The korean war began seven years ago on june 20 5, 1950. It ended with an armistice agreement in 1953. Next, an interview with John Jeffries recorded in 2014 by the korean war legacy foundation. We hear about his experiences providing medical treatment for north korean pows. The project was underwritten by south koreas ministry of patriots and veterans affairs. John jeffries. I was born in salt lake city, utah on august 7, 1929. Raised by a mother who was single mother. Had five children. We had the bare essentials, fairly. Barely. I got a chance to work on my mothers Brothers Farms and sisters farms as i was growing up. I had a great childhood. Educated in salt lake. Went to the elementary, high school, and the university of utah. Graduated as a teacher. Desire, to be a coach and a teacher. My mother sent me to the bakery for bread but did not provide me with any money. I would try to get the men working in the bakery to give me a loaf of bread. I did that often and i tried to get a little work there. My father was an alcoholic and was not available. She was raising five of us on her own. Because she could not afford the , she divorced so she could take care of us kids. As a young was person i thought everybody was in the same boat. I did not realize they were people having three meals a day except when i went on the farms and they had food. I had a great childhood. The rest of my siblings did not have that advantage for some reason. I loved working on the farms. 22 graduate high school . 1946. I graduated when i was 16. Year and then got a full ride scholarship as a track person for the university of utah. Tell me about your track team. I went to the coach and said, can i get a scholarship . He said, what do you run . Are you a marathon runner . Sprint . Longdistance. Need . What do you he said a miler or a two miler. I will do that. He said report and i will time you. If you go fast enough, i will give you a scholarship. What is your record . Was the last in 1951ce was in denver at night. It was snowing in june. I was running quartermiles. ,e said if you run the two mile we can win this race. You have to get a second or third to get the points. I ran the two mile and got a third. I had not run that for two years, but i ran that night. On the way home from the track meet in denver to salt lake i was a hero. That was my day in the sun. [laughter] in 1951. Went directly into the service. I am listed. What was the scholarship . Full ride. I went into education. They paid all my tuition, books. That is very nice. John i would not have been able to go to school. What was your major . John fine arts in public health. And public health. I was going to be a teacher of art. Painting. And be a coach. 1951 fromduated in the university of utah. Did you know anything about korea . How did you know the korean war had broke out . John i saw the conflict was going on. I was goingting and to go on a mission trip for church and spend two years as a missionary. Saidse of the war they maybe that is not going to be possible. I am listed in the service to go help in korea. They set me for training to california. I was sort of gung ho. I was in good shape as a track person. School and in noncom were going to make me a sergeant. Because i was doing so well they sent me to Officer Training School because i did good there they sent me to Fort Sam Houston to medical administration. From there i was on my way to korea. You were commissioned as an officer . John second lieutenant. When . About the end of 1952. Maybe in the middle. Human listed in the army you enlisted in the army. Why . John my brother in world war ii was 10 years older. He had high Blood Pressure and could not get into the service. People scorned him because he did not go to the fight. Friends were running to canada or getting married so they would not have to go to korea. I said no. We have a war and i will volunteer. That is very nice. Were you not afraid . John when you were 20 something you are bulletproof. Not worried about anything. You were strong and healthy. John yeah. I had never seen that much food before in the army. You go to the mess area and there is all this food. [laughter] about 140 pounds to about 200. All muscle. But the service was very kind to me. They just kept training me. Me on theput transport ticket to korea to get to korea, we got to pusan. That is when i realized there was a war on. Immediately. Me [indiscernible] john probably february or january. They assigned me to the 514 medical training company. Medical what . John it was a Clearing Company. We had battalion aid stations by the fighting. Clearing companies were for back of that, and hospitals were back of that. Did a medical Clearing Company do . John they assigned as the two 5. U cant five pw camp i had one platoon there. I had a little hospital. About the time i had about 29 patients. I had one doctor but i was a commanding officer. I replaced a major, but i was a second lieutenant. More