November 12, 2025 • 39 mins
Ralph Gastelum grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and never experienced much of a winter before joining the U.S. Marine Corps. His first real winter would be spent in Korea in some of the most bitterly cold temperatures that American forces have ever experienced - at Chosin Reservoir in Korea.
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Sgt. Gastelum recalls the Inchon Landing. He also explains what urban combat was like in those early days and along the front lines in more rural areas. He also tells us how he survived at Chosin Reservoir by playing dead as the Chinese attacked and how he later discovered which of his fellow Marines saved his life there.
Finally, Gastelum talks about his return trip to Korea decades and what the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial meant to him at the time of its dedication.
In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Sgt. Gastelum recalls the Inchon Landing. He also explains what urban combat was like in those early days and along the front lines in more rural areas. He also tells us how he survived at Chosin Reservoir by playing dead as the Chinese attacked and how he later discovered which of his fellow Marines saved his life there.
Finally, Gastelum talks about his return trip to Korea decades and what the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial meant to him at the time of its dedication.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is Ralph Gastellum. He is a US Marine
Corps veteran of the Korean War, and Ralph, thank you
very much for being with us.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Where were you born and raised?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Sir Tusun Arizona? Who was born there? Raised there most
of my life, and then of course I joined up
the Marine Corps and from that point on it did
a lot of traveling all over.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
From what I've read, your family has a distinguished history
of service as well, even before you join.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yes, it was my uncle, uncle Sam Sam McEwan who
joined the Marine Corps in nineteen thirty nine before World
War Two, and he was my mentor that got me
in with the Marine Corps and I was definitely wanted
me a marine at that time. Got caught up in
(01:06):
the World War II conflict. He was that U corrigator
at that time and was killed in battle in nineteen
forty two on my birthday April fifteen. So great guy,
he really was.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
How did his service in the Marine Corps inspire you
to be a marine?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Uh? Well, his service, I just knew that he was
one of my favorite uncles, and I just felt that
I wanted to kind of follow his lead. And I
never left me. I just had that desire to become
a marine. One day was old enough and I was
(01:53):
able to do that. And it was a peaceful time
at that point and til the Korean War broke out
and UH we were all called into active duty. It
was a a company of UH Marines in Tucsonia Marine
Corps Reserves, easy company and UH. When the war broke out,
(02:14):
UH we were called up at new active duty and
UH had no idea what it was all about. Of course,
we did what was necessary and moved on from there.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Well you obviously got shipped out pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, we did. It was UH. I believe it was
in June that we were called into active duty when
the Quay War broke out, and UH in July we
were were on our way basically training at Camp Pendleton
and UH assigned to our units from that point on
and and UH just a matter of days we were
(02:51):
on ship heading to UH to Korea.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Had you ever heard of Korea before?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Not really, No, I'm never did and had no idea
where we were going. They kept everything quiet and when
I was a board ship. Of course, we were all
aboard ship. Uh we're out of the water for quite
a while before they announced what we were heading for.
And they when we went to Japan, Kobe, Japan first
(03:19):
and then Chuatsu, Japan for further training, another ten days
of training as a machine gunner. And again we were
just kind of kept in the dark for a point.
And I can't understand that everything had to be top
secret at that point. We were heading up to Inchean
(03:39):
to make the Inchan landing of September fifteen, nineteen fifty.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, because you didn't just go to Korea. You were
part of the famed Inchon landing, the amphibious arrival of
US forces. So take me through that that landing start
to finish.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, you know, it went well to my point where
we we were we were uh as signed to the movie.
Each area hartment of boats landing craft, but we weren't
didn't have the barrier of the wall that others did.
A red beach. But it's like anything else here. You're
you disembarked for an LST and they lower the ramp
(04:17):
and you're out there of these latining craft circling around
with a bombarding inch On. Man, it's it's quite a
thing to say. You see a lot of the movies,
of course, and it's pretty close to what we experienced.
But uh, eventually things pointed down suddenly, and then we
were ordered to move forward, which we did and when
(04:41):
we hit land and got on land didn't experience too
many obstacles. Those before us did a good job of
cleaning up the mess the the tanks, especially in the
flamethrowers and all that. So we kind of moved in
behind the tanks. We were going forward into h into
Incheon and at dusk uh Uh you can hear a
(05:05):
lot of screaming and yelling and sounds of death, of
course from the flamethrowers at all. So uh, we ordered
to get into a foxhole or a hole. It was
a lot of holes out there from the muh marling
from the ships, and I happened to get into a hole.
There was some strange movement going on in my foxhole.
(05:25):
I have no idea what was going on until daylight
and uh, it was just a little frog dotten there.
It kind of kind of shook me up a little bit.
I had no idea was it was dark of course,
the next morning you could see the remnants of UH,
the advanced troops and tanks. It was just a horror
(05:45):
of death and UH carnage MS. And of course from
that point on we kept moving forward and intra Sewal
and from that point on further north.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Did you personally faced the enemy on the day of
the landing?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Personally, I would say there was a machine gunner, actually
not a machiner at the point, I was a parts
carrier for the machine guns to eventually down the road,
I became an assistant gunner, but we were called and
use it for a lot of support for the infantry. Yeah,
so we were there and did some some faring course
(06:25):
with the machine gun, and but further in, as we
got further out, we did.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
How quickly did you move from Incheon to Seoul and
then onto the rest, Well, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
It took It didn't happen all on one day. It
took several days. Of course, we counted a lot of resistance,
especially the street fighting, so of course it was. It
was devastated, you know, from from the shelves and everything
else was going on. It's a lot of street fighting.
(06:57):
My squad, We'll take a little break along the curb
side there were and uh noticed that it was a
couple of Koreans uh arguing back and forth. One was
on a bike and the other guy obviously must have
been an r okay re PubL Korean soldier and uh
just washed the marge and everything else, and all of
a sudden, the guy and the bike was executed. They
(07:21):
just shot a point blank in front of us. I
that was a sight to see. You have no idea
uh thatt that that time. It was pretty cheap, I guess,
but they found out that at the time that he
was stealing grenades, and of course that was the resolved
in a hurry. But uh, well, a little by little,
(07:42):
we just advanced forward toward uh the north part of Korea.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
What was the street fighting like, Yeah, it's uh you know, yeah,
w uh building the building basically with a lot of
uh the infantry.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
But we were there to give them the support that
they needed with machine guns, y know, And we did
that and Delhie's quieted down a bit and we kept
moving on.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
It's very different in a city as opposed to out
on the front lines, right it is?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
It is, yeah, it is. Of course, there's a lot
of open fields out there to be quite careful with,
especially with mines. See, I knew that we were up
against maybe some mines out there when we occurred, we
did steps, so we were always in probing for mines
on our knees and make sure everything was clear before
(08:32):
we went beyond an open field and when we secured
that way.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Talk about what Soul was like back then, I think
people have an idea of what it's like.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Well, Soul, if I recall, were just I mean, it
was just the old town flavor. Basically a lot of
wooden structures, shops, I believe for what I could see
a lot of homes and but I would say quite
a while to get to a point where sold today is,
(09:04):
which I've seen, uh with a return flight that had
or to attend revisit program. But but so it's just uh,
of course I didn't see it in its entirety. All
of a sud was just a little rubble devastation. So
it's hard to see what, uh what it was like
(09:25):
at that point when we entered.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So after you secured Seul, where did you go after that?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Well, I can't remember the times at the all this point,
but we just continued forward by foot, by truck. Whatever
we had to do. We just followed orders and kept
moving on and and uh firing the way through to
north uh the Korea. But I do remember one time
we were on a hillside whining rolls the can hire and
(10:00):
hire up and we're all in a croup trucks and
uh having no idea where we're where we're going to heading.
