My Dads Korea ribbons. Help ID

[silversquirrel]

My Dad is 91 and a Korea Vet. I Was going to do this project on fathers day but he is currently hospitalized with a hip fracture. Imaging has found more serious issues so I am preparing. and spending as much time as I can with him. His memory is not sharp but my brothers and I got around to asking about his Army days. He has never directly spoke about any of it. Learned some things when we asked him about his bronze star.
He recalled some of the events he experienced but I thought if any of his ribbons might trigger a story or long lost memory. I know what some of these are but would like to write it all down.
Give us more to talk about during his hospital time and God willing a rehab facility.
He had this set made and kept it framed in his office.

 

[Fixxah]

God bless.

 

[Picton]

That’s a fairly standard rack for Korea. Bronze Star medal for service, Good Conduct Medal, NDSM, Korean Service medal (US) with a campaign star, Korean service medal (UN), Korean War medal (ROK)

MI and IN brass, but the GCM indicates enlisted service. CIB. So he presumably had an infantry MOS but served in an MI unit, scout or recon or something. Otherwise he might have had an MI MOS and served with an IN unit that “unofficially” gave him a CIB. They did that sometimes.

ETA forgot the unit awards at the bottom. The higher one is the PUC, a very distinguished unit award; the other is the same thing, but issued by the ROK instead of the US.

 

[Andy in NH]

ETA forgot the unit awards at the bottom. The higher one is the PUC, a very distinguished unit award; the other is the same thing, but issued by the ROK instead of the US.

Equivalent to the individual awards of the Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, and Air Force Cross.

 

[silversquirrel]

That’s a fairly standard rack for Korea. Bronze Star medal for service, Good Conduct Medal, NDSM, Korean Service medal (US) with a campaign star, Korean service medal (UN), Korean War medal (ROK)

MI and IN brass, but the GCM indicates enlisted service. CIB. So he presumably had an infantry MOS but served in an MI unit, scout or recon or something. Otherwise he might have had an MI MOS and served with an IN unit that “unofficially” gave him a CIB. They did that sometimes.

ETA forgot the unit awards at the bottom. The higher one is the PUC, a very distinguished unit award; the other is the same thing, but issued by the ROK instead of the US.

Thank you for that. He does remember he started in an infantry unit but was selected with "a bunch of other guys" for something different related to army intelligence. He will only say information gathering related to combat decisions, but he always said when asked years ago that he "took an oath" and can not ever speak of it. He spent time traveling between Japan and Korea. We have only one photo of him at a desk, in uniform. He thinks maybe taken in Tokyo. He also mentioned he did something back in the states during his service after being oversees related to MI. Sadly now that he is willing to speak about the past, his memory has been robbed. Comes and goes. He had a good day today and was chatty.

 

[usp45ct]

That is peculiar that he has an GCM but sports officer brass.

 

[silversquirrel]

That is peculiar that he has an GCM but sports officer brass.

I am unclear on his rank. I will see what he says. And look for that photo. My mother has it somewhere.

 

[Andy in NH]

That is peculiar that he has an GCM but sports officer brass.

Peculiar?
No.
All the services have enlisted to officer programs.

 

[Picton]

Thank you for that. He does remember he started in an infantry unit but was selected with "a bunch of other guys" for something different related to army intelligence. He will only say information gathering related to combat decisions, but he always said when asked years ago that he "took an oath" and can not ever speak of it. He spent time traveling between Japan and Korea. We have only one photo of him at a desk, in uniform. He thinks maybe taken in Tokyo. He also mentioned he did something back in the states during his service after being oversees related to MI. Sadly now that he is willing to speak about the past, his memory has been robbed. Comes and goes. He had a good today and was chatty.

That was around the time that the MI branch was professionalizing; during WWII, all the unit intel guys were just maneuver officers assigned as S2s. That MI branch insignia only appeared around Vietnam. It was a long, slow process, and maneuver guys are still a part of intel units. In my S2 shop in Division at the end of the last century, we had three MI slots and 2 IN slots, an E4 and an E8. There would have been a bunch more IN types doing intel work in Korea I bet. Any idea what his rank and unit were?

That is peculiar that he has an GCM but sports officer brass.

