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Chattanooga: Local Korean War veteran highlighted in new book

By: Lauren Gregory
(Contact)

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In 1950, Joe Myers was leading a pretty cushy life — until a single photograph changed everything.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had stationed the recent high school graduate in Tokyo to oversee facility maintenance during the United States’ occupation of Japan. The government was putting him up in a penthouse atop the Radio Tokyo tower, complete with a servant and plenty of yen to spend each night at five-star restaurants.

But when he saw a picture that summer of an American soldier captured, executed and left for dead by the side of the road in Korea, he knew the life of luxury just wasn’t for him anymore.

“I thought, ‘How can I live like this, when guys over there are serving their country and paying the price?’” recalled Mr. Myers, 79, who now lives in Brainerd.

When he heard that Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur wanted some of his soldiers to step up and perform hazardous duty in Korea, the then-20-year-old Mr. Myers jumped at the chance to become part of the 1st Raider Company, an elite mobile unit specially trained for ship-to-shore commando missions.

Mr. Myers’ contributions to the conflict won’t be forgotten, because he is featured in a new book written by John Connor, one of his Tokyo roommates who also served with the Raiders.

“Let Slip the Dogs of War: A memoir of the GHQ 1st Raider Company (8245th Army Unit), a.k.a. Special Operations Company, Korea, 1950-51” is now available in stores and online, just in time for the anniversary of the group’s first invasion at Kunsan.

Though his mission was vital at the time, Mr. Myers was joining a group that many people today don’t recognize, fighting a war some forget was sandwiched between the more talked-about World War II and the Vietnam War.

“The Vietnam War was more recent and much more controversial, and World War II represented so much more of the American population,” said Dennis Pettibone, a history professor at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale.

At the same time, Dr. Pettibone said, the Korean conflict should be remembered as influential to American history.

“It set a precedent of a president declaring war without a congressional declaration,” he said. “It set the stage for Vietnam and for Iraq.”

Mr. Connor said he chose to write the book when he realized that the window of time to preserve his unit’s history was closing fast.

“I was proud of every one of those guys, and I didn’t want the unit to simply disappear from history,” he said in a telephone interview from his home in Sacramento, Calif. “We’re in our late 70s, some of us in our early 80s. Before it was too late, we needed to get some sort of a story out.”

Mr. Myers didn’t start thinking about spreading the word until recently, either. He said he hid his military experience from others for years after having been cursed and spit on by a war opponent just after his homecoming.

In the book, however, his experiences as scout, sniper and translator for the group come to light, including one moment in which his curiosity about the stones on the beach at Kunsan saved him. As he bent down to look at them, a hail of machine gun fire flew just inches above his head.

The Raiders had been sent as decoys to detract attention from the major invasion that would take place days later at Inchon, but the Koreans were expecting them and ambushed them, killing three in the group, he said.

Mr. Myers tucked the stones that saved his life in his pants pockets that day, and he hasn’t lost sight of them since.

“They’re a reminder of what I went through,” he said as he cradled the relics in his hands. “I can see myself putting my rifle between my legs and bending down to pick these up.”

Mr. Myers is creating a specially engraved memory box for a few of the stones that he then will send to Mr. Connor, further strengthening the connection the two have from that day on the beach.

“It was by the grace of God that we all survived,” Mr. Myers said solemnly.

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