Forgotten War: Extreme Hardship for Troops; Decades Later Their Service Is Still Appreciated in Modernized South Korea

OCEAN CITY – Ocean City Public Library hosted Richard “Dick” Mathers Jan. 27 for another lecture in its series “Shared Experiences.”
Mathers is a Korean War veteran and historian for the Cape May County American Legion. Mathers regaled the audience, comprised of other veterans as well as residents and members of the community at large, with some humorous reminiscences but also drew tears when recounting the extreme hardships and sacrifices that American troops made fighting in Korea from 1950-1953 in the “The Forgotten War.”
“It is hard to believe now with South Korea so modernized the devastation of the Korean Peninsula when I arrived there in 1951,” began Mathers.
“Japanese domination since the early part of the 20th century there meant no Korean was allowed to use his own name, wear Korean dress, eat Korean food or even speak Korean. We experienced temperatures from as low as minus 50 degrees in the winter and up to 110 degrees in the summer and, people, let me tell you we really suffered.”
Mathers went on to explain that while President Harry Truman did not push for victory and drive out the Communists completely because of other Cold War considerations, the 38th Parallel dividing North and South is an artificial line that exists even today.
“The Koreans saw us American soldiers as saviors, they were little guys, but they worked really, really hard. World War II was termed ‘The Good War’ and Vietnam ‘The Bad War’ but until the mid-1980s no one even really recognized that we had fought there.”
According to statistics quoted by Mathers, the Forgotten War took its toll on U.S. troops with over 36,000 soldiers killed there in three years and one month compared to, for example, about 58,000 killed in Vietnam, a war that lasted nearly 11 years.
Mathers was drafted early in the conflict, and got his training at Ft. Belvoir, Va. “I had kind of an attitude and a superior officer told me, ‘Son, you can either spend time in the brig or make something of yourself,’ so I decided to get some training and I became part of the 74th Engineer Combat Battalion.
“Unfortunately, that word ‘combat’ meant we were always on the front lines building something, like bunkers or setting land mines and the work was extremely dangerous. I always carried a backpack filled with dynamite and TNT for our work and it’s a miracle I didn’t blow myself up.”
Mathers recounted how in battle all day and night long troops would hear the enemy shouting “kill Americans” and were usually outnumbered 14:1.
On more than a couple of occasions he lost many comrades, in one instance no one knows to this day if a squad was killed, captured or wounded so severely they didn’t make it.
Fighting the Communist Koreans from the North was a constant struggle with the harsh conditions but “We were tenacious and usually won out, stacking the bodies so high the pile would be over five feet.”
Through a coincidental meeting with a school mate from the Philadelphia area, Mathers eventually got transferred about midway through his one-year tour of duty to a supply MOS (military occupational specialty) which was a lot less dangerous than “engineer combat.”
Mathers said he was in charge of many young soldiers from all over the country, with varying degrees of education, some not even really knowing how to read. “But over time we made a team, and I was glad to be in supply because I was able to take care of them with dry clothes and boots. Boy, what a difference that made in their morale and ability to stay healthy,” he said.
When Mathers reads about South Korea it’s hard for him to believe how the country has developed. “North Korea still has nothing, not even religion or churches, while here in the U.S. we see girl golfers from Seoul winning tournaments and Hyundai cars all over. I hear all the time how much they appreciate what we did there and the country would be so different if we hadn’t made those sacrifices.”
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.