LETTERS Hungnam Evacuation of 1950 and the Military Sealift Command Your article on the contributions of the MSC is most timely (Sea H istory 11 2, Autumn 2005). In addition to deliverin g the goods, the MS C has also participated in many humanitarian operations. I served as the Staff Officer aboard SS M eredith Victory during the Korean War. Although operated by Moore-McC ormack Lines during that conflict, the ship was chartered to the N avy's Military Sea Transportati on Service (predecessor to MSC). We participated in the Inchon Landing, September 1950, where we landed elements of the 3 l st RCT, 7th Infantry Division , together with their tanks and equipment. In D ecember 1950, we participated in the Hungnam Evacuation in North Korea, during the Chosin Reservoir Campaign. Our rescue of 14,000 Korean refugees has been described as the greatest rescue by a single ship in history. The three-day transit to safety in South Korea sailed through enemy minefields. The officers and crew were later decorated with the Gall ant Ship Unit C itation and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation. Our captain, Leonard P. LaRue, left the sea at the end of the War and became a Benedictine monk, taking the name Brother Marinus. This successful humanitarian rescue by an MSTS ship sho uld never be forgotten .
J.
ROB ERT L U N NEY
ships to leave Hungnam , the Meredith Victory, set her course through enemy mine fields, and although having little food and water, and neither doctor nor interpreter, accomplished the three-day voyage to safety at Pusan with her hum an cargo, including several babies born en route, without loss of a single life .
11 2), say that Admi ral Villeneuve committed suicide on his return trip to Paris afte r being a prisoner in England. The facrs of the case make it obvious that Napoleon's age nts murdered him. IRVING
c. SH ELD ON
Saunderstown, Rhode Island
I too think Napoleon had Villeneuve killed, but historians don't accept this as proven. Since academia regularly ignores the great gap in human rights between traditional English freedoms and the paper Liberties of the French Revolution, I felt it best not to of fend them by identifjing Napoleon as a murderer. They'll be upset enough by my citing the spirit ofBritish crews, who felt they were fighting in freedom's cause, as the real force - Peter Stanford that won at Trafalgar. Korean refagees crowd onboard SS M eredith Victory in December 1950. The courage, resourcefuln ess, sound seamanship and teamwo rk of her mas ter, officers, and crew in successfully completing one of the greatest marine rescues in the history of the wo rld have caused the nam e of the Meredith Victory to be perpetuated as that of a Gallant Ship."
Murder at Sea? I was sorry to see Mr. Stanford, in his article, "Humani ty after Victory" (Sea H istory
Thomas Hoyne Oh, how I lo nged to get to Philadelphi a las t summer to see the exhibit of Thomas H oyne's paintings, but it was too fa r, I was too busy, and th e summer flew by too fas t. Ir is my ho pe that this exhibit would travel across the co untry, but since it was not mentioned in the article, I am guessing that I missed my chance. My grandfa ther had a very brief career in the fi sheries, j ust when the las t schooners were being phased o ut by the steel trawlers. H e talked abou t schoo ners th e way we mi ght talk of typewriters-
White Plains, New York
The Gallant Ship Citation Bar, A uthorized by Public Law 398, 86TH CONGRESS, was awarded to Mr. Lunney in 1960. It reads: ''At the height of the epoch-making evacuation of Hungnam, Korea, by the U nited N ations Forces in D ecember, 1950, the Meredith Victory was requested to assist in the removal of Korean civilians trapped and threatened with death by the encircling enemy armies . Most of the military personnel had been pulled o ut, and the city was aflame from enemy gunfi re. D esp ite imminent danger of artillery and air attack, and while her escape route became mo re precarious by the ho ur, the Meredith Victory, her tanks full of jet fuel , held her position in the shell-tom harbo r until 14,000 men, women, and children had crowded into the ship. One of the las t
SEA HISTORY 113 , WINTER 2005-2006
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