Newest additions:

• James McEachin - posted 6/18/2006

If any of our visitors can elaborate on the "Korean War connection" of the people on this list, or know of anyone else who should be added to this list, please contact Lynnita Brown, Korean War Educator, E-mail: lynnita@koreanwar-educator.org. Corrections & additions welcome.

Main Listing:

• Bailey, F. Lee - attorney
   
• Baker, James A. III - Secretary of State under George Bush Sr.
  
  Lt. James Addison Baker III (politician and statesman). Born in Houston, TX, an heir of a family of attorneys. After graduating from Princeton, he joined the Marine Corps and served 1952-1954; expert marksman and member of the Camp Lejeune rifle and pistol team; appointed Undersecretary of Commerce in 1975; campaign manager for Gerald Ford in his unsuccessful bid for reelection in 1976 and for George Bush in his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1980 and his successful election in 1988. Under Ronald Reagan, Baker served first as chief of staff and then as Secretary of the Treasury. Secretary of State from 1989-1992
   
• Bauer, Hank - sports star & former Marine
   
• Blocker, Dan - played the character "Hoss" on TV show, Bonanza
   
• Bork, Robert - Judge, Professor, Writer, Scholar. Served 1945-1946, then was called back during the Korean War; earned his law degree and practiced law in the Chicago area until the 1960's; taught constitutional law at Yale Law School as the Alexander M. Bickel Professor of Public Law - two of his students were Bill and Hillary Clinton; during the Nixon presidency he served as Solicitor General and Acting Attorney General; President Reagan appointed him Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C.) in 1981; author of The Antitrust Paradox (1978) and The Tempting of America: The Political Seduction of the Law (1990).
   
• Borman, Frank - Colonel in USAF, 1st astronaut to circumnavigate the moon
   
• Bumpers, Dale - Senator
   
• Chafee, John H. - Captain, USMC; WWII veteran; company commander in Korea for D-2-7 (Hill 749); governor of RI; Secretary of Navy; four term Republican senator from RI
   
• Clemente, Roberto - sports star with Pittsburgh Pirates
   
• Coleman, Jerry - NY Yankees; WW2 Marine Corps pilot; recalled for Korean War
   
• Cosby, Bill - comedian; Navy corpsman
   
• Dark, Alvin - baseball star who started out with Boston Braves; USMC veteran
   
• Dellums, Ron
   
• Dinkins, David
   
• Garner, James - Actor; Army veteran of Korean War; received Purple Heart
   
• Glenn, Col. John Herschel - astronaut and politician.  U.S. Senator (D) from Ohio for four terms starting in 1974; He became the oldest person to travel into space in 1998. Served in the Corps from 1943-1964. He flew 59 missions in WWII and 90 missions in Korea. He was a test pilot from 1954-1959. He became the first American to orbit the earth in his space capsule Friendship 7 in 1962.
   
• Griffin, Lt. Col Julius Benjamin (Ben). Korea War vet, served in the Florida House of Representatives, Mississippi State University.
   
• Heflin, Howell
   
• Hirsch, Elroy - "Crazy Legs Hirsch" - Jersey No. 40 with the Los Angeles Rams. He was on a college All Star team in 1945 that beat the Rams when they were in Cleveland. He was later drafted by them. He joined the Rams in Los Angeles in 1949 and played until 1957. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968. Hirsch was a USMC veteran.
   
• Ho, Don -

  "Tiny Bubbles" star Don Ho flew C-97 transports
  by Robert F. Dorr

  To most Americans, 68-year-old Don Ho is the master of Hawaiian melody, a world-famous musician widely loved for his trademark song "Tiny Bubbles." For decades, Ho has performed regularly along Honolulu's Waikiki Beach, not far from Kaneohe where he grew up.  But even Ho's most loyal fans often don't know that the composer, singer, and actor was an Air Force transport pilot from 1954 to 1959.

  As a young lieutenant, Ho flew big, four-engined C-97 transports. Friends view him as symbolic of all the Americans who served in the Cold War years immediately after the Korean conflict.  "The Korean War had just ended," Ho said in a July 19 telephone interview. "I had originally thought I might be flying jets in the fighting there, but I had an opportunity to be assigned near home at Hickam" -- the Air Force base near Honolulu -- "so I took the assignment."

