Hi:
I just discovered an interview that my father gave to a high school student in 1989 about his involvement in the Korean War; this is the only account that I have of my dad's war experiences in his own words. The article was for a school paper and, although he kept a copy of the paper, Dad never mentioned the interview before he died; in fact, he never talked about the Korean War at all. After reading the short article, I find that I want to clarify something so I am coming to you. Actually, the biggest question I have is to get some idea of what you think my dad might have meant when he made the following highlighted statement about the enemy. I want to add more information where I put brackets.
Thanks a million for your help.
Happy 4th of July.
Beth
Entering Korea in 1952, Cullom was assigned leader of a machine gun and rifle platoon. At 23, he had already seen his share of war, having participated in World War II. Cullom’s platoon was assigned to the western coast of South Korea, where he and his men were involved in constant skirmishes with the Chinese and North Korean army. “They were very, very tough from the standpoint that they could tolerate a lot of things that I don’t think we could,” he says of the enemy [regarding….] . Cullom also remarks that when he was first assigned to his platoon, it contained only eight men, as compared to the full number of forty-four men and one officer. “It had just taken a pretty good a—kicking,” he says."