79th Engineer Construction Bn

A Brief History The 79th Engineers began in July 1940, as an inactive unit of the regular army. On December 10, 1942 the Battalion was activated and ordered to Camp Phillips, Kansas (near Salina). In April 1943 the unit was reorganized and designated the 79th Engineer Combat Battalion. Shortly after that, it was ordered to Tennessee for maneuvers in preparation for overseas shipment. On 17 January 1944, the 79th left from San Francisco to Goodenough Island and was assigned to the Sixth Army. First assignment was to Hollandria, New Guinea building roads and installations. In January 1945, the Battalion moved to Luzon, Philippine Islands giving support to the ground forces and later building installations. After completing its mission on Luzon, it was ordered to Palu, Hawaii, arriving there in April 1946. In October that year, a typhoon struck the Marianas and the 79th was called upon to repair damage on New Caledonia. In December, the Battalion returned to Hawaii and was inactivated in June 1947. The Battalion was reactivated as the 79th Construction Battalion on 28 February 1949 at Fort Sill, Ok. It remained at Fort Sill attached to the 17th Field Artillery Group for one year. The Battalion was chosen to be part of Task Force 3, which was to take part in Operation Greenhouse. Its mission was to destroy existing buildings on Eniwetok Atoll and build new installations for a garrison of a permanent nature. In March, the main body left Oakland, California for Eniwetok. The 79th really humped their tails and completed the job in less than expected time, hoping to be home for Christmas. In the meantime the North Koreans had invaded the South and General McArthur had managed to get the Chinese to join in and the whole push of military and civilians were in trouble. The 79th was sent to Japan to resupply and make ready to go to Korea. In November 1950, it arrived at Hungnam Korea to aid the Eighth Army in halting the Chinese and North Korean advances. For a week, it maintained and repaired rail and roads. In December, it was assigned the task of helping with the historic evacuation of Hungnam, Hamhung and the port of Hungnam. The task of moving troops into the city and onto the ships was performed efficiently. The guys present on that job told me that the average temperature on Eniwetok was 98 degrees, a month later, they were in North Korea where it was 40 below, they did not have real winter clothing, and sleeping bags and damn near froze to death. With the

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evacuation complete, the 79th was the last to leave with exception for members of the third division who were fighting the rear guard action. On Christmas Day 1950, the 79th arrived in Pusan and was sent to the front to maintain the Main Service Roads and Rails. The Battalion arrived in Kijong-Ja, Korea and was assigned to the 24th Engineer Construction Group. The year 1951 was a busy one for the 79th Engineers building roads and bridges to supply the line companies north of Seoul. The men were constantly subject to guerrilla activity. In June 1952, the Battalion was sent south to build new prisoner compounds. These were completed and we were sent to Seoul on 9 September 1952. This brings us up to the center of the setting of the story I have just shared with you all.

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