We would of course, we took a few days and
each night would always dig in on high ground for
the evening and always had uh uh a watch at night.
Everybody took their turns watching at night to make sure
(10:21):
that uh it w it was secure and safe and
give it a password and a different password every night
to use them so we can challenge anybody that wanted
to penetrate their lines. So we always had a foxible
to sleep on. If yeah, it was uh with a
with another marine he called to carry a shelter. Half
(10:42):
I carried the other half. We made a pep tent
out of it and threw a palm show on the
ground and then ware we can't uh grab a little
rest once in a while. But it was uh, it
was quite an experience, you know, for uh a nine
year old kid for me. Yeah. But anyway, we were
up in this mountain on this winding road and UH
(11:05):
going higher and hire and hire. I have no idea
how long we were on the road, but all of
a sudden we were ambushed. Whole lot of trucks came
a complete stop, and UH and some Communists up there,
of course, UH opened fire on us, and unfortunately we
lost a lot of marines on that cause we had
(11:25):
this canvas covered trucks. We had no idea what was
going on, and a lot of them were killed. And
I had the unfortunate duty with all other marines to
uh help over the bodies into the truck. And that
was uh, you know, just young guys. They was just awful, awful.
But they sent up patrol up there to see if
(11:46):
you could find there was responsible for this massacre, and
UH they were able to uh bring back three three
of 'em. And before we moved out with the Trump convoy,
we I was I was looking out to the back
of the truck. I could see those three uh communists
(12:08):
they had had lined up on the edge of the
cliff and UH bayoneted and by the marines and UH
shotted the way down. They were executed and they just
weren't taking any prisoners. They went. We were pretty upset,
believe me, for a lit some leaving and and losing
some of the our marines. But eventually we wound up
(12:34):
UH into North Korea quite a ways and we w
our UH our unit was assigned to We were part
of the first Marine Division, of course, second battalion, and
our unit was ordered uh to stay at codaree of
the chosen resident area. And UH we had our tents
(12:57):
in the large tents with little stove in the middle,
and it was cold at that time. It was in December,
and UH had no idea of what we're facing at
the point. At the time. We had our hot shew
the the best way we could get it. You know.
They had uh some cook stons out in the open there.
(13:19):
They were always eating up food and everything else that
we could eat. And UH there was a time when UH,
all of a sudden toward dusk, we were experiencing m
incoming mortars I imagine that at the time, and ordered
to get into our foxholes. And of course the machine
(13:43):
gun was on top of the hill. UH my fox
holes was the sight of the embankment of the hill.
There was three uh three hot foxholes there and uh
just beyond that maybe about I don't want twenty five
feet or so was our tent and uh, all of
a sudden, Uh all held vocalists. They uh Chinese communists.
(14:07):
I had no idea they were entered the war. Nobody
told us that was w we expect some problems from
the Chinese communists, but uh they came at us. Guns
were going crazy up there at the top of the hull,
machine guns and uh bunch of the Chinese Uh came
along this mine left side of the embankment with bunch
(14:30):
of us earning lace foxholes. And there's two guys each foxhole.
The other two scrambled up to the other the top
of the hill and a hurry cause that uh they
didn't help up there, and the other guy uh went
up and mike foxhole all of us. It was just
a matter of seconds they were out. I had no
orde it was going on, and I was upstairs up
(14:52):
by myself alone. Here they come in their white Parkers
or whatever they were wearing at the time, with their
burp guns, just riddling my tent and thinking there might
have been some marines and that they were trying to
kill he and uh my personal weapon was and then
one carving and of forty five, and of course the
(15:16):
others had just had the same thing, and then m
the thirty caliber machine gun, the water cool machine gun.
My gun jammed up one it was able to get
one round off at 'em. I think I hit 'em.
I don't know for sure. All I know is that
my gun jam wouldn't fire anymore. And they could see
me cause I was on the open, just at a slant.
(15:36):
So I said, when you wanna a mon a half
to play dead, And I hit the ground as glow
as I possibly could in the snow, but it was
just covered with snow. It was cold, a little bitter cold,
and uh so I went up over the hill, saw
what was happening, obviously, and start pitching grenades at 'em
(15:57):
over my head toward the tent, and fortunately was able
to to kill 'em all or wound 'em all. Of course,
they uh gecerd survive in the cold, whether wounded or not.
So things uh quiet. After a while. There was a
morning going and dying, and I was able to scramble
up the hill with the rest of the guys and
(16:19):
fighting continued all night long, flairs going up and everything else.
So well we saw the next morning, I mean wished
just bodies all over and and and uh frozen stiff
the way they fell, you know, they uh very grotesque
(16:43):
and uh stiff of course, and and it was an
awful sight. It really was marines included, of course, but
I recalled that they were able to get those communists,
the Chinese comman. It's all gathered up at 'em one
big pile, and they dug anyway, ah, a trench or
(17:05):
of some sort up there they were, I believe they're
being building up some type of an airfield, and they
able to dig a big hole. They set of 'em
all in one big pile. Course they didn't they brought
our marines back, I'm sure. But a day or so later,
when things uh we were ordered out and uh we
(17:27):
able to get back and headed toward Hung Lamb. That
was about a forty mile walk ride. We able to
walk most of the way, but fortunate enough maybe to
get hit a ride on a a truck or a
rail railway. And eventually, uh, for about three days or so,
I we able to reach uh Hung Lamb and uh
(17:49):
waiting for us at that time. I was a oh
some kind of a c cargo boat of some sort,
and if I recall, they had this uh cans of
uh grapefruit juice waiting for us. Well, it was a
great treat. And we loaded up a bunch of us
loaded up with these little boats and headed towards the
(18:11):
larger ships out there waiting for us to take it
a safer area. And uh, that was my experience at
the Chosen Reservoir. It was just uh, you know, it
was uh, it was just uneasy evacuation. We had a
lot of resistance on the way out. Plans were doing
(18:31):
their job, uh ground fighting all the way cause they
tried to stop us. And of course we kept fighting
all the way back. And uh, yeah, it was uh experience.
