Schuylkill County Korean War Stories

Sgt 1/C Daniel J. Connelly Awarded the Silver Star For Heroism In Combat

Sgt1/c Daniel J. Connelly, Branchdale has been awarded the Silver Star. August 8, 1951
Sgt Connelly, serving with Company G of the 17th Infantry in Korea, distinguished himself by gallantry in action near Kogai-Ri Korea on May 20, 1951. His company was assigned a mission of attacking and securing enemy held hill positions. With the 1st platoon acting as an assault point. The unit was temporally halted by heavy enemy automatic weapons and mortar fire, and Sgt Connelly’s platoon called forward to give supporting fire. When the platoon leader was became seriously wounded, Sgt Connelly assumed command and personally lead the group foreword, exposing himself to enemy observation and fire. In the midst of the firefight, he was wounded, but continued deploying his men in relief of the distressed platoon. His actions enabled his men and the assault platoon, to move forward and secure the objective.
The presentation of the Silver Star medal was made on the grounds of the 9041st Station hospital in Japan on July 27, by the Command of Major General Ferenbaugh of the 17th Infantry Division.


This is a Fantastic story about serving in the Korean War.




July 23, 1951
Pottsville Soldier One of 32 Who Survived Ambush

The Republicans own personal interest in the Korean “Police Action” has returned to the United States after spending six months in the cold and muck of Korea adding his own little bit to defend democracy against any aggressor.
Joseph (Joe) T. Cescon from Pottsville, up until nine months ago the rural circulation manger of the “Republican” has returned to Indiantown Gap where he is due for probable separation from the Army.
Right after WW2 Joe spent some 18 months in the American Occupation Forces in Japan. When he was discharged he joined the reserves. When the Chinese Communist began to act up last year. Joe received a letter from the War Department telling him that he was going right back into military service.
On October 15 he recev3ed orders to report to Fort Campbell, Ky. For refresher training. He then embarked for Camp Stoneman, Cal. And in little less than a week was on his way to Japan. And eventually a period of six months in a literal “hell” dodging bullets and always wondering if the next breath he’d take would be his last.
One week of his time was spent at Camp Drake, south of Tokyo, Japan and then he travelled through the central mountains of Japan by train, bound for Sasebo, a former Japanese Naval Base. On December 29, 1950 Cescon arrived in Sasebo and the next day departed for Pusan South Korea, and the beginning of the end of many of his buddies.
For nearly a month Cescon, after reaching Pusan, was sent to Andong, S. Korea where he joined the Second Infantry Division on January 7, this unit was the reserve for the next three weeks and then received orders to the central front on January 28, nears Wonju.
In less than a week Cescon and the patrol of which he was a member had their first taste of action. Advancing toward Wonju with one light tank and two jeeps the patrol ran into an ambush of from 250 to 300 “Reds” in a hill just around a curve. “Hitting the dirt” was the by word for the men in the jeeps while the tank began to blast the Chinese from their ambushed positions in the hills. No casualties resulted from the first bit of action for the men in the group, but they found that it was just criterion of things to come.
It didn’t take long for the Second Reconnaissance Company, with which Crescon was serving to get their first real taste of fighting at the worst. From February 12 to the 17 the company suffered it worst casualties of the war, but also accounted for the death and wounding of nearly 1000 Chinese Communists. Of 110 men who entered into battle with the company only 32 survived the tremendous onslaught of the Commies.
After that terrific pummeling, the second recon group was sent back 30 miles to Chechon for replacement, regrouping and new equipment. During the one mission, the recon group lost six tanks, three personnel carriers, and from 23 to 28 jeeps.
From that time until Crescon began his trip home on June 6, the outfits which he was serving with were engaged in patrol duty the greatest majority of the time. At one time the second recon group was the only protection for the supply route serving the 23rd Infantry Division which was trapped for two days near Wonju. After saving off the second communist offensive in the spring of the year, Crescon and his outfit advanced 10 miles into North Korea, reaching the Hwachon Reservoir. The last action in which he was engaged was at Inje, four miles north of the 38th parallel.
The Division left Inje on June 4 and went into reserve once again at Hoengsong. On June 25, Cescon and his group left Korea with bitter memories, and went to Japan via ferry, landing at Sasebo June 28. Three days later the group departed from Japan and arrived at Seattle, Washington on July 11.



