Article:
Walter Craig Davidson
WHOSE FIELD DESK OR FOOT LOCKER WAS IT??
On September 23rd 1950, the 3rd Bn. of the 65th Infantry Regiment landed in Pusan, Korea. Walter Craig Davidson, 2nd Lt was assigned as an infantry unit commander to this 3rd Bn. He had been called to active duty, while serving as a military investigator, at Ft. Gulick, Panama Canal Zone, for immediate deployment to Korea. With the single exception of 2nd Lt. Charles H. Fleming, who was called to active duty at the same time and place, Lt. Davidson was not acquainted with any other person in the 65th Inf. Regiment, commanded by Col. William W. Harris.
On or about the 25th of September, Lt. Davidson was called to Hq. 65th Regt. and ordered to proceed to Seoul, Korea to retrieve a field desk or footlocker that had been left by some unit in the gymnasium of the University of Seoul. Lt Davidson was given a roll of maps, the jeep and driver then waiting in front of the Hq. tent and told that the University buildings were on the east side of the city. Lt. Davidson then proceeded to Seoul, some 200 miles away, via the road from Taegu to Taejon, across the Kum River then the Han River, after threading his way through several thousand refugees and a number of small firefights with North Korean units now cut off from the north by MacArthur’s successful Inchon landing, on the coast some 25 miles west of Seoul.
Lt. Davidson continued on until he found the University campus, on which was an enormous building which could be entered by driving through a large double door in the side of the building. Upon entering this building with the jeep, a slow turn with the lights on, revealed an oversize footlocker or field desk against the wall in a corner. Lt Davidson and his driver, without opening the container, loaded it in the back of the jeep and tied it down. Lt Davidson observed that the miracle was that the “footlocker” was exactly where he had been told it would be. It was now getting dark so they started the return trip through Seoul. In a few days, the “container”, was delivered to the Hq. tent where they were told; “You will get a medal for this.” Of course, neither one ever heard anything more about the medal or the container. Who left the “container” in Seoul???
Lt. Davidson was medically evacuated in the middle of November, 1950, due to having been too close to an enemy mortar shell explosion. Any enlightenment by others who were there, will be appreciated.
Written by: Walter Craig Davidson