Army HAWK Missile Air Defense, Korea 1974

[reddrooster]

Old soldiers don't die they just start fishing!  (Sorry for the hack on the saying)

Are there any old HAWKer out there fishing besides me? Most of you are probably too young to have been in the army back then.

Here is a link to some pictures when I was a young pup in Korea. I was 19 when these were taken!  ;D Yeah I know I'm a old man. These are maintained by my buddy Mel in North Carolina. He was also over there with me. I was also stationed in Key West, Fl, Redstone Arsenal, Al and Ft Bliss, TX.

 

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Welcome Aboard and Thank You sir for your service

Those pics must really bring back some memories for you.  I love old stuff, especially pictures, remnants from how it was before I was here (I'm 40).  Thanks for sharing.

"My neighbors dad ("Pops" Dailey-) also served in Korea.  He is one very proud Veteran and keeps very active with the other Korean war veterans in our area, does all the parades,etc.  His wife recently passed,.....all his boys showed up,...of course.  Bands of brothers,...nothing stronger

[Micro]

Great pics.  And ditto - thanks for your service.  

My dad served in Korea at the tail end of the Korean War.  He was an artillery officer.   I love listening to his stories about artillery duels with the Chinese.  

His best story was about an incident just after the Armistice was signed.  He told me about "noises," like heavy machinery, coming across the DMZ - but only at night.  He thought the Chinese were trying to emplace artillery in violation of the Armistice.  One night, they lit up a searchlight and shone it across the DMZ at the mountain with all the noise.  Sure enough, Chinese were digging tunnels and placing artillery in caves.  Instead of accolades for his discovery, he receive a reminder that shining a spotlight acros the DMZ was considered a hostile act.  Go figure.

[FishTank]

Great photos and thanks for your service to our country.  My father was sent to Korea in 1951.  He was deployed from a far worse place than Korea, Fort Polk, LA (or so he told me many times).  Eventhough he was sent to war, he always said Korea was a vaction from Fort Polk.  Oddly enough when he passed away in 1998, a Korean Catholic priest gave his military burial.  While he was speaking my mom leaned over and said, "I think your father shot a few of those".  Not that appropriate but we all got a laugh out of it, at what was the hardest time we had ever faced.

[Bud]

Reddrooster I was their a little before you 1962/1963 North of the Imjin river 2nd Infantry division second Engineer Battalion

[PaparockArk]

Old soldiers don't die they just start fishing! (Sorry for the hack on the saying)

Are there any old HAWKer out there fishing besides me? Most of you are probably too young to have been in the army back then.

Here is a link to some pictures when I was a young pup in Korea. I was 19 when these were taken! ;D Yeah I know I'm a old man. These are maintained by my buddy Mel in North Carolina. He was also over there with me. I was also stationed in Key West, Fl, Redstone Arsenal, Al and Ft Bliss, TX.

http://community.webshots.com/album/546750359iAPwNW?start=0

HAWK (Homing All the Way Killer) was my first MOS in the Army as a new 2Lt. on Okinawa, before my Drug Suppression stint. I also was qualified on Nike Hercules both HE and Nukes. If I had stayed in the green machine my next duty station was to be Korea during 1973 but then the Army lost my Voluntary Indefinite Papers. Suddenly I went from a long timer to a short timer when I didn't resign new six year papers. The specialist asked me what that meant and I told him that meant that if the Army found the originals after my original release date then they could find me. I had signed up for Voluntary Indefinite when I was working for an extremely honest and honorably Brigadier General I would have gone to hell and back for when I first entered the Army but I now was under a Full Bird Colonel that was known for pulling strings to send (volunteer) his own men on suicide missions if he did not like them to Vietnam, a drunk, incompetent and an ego maniac. He had a friend of mine killed and he almost killed me. Enough Said.

[Guest avid]

Welcome aboard Redrooster.

Great pix.

Being in Korea at the end of the Viet Nam war, must have been strange.

They call the Korean war "the forgotten war" but in 1974 it really was out of the awareness of most Americans.

If you have any more stories or photo's I for one would love to see em.

Thankx and an avid   for your service.

[reddrooster]

Thanks everybody for the great feedback! I guess some of you are as old or older than me.  ;D

Hey Bud: Those pictures are from Pobwon Ni which was between Yanji Go and Sanja Ri. If you remember village names? We were in 2nd Div area.

P_Rock: sounds like we "almost" could of met in a firing battery. However, seems like you lucked out of that situation.

Off topic but why we are all here! ---

I got my 1st boat a couple of months ago and I'm having a blast fishing the lakes here in Central Texas. Now if I can just master casting without the backlash! :-[

 

[Catt]

I have a good friend Steve Regan who was assigned to the HAWK Missile Air Defense in Korea and Spain during the early 60's.

Me I was just a Long Haired Hippie Commie Dope Smoker during the 60's  

[Guest avid]

Now if I can just master casting without the backlash!

Oh, I feel bad you dude.

But I can' really relate cause it never happens to me.  

[reddrooster]

Oh, I feel bad you dude.

But I can' really relate cause it never happens to me.  

Yeah, I know..."It only happens to me".  ;D

I spent some time in Florida back a few years ago.75 Key West and 78 at Homestead. That was before I knew I lived to fish!

[Siebert Outdoors]

awsome pics dude.  I really like war pictures.  My Grandpas both had a nice collection from WW2.  Some facinating stuff.

[PaparockArk]

Hey, reddrooster, I just remembered something funny that happed during training at Fort Bliss in 1971. We had a Marine Lt. in our class and you know how when the power is turned off on a launcher rack of HAWKs they sit nose down well the instructor told our Marine to verify that all the birds were properly secured on the launcher. So what does this guy do? He walks up to the first launcher arm and pulls down the T-handle on the front of the launcher arm and the missile starts sliding forward. This Marine Lt. freaks out, grabs hold of the front of the missile and is trying to hold the missile on to the launcher while screaming for help. The instructor gets on his radio and calls for the little missile carrier that loads the missiles onto the launchers while the rest of us are rolling around on the ground laughing. For the rest of you a HAWK weighs 1400 pounds and had slid a few inches and stopped on its own as there was no way you could hold one on if it had really wanted to come off on its own weight. The Marine was grunting, straining but actually holding nothing but he did learn the front T-latch is all that holds the missile on to the front of the launcher so it is a bad thing to release it with the missile pointing down. Fortunately the warheads had not been armed yet because rather than laughing the rest of us would have been running when that thing started to slide.

[reddrooster]

Yes I remember the launcher pretty well as I started out as a launcher crewman. I was bored and moved on to a Fire Control Crewman. That's the guy that gets to track the targets on radar and push the fire button. I was fascinated by all the electronics so I reenlisted for the longest maintenance school IHAWK (Improved HAWK) had, one year at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. I really loved that job!  

[PaparockArk]

Reddrooster, I ran across my old unit designation. It was Btry C, 8th BN, 3Rd ADA and they were scheduled to go to Korea so were they close to you?  

[reddrooster]

Reddrooster, I ran across my old unit designation. It was Btry C, 8th BN, 3Rd ADA and they were scheduled to go to Korea so were they close to you?  

I'm not sure where that unit was. The unit designations may have changed before I got in country. The only HAWK units were 2/71st, 1/2 and 1/44th. I was in C 2/71st. We were about the northern most unit ( I think)