And always stay with me.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Mister Costellum.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
We're gonna take a break, but when we come back,
I'm gonna ask you a few more questions about the
Chosen Reservoir and the rest of your time in Korea.
We're talking with Ralph Castellum, US Marine Corps veteran of
the Korea War, served at the Inchon Landing, and as
you just heard, at the Chosen Reservoir, We'll be right
back on Veterans Chronicles.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Sixty Seconds of Service.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Army veteran Mike Bowerman turns his post war struggles into
action by creating Vetfest, a Michigan event connecting veterans to
mental health, support, housing and jobs. Now attracting three thousand
attendees annually, Vetfest restores purpose and community for.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Veterans who feel alone.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
Bawrima says, there's a community waiting for every veteran. The
festival blend's celebration with life saving resources, transforming personal loss
into hope, and nationwide impact.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Our guest in this edition is Ralph Gastellam, a US
Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War. He's already told
us about his service at the Inshawn Landing and also
at the Chosen Reservoir, and we're going to talk about
that a little bit more now, Sir.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
You mentioned the bitter cold.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
It's become a very famous part of the history of
the Korean War and specifically the Chosen Reservoir. Is there
any way you can put into words just how bitterly
cold it was there?
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Well, you know. I it was my real first experience
of a winter like that. Snow it'd beat from Arizona,
you don't see too much of it, but over there
it was. I heard the story saying it was forty
fifty below zero. I think it was like a forty
or fifty beil of a zero. And it wasn't the
wind show. It was cold. I experienced a frostbitter while
(20:30):
up there. I yeah, we had the gear, we had
our shoe packs and their coats, and then they would
to s and their gloves and everything else, but you
were still cold. Yeah, your socks would get wet with
the hermidity from it all, and and did your best
to keep it dry. Forty years oncedent to your body,
(20:52):
whatever you had to do to change 'em. But uh,
that bitter colvis never went away. I I know that
I got a touch of frostbite on my feet and
it was just numb for about maybe three weeks. I
had the massage them every night. I would determined to
get some feeling back into my feet. A lot of
(21:13):
the other guys up there experienced even worse conditions. Of course,
they the lassal limbs, and I met those guys before
some of the reunions we had in later years. But
it's just that it hasn't a fact. It was cold,
just worst kind of winter experienced, of course, but that's
(21:40):
sway it is. I guess the further north you get
up there.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
You mentioned the moment that you played dead. How closely
did they come and see if you really were dead
or did they just assume.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
They were there? I would say probably fifteen feet or
so from me, But you know, I was exposed. There
was just no way to get any deeper than maybe
the surface because of the frozen ground. You just had
to take care of the best way you can. So
I assume they fo thought they I was there. They
left me alone, but they didn't have any opportunity to
(22:12):
come and examine me for sure, because the guy up
the hill who saved my life by throwing those grenades,
uh took care of that problem for you. But you know,
it was about fifty years after the war. I always
wondered who, uh who the one that saw them and
(22:33):
saved my life at that time and uh and I
found out fifty years later. I was with some friends
he uh was a marine. He was a I'm a
gunner at the time, and uh his wife were visiting
my wife and I and in the chatter it was
on area and we're after dinner. We were talking about
(22:56):
our experiences that night, and he was telling me, yeah,
I saw those uh those Chinese and and uh start
throwing some grenades at 'em. I mean, And at that moment,
a instant moment, I knew who it was. I always
wondered who it was. It was Ed Hanson and uh
he's the guy that uh boy, I tell you. It
(23:19):
was a choking and emotional experience to find out where
that guy was all these years. And from that point
on we came like a brother to me. We would
uh stay in constant contact. He lived in Prompt, Nevada,
and he experienced a lot of problems with the cold
(23:40):
weather over the years too, and he caught up to
him uh his past years. He uh passed away and
uh so it was uh it was a highlight of
my uh my life to know who who was that guy?
And I had an opportunity to thank him personally.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Yeah, the odds were stacked against you at Chosen Reservoir.
What did you learn about yourself and what did you
learn about the Marine Corps and the fact that you
were able to get out of there.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
You did what you had to do, UH without hesitation.
I was kind of a religious person at that time,
and I I knew that I was I was gonna
survive it some way. My uncle who fought in World
War two, UH at the beginning of the war. All
(24:34):
he was a injuredy it became am a member of
the Devil's Brigade, the original Devil's Brigade, and went through
all through Europe. UH had a f file injuries and all.
He always told me that, UH when I left where
I left, he said, just remember one thing, Robby, he says, UH,
keep your chin up and your head down. That was
(24:57):
he left me with. Well, you know, I take fuller,
gonna take a little more than that. He I had
a Rosary and I said it every night, every night
before I slept, and I just knew that I was
being washed and protected. And I was a firm believer
in God. Whether I was gonna die or not, it
(25:19):
was at a purpose for it. But I, uh, that
was my belief. And I far as the Marine Corps,
I tell you it's uh, you never lose the effect.
You mean, it's with you day and night, and you
think about the events that took place in Korea, and uh,
I was proud to be a marine and uh I
(25:42):
thank my my uncle for that. And and to this day,
I try to do a lot of whatever I can
to help the Marines and UH by joint service several organizations.
I'm a an active member right now with the eastvald
Marine cop League in the Arizona Chapter of the Korean Vets.
(26:05):
Just first Marine Divisional, just part of my life and
never leaves you. And it's a proud moment for me.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Mister Gastellum. Let's take one more break. When we come back,
we'll share the rest of your story here on Veterans Chronicles.
I'm Greg Corumbus. Please stay with us. This is Veterans Chronicles.
I'm Greg Corumbus. Honored to be joined today by Ralph Gastellum.
He's a US Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War.
As you've already heard, he was at the Incheon landing
(26:37):
and he was also at Chosen Reservoir. And so where
we kind of left off the story was when you
pulled out of the Chosen Reservoir, did you get a
little bit of a break after that we did.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
It wasn't it was maybe an our order Japan or anything,
but it was maybe behind the front lines for maybe
two or three days, take a hot shower, hot food,
clean clothes, and and uh try to get back to
the normal as the best way he can. Uh. But then,
(27:09):
of course that didn't last too long. We're back again
doing what we had to do. One thing I wanted
to mention too on one of my experiences, we were
at uh. UH can't recall, of course the name of
the area, but uh we were dug in from the
top of a hill and there's uh we had a
bunch of marines watching one side and the other watching
(27:33):
h maybe the north side of the hill. Case we
were gonna get attacked they had Uh. Sure enough we did.
They came up on the south side of of the
hill and the guys put up a heavy fight, and
we were waiting for the others to come up on
our side of the hill. We were wanted to fix
bayonets and UH, unfortunately, you know, when we had our
(27:58):
training was based talking. We were what was a there
of us would attend these two week UH camps PAN
Camp Panel in California for training we never had a
chance to to experience any bandet training, but we were ready.
