Video Log Nathan Barsky Korea U.S. Navy Born: 10/05/1929

Interview Date: 05/16/2012 Interviewed By: Robert Mastroni

00:00:55 talk of drafting men into Army in 1948, Barsky didn’t want to join Army so he talked to cousin in Navy who told him to become a Yeoman in Navy and that they did administrative work; Barsky enlisted August 3, 1948 in NYC; was told when he tried to enlist to come back next day; reported next day and put on train to Great Lakes, IL, took 36 hours to get there; Navy training 00:04:00 trained in firefighting school, swimming, learn discipline; various training, shoot M-1 rifle; boxing matches during evening; training took 10 weeks 00:05:30 Barsky took test to become a Yeoman, passed it and went to Yeoman school in Norfolk, VA; Norfolk was one of largest Naval Bases in US, had lot of bars, tattoo parlors and prostitutes; lawns had signs that read “dogs and sailors not allowed” 00:06:50 met up with man named Bill Kayley, got Barsky to get tattoos; Barsky got tattoo on right forearm of heart with an arrow with mothers name, cost him $3; ended up getting another tattoo on upper left arm of an eagle with American flag and US Navy, cost $5 00:09:19 after Yeoman school was assigned to 4th Naval District in , PA; worked for a Captain, was a General Inspectors Yeoman; duties were unusual, would get out at 2pm every afternoon; lived in NYC at time and had no duties at time; Philadelphia had good jazz, saw Sammy Davis, Jr. 00:10:56 2 years go by, Barsky got orders from Washington, DC for sea duty; got on plane to San Francisco, Ca then to San Diego, CA; ship needed a Yeoman; situation in Korea called for him being placed on sea duty; no TV media covered Korea, was the “Forgotten War”; Barsky told his parents he had sea duty 00:13:20 goes to San Francisco, CA; July 11; took 12 hour to get there, got off plane it was 30 degrees (had been 94 in Philadelphia); spent 4-5 days there 00:14:41 then to San Diego, CA; Executive Officer told Barsky they needed him, had to catch up on writing log that was 3 weeks behind 00:15:20 during time, doing Anti- Warfare (ASW) exercises, using zig zag patterns, also shoot at aircraft sleeves with 40 mm guns 00:15:50 4-5 months later headed overseas; first to Midway Islands or Pearl (doesn’t remember which was first); Midway island was referred to as “the island of the gooney birds”, 90 personnel there, birds would peck and so would personnel; from there went to Pearl Harbor for 3-4 days; Barsky wanted pizza 00:17:22 Barksy makes correction – Went to Pearl Harbor first then to Midway Island, the island of the gooney birds, re-fueled; headed towards North Korea; met up with

bunch of ships, Task Force 77, going at rate of 34-37 knots, had 25-30 ships with his; shooting at targets of opportunity; most important thing, spent 51 days at sea before going into port in Japan; Barsky could see shore line from office on ship 00:19:32 headed to Sasebo, Japan; Sasebo and Yokosuka were two Naval Ports in Japan; Barsky was in charge of liberty cards; guys went wild since they had been on ship for 50+ days; Barsky was impressed with Japanese people, were honest people 00:21:03 back to ship; met up with other ships, remembers Naval Blockade that was difficult; big ships like the USS New Jersey would have to drop anchor and leave quickly due to counter battery fire 00:21:52 area around Hungnam, North Korea was evacuated due to heat, apart of Barsky’s ships job; another job was to follow aircraft carriers, if pilots didn’t hit main deck right, they would have to go after him; all pilots were picked up 00:23:18 Christmas time at sea, Santa came in helicopter 00:24:02 North Koreans would put mine on san pan, come out late at night and put mine near bow of ship, ship would take off in morning and it would blow up the bow; remembers USS Walke lost 29 men; san pans were very small boats 00:25:11 Barsky’s ship was a radar picket ship; looked for various things such as aircraft, other ships; times in parts of North Korea when they didn’t know who owned that territory on beach; couldn’t communicate by radio because North Koreans would know where they were 00:26:48 no one fell overboard; close calls though because fuel and provisions were taken on at sea, guys handling lines would have lines wrapped around ankles; Barsky’s ship would take wounded soldiers, transport them to other ships via highline – line would be tossed over from ship to ship; remembers being next to the ship Union, Barsky went aboard that ship to watch movie, came out it was pitch black, had to cross over to his ship via line that connected ships together 00:32:50 being fired at from shore, 3 out of 4 ships in Barsky’s division got hit, minor causalities, no fatalities 00:33:41 two jobs in serive – 1 military, 1 regular; Barksy’s regular was being Yeoman – administrative work; military was in CIC – Combat Information Center – sonar, radar, Barksy was in charge of 5’/38 guns, shells close to 4 feet high 6-7’ diameter, go out 22 miles, guns going off would cause bulbs where bunks were to break, caused ear damage to Barsky 00:35:36 Barsky met Don Kurth, farm boy from Iowa 00:38:04 had 3 days off, went to Camp Woods in Japan; rented car and went to golf course, golfed for 7 minutes and instead went to clubhouse for beer with Don Kurth 00:41:32 Camp Woods was in Army camp, went for R&R 00:41:46 Don Kurth was Barsky’s influence to leave NYC, he left service in 1951; 1983 Barksy gets call from Kurth, stayed with Barsky for couple days; Don died eventually of emphysema 00:47:02 had to sink san pan sips because they were carrying mines 00:48:28 Barsky’s ship was in water off North Korea, could see enemy installations on land with binoculars; they would shoot at enemy trains going though tunnels; worked with helicopters who were used as spotters; knocked off over 5,000 rounds 00:52:09 rendezvous with USS Isabelle, Bass, another ship; Republic of Korea men came aboard ship, they let them go; hard to recognize who was on North or South side of Korea 00:53:55 came back after 10-12 months, around June, 1951; Barsky went home on leave, told his brother he was going to go AWOL, was upset about lack of coverage of

war in America, lot of people were getting killed, brother was Marine Sergeant from WWII, convinced him to stay in service 00:55:55 went overseas again 00:58:00 went to cherry blossom festival in Japan 01:00:09 entertainment aboard ship were movies, tailors from Japan would come aboard ship and sell suits 01:00:54 food aboard ship wasn’t bad, it was acceptable, old timers made fun of guys who got sick on rough seas 01:01:38 ship had rough times on seas, but being on a destroyer, called a tin can, waves would go across the deck 01:02:46 2-3 months between 1st and 2nd tour 01:02:55 went back to same ship, left on transport to come back; came back to San Francisco, CA; no reception for him 01:04:11 people in US didn’t know that Korean War was going on 01:05:53 Barsky wrote 2 logs of his ship, the performance of the ship, where it goes and what it did 01:09:53 is working on a memoir 01:10:15 life after service, had job in city working for Dual Eastern, made band saw blade 01:13:45 did picture framing as well 01:14:29 1990, read article in Stratford Paper by Bob Mastroni about need for a Korean monument; went to VFW., got group together and year later got monument 01:19:13 Barsky believes people should join service if they don’t want to go to college, they will meet people from different walks of life, you will be a different person when you come out; once you experience war you have to change; didn’t experience and prejudice during time in military