In his battle experiences, Joe found that on many occasions the Chinese Communists were very poorly equipped. On one banzai attack near Chipyong, a horde of Chinese swarmed over a hill. Only one half of the group had rifles, while the others were empty handed. When one of the men with a rifle would be wounded or killed, one of his buddies would take the rifle and continue the suicidal charge.
Others of the fanatical Chinese would carry a long stick on the end of which would be a box filled with ignited dynamite. This box they would hold under the tracks of a tank or Army truck, the explosion blowing up the truck or tank and also killing the fanatical soldier.
During the winter months the temperature averaged zero all day long, according to Cescon. During the night s the mercury would dip to far below zero, but during the days the temperature would climb to a warm “15 or 20” degrees above zero. It snowed practically every day thus adding to the hazards of the fighting in the mountainous central Korean front. At particular time during the winter months the group with which Cescon was serving did not see the sun for more than 21 days in a row.




Pottsville Flyer T/Sgt Frederick Bohr Few First Recon Missions Over North Korea
July 24, 1951

T/Sgt Frederick Bohr was spending a 30 day leave at his parent’s home in Pottsville. Sgt. Bohr is a radio operator on a B-29 super fortress in a strategic revc0on squadron, and has been overseas since October, 1949.
Boher was in Okinawa at the outbreak of the Korean invasion. He participated in the first mission over North Korea. Since then he has participated in many missions from bases in Japan. T/Sgt Bohe has over 600 hours flying combat missions to his credit and holds the air medal and four Oak leaf clusters.
He has two brothers also in the military Sgt. Joseph, with the air rescue Paratroops stationed in southern Japan and Jerry, QM 2 based aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Eversole.
T/sgt Bohr will be reassigned to Travis Air Force Base were he will be assigned to the B-36 bomber.



Brothers Crossed The 38th Parallel 13 Times
July 17, 1951



In most cases the number 13 is regarded as an omen of bad luck, but in the case of three Tremont brothers now home from Korea it means nothing but good lick.
The three veterans of the Korean War have crossed the 38th Parallel a total of thirteen times between them. In all the three youths have spent a combined total of more than 125 weeks in the major battles of the war.
They are Staff Sergeant Lamar Tobin, 25 who has gone past the parallel four times; Corporal Ralph Tobin, 20, who made three crossings; and the “Crown Prince” of the crossings PFC Clarence Tobin, 19 who has been back and forth six times.
The three battle wise veterans who have participated in practically every major engagement in the war are now home on a well earned 30 day furlough. After which they will report to Fort Indiantown Gap for reassignment. Of the three men only one is married Lamar. During WW2 he was stationed with the US Army in Germany and met a German lass, Charlotte Shober.
Ralph and Clarence each left the United States on August 5, 1950. Ralph serving with the 15th AAA Bn of the 7th Division while Clarence was attached to the 38th Infantry Bn of the 2nd Division. The third brother Lamar departed from the shores of his native land on August 29, 1950
After more than six months of action the three youths all arrived in the US on nearly the same day.
TRAPPED 24 HOURS
Clarence’s battle experiences are the most noteworthy. At one phase of the most bitter fighting of the entire war the group he was serving with was surrounded near Pohongdomg. The trap was maintained for 24 long hours one full day in which all the men were wondering if they would ever escape. Finally after two days of dodging bullets in the back of an Army vehicle a seven mile retreat was culminated when the group rejoined allied forces.
In addition to that narrow escape from the Chinese Communists. Clarence also was engaged in the battle of Wonju during the allied retreat to the Pusan beachhead, and also in the battle at the Naktong River where the tide of the enemy onslaught was eventually turned during the long allied retreat.
Ralph and Lamar also saw their share of major battle action during the period that they were overseas, Ralph was with the 15th AAA, Bn. In the evacuation of Ham hung, and also was engaged in the battle and was also engaged in the battle for Inchon. He was the brother who advanced farthest into enemy territory, however having been the only one to get as far north as the Yalu River near Manchuria-Korea border.
Lamar’s feats include action at the Ham Hung evacuation and also the battle for Inchon.
In addition Lamar participated in the battle which was valitaly fought to save the city of Seoul from the Communists.

Captain Bernard Reilley 3rd Bombardment Wing earns The Air Medal
July 19, 1951
Captain Bernard Reilley B-26 light bomber pilot from Main St. Cumbola earned the air Medal. Reilley a senior pilot was decorated for meritorious service while flying the B-26 in combat missions over Korea in the Fifth Air Force B-26 night intruders.

Heroic Haven Helicopter Pilot During The Korean War Lt. Joseph L. Bowler

Type Helo Flown By Lt. Bowler H-13D

Haven Helicopter Pilot Saves 502 lives in Korea
Pottsville Republican
September 4, 1951

Somewhere in Korea.
The U.S. Third Infantry Division claims a world record pilot Lt. Joseph L. Bowler, of Schuylkill Haven, Pa.
The Division says Lt. Bowler pilot of an H-13D, helicopter “Flying Ambulance” has saved 502 lives. He has oiled up 615 combat hours and has come under communist fire frequently in picking up battlefield wounded.
Bowler doubles as a life saver through a devise he perfected for blood transfusions while in flight. A bottle of plasma is set up in the helicopter cockpit. A patient can begin receiving as transfusion as soon as he is pickled up.
Lt. Col William Yuckman of Santa, Barbara, Calif. Said Bowler had given as many as three transfusions on a single flight.