We had uh the band that they would attack th
one car being and we knew were gonna be attacked
(28:20):
and U with hand to hand fighting in which the
other guys behind us were. They had a lot of
these Chinese come into their fox holes and and UH
either were injured or or killed along with them. And
uh unfortunately, uh h fortunately maybe I should say they
(28:42):
it didn't hit us. We we we we were prepared
whether we to fight for our life and UH didn't
want count that way. So uh that was under the
little experience I wanna pass on to you.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I understand that while you were in Korea, mister guest allam,
there was uh a very special time of Christmas singing.
Can you tell me about that?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Oh the singing, the song, Oh gosh y Uh we
Uh we were able to have Christmas in a in
a quiet, safe area and UH attended Mass and a
bunch of the guys from Tucson I went over with
UH were there. We've tried to find each other wherever
we had we were and get together and exchange letters
(29:28):
and news and everything else. I mean, we had mail
call was a very important part of there. Of our day.
We'd never got mail or every single day, so I'm
gonna catch up to us about every two weeks, three weeks, whatever.
But they always found us. But on Christmas, we were
at a great Christmas dinner and started exchanging stories about
(29:53):
our folks back home, and it was just great to
get up on the news. But there was one individual
from Tucson. He had a beautiful voice, and uh, you know,
it's our first Christmas away from home, and he got
up there and just starts singing. When jakeiit a Linda
with the name of the song, and I'll never forget it.
(30:15):
I'm telling you it w There wasn't a dry eye
in the crowd. It was just beautiful cause you were homesick,
we were lonely and uh and we weren't in Korea
instead of back home with Tamali's and and she loved
us and all the thirty years. Well yeah, we'd add
a lot of Mexican food. But it was uh nicely
(30:39):
there with my buddy from Tucson. It was a great moment.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Ralph.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
You also fought in the spring campaign of nineteen fifty one.
How would you describe that combat.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Well, it wasn't too bad. Uh, it was just an
extension of the war. You know. We were there when
we were uh attacked, and uh it just went on
just as But it wasn't as severe to our group.
I imagine it was for others, but for our unit. Uh,
(31:14):
you know, it was just constant, of course, and we
had a break whenever we could uh hot show, whenever
we could uh a break maybe uh for two or
three days where we could actually see a nott for
movie for entertainment. We didn't have these Hollywood celebrities come
(31:36):
in and entertain us. Some did, perhaps we our uh
our unit didn't. We just uh enjoyed it though it
was safe and uh it was good to see a
movie worse than a while.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
You gotta have that break after that kind of intensity.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I was up there for ten months, you know. Then
we were rotated a back. But it was a busy,
busy in ten months, and and uh the night there,
I was ordered, uh it was gonna be rotated back
home and start when we started to receiving water fire
for the of the enemy, and I said, oh my god,
beer it one more night, just give you one more night.
(32:13):
And I'm on my way home, and sure enough it
worked out that way. Yeah. Sad part is having to
leave your buddies behind for their turn to return home. Unfortunately,
a lot of my uh, my friends, my marine and Tucson,
uh didn't make it, and uh I always remembered, you know,
(32:35):
what they did and our friendships.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Yeah, what kind of enemy would you say the Chinese were?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Before I could see the uh, they didn't resist. They
just came at as full force. Uh. And I don't
think they were had the proper gear. You know, we
didn't have time to examine them. All. All I could
see is what we saw, the death and the carnage
(33:04):
and all. And but they were uh read the very
very forceful. For what I could say is I imagine
that they uh was concerns to personal concerns from them.
You know, they had families, I'm sure, but it was
either them or us. And we just need even stop
(33:25):
to think we just did what we had to do.
And but uh uh I have a lot of preasurers
who were Chinese to this day and the great people,
but some forcing this uh problem exists today with wars
and greed and I uh just don't understand it. Anymore
I wished. Uh but be honest with you, I'm a
(33:50):
I have a beautiful family, and I try to do
what I can for them, of course, and UH love them.
They really support me with everything i'd i'd do. And
uh but I know that if I were uh gosh,
(34:11):
I'm ninety one years old, and if I had an
opportunity to go back as a kid, I get to
do it all over again, I would, I really would.
I went back to uh my s with my grandson
after fifty some odd years, maybe sixty or seven years.
Who wanted to take me back. He just wanted me,
take me back to Korea to see it today. And
(34:33):
I just, you know, there's a I just couldn't do
it for some reason. I just I don't wanna remember
or but I do remember then, back in those days.
But I think finally gave in, See made all the
arrangement take his grandpa back to Korea. And I tell
(34:54):
you it was a wonderful, wonderful experience. It brought p
to my heart. And to see how well that city
of Soul and other cities have prospered, high rises as
far as you can see. It's a beautiful country and
the people were so grateful to this day they acknowledge
(35:19):
with a law of thank yous and hugs, and they
never forget that we were there along with other military
organizations to save their country. And I feel what we
did and the best we could.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
We're speaking here in the Washington, DC area because you're
in town for the dedication of a Korean War Veterans
Memorial Wall of remembrance? What does that remembrance mean to you?
And I already know one name you're going to be
thinking of tomorrow, the mister Hanson who saved your life.
But I know those other Marines from Tucson and others
(35:56):
will be going through your mind as well. So what
is this memorial I'll upgrade mean to you.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
I don't know how to say it. It's just just
I'm glad I'm here with my son Carlos to attend
the h the ceremony. Uh it's you know, it feels
like home to me. Whatever we uh we can do
and support Korea and their people just being a big
(36:26):
part of it. Uh, it's just knowing that you were
part of that this event that's gonna be taking place tomorrow,
and uh, your soul's right be there. With 'em and
and uh, I'm just proud that's you know it, proud
that uh to be remembered and uh and played a
(36:49):
part in the survival of Korea and his people, made
a lot of good friends here, and one particular person
and her husband, Susan tim Kee, They've been a great
part of my life and uh very supportive, keep me
going with a lot of a lot of h volunteering work.
(37:10):
And and UH, you can't say no, you know, you
just said two great people, she said, go get her.
I tell you you're wonderful.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Last question for you, mister Costello, right, what are you
most proud of from your time in the service?
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Well, I don't know, it's just uh everything, I guess
it's just no particular thing that I was part of
of an event that took place, and I was there
became a big family to me. All the guys I
(37:45):
served with, they regardless, Uh, they're like all brothers. It's family.
And uh M, I'm just proud to have served in
Korea and and did it proudly, and and uh the
s with me for the rest of my life. And I,
like I said, I just wish I were younger again.
