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Landing in Korea

Heroes Remember

Landing in Korea

Transcript
Shortly before we, the truck stopped to let us off, we could see dead Americans all over the place. Not a dead Chinaman anywhere. The Americans were all in just their underwear and their boots. Well, we found out what happened. We felt better about it then because it makes you kind of sick when you first see that and you're going into the situation yourself. But there had been seventy Americans up between the lines in no man's land, and they were staying in overnight. And instead of digging in on a hill and everybody awake, they went into a village, all climbed into their sleeping bags except the two roving guards. The Chinese were watching that from a distance all the time. And the guards heard the Chinese coming, so they all took off and didn't warn anybody. The Chinese set up a machine gun at each end of the village and they went through with bayonets.
Description

Mr. Thorsen describes his first impression of landing in Korea, and being disturbed at seeing so many dead American soldiers.

Carl “Herman” Thorsen

Mr. Thorsen was born in 1926 in a small town northwest of Innisfail, Alberta. He grew up in a family with two brothers and five sisters. His father was a farmer and bricklayer. During the Second World War, Mr. Thorsen was not able to participate in the war effort because he was needed on his family’s large farm. In his early 1950s, while still working on the farm and with a seismic company in Alberta, he felt guilty about not taking part in the Second World War and decided to enlist for the Korean War. He enlisted at Currie Barracks, received training and was shipped overseas. After serving in the Korean War, Mr. Thorsen returned to Alberta and raised a family.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
1:15
Person Interviewed:
Carl “Herman” Thorsen
War, Conflict or Mission:
Korean War
Location/Theatre:
Korea
Branch:
Army
Rank:
Gunner

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