Interviewer: Hi and thanks for doing this interview! Our first question is, what was your role in the Korean War - what were you doing during your years of service?

Gillette: I was in the Navy. I was an ensign, an officer on board a destroyer, in 1950, which is when the Korean War started, and we had just been six months in Europe, and we were passing through the Panama Canal, when we heard the news on the radio that the Koreans had moved against South Korea (North Korea had), and before we could get through the Panama Canal, we had orders to head west at maximum speed and await further orders. So, immediately, we were on our way to Korea. We had to stop in Hawaii, because we were a peacetime ship and didn’t have any armament or shells or what have you that you’d need in case of war, so we were loading up with things we needed and trying to take on additional personnel, because in peacetime you don’t run the ship with as many people as you need when you’re firing all the weapons. And we got word that the first marine division stationed in Southern California had embarked and was on their way to Korea - they’d be the first reinforcements to the Koreans that were there. And we had troops stationed in Korea at the time, so they were all being pushed south. So we were ordered to pick them up and escort them to Korea, which we did, so we were there with the first troops that landed in South Korea in the Pusan Peninsula, and we supported their landing which included bombardment - you know, they would call in the fire and we’d support the troops while they were landing and whatever we could, and we were ordered to be stationed for provisions and so forth in Sasebo, Japan, and we’d be at sea for probably a month when we moved into Sasebo and took on resupplies and what had you, and by then MacArthur was in charge of the forces in Korea and other countries were supporting him - I know Turkish and English and French soldiers that were there to support - but he opted to have a landing at Inchon, to move in behind the troops…

Gillette: …Inchon was very difficult, because the tide at Inchon is 37 feet. That means from tide to the low tide was a difference of 37 feet. Now, when the tide moves like that, it moves very rapidly, and even when it’s the up tide, which is when it’s moving out, the landing crafts couldn’t—they were going backwards. So they could only land, like, every twelve hours, they could land troops. So they made a big landing, and then they had to wait twelve hours to get reinforcement. It was a very tricky and difficult thing, and our destroyer was part of four that were in close in shore, and again we were supporting them with fire from our ship. And that was the only time when I saw any of the destroyers fired upon – we were four destroyers firing, sailing in a line, and one of them got hit. Not ours, but they were firing at us. And so we supported the landing – we were there at least a week, I don’t remember how long, and then after that we were at sea for over eighty days. We ran out of supplies almost, and food and so forth. But mostly, we were supporting the aircraft carriers. Each carrier was divided into a task group. Some of them had a cruiser with them, but the group we were with had about six destroyers, and we were trying to protect them from enemy aircraft, support the takeoff and landings, search for downed pilots, which we did a couple times, so it was a support position, from then, and we were actually still there at Christmas time. At Christmas, shortly after Christmas, the US forces had pushed north almost to China, and that’s when the Chinese came across and started pushing our troops back. And I mean they came over very heavy and very quick, and the number far exceeded what we had, and – I guess it was about late January to the first part of April – we had to rescue troops which had been cut off by the Chinese. And many troops were…that was the time many people were captured, but we went with other forces and tried to rescue the troops at…Wunsan Reservoir is where we were rescuing them.

Interviewer: How, exactly, at least from your perspective, did the Korean War start? What influenced the invasion from North Korea? Do you know much about that?

Gillette: Well, after World War II, North Korea and South Korea were separated as part of the agreement by the powers that be that were separating land – as they all did, the Russians wanted certain provinces; they were probably as much as the Chinese – the Korean people had been occupied for years by Japan, and there was very hard feeling against the Japanese there, and I’m not sure what all the reasons were why they just ended up dividing it.

Interviewer: When you were serving, and fighting against the invasion from North Korea – tell me if I’m wrong, all the countries that were fighting to defend South Korea were under the direction of the UN, under MacArthur?

Gillette: That’s right.

Interviewer: So what the general perspective, as far as you could tell, of the UN forces towards North Korea – how did you regard them as you were trying to defend South Korea?

Gillette: Well, they had been very brutal against our troops when they were down at the Pusan Peninsula trying to push them off.

Interviewer: Did any of the soldiers that were fighting – did you know a lot about Kim Il Sung at the time or his goals?

Gillette: No.

Interviewer: Okay, so it was mostly just trying to protect South Korea from invasion?

Gillette: Yes. And there was great fear, even at that time, of what Russia was doing – and of course, China was mostly communist at this period of time. The nationalist Chinese were still fighting in China, and that lasted until about 1952 or 3, something like that, when they all went out onto what was then called Formosa, which was the island of China, and, in fact, a lot of our ships were diverted to go down there to protect the nationalist Chinese from the communist Chinese, and, I mean, the whole world was in a turmoil then.