  The Air Force assigned Ho to flying class 55-L and sent him to Mississippi and Texas for fighter pilot training. As a student pilot, he flew the T-6 Texan, T-28, and T-33 Shooting Star trainers. "The T-33 was the only fast jet I got to fly," Ho said. "The Hickam assignment meant transports, and for that I had training at West Palm Beach, Florida."

  Ho's airplane, the C-97, was a transport version of the B-29 Superfortress bomber. Its features included the wing, tail, and 2,200-horsepower Wright R-3350-23 Cyclone piston engines found on the B-29. The C-97 had a very different fuselage from the B-29, however -- described by aviation writer Peter M. Bowers as "double bubble."

  The aircraft was almost identical to the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser operated by several airliners, but had a different passenger and cargo configuration on the inside. The Pacific Division of the Military Air Transport Service operated several versions of the transport, including C-97A, C-97B, C-97D, and VC-97D. Most military people are more familiar with the KC-97 tanker version, hundreds of which were flown by the Strategic Air Command.

  As an Air Force C-97 pilot, Ho flew cargo all over the Pacific. In an earlier interview, he told Hickam historian Lincoln Higa, "The high points were every time we flew into Tokyo. In those days, the yen [Japanese currency] was 360 yen to a dollar." Lodging, food, and shopping were readily available to American service members at low prices.

  Although he wanted to stay in the Air Force and loved flying, Ho's mother was ill and wanted him home. After five years as a pilot, he began musical performances in small groups, at first strumming at a ukelele, later playing the organ. His career as an entertainer took off in 1960 when he accepted a long-term contract at Duke Kahanamoku's, a well-known night spot in Honolulu.

  Today, Don Ho is known to many as "Mr. Hawaii." Apart from the recording success of "Tiny Bubbles," he is often cited by business and tourism groups as one of the strongest entertainment attractions in the island state. Ho's daughter, Hoku, is now well established in a musical performing career with the MTV television network. A scrapbook of material about the Air Force and the C-97 is "one of my treasures," Ho said.
   

• Hodges, Gil - USMC veteran; baseball player, Brooklyn Dodgers
   
• Jenkins, Lew - Lew Jenkins was Lightweight Boxing Champion of the World in 1940 and 1941. He knocked out Lou Ambers in May 1940 to win the title. Lew learned boxing in the old peacetime Army in the 1930s. He took his discharge in the late 30s & turned pro fighting first in Texas and later in New York, winning the title in 1940. In World War II Lew served in the US Coast Guard, insisting on seeing combat.  He operated a Landing Craft in all of the landings in Europe and later took the British troops on landings in the Pacific. He served in the 38th Inf. Rgt. 2nd. Inf. Div. in the Korean War and received the Silver Star in the fighting on "Bloody Ridge."  Lew was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York in 1999. Lew retired from the Army in 1969. I had the pleasure of meeting Lew at a Platoon Sergents School in our 2nd Inf. rear in February 1952. Lew Jenkins was from Sweetwater, Texas and one of the best fighters and soldiers I ever knew. He died back in the 1980s & is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. - submitted by Art Lajeunesse, Latham, NY
   
• Kaye, Darwood "Waldo" - (1929-2002), starred in 21 "Our Gang" movies as Waldo.  He enlisted in the US Army, spending one and a half years in the service, mostly in Korea
   
• LaBaron, Eddie - quarterback for Red Skins & a team in Texas; 1st Lt. 1-7 Marines, Korea
   
• Lombardo, 1Lt. Thomas Angelo - USMA Class of 1945.  From St. Louis, MO.  He was the Captain & Quarterback of the undefeated 1944 Army Football Team.  He was KIA while serving as Company Commander of Item Company, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, on September 24, 1950 during the fighting near Ch'ogye, South Korea.
   
• Luosey, Michael Joseph - native of Bangor, Maine who became Deputy Commander Naval Forces Far East under Admiral Turner Joy during the Korean War.  Detailed information available on another page of the KWE.
   
