The Korean War -Rachel Blazevic

My interviews are about different people’s experiences in the Korean War. I have interviewed someone who was in the National Guard, someone who was a POW and a pair of civilians who were affected by the war.

Interview with my Great Uncle Jerome Blazevic (84 years old):

Before joining the Korean War, Jerome served in World War 2 as a soldier in the army in Belgium during the occupation of Germany after the war. He was discharged after the war and there was a recession sort of like the one today. The plant he was working at almost shut down, so instead of losing his job, he joined the National Guard in Duluth, Minnesota.

The base that Jerome worked at was one of the bases that would protect America from Russian bombing. He never flew, but he was one of the support personal. By that I mean that he worked in the medical department.

Whenever we were at a crisis point (i.e. Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, Gary Powell incident), he was on base because the country was on high alert because of the fear of an attack. This was true especially of his base because it was up North and coming into the United States from the North was the shortest route for Russia.

And although today, Russia has said they would not bomb us, having a good defense with things like that will make them stick to their word.

Jerome’s life in the National Guard lasted for 30 years. He had three sons who also joined the National Guard at the same base. Now one of his grandsons has joined the Air Force Academy in Colorado.

Being in the Cold War changed his direction in life. He served his country. He was also a very successful trapper, and a very successful Scout Master being awarded the highest Silver Beaver award by his scouts.

Interview with my Great Uncle Raymond Blazevic (86 years old):

Hel- *cut off*

Well, first you should know that I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. In high school we all had to register (for army, as soldiers, etc.) and I did. I got drafted into the army. Then I got went to Fort Snelling (spelling correct?). I had to take lots of tests, and I passed for the Navy’s Officer Program. So I went into the Navy. I also went through electrical courses. I worked on electrical stuff and navigation equipment.

World War 2, and after, I was in Hawaii. We stayed in barracks with no windows. I would fly lots of different planes.

And then I got transferred to San Francisco and I flew sky radar.

When we were in Korea, everything moved at night. During the day, everything was still and no planes were out or anything. Everything moved at night. We would get catapulted off in our planes and the pilots would bomb. We worked with 250 lb. bombs a lot which would destroy bridges. On one of these night time bombings, we had done all of our bombings and we were heading back. We had already been hit multiple times, but we were hit again and the plane caught on fire. We were captured by the Koreans. We went to an interrogation place near the capital. To Manchuria.

I was a prisoner of war. They had a political program and I didn’t agree with it at all. And 3 out of 5 POWs in Korea died. Near the end, there were so few prisoners left. We had to build our own camp out of sticks and mud (chuckles). We had no medical care and two meals a day. We had to carry everything. We had to carry wood, water. We had to boil the water to get rid of the bacteria and bugs before we used it. In the winter we had padded clothing. No one ever escaped. It was 100-150 miles to the nearest port and no one would ever make it. They’d get shot or just die before they made it anywhere.

And, well, what else can I tell ya?

So, how long were you a POW in North Korea?

I was a POW for 27 months.

And earlier you said something about a political program, what was that?

It was the interrogation center. Where they (the North Koreans/Chinese) would try to indoctrinate you into the Communist system. It would be 50 below 0 and we would be sitting there listening to these lectures about how communism was good and capitalism was evil. I didn’t agree with any of it. None of it. But their views and what they said about communism being good and capitalism being bad were interesting.

Also when it came to ruling over the POWs, the Chinese were much better than the North Koreans. They just did it better.

What was the most terrifying thing about being a POW in North Korea?

Oh, I was never terrified. There was lots of interesting things. I saw people get shot and fell into a ditch and was just left there. But nothing scared me or terrified me. The idea of death never scared me.

And the Chinese were a whole lot smarter than the U.S. in interrogation methods. They’d have this hole in the ground and put one of the older POWs in it and have a guard stationed at the top. In the 50 below 0 nights and little food and sitting in their own waste, after a month, they could make the person sign petitions or confessions for this person or that.

And the Chinese tried to blame Japan for the high death rate. In Vietnam too.

How has being in the Korean War, and all the other wars you were in, affected your life today?

It hasn’t. All those people who say they come back with post traumatic stress disorder and whatever, no; they had all the emotional problems before they joined the war. Emotional problems don’t bother me, and not from any war.

The wars, the Korean War, World War 2, the Vietnam War, were just part of my life and they didn’t change it in any particular way.

You said before that you flew lots of different kinds of planes. Like what kinds?

Patrol planes, attack planes, night fighters, lots of different kinds.

And what exactly was your job while flying those.

Oh, I was a radar operator. I told pilots where the targets were and where to drop the bombs and stuff. I was really interesting in electronics and flying. We would also jam enemy transmissions. And now all the computers in the planes are automatic, but then they weren’t. In 1939, I was in 10^th grade and I heard about computers and how they were going to be the next big thing. During the Korean War, we only had analog computers and we had to do most everything by hand, like finding the coordinates of the targets and such. But during the Vietnam War, we only had digital. Those were fantastic planes. We could fly over North Vietnam in no time at all.

During World War 2, I worked on Whidbey Island, near where you are. I was a technician then too, and we would fly from the Aleutian Islands, Sitka, to Japan and bomb, and then come back. And we never lost any planes to the enemy, only to weather. There were some bad storms up there. We worked from 4 to 6, 7 days a week.

