 7th mentions anything like this
supposed ambush/massacre.

So, would the easiest way to get further information be via the Freedom
of Information Act? Unit histories are considered "permanent" records,
and so should be stored by the Archives. However, the time and probably
expense of making this request makes me wonder if there is an easier
method I am missing.

Unrelated: my grandfather was in Company D, which was a "Clearing"
company, versus a "Collection" company. Does anyone know the
difference?

Thanks,
Jason

bob

Re: Military Unit History

Legg inn av bob » 15 apr 2005 19:47:05

In article <1113576424.381410.138960@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
"DartmanX" <fergusonjason@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a question about a semi-recent military unit history. First, the
background:

My grandfather was assigned to Company D, 7th Medical Battalion, 7th
ID, in 1946-1947. At the time, the unit was in Seoul. One of the items
in our possession is his photo album from while he was over there. (I
recognized one or two of the landmarks in the photos from when I
visited Seoul).


Unrelated: my grandfather was in Company D, which was a "Clearing"
company, versus a "Collection" company. Does anyone know the
difference?

Thanks,
Jason

As a WWII medic in the 328th Medical Battalion of the 103rd Division in
the ETO, I can speak to the last paragraph.

Infantry divisions of WWII were "triangle divsions" that is they were
composed of three regiments each. Their medical battalions were
composed of three "clearing" or "ambulance" companies - A, B and C. They
brougnt the wounded back to the "clearing" company which acted as a
triage unit to decide if the GI could be treated and returned to duty or
needed more extensive care - Company D. They served as the last meducal
echelon in the division.

Hope this helps.

Bob Bowers
Lexington MA

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