Robert H. Pellou
Bio
Robert H. Pellou strongly desired to enlist in the U.S. Army after graduation, but he was rejected due to not passing the hearing test. In part due to a careless Marine Corps person giving the physical, he was ultimately able to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served as a part of the Marine Corps Reserves for two years before being activated in August 1950. He spent a very short time at Camp Pendleton before being shipped to Korea. He and about two hundred to three hundred other reservists did not go to boot camp and as a result, arrived in Korea with very little training. His unit, part of the 7th Infantry, was responsible for the heavy weapons in the area around Incheon and near Wonsan and Hagaru-ri. He recalls his biggest worry being up in the Jangjin (Chosin) Reservoir area was the brutal cold and the real possibility of freezing to death. He was shot at approximately 10:00 a.m. on December 6, 1950, which led to his hospitalization first in Japan and later at Great Lakes, IL. In 1990, he became involved with four or five military organizations and has been very active in these organizations for the past twenty-five years, including being a treasurer in four of them. He has returned twice to Korea with a religious group.
Video Clips
No Real Training
Robert H. Pellou shares he wanted to join the U.S. Army but failed the physical. He explains how, with a little luck and a less than competent person administering the physical, he did pass the U.S. Marine Corps physical and became a member. He notes how there was very little training as a reservist before he was sent to Korea. He estimates he was one of between three hundred to four hundred reservists who did not even go to bootcamp before being deployed to Korea.
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Walk, Walk, Walk
Robert H. Pellou remembers Korea, in the Incheon area, as a very poor country. He recalls daily life involved lots of walking and that the winters were very cold. He notes his unit's mission was to find North Koreans fleeing the north but that they did not encounter any.
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Dug in on Outskirts of Hagaru-ri
Robert H. Pellou recalls serving with a heavy weapons unit in Korea. He shares they worked with heavy machine guns and water-cooled Brownings. He recalls how he operated the only weapon of its type in Hagaru-ri. He remembers being surrounded by the Chinese on Dec. 6th and then the heavy machine guns being called forward as others pushed back to Wonsan. He explains how while feeding an ammunition belt into the gun, he was hit by enemy fire, ending his combat career.
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Returning Home
Robert H. Pellou shares he left the service in early Fall 1952. He remembers there was a rather low-key reception when he returned home. He notes that for the next forty years he simply worked. He describes how, beginning in 1990, he became involved in several military organizations and has served as treasurer in four of these organizations. He expresses his opinion on war as sometimes you have it.
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