i should have right to be a committing officer but i was just a lieutenant. I was still in charge. To where the patients . John prisoners of war. North koreans . John North Koreans. No chinese. We sent them somewhere else. But i assisted in surgery with anesthetics. You did not have any medical john no. No medical. Assisted. It was a great experience. We had what we called the monkey house, a psych unit separate from the hospital. A when i got there we were having trouble with water. I built a four foot thing around our barracks. In junehad the breakout i was able to put my men behind that barrier. s came roaring by they went around is because i had a wall and we had guns. That. Vived area toto call the mp provide Guard Service and protection. We cannot get through. They had cut the lines. We were a mile away from any helpers. What you mean by they broke out broke out . John the prisoners. When and how . John at about 1 30 in the morning on the 18th of june, we heard the firing. We rolled out of our bunks. Got our weapons and ran to see what was going on. The lights were on in the guard towers between fences that held the prisoners on the others of the fences. That allhappening is of a sudden hundreds ran to the fence, threw their towel into the fence, and on command they pulled. They snapped these pole that like telephone poles. Others ran through their threw their towels into the ande and gave a yank those fences were down. They poured out. About 10,000 of them. 10,000 p. O. W. . John that is what they said. I only saw about a thousand coming out of the compound where we were. There were a lot of them. It looks like a bunch of ants. Hundreds of them coming. That little guy guy made to get the water out they went around us. They were gone and a matter of a few minutes. All gone . John they said 10,000 broke out that night. We woke up in the morning. The battalion finally got through to us. We said help us, we have blended. Im not going anywhere. Im trying to stay alive. They said we were in better shape than they were. It was only way later the next day they would come down to see how we were doing. It but it was quite an experience. [indiscernible] john when they finally got through to them they said, are you all dead . They came across right where we were. Guys that were supposed to protect us we were medics. We all had weapons but we were not trained to fight. I was because of my training but the ones i had all medics supporting the hospital which was dealing with north korean pows . John yes. We took care of battalion mps as well. Nothing inside the camp but medical. Tell me about north korean patients. How did they behave . John they appreciated us because we were taking care of them. Interesting is our psych ward. While we were having this excitement, the sergeant in charge of the psych ward which was located away from us came running in and a pair of boots in his shorts. His underwear. He says, help we are in trouble. Inse prisoners are patients the psych unit are going to get away. I said we are taking care of our problems. He ran back to what we called the monkey house. Prisonerseported the took the fence down to get out of the psych ward. They said thank you and put the fence back up before they left. Appendectomies. Hernia surgeries. Battle wounds. Just took care of all those prisoners, whatever was going on with them. [indiscernible] john they were there with us. Food . U provide john yes. The same food you ate . John yes. It was not too long after that i got assigned to the 64th Field Hospital for the resin or exchange in panmunjom. 64th Field Hospital. John we took all of our pows we forleft and exchanged them the ones the south korean soldiers and americans. Whether any pows left . John i thought they all got away but there were about 3000 left. We had that exchange. Interestingly enough, when we were taking them up to panmunjom i think we called it the freedom village. Prisoners all new uniforms. Fatigues and boots, new socks, areything so when they going up in the trucks they would look good. They said all their clothes off, threw them on the road, scratched each other. When they got up to the Exchange Point they are saying look with us in theds did to prison camp. That, wherees of the road is strewn with boots and clothing. That shocked me that they would do that. We treated them pretty well. You said you have a picture. Did you have a camera at the time . John yes. I took pictures of all of that and the prison break in the fences that came down. I was documenting my adventure. Wow. What did you feel when they betrayed you . Usn first they said to after all of this excitement that the North Koreans have what . Ed, imperialists. As publicared us enemies or something. That we had misbehaved in taking care of them in the prisons. That surprised us. They were going to let us go up near the north because we were designated as criminals. If you are associated with the p. O. W. Commands. So, when