Pork Chop Hill--Movie and some facts I thought you might want to know.

[history-buff1944]

Im abig fan of the 1958-9 made classic: Pork Chop Hill w/ Gregory Peck (as 1st Lt. Joseph G. Clemmons Jr) George Shibata as his XO--Lt. Suki Ohashi) Rip Torn as his Brother-in-Law (Lt. Walt Russel) and many other greats.

 

Ive had the great priviledge of speaking with Colonel Joe himself on several occasions now and am enjoying my time with him and his Wife Cecil. Anyway, through the few chats ive had with them lately--I wanted to pass on some info some of you might have wondered about both what took place in the movie as well as in life. The good Colonel will be turning 85 before the end of April and is doing well health-wise. I found out that Lt. Ohashi--sadly--had passed away over 20 years ago-had a heart attack while playing golf. He is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah--and after his Army service-went on to become a Lawyer.

 

Some great news is--is that his Brother-in-Law--Walt--is still alive and doing as well as possible. Walt and his Wife are living in a Retirement Home in Georgia. A bit on Walt--during the Vietnam War-when he was riding in a Chopper-was hit in the head with a rifle bullet and wound up spending about a year in Walter Reed. The Drs told him he would be partially paralyzed and would be stuck in a wheelchair. The Lt said: :Like Hell I am" and today he is able to move around as well as possible.

 

Both Walt Russel and Suki Ohashi--were West Point classmates of Joe.

 

A bit on the movie: over 99% of what you see in the movie--did in fact happen like it was shown. The only things changed with some technicalities that could not be reproduced. Take the near end of movie scenes when they were in the Command Bunker and when the Chinese were using flamethrowers on them and when they were tossing sand bags to block the flames--they did indeed happen as shown.

 

I have permission from the Colonel to ask more questions and such, so if anyone wants to know something-please let me know. Ill do so within reason and also not to try bothering Joe and Cecil too terribly much.

 

Oh and, I have told him about this site--and he and his Wife do go online as well as do emails and such. It is a good possibility that he will visit this site as well as two others I have told them about.

[Garandomatic]

Pretty cool friendship you've got there. I believe my next door neighbor was D Company somewhere around the base of the hill when all of that was going on.

[Bellumbill]

Great info. thanks for posting! Like I am sure most on this site, I too am a huge fan of the movie and the true events that inspired it. One question I would have among many others is: Did the incident with "Franklin" really happen?

 

Best,

Bill K.

[history-buff1944]

Pretty cool friendship you've got there. I believe my next door neighbor was D Company somewhere around the base of the hill when all of that was going on.

 

 

Thank you and, if you dont mind? please give him my best regards will you?

[history-buff1944]

Great info. thanks for posting! Like I am sure most on this site, I too am a huge fan of the movie and the true events that inspired it. One question I would have among many others is: Did the incident with "Franklin" really happen?

 

Best,

Bill K.

 

Hi Bill and thank you. Ill be posting more as i come across it. Just yesterday, I got back my signed lobby cards and still from him signed in Silver and Gold inks. Also, he made a nice dedication to me on all of them. Get this--a true to life hero--thanking me for being a great Patriot. ;-))

 

The Franklin incident did happen. I just don't know more on that yet--but intend on finding out what I can as he is very willing to tell more ;-))

[bargunner]

This is one of my all time favorite movies also. If you could ask him about what kinds of body armor were used it would help immensely. In the movie it shows the Army M1952A, since the movie focuses on the 1st battle in April, I did not think they were issued that early. The few pictures I have seen show the USMC M1951 flak vests.

 

Andrew

[Bellumbill]

Another question I have relates to SLA Marshall. Mr. Marshall has been pilloried in recent years by revisionist historians who claim, right or wrongly, that his book Men Against Fire was an inaccurante characterization of WWII combat. To wit, these historians not only claim that Mr. Marshall's conclusions were incorrect, which may or may not be true, but more generally that much of his research was spurious or falsified.

 

I assume that Col. Clemmons had extensive contact with Mr. Marshall while he prepared his history of the battle so I'd be curious to know what the Col. thought about Mr. Marshall's research gathering methods and if he felt that the story that he ultimately told was true to the facts as Col. Clemmons knew them and reported them.

 

Best,

 

Bill

[history-buff1944]

Hi Andrew, Bill, ill ask him next phone call. Ill wait about a week or so before calling again so as not to be too bothersome. Ill let you all know soon as i do find out. Incidentally, I was going to ask about S.L.A. Marshalls book when talking with him today but--I forgot. It was getting near his suppertime so I had to close the call out. Also, I used to have several of SLAs books including the Pork Chop Hill book--but lost those in an accident years ago. I wonder if there are new prints out on his book? i havent had time to check.

