Unit Operations

Arrived Korea late January, 1952 on the East Coast of Korea, 1st Mar. Division moved to West Coast about April and served as asst. machine gunner, then Machine gunner, then squad leader.  Promoted to Cpl. in June, 1952.  Transferred to Ammo Corporal in October 52 and departed Korea in Late January 53.

Awards/Badges

National Defense Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, Korean Service Medal w/ 3 Stars, Marine Good Conduct and The Bronze Star with Combat "V"

Purple Heart

Most Memorable Moment

Many memorable moments that will never be forgotten.  One that comes to mind is "One night (in reserve, naturally) we were playing Poker and decided we were starving.  I volunteered to go and try and get something out of the Mess tent. I made a back door under the flap entry to the mess storage area  and picked up a crate of 30 dozen (fresh) eggs.  I had had a few drinks, by the way.  I started back up the muddy steps to our tent.  It was raining hard and and every once in a while, I started to slip and had to offload the eggs.  Each time, I picked up the crate and after a dozen off load's, I made it to the tent. There was still about six dozen good eggs and we cooked up a  mess.  The officers were royally PO'd because they didn't have their fresh eggs. We really enjoyed them for a couple weeks.

Any comments or anecdotes you’d like to add

I love the USMC and would not take any amount of money for my experiences and what it meant to the rest of my life.

Career After USMC

Became a Journeyman Electrician, then a Master Electrician, then started my own business.  Also got into the Night Club (for 2 years) and Construction Building business for approx. forty  years

Current Affiliations

MCA, MCL

Family Information

Married Feb. 14, 1953 to Barbara Bell. We had three children, Rickie Duane, Vickie Sue and Donald John.  Divorced and Married Jennie Swanson on Feb14, 1965 in Las Vegas. We raised two sons, Ronald Wesley Bledsoe and Timothy Scott Watson. Also have step-daughter Kathy Schwab.

Hobbies

This website, E 2 7 Reunions, Golf, and Golf

Degrees/Schools

High School and one semester of college

Current Address

Email: e27gunner@gmail.com