i got an assignment at the 64th Field Hospital to go up to the 38th parallel i was a little concerned. There was no problem. Had opportunities. I worked over. Im trying to think of the school, to medical school in the armistice phase. They had me over there in the medical school and i gave lectures. I also loaded up my ambulances and took them to the beach. The medical student, so we had a good time. What theyred on by said were North Koreans that were out there by themselves. They were not organized. Ambulanceoss on our seemed to be the target on occasion. You were in the medical clearing camp and also the 64th Field Hospital. Nurses, doctors, many medical supplies . Was it enough . Pwn we had plenty in our assignment. But we got to the 64th we had everything. We had lots of nurses, and lots of doctors. We flew when a lot of people to take care of the prisoners. You mean the american john american and south korea. For all the nurses female . All the nurses female . John most of them. We did not have any females because we were too close to the problems. The 64th Field Hospital sort of looked like mash on tv with lots of help. But then because i had been a noncom, a lieutenant i mean a sergeant and discharged me to become an officer they let me go home for christmas. You said you were a second lieutenant. Then a sergeant . John i was a sergeant before i went to become a lieutenant. Before i went to officers training. But because i had the prior service, they counted that as to services. Then i was eligible to go home. When did you go home . John probably christmas eve. 1953 . John yeah, late december. What was the most difficult or painful moment during the service in korea . I this was when there was the armistice. I came upon a drunk g. I. , an american sergeant. He was shooting at the Korean Children that were between running back and forth in the village. I confronted him. I did not have a gun. He was going to shoot me. An american serviceman . John a sergeant. He was going to shoot me. Why would he try to kill john he was drunk and having fun shooting at the children. I was going to take the gun away from him until he poked it in my face. Said he was going to kill me. I ran back and got a gun and went looking for him. Several of the south koreans helped me look for him. They wanted him to get shot but i could not find him. He was smart enough to get out of there. That was one of my horrible moments. Luckily i could not find any wounded kids. He was a lousy shot being drunk. Was it happening often . Occurrence,st one out of the blue. The Korean People, when i was in tucson going to my assignment boy came up korean and said you need me. I said why. Because i can help you in korea. I said ok. Let me see your orders. He said i will meet you there. Yong stayed with me and my hospital the whole time i was there. He was an interpreter. He finally brought his family up. The picture i painted is his house. How old . John he looked about 20. I did not know he was married. I did not know he had a little boy. Scoji is ae korean . That is japanese. Wife one thing i did, his chong sing young. His wife had an impacted tooth and having a terrible time. I went to that house and pulled a tooth for. That tooth for her. I was taking care of chong. He said you need me. He took him . John i dont how we got there. I went on the train with the troops. He showed up and found me and stayed with me. Everye i did not smoke week they gave me a carton of cigarettes. Every week they give me a carton of cigarettes. Yoave them to chong saying sing yong. He worked with us, with the patients. He was like a nurse . John no. It was just my assistant. He helped me with the patients, with the troops, with the prisoners. He was there every day. You paid him . John , yes but he just took the cigarettes i could round up. He betrayed those for everything. He could trade those for everything. I was amazed to learn how smart they are. Fire here. Underneath the house with smoke, and then out this way so they had heating. Warm floors. Smart people. Kimcheehad the containers. I did not put them on there because they were in a good smelling. Did he go to panmunjom . John no, he could not go. I did not know why. E. Kept correspondenc i think you raise a family of oul. Or eight up in se i tried to find him but could not find him. Who drew the picture . John make. Me. It was out in the village area. It was a picture of a compound. Compound one and two. This is our hospital. This is our barracks for the hospital. This is the psych ward, the monkey house. What was the monkey house for . John the psychiatric patients. Mental problems. They were a little off. We had them separated from these patients. These are the compounds that held these. Ran is where the prisoners and put their towels in this fence. Down came that fence. Koreans threwof their towels under the fence and they were gone. My experiences were very positive. Y . Wh john i loved the people and got along well. I never had any problems. I took care of a lot of gis that had problems. Four kind . What kind . John social problems. Going to the wrong places at night. We took care of the injuries. We did pick up about 29 Wounded Soldiers after the break. I had good people. Medics were not trained for the firing and shooting. My sergeant that i depended on a lot, i looked for him. He was under my bed during all the excitement. My doctor was hiding as well. Most of us are out trying to keep ourselves alive. Paid at thewere you time. John not much. You were an officer. 