You know, you kids have it so easy these days. With the grocery stores and electronics and everything. When I was your age in high school I had to make my own lunch from homemade bread, jam from handpicked berries, and butter from our cows. If I didn’t have a nickel for a carton of milk at school, then I just had a glass of water.

How long were you in the Navy?

I was in the Navy for 3 years, and Korea for 2.5 years. I earned $75 a month. I sent $50 to my family, and by the time all the charges and such were taken out, I was living on about $5 a month. But you get used to it. It’s just how you live, life is.

What is your opinion of the Korean War?

It was caused by the North Koreans deciding to come into South Korea. World War 2 started in 1939. President Roosevelt told Japan to get out of China. They cut off all the oil, fuel, and metal going to Japan. World War 2 ended not with the atomic bomb. All the fire bombings were worse than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Korea ended with President Eisenhower. We were killing the Chinese 10 to 1. He said we were going to bomb Korea in the negations didn’t go through. And what do you know, the negotiations went through.

During the (Cuban) missile crisis, they told Kennedy that they had 7 missiles ready to go and B52s were airborne. Kennedy told them not to go and went to negotiations instead. He didn’t trust the navy or the military, or … That’s a good thing because if the missile crisis had happened, the whole U.S., even Seattle, would be radioactive.

Anything else?

Nope I think that’s it. Thank you so much.

Mhmm. Not a problem.

Interviewer’s Note: When Raymond was shot down and captured as a POW he was first thought to be dead, because his plan was on fire and crashed and no one thought that he could have survived. But he did. When his family found out they were relieved and happy that he was a POW because that meant he was alive, although being a POW was not the best thing in the world. I have two newspaper articles concerning this event from his hometown in Duluth.

Interview with my Grandfather (David) and my Gram (Sally/Sarah):

How did the Korean War affect your lives as civilians in the United States?

Your Grandmother was at Mary Washington College and your Grandfather was at the University of Minnesota when the Korean War broke out. Two things happened: [1] many men were going into the Armed Services, and [2] there was a demand for war materials of all kinds. Your Grandmother graduated in 1951 with a degree in Chemistry, and obtained a job at a chemical company building “solid stage” rockets. Your Grandfather graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and obtained a job in a new steel mill being built because of the Korean War required a lot of steel. So, in a way, the Korean War was helpful as we started out of college. Prior to the 1950’s, the Cold War between the Communistic and Capitalistic countries had been in effect since 1946. Both of these developed nuclear bombs, but both were afraid to use them. However, each side tried to win countries to their side, and “local” wars supported by each side to gain an advantage. One such place was the Korean Peninsula where the North was supported by China and Russia, and the South by the United States and other countries.

During this period we (the people in the USA) were always worried that a major war and bombing of the United States could occur. Many people built “bomb shelters” in their backyards and stockpiled them with food, water, and flashlights to survive a few days in a bomb were dropped. Also my brother Raymond was in the war in Korea, and my other brother were at the “fighter” airplane base in Duluth. So to us, it was more of a “background” worry; but not much a problem of doing without gas, tires, shoes, meat, butter, etc., which had occurred in the Second World War. The feeling can best be described as a “worry” about something that might happen over which we had no control. The options, was let the “worry” be the biggest problem; or live life as if we had a future. Most Americans chose to live life, and “hope” for the best.

What was your opinion of the Korean War?

Most wars were originally about living better at someone else’s expense. My tribe attacked your tribe to get more land, slaves, and food; and your tribe attacked our tribe for the same reason. Slowly the tribes grew to be groups and countries combining their power, but they still went to war over more land and food. In between these wars, there were many “religious” wars by groups who insisted everyone had to believe in the religion I believed in. In the Western world there was the Muslim wars in the 700 to 1000 AD years, the Protestant and Catholic wars in the 1600’s, and probably many smaller wars over the centuries. Slowly, the religious differences were accepted, but after the Industrial Revolution starting in the 18^th Century (1700’s) countries started to fight over countries, minerals, manufacturing processes. These wars were spent capturing colonies and the economic benefits all over the world, and enforced by the military power of many different countries. During this time the education and thinking of people increased, and they saw that the “economic control” was the way to go. In the 1800’s and 1900’s two schools of thought were developed. One was the “capitalistic” concept of letting each individual gain from his “labor” and “ingenuity” with some consideration given to the less gifted people for the common good. The other one was the “communistic” concept that all the land, manufacturing output, minerals, etc. belonged to everyone; and they (meaning those in governmental power) should decide and determine what and how everything is done. The Korean War was a “pin-prick” at the capitalistic group of countries to see if it would quite. It became a “tie”, but China increased its military and manufacturing capacity, Russia used up more of its money for no gain, and the USA and Europe expanded to become more prosperous nations. In my opinion, the Korean War was the “breaking point” of communism, but it took 30 years for Russia to “fall” and China to change its path closer to capitalism.

After the Korean War ended (fighting-wise), how were your lives changed, if at all?

Our life changed because we knew Raymond who was a prisoner of war was coming home, and in relation to work, raising a family, and living the best we could that war meant nothing at all to your Grandmother, Grandfather, or your father.

How did you feel knowing people (soldiers) who were in Korea during the war?

We had friends in the Korean War and were concerned in the same way anyone would be if someone you knew were sick or hurt in an accident. In the case of my brother Raymond, the feeling as stronger because of the relationship was closer.