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The North Koreans were Poorly Equipped

Heroes Remember

The North Koreans were Poorly Equipped

Transcript
I would never, when it comes to a battle, you never know the difference between the North Korean and Chinese. Chinese were there and North Koreans were there. I never did know the difference myself, you know, when it comes to confrontations, you know, and I never stopped to inquire either. If they were better equipped, I thought they would have been, you know, they would have done more damage and at that time, you know, this is back in 1950 to '53, you know, in that war and they were poorly equipped. A lot less than we have, very poorly equipped and uniforms, some of them when they were caught prisoners, they had to strip them right there in the field and burn their uniforms right there in the open because they were full of lice, dirt. They had never washed for I don't know, but dirty. Then they cleaned them up and they ended up in better clothing than we did.
Description

Mr. Simon discusses the impact of poor equipment on North Korea’s offensive ability, and what poor condition POWs were in.

Stephen Simon

Stephen Simon, the sixth of ten children, was born in Big Cove, New Brunswick on February 19, 1932. After finishing grade eight on the reserve, he attended school off the reserve where he faced a lot of discrimination. He often fished with his father, who was a police officer at Big Cove. Mr. Simon enlisted at the age of eighteen, took his basic training in Camp Borden, and became a qualified paratrooper on December 22, 1950. After arriving in Korea, he trained as a radio operator, and served in that capacity until the end of his military service. In 1958, Mr. Simon’s skills were highlighted when he served in a top security communications centre.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
1:22
Person Interviewed:
Stephen Simon
War, Conflict or Mission:
Korean War
Branch:
Army
Units/Ship:
Royal Canadian Regiment
Rank:
Sergeant

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