Personal Narrative Manuscript/Mixed Material Software, E-Resource Audio Recording Harvey B. Steinberg Collection
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
- War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
- Branch of Service: Marine Corps
- Unit of Service: 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
- Location of Service: Korea; China; Guam (Mariana Islands); United States
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/8137
A troubled teenager, Harvey Steinberg enlisted in the Marines shortly after the end of World War II. As a telephone lineman, he did a tour of duty in China, when the communists were warring with the Nationalists. His enlistment commitment was to end in October 1950, but when the Korean War broke out, the Marines told him they needed platoon leaders and would make him an officer. He turned down the offer, assuming he would ride out his enlistment. Instead he was frozen in his position and soon shipped out to Korea. When he arrived at Inchon in September 1950, the weather was still summery, but two months later he was at the Chosin Reservoir, battling subzero conditions and an overwhelming force of Chinese soldiers. During the withdrawal, which he refers to as "attacking in the opposite direction," Steinberg was wounded in the wrist and ankle. The blood on his foot froze, likely saving him from amputation. Recuperating at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, he met a Jewish Marine, the only other one of his "tribe" he came across.
Harvey B. Steinberg Collection
Interview / Recording
Transcript
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PlaySigned up for the Marines two days short of his 16th birthday; wanted to train for radio repair, was put into Communications and wound up a telephone lineman; tours in China and Guam; after Korean War broke out was offered platoon leader school; he chose not to, knowing his term was nearly up, but was frozen and sent to Korea; laying phone wires over and over as invasion vehicles cut newly laid lines. 00:01:30.0 - 00:06:13.6
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PlayOn a forward observer team, laying lines in front of company's advance and directing artillery fire; to Wonsan and Chosin Reservoir; weather turned in two months from warm to below zero; having Thanksgiving dinner with real turkeys, many left behind in the withdrawal. 00:07:47.8 - 00:10:25.8
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PlayHow he was shot during the trip south from the Chosin; ambushed, radioman was shot out of the jeep he was driving; he evacuated and was wounded in the wrist and ankle; blood froze around his foot, likely saving it from amputation; taken off the field in a Piper Cub airplane. 00:11:13.7 - 00:15:23.3
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PlayHad planned to stay in the Marines after he recovered but could not get promotion to staff sergeant, so he finished his term and went back to school, finishing high school, and going to college and law school; worked for the CIA while finishing high school and worked with the guard force at Treasury from midnight to 8 while he went to law school during the day. 00:15:35.2 - 00:17:35.3
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PlayIn Tsingtao, China, to see Chiang Kai Shek's forces being driven out by the communists; desperate times for the locals, but his duty time was enjoyable, with plenty of diversions; hated his time in Guam; locals there resented the military presence. 00:19:42.7 - 00:21:34.0
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PlayHis recuperation at Bethesda; doctors changing their treatment for frostbitten toes; keeping your feet dry in the field helped prevent frostbite; how he and a buddy went AWOL just before they shipped out to Korea; went to Los Angeles for the weekend, staying awake on Benzedrine; got back just in time for a captain to take note of their absence only to cut them slack. 00:22:56.4 - 00:26:38.7
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PlayMet one other Jewish Marine in the five years he was in service; why men join the Marines; didn't practice religion while in the Corps; once offered Yom Kippur off while he was still stateside. 00:29:55.0 - 00:32:06.2
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PlayCredits the Marines for straightening him out as a trouble teenager; boot camp was brutal; when he would tell civilians about it, they wouldn't believe him; at Bethesda, a doctor was saving bones from amputations in a bone bank which could be used for bone grafts, which helped his wrist. 00:32:45.7 - 00:37:24.8
About this Item
Title
- Harvey B. Steinberg Collection
Names
- DAR-Chevy Chase, Maryland Chapter
- Brault, Dorothy M.
- Steinberg, Harvey B.
- Daughters of the American Revolution, Chevy Chase, Maryland Chapter
Home State
- Maryland
Headings
- - Steinberg, Harvey B.
- - Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
- - United States. Marine Corps.
Repository
- Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Gender
- Male
Status
- veteran
Service History
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Korean War, 1950-1953
- Branch of Service: Marine Corps
- Unit of Service: 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
- Location of Service: Korea; China; Guam (Mariana Islands); United States
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Dates of Service: 1946-1951
- Entrance into Service: Enlisted
- Military Status: veteran
Materials
- Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-03-04)
- Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2006-11-03)
- Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2006-11-03)
- Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2006-11-03; 2006-11-04)
- Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2006-03-22; 2006-03-22)
Collection Number
- AFC/2001/001/8137
Cite as
- Harvey B. Steinberg Collection (AFC/2001/001/8137), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Online Format
- audio
- online text