With a could reenlist well.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Mister Gastellum, thank you again for your time with us
today and thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
For your service to our country.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
And thank you.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Ralph Gastellum is a US Marine Corps veteran of the
Korean War. He served at the Incheon Landing. He served
at the Chosen Reservoir. I'm Greg Corumbus. This is Veterans Chronicles. Hi,
(38:35):
this is Greg Corumbus, and thanks for listening to Veterans Chronicles,
a presentation of the American Veterans Center.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
For more information, please visit American Veteranscenter dot org.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
You can also follow the American Veterans Center on Facebook
and on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
We're at AVC update.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Subscribe to the American Veterans Center YouTube channel for full
oral histories and special features, and of course, please subscribe
to the Veterans' Chronicles podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Thanks again for listening, and please join us next time
for Veterans Chronicles.
Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in
this edition is Ralph Gastellum. He is a US Marine
Corps veteran of the Korean War, and Ralph, thank you
very much for being with us.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Where were you born and raised?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Sir Tusun Arizona? Who was born there? Raised there most
of my life, and then of course I joined up
the Marine Corps and from that point on it did
a lot of traveling all over.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
From what I've read, your family has a distinguished history
of service as well, even before you join.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yes, it was my uncle, uncle Sam Sam McEwan who
joined the Marine Corps in nineteen thirty nine before World
War Two, and he was my mentor that got me
in with the Marine Corps and I was definitely wanted
me a marine at that time. Got caught up in
(01:06):
the World War II conflict. He was that U corrigator
at that time and was killed in battle in nineteen
forty two on my birthday April fifteen. So great guy,
he really was.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
How did his service in the Marine Corps inspire you
to be a marine?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Uh? Well, his service, I just knew that he was
one of my favorite uncles, and I just felt that
I wanted to kind of follow his lead. And I
never left me. I just had that desire to become
a marine. One day was old enough and I was
(01:53):
able to do that. And it was a peaceful time
at that point and til the Korean War broke out
and UH we were all called into active duty. It
was a a company of UH Marines in Tucsonia Marine
Corps Reserves, easy company and UH. When the war broke out,
(02:14):
UH we were called up at new active duty and
UH had no idea what it was all about. Of course,
we did what was necessary and moved on from there.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Well you obviously got shipped out pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, we did. It was UH. I believe it was
in June that we were called into active duty when
the Quay War broke out, and UH in July we
were were on our way basically training at Camp Pendleton
and UH assigned to our units from that point on
and and UH just a matter of days we were
(02:51):
on ship heading to UH to Korea.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Had you ever heard of Korea before?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Not really, No, I'm never did and had no idea
where we were going. They kept everything quiet and when
I was a board ship. Of course, we were all
aboard ship. Uh we're out of the water for quite
a while before they announced what we were heading for.
And they when we went to Japan, Kobe, Japan first
(03:19):
and then Chuatsu, Japan for further training, another ten days
of training as a machine gunner. And again we were
just kind of kept in the dark for a point.
And I can't understand that everything had to be top
secret at that point. We were heading up to Inchean
(03:39):
to make the Inchan landing of September fifteen, nineteen fifty.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, because you didn't just go to Korea. You were
part of the famed Inchon landing, the amphibious arrival of
US forces. So take me through that that landing start
to finish.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, you know, it went well to my point where
we we were we were uh as signed to the movie.
Each area hartment of boats landing craft, but we weren't
didn't have the barrier of the wall that others did.
A red beach. But it's like anything else here. You're
you disembarked for an LST and they lower the ramp
(04:17):
and you're out there of these latining craft circling around
with a bombarding inch On. Man, it's it's quite a
thing to say. You see a lot of the movies,
of course, and it's pretty close to what we experienced.
But uh, eventually things pointed down suddenly, and then we
were ordered to move forward, which we did and when
(04:41):
we hit land and got on land didn't experience too
many obstacles. Those before us did a good job of
cleaning up the mess the the tanks, especially in the
flamethrowers and all that. So we kind of moved in
behind the tanks. We were going forward into h into
Incheon and at dusk uh Uh you can hear a
(05:05):
lot of screaming and yelling and sounds of death, of
course from the flamethrowers at all. So uh, we ordered
to get into a foxhole or a hole. It was
a lot of holes out there from the muh marling
from the ships, and I happened to get into a hole.
There was some strange movement going on in my foxhole.
(05:25):
I have no idea what was going on until daylight
and uh, it was just a little frog dotten there.
It kind of kind of shook me up a little bit.
I had no idea was it was dark of course,
the next morning you could see the remnants of UH,
the advanced troops and tanks. It was just a horror
(05:45):
of death and UH carnage MS. And of course from
that point on we kept moving forward and intra Sewal
and from that point on further north.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Did you personally faced the enemy on the day of
the landing?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Personally, I would say there was a machine gunner, actually
not a machiner at the point, I was a parts
carrier for the machine guns to eventually down the road,
I became an assistant gunner, but we were called and
use it for a lot of support for the infantry. Yeah,
so we were there and did some some faring course
(06:25):
with the machine gun, and but further in, as we
got further out, we did.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
How quickly did you move from Incheon to Seoul and
then onto the rest, Well, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
It took It didn't happen all on one day. It
took several days. Of course, we counted a lot of resistance,
especially the street fighting, so of course it was. It
was devastated, you know, from from the shelves and everything
else was going on. It's a lot of street fighting.
(06:57):
My squad, We'll take a little break along the curb
side there were and uh noticed that it was a
couple of Koreans uh arguing back and forth. One was
on a bike and the other guy obviously must have
been an r okay re PubL Korean soldier and uh
just washed the marge and everything else, and all of
a sudden, the guy and the bike was executed. They
(07:21):
just shot a point blank in front of us. I
that was a sight to see. You have no idea
uh thatt that that time. It was pretty cheap, I guess,
but they found out that at the time that he
was stealing grenades, and of course that was the resolved
in a hurry. But uh, well, a little by little,
(07:42):
we just advanced forward toward uh the north part of Korea.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
What was the street fighting like, Yeah, it's uh you know, yeah,
w uh building the building basically with a lot of
uh the infantry.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
But we were there to give them the support that
they needed with machine guns, y know, And we did
that and Delhie's quieted down a bit and we kept
moving on.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
It's very different in a city as opposed to out
on the front lines, right it is?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
It is, yeah, it is. Of course, there's a lot
of open fields out there to be quite careful with,
especially with mines. See, I knew that we were up
against maybe some mines out there when we occurred, we
did steps, so we were always in probing for mines
on our knees and make sure everything was clear before
(08:32):
we went beyond an open field and when we secured
that way.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Talk about what Soul was like back then, I think
people have an idea of what it's like.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Well, Soul, if I recall, were just I mean, it
was just the old town flavor. Basically a lot of
wooden structures, shops, I believe for what I could see
a lot of homes and but I would say quite
a while to get to a point where sold today is,
(09:04):
which I've seen, uh with a return flight that had
or to attend revisit program. But but so it's just uh,
of course I didn't see it in its entirety. All
of a sud was just a little rubble devastation. So
it's hard to see what, uh what it was like
(09:25):
at that point when we entered.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So after you secured Seul, where did you go after that?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Well, I can't remember the times at the all this point,
but we just continued forward by foot, by truck. Whatever
we had to do. We just followed orders and kept
moving on and and uh firing the way through to
north uh the Korea. But I do remember one time
we were on a hillside whining rolls the can hire and
(10:00):
hire up and we're all in a croup trucks and
uh having no idea where we're where we're going to heading.
