Harold S. Lanehart. Corporal. USA: 1952 -1953
I
was born in Hancock, MD on November 26, 1929. I graduated from Hancock High
School in 1948 and worked at Fairchild Aircraft in Hagerstown until I was
drafted into the Army in 1952 at Ft. Meade, Maryland. I attended basic
training and leadership school at Breckenridge, Kentucky which is home of
the 101st Airborne Division which had been deactivated since
WWII. Upon being promoted to Corporal, I departed for Korea from Seattle
along with 4.700 American and Canadian troops on the Marine Lynx.
After experiencing ten days of rough seas and going through a tidal wave, we docked in Yokohama, Japan. Upon being refitted with combat gear we re-boarded the ship and arrived at Pusan, Korea the next morning where we were transported to the front lines via trains and trucks. All this movement was performed at night. After a one-mile walk, we arrived at the 25th Division, 14th Infantry Regiment, G Company in the Kumwaw Valley. I was immediately assigned to a sand bag bunker and advised of my field of fire. I soon found out that the hill (GI's named Papa San), once controlled by UN Forces, now belonged to the Chinese who lobbed mortars and other artillery on us. Luckily, we were able to use the railroad tracks to support the sand bags. Listening posts were occupied at night at the base of the hill and patrols were out every night.
I arrived in Korea in September 1952, and as November came, I discovered that the weather was going to be harshly cold. We only had field jackets with wool liners, long underwear, fatigue shirts and pants, wool socks, leather boots, flack jackets, and leather gloves with wool lining to defend against 30 and 40 below zero temperatures. On occasion, we would fire our weapons just to make sure they were still working. It was usually too cold to snow. During light snow, we wore white coveralls to blend in with the land.
When spring arrived a Republic of Korea Unit relieved my company. We were commanded to put our personal belongings on the backside of the trench. While we were making our transition, they stole nearly everyone's duffle bag. Luckily, we were going back to a blocking position where we could shower, change clothes, and replace our equipment. We moved at least five times to different positions on the main line of resistance (MLR) with the 25th Division during my fourteen months in Korea. For a period of time we had to watch our backs as well as our front because the South Korean government had released North Korean prisoners to advance the truce talks.
My last detail after the signing of the truce was to take my squad up to the MLR to search for bodies. This was in accordance with the Truce Agreement. I returned home in November 1953 by troop ship arriving in Seattle where movie star Ann Sheridan was part of the ceremony to welcome the troops home. I flew to Baltimore and was released from duty at Fort Meade.
I stayed with my mother for a while working for a friend for $25 a week. Later, I applied for employment with the FBI and worked for over seven years in the Records and Communications Section in Washington, DC. I attended college for six of those years working toward a Business Degree and assignment at an FBI agent. I continued to apply for three years only to receive rejection letters from J. Edgar Hoover encouraging me to continued applying. There were few openings and actually the positions required a law degree and/or fluency in a foreign language. I met my wife Jewel, at the FBI in 1954. We were married December 20, 1958. We have one daughter who is married and has two sons.
I left the FBI and took a position with the US Post Office Headquarters in Washington, DC working in the Air Transportation Branch, and the Procurement Division. Later, I was promoted to manager of the Mail Equipment Unit responsible for national equipment needs. I retired from the Postal Service in 1988
.