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William Matthew Iler ’44
Mr. Iler, who died on August 23, 2015, shortly after our May
interview, was called up to serve in different places as an
ROTC member out of Princeton University. Eventually, Mr.
Iler was deployed to Korea. He first landed in Japan before
assignment on July 6, 1953 to Korea – three weeks before
fighting ceased in the region. In February 1954, he landed
at Busan at the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula.
Mr. Iler recalled the tension in the air as the planes flew with
flares for infiltrating infantry every night. As the 2nd Lt. USA,
D Battery, Artillery, 140th Infantry Division, his service in-
cluded involvement with Armed Forces Aid to Korea (AFAK)
program, through which he happily carried out various post-
war reconstructive work. Mr. Iler stayed on in South Korea
after the war to complete building a primary school for the
local province. He was later honorably discharged as a Cap-
tain. For his service in the Korean War, Mr. Iler received the
National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal,
the United Nations Service Ribbon, the Republic of Korea
Presidential Unit Citation, and an Overseas Service Bar. His
reconstruction efforts were commended in a framed certificate
signed on May 9, 1954, by the chief official of the Kapyung
Educational District in Korea. He recalled fondly his “fabu-
lous unit mates” and encountering teenage Korean boys, who
joined the military units and did manual work in exchange for
food and safety. The relationship, Mr. Iler said, was healthy
and happy. He remembered being impressed by the work ethic
of the Korean boys, who diligently studied English in addition
to performing their daily labor. Mr. Iler said he “thought every
day to keep surviving” during his service, but repeatedly em-
phasized that he felt very lucky to have been in Korea, doing
his part to serve the country and the world.
James Wesley Kinnear III ’46
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Mr. Kinnear served
three consecutive tours on Korean
waters, resulting in seven engage-
ment stars and a Navy Commen-
dation medal. Mr. Kinnear’s first
tour began immediately after he
got married and he recalls how
he took the long journey on an
escort aircraft carrier with 12 close
air-support Corsairs. They arrived
at the Nakdong River area north of
Busan as U.N. forces were being
pushed back by the army of the
Communist regime of North Korea. The U.S. Navy’s close air
support was critical in preventing the Korean army from
defeat. Two months later, Mr. Kinnear took part in the famous
Battle of Inchon, a large-scale invasion designed by General
Douglas MacArthur, that began on September 15, 1950, and
lasted for four days. The event shifted the war in favor of
U.N. forces. On his third tour in Korea, Mr. Kinnear served
as executive officer and navigator on a Landing Ship Tank,
which supported ROK Marines in the Yellow Sea on Korea’s
west coast. The ship evacuated 1,500 civilians to safety on
an island south of Inchon. His tours in Korea left Mr. Kinnear
with firsthand knowledge of the war. He marveled recently
at the development Korea has been able to achieve since the
1950s. Seoul, he remembers, was left after the war with only
one floating bridge built by the Americans, compared to the
27 it proudly features today.
Charles Sprague Boit ’49
Upon graduating from Harvard in June 1953 with a degree in
international relations, Mr. Boit joined the U.S. Army, following
the example of his father, who served
in both World Wars. The truce agree-
ment that essentially ended the
Korean War was signed a year prior
to Mr. Boit’s arrival in Korea, there-
fore his assignment under the 181st
U.S. Army Signal Corps mainly dealt
with working with teletype equipment.
Having been stationed for a year in
rundown Yeongdeungpo District, Mr.
Boit recalled many characteristics
that do not reflect the South Korea
I know today. For example, he wit-
nessed four Korean boys in Seoul
offering to help a U.S. Army captain with his luggage, before
running in opposite directions with his bags. Mr. Boit’s mem-
ories of post-war Seoul reflect the chaos of the city at the
time. He observed locals idly smoking in half-collapsed
buildings and stealing goods to survive. One group of resi-
dents was so desperate, he said, that they dismantled a jet
to remove its engine, presumably for sale. Mr. Boit believed
that the Sino-Japanese War and the Japanese occupation in
Korea held back Korea’s development for at least 25 years.
As a foreigner serving in Korea, he expressed his shock at
the country’s poor infrastructure and the challenge for Amer-
ican military leadership to begin the process of rebuilding for
the Korean people.
ice
A native of South Korea, the author interviewed
three SPS KoreanWar veterans about their service.