We would of course, we took a few days and
each night would always dig in on high ground for
the evening and always had uh uh a watch at night.
Everybody took their turns watching at night to make sure
(10:21):
that uh it w it was secure and safe and
give it a password and a different password every night
to use them so we can challenge anybody that wanted
to penetrate their lines. So we always had a foxible
to sleep on. If yeah, it was uh with a
with another marine he called to carry a shelter. Half
(10:42):
I carried the other half. We made a pep tent
out of it and threw a palm show on the
ground and then ware we can't uh grab a little
rest once in a while. But it was uh, it
was quite an experience, you know, for uh a nine
year old kid for me. Yeah. But anyway, we were
up in this mountain on this winding road and UH
(11:05):
going higher and hire and hire. I have no idea
how long we were on the road, but all of
a sudden we were ambushed. Whole lot of trucks came
a complete stop, and UH and some Communists up there,
of course, UH opened fire on us, and unfortunately we
lost a lot of marines on that cause we had
(11:25):
this canvas covered trucks. We had no idea what was
going on, and a lot of them were killed. And
I had the unfortunate duty with all other marines to
uh help over the bodies into the truck. And that
was uh, you know, just young guys. They was just awful, awful.
But they sent up patrol up there to see if
(11:46):
you could find there was responsible for this massacre, and
UH they were able to uh bring back three three
of 'em. And before we moved out with the Trump convoy,
we I was I was looking out to the back
of the truck. I could see those three uh communists
(12:08):
they had had lined up on the edge of the
cliff and UH bayoneted and by the marines and UH
shotted the way down. They were executed and they just
weren't taking any prisoners. They went. We were pretty upset,
believe me, for a lit some leaving and and losing
some of the our marines. But eventually we wound up
(12:34):
UH into North Korea quite a ways and we w
our UH our unit was assigned to We were part
of the first Marine Division, of course, second battalion, and
our unit was ordered uh to stay at codaree of
the chosen resident area. And UH we had our tents
(12:57):
in the large tents with little stove in the middle,
and it was cold at that time. It was in December,
and UH had no idea of what we're facing at
the point. At the time. We had our hot shew
the the best way we could get it. You know.
They had uh some cook stons out in the open there.
(13:19):
They were always eating up food and everything else that
we could eat. And UH there was a time when UH,
all of a sudden toward dusk, we were experiencing m
incoming mortars I imagine that at the time, and ordered
to get into our foxholes. And of course the machine
(13:43):
gun was on top of the hill. UH my fox
holes was the sight of the embankment of the hill.
There was three uh three hot foxholes there and uh
just beyond that maybe about I don't want twenty five
feet or so was our tent and uh, all of
a sudden, Uh all held vocalists. They uh Chinese communists.
(14:07):
I had no idea they were entered the war. Nobody
told us that was w we expect some problems from
the Chinese communists, but uh they came at us. Guns
were going crazy up there at the top of the hull,
machine guns and uh bunch of the Chinese Uh came
along this mine left side of the embankment with bunch
(14:30):
of us earning lace foxholes. And there's two guys each foxhole.
The other two scrambled up to the other the top
of the hill and a hurry cause that uh they
didn't help up there, and the other guy uh went
up and mike foxhole all of us. It was just
a matter of seconds they were out. I had no
orde it was going on, and I was upstairs up
(14:52):
by myself alone. Here they come in their white Parkers
or whatever they were wearing at the time, with their
burp guns, just riddling my tent and thinking there might
have been some marines and that they were trying to
kill he and uh my personal weapon was and then
one carving and of forty five, and of course the
(15:16):
others had just had the same thing, and then m
the thirty caliber machine gun, the water cool machine gun.
My gun jammed up one it was able to get
one round off at 'em. I think I hit 'em.
I don't know for sure. All I know is that
my gun jam wouldn't fire anymore. And they could see
me cause I was on the open, just at a slant.
(15:36):
So I said, when you wanna a mon a half
to play dead, And I hit the ground as glow
as I possibly could in the snow, but it was
just covered with snow. It was cold, a little bitter cold,
and uh so I went up over the hill, saw
what was happening, obviously, and start pitching grenades at 'em
(15:57):
over my head toward the tent, and fortunately was able
to to kill 'em all or wound 'em all. Of course,
they uh gecerd survive in the cold, whether wounded or not.
So things uh quiet. After a while. There was a
morning going and dying, and I was able to scramble
up the hill with the rest of the guys and
(16:19):
fighting continued all night long, flairs going up and everything else.
So well we saw the next morning, I mean wished
just bodies all over and and and uh frozen stiff
the way they fell, you know, they uh very grotesque
(16:43):
and uh stiff of course, and and it was an
awful sight. It really was marines included, of course, but
I recalled that they were able to get those communists,
the Chinese comman. It's all gathered up at 'em one
big pile, and they dug anyway, ah, a trench or
(17:05):
of some sort up there they were, I believe they're
being building up some type of an airfield, and they
able to dig a big hole. They set of 'em
all in one big pile. Course they didn't they brought
our marines back, I'm sure. But a day or so later,
when things uh we were ordered out and uh we
(17:27):
able to get back and headed toward Hung Lamb. That
was about a forty mile walk ride. We able to
walk most of the way, but fortunate enough maybe to
get hit a ride on a a truck or a
rail railway. And eventually, uh, for about three days or so,
I we able to reach uh Hung Lamb and uh
(17:49):
waiting for us at that time. I was a oh
some kind of a c cargo boat of some sort,
and if I recall, they had this uh cans of
uh grapefruit juice waiting for us. Well, it was a
great treat. And we loaded up a bunch of us
loaded up with these little boats and headed towards the
(18:11):
larger ships out there waiting for us to take it
a safer area. And uh, that was my experience at
the Chosen Reservoir. It was just uh, you know, it
was uh, it was just uneasy evacuation. We had a
lot of resistance on the way out. Plans were doing
(18:31):
their job, uh ground fighting all the way cause they
tried to stop us. And of course we kept fighting
all the way back. And uh, yeah, it was uh experience.
And always stay with me.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Mister Costellum.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
We're gonna take a break, but when we come back,
I'm gonna ask you a few more questions about the
Chosen Reservoir and the rest of your time in Korea.
