Dang. My mom is the oldest of five and she lost her brother Jim last night at the age of 86. We always knew him as one of the kindest, most loving, and family oriented men in our lives. He treated me and the other 15 cousins like we were his kids. In addition to his two kids, he raised two step kids as his own. He was the primary caregiver to two wives who he lost to extended illness. Like so many, he never talked about another time in his life.
Uncle Jim opened up to my brother a year or so ago about his time in Korea. He was in an airborne artillery unit, the 187th Regimental Combat Team, 11th Airborne... the Rakassans or “umbrella for falling” in Japanese. He was based out of Japan and his group was used as a “fire brigade”. When part of the line got hot, the 187th was dropped in to stomp ass...and they did so. In one of his hottest events, the Chinese were coming so thick at his position that Jim was bore sighting (looking thru the barrell rather than using sights) his 105 mm howitzer and flinging canister shot rather than shells. This is the equivalent of a shotgun. They put out the fires and were flown back to Japan for R&R while waiting for the next call.
These events he never spoke of to our knowledge. As Mom talked about the men of World War 2 who came home, kept their mouths shut, and went about being leaders in society, so did Uncle Jim from Korea. Us kids never knew what they did for us all. RIP Uncle JHH. I love you and have utmost respect for how you served us all.
Uncle Jim opened up to my brother a year or so ago about his time in Korea. He was in an airborne artillery unit, the 187th Regimental Combat Team, 11th Airborne... the Rakassans or “umbrella for falling” in Japanese. He was based out of Japan and his group was used as a “fire brigade”. When part of the line got hot, the 187th was dropped in to stomp ass...and they did so. In one of his hottest events, the Chinese were coming so thick at his position that Jim was bore sighting (looking thru the barrell rather than using sights) his 105 mm howitzer and flinging canister shot rather than shells. This is the equivalent of a shotgun. They put out the fires and were flown back to Japan for R&R while waiting for the next call.
These events he never spoke of to our knowledge. As Mom talked about the men of World War 2 who came home, kept their mouths shut, and went about being leaders in society, so did Uncle Jim from Korea. Us kids never knew what they did for us all. RIP Uncle JHH. I love you and have utmost respect for how you served us all.