• Mansfield, Mike - Senator
   
• McEachin, James - born in North Carolina, raised in Hackensack, New Jersey.  Enlisted in the Army in 1947, training with the 24th Infantry Regiment.  Discharged.  Returned to the Army in 1950.  Attached to 2nd Infantry Division in Korea.  Wounded in 1952 in the legs and chest at the Battle of Old Baldy.  Movie and television career, appearing in shows Perry Mason, Matlock, Murder She Wrote, Hill Street Blues, and Tenafly.  Author of four books, including the award-winning "Farewell to the Mockingbirds," a novel about the largest mistrial in U.S. military history.  In 2005, during an interview for the Veteran's History Project, California Congressman David Dreier discovered Mr. McEachin had no records of his service.  Promptly investigating, his office uncovered that Mr. McEachin had earned many medals of valor, including the Silver Star and Purple Heart. Congressman Dreier awarded the medals to Mr. McEachin in August of 2005. The following October Mr. McEachin accepted the nomination and was named as a US Army Reserve Ambassador for the 63rd Regional Readiness Command in Los Alamos, California. The position carries the rank of a two-star general and is held for three years.
  
  In August 2007, McEachin was the keynote speaker for the 89th American Legion Convention. He performed VOICES to open the ceremony with a rousing and enthusiastic standing ovation. May 2005, Mr. McEachin's film OLD GLORY in which he wrote, produced, directed, and narrated, won the 2007 GI Film Festival Award for Best Narrative Film Short.  July 2007, MOPH National Commander, Thomas Poulter honored Mr. McEachin with the Commander's Medal, the "most prestigious and coveted recognition granted by the Military Order of the Purple Heart" for his contributions to veterans and soldiers of the United States Armed Forces.  Mr. McEachin spends his time touring the United States and speaking before veterans, soldiers, and civilians. He performs from the Benjamin Franklin Award-winning CD VOICES: A Tribute to the American Veteran and in the character of an "old soldier."
   
• McGaa, Ed "Eagle Man" - an author of popular books on Native American spirituality and ecology, and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. One of the founders of Democracy Corps, a liberal political research group.  Went on 110 combat missions in Vietnam.
   
• McGraw, Frank - sports star & USMC veteran
   
• McMahon, Ed - former Tonight Show personality; 85 missions in Korea
   
• Minter, Iverson "Louisiana Red", renown blues musician.  He was initially trained with the 82nd airborne as a parachutist and he went to Korea in 1951. The 82nd airborne didn't go there as a complete unit, only some of soldiers were dispatched and became rangers in 2nd, 3rd and 7th Infantry Division. Red said he was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division.
   
• Phillips, Bum - football coach; USMC veteran
   
• Puller, Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller, USMC (1898-1971) Chesty! Without a doubt he was the most outspoken Marine, the most famous Marine, the Marine who really loved to fight, the most decorated Marine in the history of the Corps. being awarded 52 ribbons and medals - he was awarded the Navy Cross an amazing FIVE TIMES - the Navy Cross is the second highest award a Marine can be awarded, it is only outranked by the Medal of Honor.
   
• Ryan, George - former governor of Illinois; Army veteran in Korean War
   
• Ryan, George - former Detroit Recorder's Court judge and lawyer. Before his legal career, the judge served in the Korean War as a judge advocate general in the U.S. Army. He graduated from the University of Detroit and got his law degree at the University of Detroit Law School in 1951.
   
• Schultz, George - politician
   
• Stevenson, Adlai E. (III) - Senator from Illinois; tank commander in Korea.

  Great-grandson of Vice President Adlai Ewing Stevenson, born in Chicago, Cook County, Ill., October 10, 1930; attended grammar schools in Illinois and Milton Academy, Massachusetts; graduated from Harvard College in 1952, and from the law department of the same university in 1957; entered United States Marine Corps as a private in 1952, served as a tank platoon commander in Korea, discharged as a first lieutenant in 1954 and from the Reserves in 1961 with the rank of captain; law clerk to justice of Illinois Supreme Court 1957-1958; admitted to the bar in 1957 and commenced practice in Chicago, Ill.; member, Illinois house of representatives 1965-1967; treasurer, State of Illinois 1967-1970; elected in a special election on November 3, 1970, as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the unexpired term caused by the death of United States Senator Everett M. Dirksen; reelected in 1974, and served from November 17, 1970, to January 3, 1981; was not a candidate for reelection in 1980; chairman, Select Committee on the Senate Committee System (Ninety-fourth Congress), Select Committee on Ethics (Ninety-fifth and Ninety-sixth Congresses); resumed the practice of law; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor of Illinois in 1982 and 1986; discontinued practice of law in 1992; founded and served as chairman of investment banking firm of SCM Investment Management 1992-; is a resident of Hanover, IL.
   