We're talking with Ralph Castellum, US Marine Corps veteran of
the Korea War, served at the Inchon Landing, and as
you just heard, at the Chosen Reservoir, We'll be right
back on Veterans Chronicles.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Sixty Seconds of Service.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Army veteran Mike Bowerman turns his post war struggles into
action by creating Vetfest, a Michigan event connecting veterans to
mental health, support, housing and jobs. Now attracting three thousand
attendees annually, Vetfest restores purpose and community for.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Veterans who feel alone.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
Bawrima says, there's a community waiting for every veteran. The
festival blend's celebration with life saving resources, transforming personal loss
into hope, and nationwide impact.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Our guest in this edition is Ralph Gastellam, a US
Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War. He's already told
us about his service at the Inshawn Landing and also
at the Chosen Reservoir, and we're going to talk about
that a little bit more now, Sir.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
You mentioned the bitter cold.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
It's become a very famous part of the history of
the Korean War and specifically the Chosen Reservoir. Is there
any way you can put into words just how bitterly
cold it was there?
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Well, you know. I it was my real first experience
of a winter like that. Snow it'd beat from Arizona,
you don't see too much of it, but over there
it was. I heard the story saying it was forty
fifty below zero. I think it was like a forty
or fifty beil of a zero. And it wasn't the
wind show. It was cold. I experienced a frostbitter while
(20:30):
up there. I yeah, we had the gear, we had
our shoe packs and their coats, and then they would
to s and their gloves and everything else, but you
were still cold. Yeah, your socks would get wet with
the hermidity from it all, and and did your best
to keep it dry. Forty years oncedent to your body,
(20:52):
whatever you had to do to change 'em. But uh,
that bitter colvis never went away. I I know that
I got a touch of frostbite on my feet and
it was just numb for about maybe three weeks. I
had the massage them every night. I would determined to
get some feeling back into my feet. A lot of
(21:13):
the other guys up there experienced even worse conditions. Of course,
they the lassal limbs, and I met those guys before
some of the reunions we had in later years. But
it's just that it hasn't a fact. It was cold,
just worst kind of winter experienced, of course, but that's
(21:40):
sway it is. I guess the further north you get
up there.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
You mentioned the moment that you played dead. How closely
did they come and see if you really were dead
or did they just assume.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
They were there? I would say probably fifteen feet or
so from me, But you know, I was exposed. There
was just no way to get any deeper than maybe
the surface because of the frozen ground. You just had
to take care of the best way you can. So
I assume they fo thought they I was there. They
left me alone, but they didn't have any opportunity to
(22:12):
come and examine me for sure, because the guy up
the hill who saved my life by throwing those grenades,
uh took care of that problem for you. But you know,
it was about fifty years after the war. I always
wondered who, uh who the one that saw them and
(22:33):
saved my life at that time and uh and I
found out fifty years later. I was with some friends
he uh was a marine. He was a I'm a
gunner at the time, and uh his wife were visiting
my wife and I and in the chatter it was
on area and we're after dinner. We were talking about
(22:56):
our experiences that night, and he was telling me, yeah,
I saw those uh those Chinese and and uh start
throwing some grenades at 'em. I mean, And at that moment,
a instant moment, I knew who it was. I always
wondered who it was. It was Ed Hanson and uh
he's the guy that uh boy, I tell you. It
(23:19):
was a choking and emotional experience to find out where
that guy was all these years. And from that point
on we came like a brother to me. We would
uh stay in constant contact. He lived in Prompt, Nevada,
and he experienced a lot of problems with the cold
(23:40):
weather over the years too, and he caught up to
him uh his past years. He uh passed away and
uh so it was uh it was a highlight of
my uh my life to know who who was that guy?
And I had an opportunity to thank him personally.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Yeah, the odds were stacked against you at Chosen Reservoir.
What did you learn about yourself and what did you
learn about the Marine Corps and the fact that you
were able to get out of there.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
You did what you had to do, UH without hesitation.
I was kind of a religious person at that time,
and I I knew that I was I was gonna
survive it some way. My uncle who fought in World
War two, UH at the beginning of the war. All
(24:34):
he was a injuredy it became am a member of
the Devil's Brigade, the original Devil's Brigade, and went through
all through Europe. UH had a f file injuries and all.
He always told me that, UH when I left where
I left, he said, just remember one thing, Robby, he says, UH,
keep your chin up and your head down. That was
(24:57):
he left me with. Well, you know, I take fuller,
gonna take a little more than that. He I had
a Rosary and I said it every night, every night
before I slept, and I just knew that I was
being washed and protected. And I was a firm believer
in God. Whether I was gonna die or not, it
(25:19):
was at a purpose for it. But I, uh, that
was my belief. And I far as the Marine Corps,
I tell you it's uh, you never lose the effect.
You mean, it's with you day and night, and you
think about the events that took place in Korea, and uh,
I was proud to be a marine and uh I
(25:42):
thank my my uncle for that. And and to this day,
I try to do a lot of whatever I can
to help the Marines and UH by joint service several organizations.
I'm a an active member right now with the eastvald
Marine cop League in the Arizona Chapter of the Korean Vets.
(26:05):
Just first Marine Divisional, just part of my life and
never leaves you. And it's a proud moment for me.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Mister Gastellum. Let's take one more break. When we come back,
we'll share the rest of your story here on Veterans Chronicles.
I'm Greg Corumbus. Please stay with us. This is Veterans Chronicles.
I'm Greg Corumbus. Honored to be joined today by Ralph Gastellum.
He's a US Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War.
As you've already heard, he was at the Incheon landing
(26:37):
and he was also at Chosen Reservoir. And so where
we kind of left off the story was when you
pulled out of the Chosen Reservoir, did you get a
little bit of a break after that we did.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
It wasn't it was maybe an our order Japan or anything,
but it was maybe behind the front lines for maybe
two or three days, take a hot shower, hot food,
clean clothes, and and uh try to get back to
the normal as the best way he can. Uh. But then,
(27:09):
of course that didn't last too long. We're back again
doing what we had to do. One thing I wanted
to mention too on one of my experiences, we were
at uh. UH can't recall, of course the name of
the area, but uh we were dug in from the
top of a hill and there's uh we had a
bunch of marines watching one side and the other watching
(27:33):
h maybe the north side of the hill. Case we
were gonna get attacked they had Uh. Sure enough we did.
They came up on the south side of of the
hill and the guys put up a heavy fight, and
we were waiting for the others to come up on
our side of the hill. We were wanted to fix
bayonets and UH, unfortunately, you know, when we had our
(27:58):
training was based talking. We were what was a there
of us would attend these two week UH camps PAN
Camp Panel in California for training we never had a
chance to to experience any bandet training, but we were ready.
We had uh the band that they would attack th
one car being and we knew were gonna be attacked
(28:20):
and U with hand to hand fighting in which the
other guys behind us were. They had a lot of
these Chinese come into their fox holes and and UH
either were injured or or killed along with them. And
uh unfortunately, uh h fortunately maybe I should say they
(28:42):
it didn't hit us. We we we we were prepared
whether we to fight for our life and UH didn't
want count that way. So uh that was under the
little experience I wanna pass on to you.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I understand that while you were in Korea, mister guest allam,
there was uh a very special time of Christmas singing.
