After nineteen days on the ship we arrived at Inchon, Korea. From there we were sent to our job assignments. I ended up in the Division Command Post as a courier in the message center. I delivered messages to company regiments - battalions. I was classified to top secret.

At night if you had to go up to the front lines you had to drive with your lights off after you crossed the river.

March or April 1953 there was a big push by North Korea. I came back from running a route and most of the other troops were gone. I asked where they were and they said they went to load and unload ammunition - you are on 24 hour duty.

One night on a run, without lights, I heard a rumbling sound. I pulled over as far as I could. An ammo truck came down the middle of the road at high speed. He did not see me. Had I stayed in the middle of the road I would have gotten run over. It was very scary up there for we traveled alone.
 
Another time I was returning from a run to the front lines. About 3/4 mile from camp I heard jets. By the sound I knew they were migs. I looked out the right side of the jeep. Two migs coming right at me. Being it was so close to the cease fire line they did not shoot. Instead they turned and went to the fighter base and turned themselves in.

After recruit training I was sent to Camp Pendleton for infantry training. We were trained on rifles, machine guns, hand grenades, how to dig out, tank mines, tank support and so on.

One day the whole company was at the firing range and we were shooting a M16 down into a ravine. The next person after me was very afraid of guns, as he began firing he shut his eyes. He was crying very hard. He began turning around towards us for the sergeant and more were very close - about 10 feet away. For some reason I turned around and saw him turning towards us and the other troops. I hollered at the sergeant to look out and ran up behind him and shoved the barrel up into the air and told him to let go. He did. I told the sergeant to send him back to camp. I never saw him again.

It was hard at first to follow orders and study for we had to learn the marine insignias and the navy’s - for the marines were part of the navy at that time.

Almost everyone was very homesick so we would study together (Vic Wemhoff and I) which seemed to help somewhat. Vic was already married and farming so it was very hard for him to leave all that. Another friend was Loren Dansie from Utah. He carried a Mormon bible (a small one) and whenever we had a break he would sit by me or someone else and read his bible. However, no one would listen to him. So one day he was reading to me and I said "Dan, why don't you leave your bible in your locker for no one is listening to you anyway." Two days later he said "I took your advice."

Being drafted into the Army 40 of us were waiting in a large room in Omaha. The marine sergeant came out of a room and asked if any one wanted to join the marines. Two men got up and volunteered- Norman Houeling of Columbus, Ne. and Robert Johannes of Columbus, Ne.

He took them into the other room and came back out and asked if therewere any strong farm boys. Victor Wemhoff from Humphrey, Ne. and myself raised our hands. He pointed at us and said you are in the Marines and took us into the other room.

On the way back through Columbus I mailed two cards - one to my parents and one to Betty Connelly, my finance. I told them I would write to them from the San Diego Marine Corp Recruiting Depot for I was inducted into the marines. Three days later we arrived at the recruiting base.