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Mertz, John, EM2.
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Contact Info
Home Town Ft. Dodge
Last Address SHAKOPEE, MN
Date of Passing Jul 03, 2015
Location of Interment Fort Snelling National Cemetery (VA) - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Korean War/CCF Intervention (1950-51)/Hungnam Evacuation
From Month/Year
December / 1950
To Month/Year
December / 1950
Description The Hungnam evacuation, code-named Christmas Cargo, also known as the Miracle of Christmas, was the evacuation of UN forces and North Korean civilians from the port of Hungnam, North Korea, between 15 and 24 December 1950.
The port at Hungnam was the site of a major evacuation of United Nations military, South Korean military, and North Korean civilians during the Korean War in late December 1950. Approximately 100,000 troops and material and 100,000 civilians were loaded onto merchant ships and military transports totaling 193 shiploads over the weeks leading up to Christmas 1950. They were transported to safety in Pusan and other destinations in South Korea. The evacuation included 14,000 refugees who were transported on one ship, the SS Meredith Victory — the largest evacuation from land by a single ship. This was made possible by a declaration of national emergency by President Truman issued on 16 December 1950 with Presidential Proclamation No. 2914, 3 C.F.R. 99 (1953). This operation was the culmination of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, in which the embattled UN troops fought their way out of a Chinese trap.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
December / 1950
To Month/Year
December / 1950
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories onboard USS General William Mitchell AP-114
transcribed/edited from ships story - The Mitchell has just completed two troop transports from Yokohama to Inchon
~about 2 December, 1950
"However, it was here that a change of plans was enacted. Returning to Yokohama, by traversing the outer edges of the Japanese mainland islands of Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu, she was but eight hours from her destination (Yokohama) when orders were relayed to the ship, which was to turn it around (in the wee hours of the morning) and send it to the fateful Hungnam evacuation.
Putting on full speed, the ship shortened it's route to Hungnam by traversing the very beautiful, yet treacherously narrow Straits of Shimonoseki, which seperates the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, by less than a mile of water. A pilot is required to negotiate this passage, part of the Inland Sea of Japan, entered through Bungo Straits, - and it was but a few hours to Hungnam, where the Mitchell arrived on 6 December. The ship waited in the harbor for six days, and left on 12 December (1950) with a load of wounded, taking them to Moji, (Kyushu Island) in the Straits of Shimonoseki, arriving there on 13 December. On 14 December, the ship went back to Hungnam for the second time, and evacuated about 4500 troops, South Koreans, Americans, Turkish, and others, leaving on 20 December, after another wait of five days. During this time, there was a snow storm, and the morning following, the hills were snow-clad right to the water's edge, and the tempature dropped to ten degrees above zero. The Mitchellwas a beautiful sight, clad in her winter's garb, but the serinity was broken by the staccato beat of drum-like gunfire on the hills and over in the valley at the city of Hamnung. There were ships in the harbor too, destroyers and cruisers, firing over the top of the Mitchell at the Communist installations on the mainland.
This was the last visit to Hungnam, and on 20 December, (1950) the ship brought its record-breaking load of evacuees to Pusan, Korea, arriving 21 December. On 23 December, the ship started back to Yokohama, via the Shiminoseki Straits, and anchored out in Yokohama Harbor Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was spent in the harbor also, and then on 28 December, the Mitchell began her return trip to the United States, after an absence of 2 1/2 months."
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=c49280a91b79826dbff47dc198f1bbf0 "Honorable Discharge Emblem (WWII)")
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=4cabb16c4bb63567ecc81f2bec05c4b6 "Did the Ditch (Suez Canal)")
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=0cb147133885c62667d8969c50b66659 "Order of the Ditch (Panama Canal)")
