A Combat First:

Army SF Soldiers in Korea, 1953-1955 Part 1

SUPPORT PAGE

1 This article is based on an earlier effort, “Wolfpacks and Donkeys: Special Forces Soldiers in the Korean War”, by Kenneth Finlayson, published in Veritas, Vol 3, No 3, 2007, pgs 31-40. It incorporates material gathered since 2007.

2 With few significant changes, the Main Line of Resistance in October 1951 became the Demilitarized Zone with the signing of the Armistice. It remains in existence today. See Walter G. Hermes, Truce Tent and Fighting Front (Washington DC, Center of Military History, 1992), 17-20, 36-40, 45-47, 507-508.

3 HQ, United States Army Forces, Far East, Technical Memorandum ORO-T-64, UN Partisan Warfare in Korea, 1951-1954, dated 19 September 1956, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle Barracks, PA 30-36. Hereafter referred to as the ORO Study.

4 Michael Krivdo, “Creating an Army Guerrilla Command: Part One, The First Six Months,” Veritas: The Journal of Army Special Operations History, Vol 8 No. 2, 2012, 12-26. (For the purpose of clarity, the various permutations of the guerrilla unit name will be referred to collectively as guerrilla command unless otherwise noted).

5 Gordan L. Rottman, Korean War Order of Battle: United States, United Nations, and Communist Ground, Naval, and Air Forces, 1950-1953 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 2002), 15, 57.

6 Headquarters, Eighth U.S. Army Korea, Table of Distribution No 80-8086, Miscellaneous Group, 8086th Army Unit, undated, Record Group 319, National Archives, Washington DC.

7 ORO Study, 35.

8 Do means island in Hangul (Korean). Thus Cho-do is Cho Island.

9 ORO Study, 35. Figures are based on the disposition of partisan units in June 1952.

10 Alex R. Lizardo, 8240th Army Unit, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 22 February 2010, History Support Center, Fort Bragg, NC.

11 Alex R. Lizardo, 8240th Army Unit, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 9 March 2010, History Support Center, Fort Bragg, NC.

12 Richard M. Ripley, 8240th AU, interview by Dr. Kenneth Finlayson, 14 August 2007, USASOC History Support Center, Fort Bragg, NC.

13 ORO Study, 31.

14 Ripley interview. 14 August 2007.

15 Ripley interview. 14 August 2007.

16 ORO Study, pg 77.

17 Paddock, The 8240th Army Unit, Special Forces: The First Fifty Years (Tampa FL, Faircount LLC, 2002), 85.

18 Alfred H. Paddock, Jr., U.S. Army Special Warfare: Its Origins, (Lawrence, KS, University Press of Kansas, 2002) 106. United Nations Partisan Forces Korea was another organization prone to name changes. It is often referred to as the United Nations Partisan Infantry Korea (UNPIK).

19 ORO Study, 77.

20 Eugene G. Piasecki, “Smoke Bomb Hill: Birth of the Psywar Center, Part I,” Veritas: The Journal of Army Special Operations History, Vol 7, No. 1, 2011, 94-102. 21 ORO Study, 77.

22 Richard M. Ripley, 8240th Army Unit, interview by Dr. Michael Krivdo and Mr. Eugene Piasecki, 31 January 2013, USASOC History Support Center, Fort Bragg, NC.

23 A comprehensive list of the 10th Special Forces Group personnel who deployed to Germany and Korea in 1953 compiled from the original orders is contained in Special Forces: The First Fifty Years (Tampa FL, Faircount LLC, 2002), 94-101.

24 Charles W. Norton, 8240th Army Unit, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 9 April 2004, USASOC History Support Center, Fort Bragg, NC.

25 Norton interview, 9 April 2004.

26 Rueben L. Mooradian, 8240th Army Unit, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 21 November 2005, USASOC History Support Center, Fort Bragg, NC.

27 Norton interview, 9 April 2004.

28 Robert W. Downey, 8240th Army Unit, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 24 March 2011, USASOC History Support Center, Fort Bragg, NC. By this time in the war, the Combined Command for Reconnaissance Activities – Korea (CCRAK), an FEC staff section was responsible for logistical support to the guerrilla units.

29 Downey interview, 24 March 2011. Downey would later serve in Special Forces with the 77th Special Forces Group.

30 Myron J. Layton, 8240th Army Unit, interview by Dr. Charles H. Briscoe, 21 November 2011, USASOC History Support Center, Fort Bragg, NC.

31 Layton interview, 21 November 2011.