Synopsis of oral history interview with James R. Burns

              VIDEO LOG
James Burns
US Army
Korean War
b. 17 May 1931
Interviewed on 26 January 2010 by
Jon Ault
00:00:30 Introduction; born in Hartford, CT; raised in Newington, CT
00:01:03 Drafted into Army, April 1951; no choice of service branch
00:01:23 Boot camp at Fort Hood in TX for 8 weeks; “like the Boy Scouts”
00:02:06 Auto mechanic training at Camp Breckinridge in KY (10 weeks), then Fort
Knox (another 10 weeks)
00:03:00 Drive home to CT each weekend with fellow recruits to visit wives and girlfriends
00:04:39 Brief return to Fort Hood, then overseas
00:05:06 Arrive in Korea ca. March/April 1952. Classmate served at same time
00:06:40 had not trained with M1 Garand rifle while in basic back in the States; received
rapid training session after arriving in Korea
00:08:07 First night at the front (somewhat north of 38th Parallel); slept in ammunition tent;
startled by artillery fire from unit‟s guns; veteran soldiers slept through the noise
00:08:50 Assigned to be a tank driver; field artillery units had “convertible” (Burns‟ term)
tanks, which did not have the large turrets on top
00:09:50 Promoted to tank commander soon afterward
00:10:30 Eventually transferred to motor pool
00:13:56 Photo of Burns standing beside tank
00:14:20 “R&R” respites in Japan among most memorable experiences
00:15:20 Hired to build grease-pits for vehicle maintenance just before joining motor pool
00:16:05 Shelled by the enemy while building grease-pits; built bunkers for shelter, as well
as a separate shack for storage of vehicle spare parts; to identify their area, obtained a wagon wheel and put “Keep „Em Rolling” sign on its rim; used a roll of acetate to make a large window in the bunker, much to the annoyance of a disliked captain who needed acetate to encase maps
00:18:50 Unit placed two new 8" guns in nearby valley for test-firing; concussion tore the
acetate window; one of the guns‟ operators was killed when the piece fell off its mount
00:20:16 No protective bunker for the wash tent
00:21:55 Photo of South Korean soldiers: “they were in front of us”; they had been ordered
to march through a cold river (it was winter); photo taken soon afterward; “we
thought we had it tough”
00:22:15 Weather similar to that of New England
00:22:28 Promoted to Sergeant after joining motor pool (had made Corporal a couple of
months after arriving in Korea); took verbal test to earn rank