Plain Tales of the Korean Hills

Corporal Sam Kelly arrived in Pusan Korea shortly after the armistice to witness firsthand the grim conditions that the Korean civilians faces. People were starving to the point they scavenge the trash dumps near army camps for food, villages were re-built with discarded ammo crates and other expended war materials. When the war was at its peak villagers hid their belonging in large clay jars buried in the hill sides hoping they would live to return and re-start their lives, some did. Those who survived came back land riddle with landmines as many locals were maimed attempting to cross open fields and old trails. Even with the worst of post war conditions the Korean people demonstrated a robust spirit to rebuild their country and return life back to normal as quickly as possible.

There are many books and articles about the major players of the Korean War, but there are very few that address the aftermath of the war and the view point of the young 18 and 20 year old's who fought the war and enforced the armistice. This book chronicles the life of Corporal Sam Kelly as he entered basic training, shipping out to Korea to be stationed on the DMZ near Seoul for a year. If you were adventurous life was never dull, Sam took advantage of every opportunity to explore post war Korea and Japan from 1954 to 1955. This book includes many photographs of Company A, 73rd Tank Battalion soldier's life in the field and the post war conditions of South Korea.

Sam Kelly started his military career in JROTC at Long Beach Poly High School then enlisted in the 452 Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, at Daugherty Field, Air Force Reserves with his friend Paul Kellogg. He requested a transfer to the Army in 1953 so he could go to Korea. He arrived just after the Armistice. He saw a post war Korea and the resolve of the locals to rebuild their country. After Korea Sam graduated from Cal Poly San Louis Obispo and started work with the Ocean Engineer division of Interstate Electronics in Anaheim California where he worked on locating and recovering things people lost on the ocean floor. Before the Hughes Glomar Explorer Barge could sale on a mission he had to get all the feral cats safely ashore. After Interstate he taught ocean engineering at Cal Poly Pomona. During the cold war he worked with the Soviets on a number of ocean research operations in the Pacific.