[patches]

Great Stuff HB, can I refer to you as HB rather than History Buff we look foward to more postings in this reguard, I was always interested in both Clemmons and Russells commands during Vietnam, Clemmons we know was at one point CO of the 198th Inf Bde Americal Division, I wondered if this was his first tour, I would imagine he served before there, if so what was his assignment to? Russell, you mention he was critically wounded, where and when was this? What unit?

 

Oh did you ever find out who married who? Clemmons marrying Russell's sister or Russell Marrying Clemmons' sister?

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Interestingly enough, COL Clemmons was my Company Commander when I took basic at Ft Knox in 1960 with the 6th Armored Cavalry. All we were told was that he had earned the DSC during the Korean War on a place called Pork Chop Hill. Then CPT Clemmons wore Aviator sunglasses, a highly polished helmet liner, Highly polished tankers boots, and carried a swagger stick. He had two nicknames back then. One was "Pork Chop Clemmons", and the other was "CPT Hollywood".

 

The next time I saw him was in Bamberg, Germany in about 1964-65 time period. I was walking from the NCO Club back to my unit when I saw a highly polished jeep coming at me with a very large Oak Leaf placard on the bumper and a large name plate "LTC J.G. CLEMMONS". Of course i saluted him as it was open topped. And he was still wearing Aviator sunglasses, a highly polished helmet liner, and I think I saw a tanker boot as he passed by. No Swagger stick that I could see. He was commanding an Armored Bn that was also at Bamberg at the time. Next time you talk to him tell him I send my best regards. Thanks ! Danny

[history-buff1944]

Great Stuff HB, can I refer to you as HB rather than History Buff we look foward to more postings in this reguard, I was always interested in both Clemmons and Russells commands during Vietnam, Clemmons we know was at one point CO of the 198th Inf Bde Americal Division, I wondered if this was his first tour, I would imagine he served before there, if so what was his assignment to? Russell, you mention he was critically wounded, where and when was this? What unit?

 

Oh did you ever find out who married who? Clemmons marrying Russell's sister or Russell Marrying Clemmons' sister?

 

 

HB is cool with me. You would hate to see what I use as email address's--almost all im Deutsch. ;-))

 

I will try getting more on Russel when I can. He might even see about getting me in touch with him--but im going to take it slow and easy. The first call I had-Cecil answered the phone (they were expecting me to call) and Cecil had to kind of "test" me a bit to make sure I didnt want anything. I thought that was great. Apparently many have wanted something from them and they are now at ease with me. They were afraid I might want to try selling something or even possibly trying to talk him out of some of his military stuff. I made sure they knew I didnt--I know thats a big slap in the face of a Vet for someone to ask if they will sell or give a relic of some kind. I cant post the stuff on this site that WWII German vets gave me--but includes medals and awards-insignia, photos, autographs and even an Army pocket knife.

 

It was hard for me to hear him last time we spoke since i called him from a noisy restaurant (Dairy Queen to be exact) they play their radio too loud)) but, I remember he told me he was stationed in Germany awhile and there was in command of an Armored Infantry Battalion. I forget where he said they were stationed at? but somewhere near Frankfurt an Main. He loved being in Germany. I was there all too short a time but--loved every second of it.

 

Joe didnt mention what units he ro Walt were in in Nam--but ill try getting more specifics over time. Oh and, before I forget again--heh heh--he married Walts Sister. ;-)) He said they dated a short time, got married and they never had an argument for the first year--because he was stationed away from her--and he had a good laugh about that ;-))

 

Almost forgot again--Since he was going to (and did) sign some images for me--I wanted to give him something in exchange for that as well as a way of saying thanks for his service and sacrifices-so I talked them into letting me send a gift certificate for $35.00 (they would not allow me to spend more) and as they like eating at Appleby's Restaurant--as well as they love to eat Honey Baked Ham--they chose the ham--so I had a shot in their City to mail out (even though they never did so before) they sent the GC to them for me and were amazed that they had a hero such as he is--living not far from their business.

[history-buff1944]

Interestingly enough, COL Clemmons was my Company Commander when I took basic at Ft Knox in 1960 with the 6th Armored Cavalry. All we were told was that he had earned the DSC during the Korean War on a place called Pork Chop Hill. Then CPT Clemmons wore Aviator sunglasses, a highly polished helmet liner, Highly polished tankers boots, and carried a swagger stick. He had two nicknames back then. One was "Pork Chop Clemmons", and the other was "CPT Hollywood".