My assumption is that the O-type brass was selected for the shadowbox because it looks better than the discs. I've seen that before with other EM boxes. I don't even think MI was using that branch insignia in Korea. There was a specific counterintel brass that had a sphinx on it, but I think the MI guys at tactical levels would have still been maneuver people, repurposed.

 

[Matt_SERE]

That is peculiar that he has an GCM but sports officer brass.

My WWII grandfather went in Army enlisted and came out an officer.

 

[usp45ct]

Yeah, peculiar but not unheard of. Just not a common occurrence by any standard.

 

[zyx123]

From a combatant's standpoint, the one ribbon, medal, or badge that says it all is the Combat Infantryman's Badge near the top center. He could have been at any number of places, doing any number of things, but as the holder of a CIB he is a veteran of barebones ground infantry combat.

 

[whacko]

That is peculiar that he has an GCM but sports officer brass.

I have the gcm and retires as a major. I attended ocs after 12 years enlisted. It's not "common" but happens.

 

[silversquirrel]

That is peculiar that he has an GCM but sports officer brass.

Had a good chat on the phone with dad this morning. He says he was a sgt never an officer. His group best he can recall was tasked with making decisions on locations to "hit" (his words) because the officers werent good at tactics. I asked him if it was like deciding how to move the chess pieces. He lit up and exclaimed that is exactly what he was told to do!
He was also emphatic that nobody gave a rats ass about ribbons and pins back then. Things just happened and they did what was needed. He doesnt remember any of his unit designation.

 

[Patriot]

If you get him in a lucid moment also ask him about his parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc and anything else you can think of wrt genalogy. Write it down. If not for you, then your children and so on. Best of luck to both of you!

 

[silversquirrel]

If you get him in a lucid moment also ask him about his parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc and anything else you can think of wrt genalogy. Write it down. If not for you, then your children and so on. Best of luck to both of you!

Thank you. Absolutely. I have done over the years. In fact my wife signed up for ancestrydotcom and she found census info and old country origin towns listed in manifests. Things my Dad never even knew including that his father and uncle changed their last name in the 1920s! The only missing link is his grandfather who went back to russia to get the rest of the family in 1911 (!) and never returned. Probably murdered in a pogrom. But thats a long story. We know the name of the town. Any records there were burned by the nazis when they massacred every jew there including hundreds of children in a well documented atrocity.
I have no love for Ukraine either.

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

That is peculiar that he has an GCM but sports officer brass.

My WWII grandfather went in Army enlisted and came out an officer.

Yup. My grandfather and his brother enlisted in WWI as privates and both came out as Second Lieutenants promoated while in France I believe. I have my grandfather's 'diary' where he talks about going for the officer's exam. I also have Jimmy's flag, my grandfather's brother. I found it in an unopened (for almost 60 years, WTF?) box mailed from the VA back around 1964. Still not sure what to do with it. I never knew him and he didn't have any children. My grandfather also received a very nice award and medal (Médaille d’honneur pour acte de courage et de dévouement) from the French for rescuing a drowning child from a river. He recieved this many years later. My French sister-in-law and francophile brother were very impressed.

These things are important. Preserve them. Document them.

 

[garandman]

Had a good chat on the phone with dad this morning. He says he was a sgt never an officer. His group best he can recall was tasked with making decisions on locations to "hit" (his words) because the officers werent good at tactics. I asked him if it was like deciding how to move the chess pieces. He lit up and exclaimed that is exactly what he was told to do!
He was also emphatic that nobody gave a rats ass about ribbons and pins back then. Things just happened and they did what was needed. He doesnt remember any of his unit designation.

You can request his service records. They will have dates and assignments.

Request Military Service Records | National Archives

www.archives.gov

 

[silversquirrel]

You can request his service records. They will have dates and assignments.

Request Military Service Records | National Archives

www.archives.gov

On it. Thank you!

 

[silversquirrel]

Also wanted to let you guys know my Dad is responsible for getting me started in self defence and 2A. And taught me to use a firearm like most of our dads. He is an academic re 2A and has authored many papers, some published some not. Not to go into too much detail here (i will one day as he has always been a very private person) and was an NRA instructor and is still a life member. He is an alum of Ayoobs LFI classes (circa 1990s) and became friendly with him. They became pen pals of sorts helping each other with various academic 2A writing projects. Small world.
Killing some time now during hospital visits. Thanks to all.