Interviewer: So what do you think Kim Il Sung wanted to accomplish by taking over North Korea? What was their purpose?

Gillette: Well, they wanted to unify their countries. Both sides – both the North Koreans and the South Koreans – have always wanted the country to be united. The big question then, by their fighting, was, was it going to be a republic, a democratic country where there was freedom, or were you going to be under a dictatorship? Which is basically what they were – they were not really communist.

Interviewer: Were you still in North and South Korea at the armistice at the close of the Korean War?

Gillette: No, I got out of the Navy in the summer of 1952.

Interviewer: Were you in the US at that time?

Gillette: Yes.

Interviewer: So, when you heard that news, did it feel like a victory to you? Did it feel like what you wanted to accomplish had been done, or what did it feel like?

Gillette: No! It stopped the fighting, but it’s like when you’re playing a game when you’re a kid, and you said, “King’s X!”, you can’t get me now! You can’t tag me anymore! It’s a stalemate. And I think, the people in the military always feel like, when you start a war, you ought to win it. You know, somebody has to get the victory. You get in a fight, you know, a draw is not…I don’t know how to explain that.

Interviewer: How do you feel things should have gone? Were there any regrets you had – or those fighting for South Korea’s independence had – felt, about how things should have gone in the war?

Gillette: When MacArthur wanted to drive the Chinese out, to cross over the Yellow River, at that time, even before the Chinese crossed and started down, they were flying their jets out of China, and they were coming down and attacking our planes, and what have you, and MacArthur felt like, if you’re flying out of a base somewhere, no matter where it is, I have a right to go in and try to destroy your base, where you are at. And I can recognize his desires. You know, he was a very difficult commander to work for, and even the opinion in the military forces, the things that you heard about MacArthur, were… The difference between MacArthur and God is that you can get down on your knees and talk to God. I mean, he was a prima donna and there was only one way – MacArthur’s way. And I can understand why the President replaced him. But he was a brilliant military man.

Interviewer: With the whole worries of North Korea developing nuclear weapons right now, and Kim Jong Il’s death and Kim Jong Eun’s succession of him, what role do you think North Korea is going to play in the coming years? How do you think it’s going to affect foreign policy and things like that?

Gillette: I think we’re in a very, very dangerous position right now. Nobody wants to start a nuclear war. And I think you’re dealing with a bunch of people that…they’re…how do you explain them?

Interviewer: Well, their country is – the goal of it is communism. They’re ruled by a dictator. As far as we’ve been able to tell, they’re leadership is really corrupt.

Gillette: Under communism, the people…when Russia was fully under communism, the Iron Curtain fell – I’ve been the Russia and I’ve talked to a lot of the people that were there at the time, and a lot of them…there was a certain amount of freedom. I mean, people had plenty to eat. Nobody owned anything. That was one problem, that nobody owned anything. If you were a truck driver, and your truck broke down, you just got up and left it, because it wasn’t yours. Nobody owned anything; nobody took care of anything. Right now, in North Korea, from everything that I can hear, it’s more like a slave country. There is no freedom at all among the people.

Interviewer: That’s the end of my questions, but is there anything else that you would like to tell us?

Gillette: At the end of the war, World War II, Russia had control of most of that part of the country. In fact, when they – they actually came down towards the end of the war and moved troops toward Japan. They were the first ones to overrun prisoner of war camps that were in North Korea, South Korea. And in other areas around there, there were prisoner of war camps. In those prisoner of war camps, there were some of the people who had been on the Bataan Death March. And when the Russians moved in and took over and the war ended, you would think, they’re going to release all those guys! Well, it didn’t happen right away, and it took some time for many of those people to be released. And I’ve talked to some of them that have been in that situation, and they really didn’t – you know, when you were in Japan, and the war ended, “Whoopee”, everybody shouting “Hooray”. Up in the communist-controlled areas, it was not that way, and they were still wondering weeks and weeks afterward if they were going to get home. And most of them eventually did, but it was a difficult time.

Interviewer: Thank you so much for your time!

Gillette: You’re quite welcome.

Interviewer: How old were you at the time you were serving in the Navy on the destroyer?

Gillette: I went into the Navy when I was – during the war, I actually went in just before my eighteenth birthday; I was still seventeen. My dad had to sign for me. So I was in for seven years.

Interviewer: Thank you so much!

Gillette: Alright.