100 . John 170. Not very much. What did you do with the money . John my wife was pregnant. She got all the money. But because i had the service i could go to school after i got out. What was the impact of your service on your future after you returned . John there was a g. I. Bill of rights. When i got back my uncle wanted me to help him with his business. I started helping him but then i was successful. He said teach my son to take over. Looked at my wife i liked medics. At the university of berkeley to go to Hospital Administration school. Said we cant take you until you have one Year Experience at a civilian hospital. Lake, thed up salt biggest hospital in the state of utah. Can i come and train for one year . The city is. They said yes. They paid me 50 a month. I had a wife and a child but is spent one year. Then the best school in the United States for Hospital Administration was university of minnesota. 12 students atook year. Hey took me i was going to berkeley. Minnesota was the best school. The guy running minnesota set on not letting you to berkeley. You work for me in minnesota. You used the g. I. Bill to get into the university of minnesota . John they paid my way. How much did they pay . They paid for my schooling but i had a job. My wife taught school. She was Teaching School and that is how we got five. That one year in minneapolis, minnesota. When i got assigned to a hospital in kansas they started with a175 a month, masters degree. 175. Not much better. John not much. Good heuse i did pretty 275. E a raise to that i hadfinishing job offers from six different hospitals. Where do you want to go . I did Childrens Hospital management has my career in salt lake city. St. Petersburg, florida. Columbus, ohio. Buffalo, new york. That is the lucky john story. The workingat at a Field Hospital guide you to this successful life . John terrific, yes. No question. And theership training military is a discipline. It teaches you things. How to make decisions. How to survive. And i survived. But i never had to look for a job. That is the important message. When i went from one job in salt lake to st. Petersburg, they did not what me to leave salt lake. St. Petersburg said we will double whatever they offer you. So all of a sudden i was making money. Have you been back to korea . John two years ago. 2012, inmate. Y. In ma , about the picture. John i did not recognize korea. I did not see any of these yong lived in. Ng she took me to the museum or the park. We have examples of that era. But the people were very curious. I had several people on the street walk up and say thank you. They just assumed i was military or ex military. We did not have any signs on us or anything. I was impressed with the friendliness cleanliness of the street. Inrybody looked scrubbed nice people. They spoiled us rotten. They give us a fancy place to stay and all the food you could eat for a week. We traveled right up to where i was stationed. Panmunjom . John panmunjom. I recognized some of the territory. It was a wonderful expense. What is the legacy of the korean war and korean war veterans . Think i have been trained for leadership but i think to be able to exercise it under stressful conditions, i think it makes a different kind of person out of you. Militaryedit to the and my experiences. To have the Korean People come back and say we would like to say thank you just knocked me out. History ofnderful helping people. You really have somebody coming back and saying thank you very much. That is the way came across to me. I was glad to have the opportunity to get back there. That was not the korea i was in 60 years ago. Taken grandsons have all the korean martial arts. All three of them are black belts. One in new york and two in salt lake. Cut to the highest level in martial arts. I have just been very fortunate my whole life. Experiencesthe along the way, i got a lot of breaks. A lot of circumstances that furthered my i had good health. I ran three marathons. I took fifth in a marathon. Be 85 in a few days. You still look very young. You took care of north korean patients. If you are given a chance to talk with North Koreans, what would you say to them . John i would say i have a lot they were not adversarial at all but the medical side of it, my unit. I never had a hard time with them. I think they just appreciated the care and the keeping being provided