 

The next time I saw him was in Bamberg, Germany in about 1964-65 time period. I was walking from the NCO Club back to my unit when I saw a highly polished jeep coming at me with a very large Oak Leaf placard on the bumper and a large name plate "LTC J.G. CLEMMONS". Of course i saluted him as it was open topped. And he was still wearing Aviator sunglasses, a highly polished helmet liner, and I think I saw a tanker boot as he passed by. No Swagger stick that I could see. He was commanding an Armored Bn that was also at Bamberg at the time. Next time you talk to him tell him I send my best regards. Thanks ! Danny

 

 

Thank you Danny as well as thank you for serving. I sure will send along your best regards to him and if you want to PM me anything else? maybe so that he might remember more quickly--ill be more than happy to ;-))

 

Oh and--great story too. Thank you for mentioning Bamberg--because that was the place he told em about but I had forgotten the name when making my other posting above.

 

Take care Sir--and you also have my fullest respect.

 

Sorry about the forgetting of a few bits of info--that is because I have a memory loss problem due to being diagnosed with a Neurological problem. That's why I had forgot to Patches questions about who married whom and such ;-))

 

Oh and get this, when he signed the PCH still and lobby cards i mailed to him--he dedicated them all to me and he wrote on them (which made me feel proud as heck and coming from a genuine hero--something he denies being) he wrote: (ill leave out my name but) "To---- Your a True Patriot. Best wishes Joesph Clemmons" The last time I had notable Vets tell me something similar--was when I met and spent time with: Brigadier general David Lee "Tex" Hill and the Enola Gay's Navigator: Dutch van Kirk.

[1SG_1st_Cav]

Dutch: Please tell the Colonel that he was my Company CO in Company E, 2nd Bn, 6th Armored Cavalry at Ft Knox, KY, from February to April 1960. If I remember correctly, he was promoted to MAJ and moved to the Bn HQ about the 6th week of my Basic Training cycle. Thanks ~ Danny

 

We were soldiers once, and Young! I'm the 17 year-old trooper in the middle with the blue shirt. This pic was taken at Ft Sill in June 1960, just before I was shipped over to Korea with the 1st cav Div.

[history-buff1944]

Dutch: Please tell the Colonel that he was my Company CO in Company E, 2nd Bn, 6th Armored Cavalry at Ft Knox, KY, from February to April 1960. If I remember correctly, he was promoted to MAJ and moved to the Bn HQ about the 6th week of my Basic Training cycle. Thanks ~ Danny

 

We were soldiers once, and Young! I'm the 17 year-old trooper in the middle with the blue shirt. This pic was taken at Ft Sill in June 1960, just before I was shipped over to Korea with the 1st cav Div.

 

 

Thanks for the info and ill be more than glad to let him know on this. I dont have away to print the image but if you dont mind me copying it and posting it on another site im on? itll help me to remember. Im sure he will get a kick out of thie.

 

Take care.

[MPage]

I'd like to recommend On Hallowed Ground, about the last battle of Pork Chop Hill. It is very well written; I think it's a lot better than SLA Marshall's work, which was rather dry.

[patchtrader864]

What unit was it on Pork Chop Hill ? Thanks Paul.

[patches]

What unit was it on Pork Chop Hill ? Thanks Paul.

 

The period covered by the book and the subsequent 1959 film would involve Companies E, K, and L of the 31st Infantry Regiment and G Company 17th Infantry Regiment all of the 7th Infantry Division.

 

See here for full details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pork_Chop_Hill

[Buffalo Grunt]

I too would like to recommend Bill McWilliams' book .. On Hallowed Ground - The last Battle of Pork Chop Hill. Although SLA Marshall's book "Pork Chop Hill" is a classic, Bill's book is much more detailed. Both of these books paint a pretty good picture of the last several months of the Korean War .. Pork Chop Hill deals with the March Battle and On Hallowed Ground deals with the July battle.

 

FYI - It was more than Gco 17th infantry .. basically, it was the 2nd battalion, 17th Infantry who was involved with the March battle (with the 31st Infantry) The second battle was the whole 17th Infantry Regiment and the 32nd Infantry Regiment (Queen's Own)

 

"Truth and Courage!"

[Buffalo Grunt]

Another quick note ... Bill McWilliams is currently writing a screenplay to "On Hallowed Ground" What a great movie it would make!