• Tessier, Robert W. - Born June 2, 1934, Lowell (Middlesex County), Massachusetts.  Died October 11, 1990. Buried in Saint Josephs Cemetery, Chelmsford (Middlesex County), Massachusetts.  Robert Tessier was an actor primarily known for his powerful build, scowling face and shaven head.  He was an Algonquin Indian who broke into the acting profession in the late sixties. Typically cast as the tough guy/villain or Native American (which he was), he was a mainstay in movies and television in a career that spanned over twenty years. His first movie role was in the 1967 Tom Laughlin film, "The Born Losers" (the film which introduced the "Billy Jack" character) in which he played a biker named "Cueball". Ironically, Robert sported a full head of hair in this film (despite the name of his character) and this was also a nickname by which he was affectionately known by in real life by his friends. He was also a lifelong motorcyclist (who once performed motorcycle stunts in the circus) and formed the company "Stunts Unlimited" with Director Hal Needham. As a young man, Robert Tessier also won a Purple Heart and a Silver Star for his military service during the Korean war. (He was a PFC and a paratrooper in the US Army.)  Although Robert Tessier starred in a vast number of movies and TV roles over his career, probably two of his best remembered movie roles were as the menacing, karate-wielding convict, 'Shokner' in the 1974 comedy-drama "The Longest Yard" with Burt Reynolds (whom he counted as one of his friends) and as 'Kevin' in the 1977 mystery-thriller, "The Deep." He even ventured into the realm of TV commercials during his career, as Mr. Clean and in a series of commercials in the eighties for Midas Mufflers in Canada with other high-profile stars such as Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance and Bo Hopkins. (Biography written by Todd Young)
   
• Trent, 2LT John Charles Trent.  USMA class of 1950.  From Memphis, TN.  Was Captain of the undefeated 1949 Army Football Team.  Was KIA November 15, 1950 near Wonsan, North Korea, while serving with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.
   
• Warner, John - Senator.  In 1944, at the age of 17, he left high school to volunteer for the United States Navy. He was released from active duty as a 3rd-class electronics technician in July 1946, and enrolled at Washington and Lee University. He was awarded a B.S. degree in basic engineering in 1949.  He then entered the University of Virginia Law School. In September 1950, he volunteered for another tour of active duty, this time in the United States Marine Corps. He served in Korea as a first lieutenant and communications officer with the First Marine Air Wing.
  He was released from active duty in May 1952. He returned to law school and was awarded a law degree by the University of Virginia in 1953.
   
• Williams, Ted - World War II Marine; 37 combat missions in Korea; Red Sox Ball team - Baseball Hall of Fame.  No steroids for this splendid splinter.  He was a natural!
   
• Wilson, Earl - sports star & former Marine
   
• Wrangel, Charlie - served in the 555th FA Battalion in Korea; U.S. Representative from NY
   

Marine Football Players killed in action in Korea:

• Beeler, Lt. James - Navy, Quantico 1949 (Silver Star)
   
• Berry, Capt. Ed - Scranton, Assistant at El Toro 1946; Cherry Point coach 1947 (DFC)
   
• Chase, Lt. Byron - San Diego State, Quantico 1951; stadium at alma mater named for him (Silver Star)
   
• Ellis, Capt. Grant - Cornell, Penn
   
• Stewart, Lt. Gene - Mississippi State, Quantico 1951; 26th-round draft choice of Philadelphia Eagles in 1952

Army Football Players killed in action in Korea:

See Thomas Angelo Lombardo and John Charles Trent in main listing.