Veterans’ memories won’t be forgotten

korean war: Book collects rarely-told stories of more than 50 Marines who shipped out from Aberdeen in 1950

CHRISTIAN HILL; The Olympian | • Published November 11, 2009

Comments (0)

photos Photos

The Boys of Baker Company are finally sharing their stories, nearly 60 years after they marched through the streets of Aberdeen on their way to serve in the Korean War.

Some of the stories have been shared among the members of the Marine Corps Reserve company based in the Grays Harbor County community in the decades since their return home. Rarely have they been told to those outside this brotherhood, including family members, until a grass-roots effort to collect the memories in a book began more than a year ago.

The project was the brainchild of Marion Bogdanovich, who was assigned to the company and earned a Bronze Star in the Korean War. When Bogdanovich died last year, the mantle passed to Ralph Larson, 68, a local history buff and owner of Duffy’s Restaurant, where Bogdanovich and other veterans shot the breeze.

Larson knew it was important to get the memories on paper and shed light on this little-known chapter of the area’s history before it was too late. The Boys were now in their late 70s and early 80s, and their memories and health were fading.

“It’s just one of those things where it had to get done,” Larson said.

He approached two writers about the idea, but they weren’t interested.

He then shared the idea with Ted Reynvaan, 78, who lives near Westport. Larson didn’t know Reynvaan all that well, but he would turn out to be the perfect choice. While Reynvaan didn’t have professional writing experience, he was a member of the company and knew some of the veterans. He was one of the brotherhood and could draw stories locked deep in these men’s hearts and minds.

“I can get into their gray matter where most everyone else would be shut out and they wouldn’t say a word,” he said.

While the company left together in August 1950, they didn’t return home as a unit. After leaving Aberdeen, for instance, Reynvaan joined the active-duty Marine Corps to receive more training. He was scheduled to serve a tour in Korea, but his ship was turned around in the Mediterranean Sea.

Marines in the company were awarded two Silver Stars and three Bronze Stars – military decorations that recognize combat valor – and 52 Purple Hearts for combat injuries. Seven Marines were killed, and two were declared missing in action.

When they returned home, Reynvaan said, their service to country went largely unrecognized.

“They never received what they deserved,” he said.

Reynvaan and Larson teamed to correct this oversight.

Larson, who runs a side business distributing local and regional interest and history books, said he provided the financial backing for the project. He estimated the total cost was about $15,000. He said 1,000 softcover copies of “The Boys of Company B” were printed and 200 hardcover copies will be available around Thanksgiving.

In his initial research, Reynvaan was handed a roster list containing the name, rank and serial number of 150 Marines assigned to the company. He knew 15 of them.

He set out to locate the rest, with the assistance of his wife, Sharon. He spent hours researching at Timberland Regional Library branches and got in contact with about 60 members of the company.

“They were just scattered,” he said.

More than 50 of them agreed to interviews. Others declined. “They just couldn’t handle it,” he said.

Reynvaan drove as far south as Oregon to interview as many as he could in person. Some interviews he conducted by telephone. He taped all the interviews. Some lasted as long as five hours.

Everyone had a story. The combat experience was so traumatic for some of the veterans that they’d skip over it as they spoke to Reynvaan. One veteran asked that they hold it down “because my wife is in the other room and she has not heard one word of it.” Afterward, some veterans shook Reynvaan’s hand.

“They were packing a lot of luggage,” he said.

One of the veterans interviewed, Irvin Stephens, 77, was barely 17 when he left with the company for training. He was wounded in the Battle for Chosin Reservoir while assigned to the 1st Marines Division. Chosin Reservoir was a decisive battle during the Korean War where United Nations forces were outnumbered by Chinese troops and the combatants faced subzero temperatures.

He praised Reynvaan’s work, acknowledging the difficulty in drawing these stories out for some veterans.

“I could talk to Ted and I can talk to other Marines that were there, but you hesitate talking to someone who wasn’t there.”

Reynvaan enlisted the help of a friend to transcribe the hours of interviews. With assistance from an editor, Gail Ayres, a freelance writer whose father-in-law was assigned to the company, he complied the stories. He cleaned up some of the saltier language and gorier details, but the book remains primarily a collection of the veterans’ memories in their own words.

Pictures obtained by the veterans, including Reynvaan, are included in the 204-page book. A friend of Ayres did design work for the book, including the cover, and it was printed in Lewis County.

Stephens, who lives in Raymond, recalled returning to the Bay Area from Korea aboard the USS General William Mitchell, a troop transport. It was an unremarkable arrival. Not even a band showed up to play. It signified his belief, shared by many Korean War veterans, that they served in the Forgotten War.

He said the book could help raise recognition of the company’s contributions and sacrifice.

“Maybe someone will walk up and say, ‘Thank you.’ That’s all we want.”

Christian Hill: 360-754-5427

chill@theolympian.com

Books are available at Duffy's Restaurant, 1605 Simpson Ave., Aberdeen.