[patches]

I too would like to recommend Bill McWilliams' book .. On Hallowed Ground - The last Battle of Pork Chop Hill. Although SLA Marshall's book "Pork Chop Hill" is a classic, Bill's book is much more detailed. Both of these books paint a pretty good picture of the last several months of the Korean War .. Pork Chop Hill deals with the March Battle and On Hallowed Ground deals with the July battle.

 

FYI - It was more than Gco 17th infantry .. basically, it was the 2nd battalion, 17th Infantry who was involved with the March battle (with the 31st Infantry) The second battle was the whole 17th Infantry Regiment and the 32nd Infantry Regiment (Queen's Own)

 

"Truth and Courage!"

 

Thats right, the 2nd Battalion 17th Inf was attached to the 31st Inf at that time. In the April Battle, the Battle that the book and film concentrates on, the whole thing starts with Easy Co of the 2nd Battalion 31st Inf getting wiped out on Pork Chop, King and Love Co are directed to counter attack, as the fighting is not going that well, George Co 2nd Battalion 17th Inf is sent up as per King Co CO 1st Lt Clemmons request for more help. You can read it in the Wiki link in one the above posts, it gives more details on the 2nd Bn 17th Inf's role.

[history-buff1944]

I too would like to recommend Bill McWilliams' book .. On Hallowed Ground - The last Battle of Pork Chop Hill. Although SLA Marshall's book "Pork Chop Hill" is a classic, Bill's book is much more detailed. Both of these books paint a pretty good picture of the last several months of the Korean War .. Pork Chop Hill deals with the March Battle and On Hallowed Ground deals with the July battle.

 

FYI - It was more than Gco 17th infantry .. basically, it was the 2nd battalion, 17th Infantry who was involved with the March battle (with the 31st Infantry) The second battle was the whole 17th Infantry Regiment and the 32nd Infantry Regiment (Queen's Own)

 

"Truth and Courage!"

 

 

Hi Buffalo--thank you for this great info. Also, I had never heard of Bill's book but will look for a copy of it. I was wondering--anyone here know of THE book to get about the "Frozen Chosin?" I have a friend here locally who was a 1st Lieutenant who fought there. He was wondering about good books on the subject.

[MPage]

I was wondering--anyone here know of THE book to get about the "Frozen Chosin?" I have a friend here locally who was a 1st Lieutenant who fought there. He was wondering about good books on the subject.

 

Yes - Roy Appleman's Escaping the Trap is a well-written overview of the entire campaign; it is able to go down to the platoon level but also maintains an awareness of the big picture. It's in the style of an official history but is not a dry read. The author also covers the Chinese point of view.

 

During his work on that book, Appleman began to write a chapter about the ordeal of RCT 31 on the east side of the reservoir, and became so absorbed in it that he set aside his work and began writing another book specifically about RCT 31 called East of Chosin. It, too is an excellent work. But Escaping the Trap also contains an abridged version of it, comrprising a couple chapters.

 

Montross and Canzona's The Chosin Campaign is detailed and factual but I haven't actually read it. That's the official USMC history of the campaign, one volume from the Korean War series. I think it's harder to find.

 

Martin Russ's book Breakout I condemn.

[MPage]

Another quick note ... Bill McWilliams is currently writing a screenplay to "On Hallowed Ground" What a great movie it would make!

 

That's fantastic news!

[patches]

Also Clay Blair's the Forgotton War is very good.

[history-buff1944]

Interestingly enough, COL Clemmons was my Company Commander when I took basic at Ft Knox in 1960 with the 6th Armored Cavalry. All we were told was that he had earned the DSC during the Korean War on a place called Pork Chop Hill. Then CPT Clemmons wore Aviator sunglasses, a highly polished helmet liner, Highly polished tankers boots, and carried a swagger stick. He had two nicknames back then. One was "Pork Chop Clemmons", and the other was "CPT Hollywood".

 

The next time I saw him was in Bamberg, Germany in about 1964-65 time period. I was walking from the NCO Club back to my unit when I saw a highly polished jeep coming at me with a very large Oak Leaf placard on the bumper and a large name plate "LTC J.G. CLEMMONS". Of course i saluted him as it was open topped. And he was still wearing Aviator sunglasses, a highly polished helmet liner, and I think I saw a tanker boot as he passed by. No Swagger stick that I could see. He was commanding an Armored Bn that was also at Bamberg at the time. Next time you talk to him tell him I send my best regards. Thanks ! Danny

 

Hi Danny, I wanted to let you know ive since given the Colonel your wishes as well as these stories. He said he did remember you and to thank you for the nice wishes. He laughed when I told him those two nicknames he had.

 

Take care-_HB.