Editors Note:
An article from the Army Times:
March 22, 2004


Duty, Honor, Country
2nd Helicopter Detachment flew hundreds to safety

By Robert F. Dorr
Special to the Times

During the Korean War, the Army�s 2nd Helicopter Detachment rescued hundreds of wounded soldiers with its H-13 helicopters.
�We were the first Army helicopter unit to go into action in Korea,� said retired Lt. Col. Joseph Hely, 78, of Ballwin, Mo., who was a captain at the time.
About three months after the war began, the Army created four helicopter detachments Oct. 1, 1950. Hely�s detachment, after spending its first weeks at Fort Bragg, N. C., was first to operate helicopters in Korea, beginning near Seoul on Jan. 10, 1951.
Capt. Albert C. Sebourn commanded the detachment. The other pilots were Hely, 1st Lt. Willis G. Strawn and 1st Lt. Joseph L. Bowler. The detachment initially was assigned to support the 8076th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, which Hely remembers as being �out on a riverbed far away from any habitation.�
The H-13 helicopter later became familiar to Americans in the movie and television series �MASH.� Typically, the aircraft flew with just a pilot and one or two stretcher patients. The H-13 had limited range and lifting power and was not supposed to be exposed to enemy action. Still, 2nd Detachment pilots flew into harm�s way on an almost daily basis.
According to the book �United States Army Air Ambulance,� by Mark M. Hough, the 2nd Detachment flew a series of critical missions under heavy fire from Jan. 13 to Jan. 15. The helicopters evacuated 23 wounded soldiers under severe enemy fire, Hough wrote.
In an interview, Hely said, �We were not supposed to get into the enemy�s gun sights, but it sometimes happened.�
On April 19, 1951, Hely was wounded when Chinese machine-gun rounds penetrated the �bubble� (windshield) and underside of his H-13D, shattered his radio, sending metal fragments into his arm and causing the helicopter to crash.
There were 62 bullet holes in the bubble, said Hely, who was awarded the Purple Heart. Hely believes he is the first American helicopter pilot to be shot down in combat.
Records of the Bell Helicopter Co., which manufactured early H-13s in Niagara Falls, N.Y., credit Bowler for evacuating 824 wounded soldiers (more than half of the detachment�s 1,506) between Jan. 10 and Nov. 2, 1951.
The following year, Bell gave Bowler its first �Mr. Helicopter� award, an honor it bestowed to a pilot annually until 1960. Bowler had been a World War II Army glider pilot and, at age 40, was the �old man� of the detachment, Hely said.
The 2nd Detachment was redesignated the 8191st Army Unit on May 14, 1951, and was inactivated in late November 1952.
The detachment had operated with several MASH units by then. Its members devised new methods to carry wounded in litters and to give blood plasma transfusions in flight.
�We feel we achieved a lot,� said Hely, who counts himself as the sole survivor among the four original pilots.
Hely often speaks to veterans groups today about his remembrances of early Army helicopter operations.
Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of numerous books, including �Air Force One.� His e-mail address is robertdorr@aol.com.

BIG JIM WILSON 7TH PA. CAVALRY TROOPER

Pride of Pennsylvania Painting by Rick Reeves


Big Jim Wilson, A Cavalry Trooper

James A. Wilson a 19 year old Irish miner born in Kilkenny, Ireland lived and worked in Frailey Township. He enlisted in the 7th Penna. Cavalry on October 19, 1861 at Donaldson, Schuylkill County. Known to the members of Company F as “Big Jim”, he advanced quickly through the ranks and attained the rank of Sergeant.