for them. Anger. Ot see heist every once in a while one of them would try to get out. They had guard towers. By the time they got over that first fence they were told to get out of there. They just sacrificed themselves a couple of times. Right in front of us. We were all telling them go back, go back. They killed in themselves . John no. The towers. They would not go back. They had enough of being a prisoner, i guess. Do you know what is going on in north korea right now . John what i read in the papers. A sad, sad story. I think they have poor leadership. The contrast between south korea and north korea is a lesson for the world. Any message to the young generation about the lessons of the war . Well, i can tell you a story. I keptmy doctor friends equated with acquainted with, the korean, had me taken 18yearold korean boy and sponsor him to sell like. His name was sam wi. I put him to work in the hospital in the evening in the financial. He was 18. Had no english. Limited. He went to school at night at the university. Hi paid for that. Hi paid for his medical, food, everything. Train him. Back into him when i got to the salt lake area. I ran into him at the country club. I said sam wi, what are you doing . I was surprised. We did not have too many noncaucasian types at the Alpine Country club. Sam said i am a new member of your club. But he said im also a millionaire. I said sam yes, ill you plenty. What has happened . I got a young woman to come from korea. We married. And ian apartment developed a little store at the bottom of the apartment. Sold asian foods. I trained my children there to work. One of them is in princeton, one is in yale, one is in harvard. All three of my children are in top schools. Straight a student. That is what you did for me. I owe you. He had two korean friends with him. Could not speaking wish. Did not have an education. But he went to work. Good story. People iveral worked in china since then for a couple of years helping them with their Childrens Hospitals. Sponsored a few more people because they are eager for opportunity. Wi is my favorite story. When did you begin to sponsor him . Probably 1957. Him about 1984. He had time to get married and have some kids. We have to give him about 30 years. Thank you so much for your interview and your willingness to talk to me. I will let you know about this interview. That oral history interview is provided by the korean war legacy foundation. For more information about their archives on hundreds of interviews with war veterans, video clips and photos, visit their love site at koreanwar legacy. Org. This is American History tv, exploring our nations past every weekend on cspan3. This is the 70th into bursary of the start of the korean war on june 20 5, 1950. June 20 5, 1950. 1950. The days that defined his response to the Nuclear Arms Race and civil rights. Here is a preview. Be ins is considered to the education of jfk. Remember, jfk is a white irishman from boston. He does not know people of color. Port andm hyannis brooklyn and georgetown and palm beach and harvard and the Choate School and the allwhite navy and the allwhite conference. He is slow and unaffected in a sense by this Great Movement that is convulsing america. By may, he understands. People told me how physically revolted he was when he saw the images which we have all seen of the snarling dogs and the highpressure water hoses that women,rned on black men, and children in birmingham. His education has begun. In three weeks, his and bobbys by the way. Bobby is confronted in a fabled meeting at his apartment in new york with members of the black baldwin andnd James Kenneth clark the psychologist. To the raw,ens impassioned pleas of black americans. They were in many places so attacked that they kennedy and what he could not expect. One in particular does that. Silent butleft aware. His education begins. We are now at june 10. Kennedy realizes having turned wallace back in the door he has an opportunity. An opportunity to Say Something and to do something. The speech will not just be about rhetoric. As the speech he gave the day before was not just about rhetoric. The civiltroduce rights act of 1963. Ll become the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Piece ofsweeping legislation since the emancipation proclamation. This sunday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern here on American History tv. Youre watching American History tv. 48 hours of programming on American History every weekend on cspan3. Forow us on twitter information on our schedule and to keep up with the latest history news. History,n lectures and university of washington professor looks at the Civil Rights Movement from the 1940s into the 1960s. The professor focuses on the 1954 u. S. Supreme Court Decision in brown v. Board of education, the integration of a high school in little rock, arkansas. Folks, welcome to this class a
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