Can you tell me about that?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Oh the singing, the song, Oh gosh y Uh we
Uh we were able to have Christmas in a in
a quiet, safe area and UH attended Mass and a
bunch of the guys from Tucson I went over with
UH were there. We've tried to find each other wherever
we had we were and get together and exchange letters
(29:28):
and news and everything else. I mean, we had mail
call was a very important part of there. Of our day.
We'd never got mail or every single day, so I'm
gonna catch up to us about every two weeks, three weeks, whatever.
But they always found us. But on Christmas, we were
at a great Christmas dinner and started exchanging stories about
(29:53):
our folks back home, and it was just great to
get up on the news. But there was one individual
from Tucson. He had a beautiful voice, and uh, you know,
it's our first Christmas away from home, and he got
up there and just starts singing. When jakeiit a Linda
with the name of the song, and I'll never forget it.
(30:15):
I'm telling you it w There wasn't a dry eye
in the crowd. It was just beautiful cause you were homesick,
we were lonely and uh and we weren't in Korea
instead of back home with Tamali's and and she loved
us and all the thirty years. Well yeah, we'd add
a lot of Mexican food. But it was uh nicely
(30:39):
there with my buddy from Tucson. It was a great moment.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Ralph.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
You also fought in the spring campaign of nineteen fifty one.
How would you describe that combat.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Well, it wasn't too bad. Uh, it was just an
extension of the war. You know. We were there when
we were uh attacked, and uh it just went on
just as But it wasn't as severe to our group.
I imagine it was for others, but for our unit. Uh,
(31:14):
you know, it was just constant, of course, and we
had a break whenever we could uh hot show, whenever
we could uh a break maybe uh for two or
three days where we could actually see a nott for
movie for entertainment. We didn't have these Hollywood celebrities come
(31:36):
in and entertain us. Some did, perhaps we our uh
our unit didn't. We just uh enjoyed it though it
was safe and uh it was good to see a
movie worse than a while.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
You gotta have that break after that kind of intensity.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
I was up there for ten months, you know. Then
we were rotated a back. But it was a busy,
busy in ten months, and and uh the night there,
I was ordered, uh it was gonna be rotated back
home and start when we started to receiving water fire
for the of the enemy, and I said, oh my god,
beer it one more night, just give you one more night.
(32:13):
And I'm on my way home, and sure enough it
worked out that way. Yeah. Sad part is having to
leave your buddies behind for their turn to return home. Unfortunately,
a lot of my uh, my friends, my marine and Tucson,
uh didn't make it, and uh I always remembered, you know,
(32:35):
what they did and our friendships.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Yeah, what kind of enemy would you say the Chinese were?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Before I could see the uh, they didn't resist. They
just came at as full force. Uh. And I don't
think they were had the proper gear. You know, we
didn't have time to examine them. All. All I could
see is what we saw, the death and the carnage
(33:04):
and all. And but they were uh read the very
very forceful. For what I could say is I imagine
that they uh was concerns to personal concerns from them.
You know, they had families, I'm sure, but it was
either them or us. And we just need even stop
(33:25):
to think we just did what we had to do.
And but uh uh I have a lot of preasurers
who were Chinese to this day and the great people,
but some forcing this uh problem exists today with wars
and greed and I uh just don't understand it. Anymore
I wished. Uh but be honest with you, I'm a
(33:50):
I have a beautiful family, and I try to do
what I can for them, of course, and UH love them.
They really support me with everything i'd i'd do. And
uh but I know that if I were uh gosh,
(34:11):
I'm ninety one years old, and if I had an
opportunity to go back as a kid, I get to
do it all over again, I would, I really would.
I went back to uh my s with my grandson
after fifty some odd years, maybe sixty or seven years.
Who wanted to take me back. He just wanted me,
take me back to Korea to see it today. And
(34:33):
I just, you know, there's a I just couldn't do
it for some reason. I just I don't wanna remember
or but I do remember then, back in those days.
But I think finally gave in, See made all the
arrangement take his grandpa back to Korea. And I tell
(34:54):
you it was a wonderful, wonderful experience. It brought p
to my heart. And to see how well that city
of Soul and other cities have prospered, high rises as
far as you can see. It's a beautiful country and
the people were so grateful to this day they acknowledge
(35:19):
with a law of thank yous and hugs, and they
never forget that we were there along with other military
organizations to save their country. And I feel what we
did and the best we could.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
We're speaking here in the Washington, DC area because you're
in town for the dedication of a Korean War Veterans
Memorial Wall of remembrance? What does that remembrance mean to you?
And I already know one name you're going to be
thinking of tomorrow, the mister Hanson who saved your life.
But I know those other Marines from Tucson and others
(35:56):
will be going through your mind as well. So what
is this memorial I'll upgrade mean to you.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
I don't know how to say it. It's just just
I'm glad I'm here with my son Carlos to attend
the h the ceremony. Uh it's you know, it feels
like home to me. Whatever we uh we can do
and support Korea and their people just being a big
(36:26):
part of it. Uh, it's just knowing that you were
part of that this event that's gonna be taking place tomorrow,
and uh, your soul's right be there. With 'em and
and uh, I'm just proud that's you know it, proud
that uh to be remembered and uh and played a
(36:49):
part in the survival of Korea and his people, made
a lot of good friends here, and one particular person
and her husband, Susan tim Kee, They've been a great
part of my life and uh very supportive, keep me
going with a lot of a lot of h volunteering work.
(37:10):
And and UH, you can't say no, you know, you
just said two great people, she said, go get her.
I tell you you're wonderful.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Last question for you, mister Costello, right, what are you
most proud of from your time in the service?
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Well, I don't know, it's just uh everything, I guess
it's just no particular thing that I was part of
of an event that took place, and I was there
became a big family to me. All the guys I
(37:45):
served with, they regardless, Uh, they're like all brothers. It's family.
And uh M, I'm just proud to have served in
Korea and and did it proudly, and and uh the
s with me for the rest of my life. And I,
like I said, I just wish I were younger again.
With a could reenlist well.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Mister Gastellum, thank you again for your time with us
today and thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
For your service to our country.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
And thank you.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Ralph Gastellum is a US Marine Corps veteran of the
Korean War. He served at the Incheon Landing. He served
at the Chosen Reservoir. I'm Greg Corumbus. This is Veterans Chronicles. Hi,
(38:35):
this is Greg Corumbus, and thanks for listening to Veterans Chronicles,
a presentation of the American Veterans Center.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
For more information, please visit American Veteranscenter dot org.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
You can also follow the American Veterans Center on Facebook
and on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
We're at AVC update.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Subscribe to the American Veterans Center YouTube channel for full
oral histories and special features, and of course, please subscribe
to the Veterans' Chronicles podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Thanks again for listening, and please join us next time
for Veterans Chronicles.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.