On June 27th 1863 the Seventh Pa. Cavalry made one of the most daring charges against the rebels at Shelbyville, Tenn. During this charge the 7th suffered numerous casualties. One of these men was Pvt. Felix Herb, from Schuylkill County. Herb came upon two rebel prisoners who threw up their arms as if to surrender. When they saw no one coming to his aid, they changed their minds and shot Herb in the forehead and killed him instantly. Seeing this deadly deed, Sgt. Jim Wilson rode over and shot both of the rebels dead, telling his adjutant “The devils shot Felix Herb after they surrendered, so I made short work of them.” Jim was commended for bravery at Shelbyville stating that “He distinguished himself by acts of coolness and daring.”
Another incident that was well remembered by the men of the Seventh was the time when Jim Wilson was acting as a mounted Provost Guard in the city of Huntsville, Ala. One evening Corp. Wilson came upon a group of drunken officers, who were loud and happy. He asked them for their passes, which brought out the response that they could do and go where ever they wanted and that the provost guard could go to hell. Big Jim, not taking to this type of verbal abuse, drew his saber and came down upon the head of a captain, cutting through his hat and making a deep gash on his head. The officers, surprised and sobered by this event, went back to their camp at the double quick. The next day these officers went to the commanding General and demanded punishment for Wilson. The General told the officers that the provost guard must be respected and not resisted and the offending officer must take the consequences. Corp. Wilson was worried about what he had done to the officer and went to his Col. and asked him if something would happen to him for what he had done. Col. Sipes told him he was safe. Jim replied “Be jabbers, I didn’t mane to cut him so hard, but me saber was so sharp it wint through his hat and into his skull as it wud go through a cheese”. Col. Sipes remembered Jim as “The mildest mannered man that ever scuttled ship or cut a throat.”
Jim Wilson would also be remembered for his kindness. On December 22, 1862, a few days after the battle of Stones River a detail of company F was sent out between the lines to meet a flag of truce, and to escort within the Union lines, Mrs. George D. Prentice. The wife of the then brilliant and famous editor of the Louisville Journal, who had been visiting relatives in the south, and had received permission from the commanders of both armies to pass the lines.
It was a bitter cold day and when the detail of the southern army appeared on the scene it proved to be members of the eighth Georgia, crackerjack fighters who were worthy of brave men’s steel.
The Georgians’ uniforms were tattered and torn and they had little or no shoes on their feet. Their condition moving to compassion their enemies of the Northern army, so much so that big Jim Wilson made the rounds of the Seventh’s ranks and the result was that every Georgian soldier went back to his camp well clad and comfortably shod while the knapsacks of the Seventh boys were that much lighter.
This soldierly action so impressed the Georgians that thereafter whenever the two regiments were opposite each other on the contending army lines the 7th’s men would be hailed thusly. “ Who’s on picket thur?” and if the reply was, “The Seventh Penna. Cavalry,” the confederate picket would call out. “No firing from the Eight Georgia tonight,” and there would be none on either side.
Jim Wilson would fight through hundreds of skirmishes and numerous major battles with the Seventh Pa., and would be only wounded one time. On October 14th 1863 while on a mission to Nashville to procure a lot of horses for the regiment, he was shot in the right shoulder by a member of the 18th Michigan that was acting as a provost guard. They were about to arrest a Pvt. Abraham Van dike for being drunk when he fled and was fired upon, only they missed him and hit Jim Wilson in the shoulder. Jim would suffer from the effects of this wound for the rest of his life.
Big Jim would return home after serving three years in the cavalry, and work in the mines. He died and was buried in Branchdale in 1894 at the age of 52.
Pottsville Republican May 12, 1913
The Seventh Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Cavalry, Its Record, Reminiscence and roster.
Pottsville Miners Journal, William B. Sipes

TWO POTTSVILLE BOYS SERVE AS OFFICERS IN THE FRENCH ARMY WW1

FRENCH OFFICERS UNIFORM WW1

This is an interesting story about two boys from Pottsville who were serving in the French Army during the World War 1

TWO LOCAL BOYS IN FRENCH ARMY

Pottsville Republican June 22, 1918

During the past few days the Republican has been frequently asked for some information regarding Augustus. A. Allenbach and Stephen Kroll, both boys of town, who are serving as officers in the French army. They have been in service over there for a couple of years past and up to within about ten months ago there were regular messages from them. Since the real big German attacks and lengthily drives they have been kept busy to write often but manage once in a while to write to their relatives and dearest friends. There have been many rumors about that they were dead, but all these rumors now vanish with the receipt of communications from both of them this week.
Allenbach has been serving in France and has been in charge of a command of men trying to hold back the German drive in his section. He has had his hands full and in two or three days out of the trenches he has succeeded in writing his folks at home, stating that he is all right. He had been in the hospital for a time but is fully recovered and now in active service again.
Kroll is back in active service again after having been in Belgium for a period of a few months attending a special military school and after graduation was sent back to the front, this time in a higher capacity. Kroll has seen service in many of the German attacks and he to writes home that he is well.
The fact that they are in the French Army keeps down a great deal of information that could come through if they were in the American Army. The friends of both have been so anxious about them and will be glad to hear that they have successfully come out of every battle and were still living on June 3rd.


Allenbach initially enlisted in the French Army as a Ambulance driver in Ambulance Company 20 6th san train.