Ascom City, Korea, memories...
...excerpt by Chris Sarno Memoir from Korean War Educator. "When the train stopped at Ascom City—that huge complex for the Marine Corps--they were one step closer to home. "When I alighted from that train and walked between the tracks with my M-1," Sarno recalled, "I was filled with wonderment." He no longer needed the M-1, because now he was well and truly in a safe area and soon to be even safer back in the USA. "Now I felt the world—combat readiness—was lifted off of my shoulders," he explained. "I knew that I was going home alive as a survivor. Wow! I felt so alive—so very alive—to have made it."
The complex at Ascom City had supplies and communications. Although there were buildings that had been built by the Japanese when they occupied the city, Sarno and the other homeward-bound Marines were assigned to tents. That was okay with them. The tents were clean and they brought back memories of tent camp. Besides, they were all together again. "We had tech sergeants, master sergeants, staff sergeants, and buck sergeants all in the same tent," Sarno said. Nobody got on their case while they stayed there. "Everyone was basically treated like civilians or equals," Sarno recalled, "because everybody was going home. We had survived Korea. We had a good time the few days we spent at Ascom. We woke up every morning to reveille and to Debbie Reynolds singing ‘Good Morning’ from the soundtrack of Gene Kelley’s hit movie, ‘Singing in the Rain.’ We had been in Korea for a year and we hadn’t heard it before. We were just eating it up."
There were movies, hot showers, and hot meals at Ascom City. No more C-rations. The Marines were deloused and underwent fecal tests for worms. "We were all lined up and they gave us a little carton like a half pint milk container," Sarno recalled. "I asked the corpsman, ‘What the hell is this for?’ He said, ‘We want a sample of your turd.’ When I asked him what for, he told me, ‘For worms, you dumb bastard.’ We did our duty in the carton, and turned it in. As far as I know, nobody in my outfit had to hang around Frisco because of worms when they got back to the States. But they tested us for it. I never thought about it, but it could easily have happened with that 1944 C-ration chow."
...excerpt by Chris Sarno Memoir from Korean War Educator. "When the train stopped at Ascom City—that huge complex for the Marine Corps--they were one step closer to home. "When I alighted from that train and walked between the tracks with my M-1," Sarno recalled, "I was filled with wonderment." He no longer needed the M-1, because now he was well and truly in a safe area and soon to be even safer back in the USA. "Now I felt the world—combat readiness—was lifted off of my shoulders," he explained. "I knew that I was going home alive as a survivor. Wow! I felt so alive—so very alive—to have made it."
The complex at Ascom City had supplies and communications. Although there were buildings that had been built by the Japanese when they occupied the city, Sarno and the other homeward-bound Marines were assigned to tents. That was okay with them. The tents were clean and they brought back memories of tent camp. Besides, they were all together again. "We had tech sergeants, master sergeants, staff sergeants, and buck sergeants all in the same tent," Sarno said. Nobody got on their case while they stayed there. "Everyone was basically treated like civilians or equals," Sarno recalled, "because everybody was going home. We had survived Korea. We had a good time the few days we spent at Ascom. We woke up every morning to reveille and to Debbie Reynolds singing ‘Good Morning’ from the soundtrack of Gene Kelley’s hit movie, ‘Singing in the Rain.’ We had been in Korea for a year and we hadn’t heard it before. We were just eating it up."
There were movies, hot showers, and hot meals at Ascom City. No more C-rations. The Marines were deloused and underwent fecal tests for worms. "We were all lined up and they gave us a little carton like a half pint milk container," Sarno recalled. "I asked the corpsman, ‘What the hell is this for?’ He said, ‘We want a sample of your turd.’ When I asked him what for, he told me, ‘For worms, you dumb bastard.’ We did our duty in the carton, and turned it in. As far as I know, nobody in my outfit had to hang around Frisco because of worms when they got back to the States. But they tested us for it. I never thought about it, but it could easily have happened with that 1944 C-ration chow."
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