Fifty years ago, July 27, 1953 the Armistice was signed to
stop the fighting in Korea at Midnight.
Over 36,000 American Soldiers were killed or missing almost 100,000
wounded. The war began by a cowardly sneak attack by the North Koreans,
June 25, 1950, over the 38h parallel, which was the line set after
VOAM by Russia and the United States. On both sides over 2 million
soldiers died or were wounded and millions of civilians died, all
in the name of Communism.
Oroville gave up at least 7 or 8 of its young men to this war. Possibly
more and I suppose quite a number wounded. I don't know. What little
we do know is this and some of this could be wrong.
Don Raymond Bradish, U. S. Army died, probably shot down,
an Oroville resident? His mother is listed as a Gold Star Mother.
Information from Cliff Sawyer and Wayne and Joanne Rodgers,
S/Sgt
Roy E. Steed Jr. This information is pretty good, from
the Oroville Mercury Resister. We wrote about Roy in April 2003.
He served in the Philippine Islands near the end of the war in 1945
and died in an automobile accident in June of 1951, while still
in the Army.
Joe David Dunham U.S.M.C.
Oroville Mercury Register, July 10, 1952
JOE D. DUNHAM KILLED IN KOREA
Cpl. Joe David Dunham, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd L. Dunham,
Old Quincy Road, was killed in action in Korea Monday, according
to Mrs. Dunham. Mrs. Dunham said she received a telegram from the
War Department this morning in which it was disclosed that her son
was killed while in line of duty. Cpl. Dunham joined the Marines
in June of last year and received his basic training at Camp Pendleton
prior to going overseas in December. He attended Oroville Union
High School. Young Dunham's father is manager of the Diamond Match
Co. here.
Stu’s Notes:
Joe's friend Harold Hoover says that Joe wore thick
glasses and wondered why the Marines let him join. I can relate
to this as I tried to join the Marines in 1959. 1 went to San Francisco
and passed every test but the eye test Oh, well I had a dam to build.
James Lenoff also knew of this man. Jack Moseley, 12th Street,
Thermalito, KIA, told by Wayne Rogers. Since then Jack's sister
Blanch and brother Dick both have died. Uncle Robert Wixsom is still
living in Oroville. I met Mr. Henric of Thermalito. He knew Jack
Moseley. He said he was one of the first killed. Henric worked at
the Olive Plant. Jack was from the Oroville High School Class of
1948. He was in the Army. I knew Dick in High School. He worked
for the movie theaters in Oroville and Chico. Robert Harley Young,
Medal of Honor recipient. Born in Oroville. Then a blank
spot in his short life. I have traced him to Vallejo when he was
about 12 years old. He died in Korea, honored as a hero in Vallejo,
Forgotten in Oroville, until now. His story can be found in the
O.M.R. Nov. 22, 2002. The first information on Robert was from Bob
Hewitt who found the story on the Internet. What a story it was.
Above and Beyond the call of duty.
Richard Delbart Jensen ENS. Navy, from Oroville,
California, K.I.A. February 1952. This is all we know. Glen Leroy
Slavicek A/C Air Force of Oroville, CA. Missing, presumed dead,
Sept. 2, 1952. This information was from James Lenhoff. Cotton
Karr, born in Fort Smith ARK, lived in Oroville, KIA when his
artillery piece blew up while firing on the enemy. I was told this
story by his nephew Dick Belser. Dick also told me that Cotton survived
a lightning strike while on his motorcycle on Devils Dip in Oroville.
Cotton was a brother of Nancy Wilson. David Dunning, this
name could be David Dunham. I might have heard wrong one day. I
do that. But we will keep looking. There are probably more soldiers
that died in Korea from Oroville. A member of the Oroville Veterans
Memorial Park Committee, Ted Grainger served in the Army in three
wars, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Serving in Korea, he was in the trenches
the last day before the Armistice. Most Americans ceased fire by
6PM. What was the sense of killing people now. The Communists kept
firing right up to the deadline. Then he said it was so quiet, it
was unbelievable. As the sun rose the people starting moving back,
coming out of their holes. We cannot do enough to honor these men.