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Contact Info
Home Town Honolulu
Last Address Dubuque, Iowa. Mount Calvary Cemetery.
Date of Passing May 26, 2014
Location of Interment Mount Calvary Cemetery - Dubuque, Iowa
LCdr, Dr. Newton Chun, MD Hawaii Territorial Guard and ROTC WWII, Korean War, Ret. U.S.N.R
Dr. Newton Chun was born on June 3, 1923 at Queens Hospital in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. Growing up in Hawaii made for idyllic childhood. As a boy, the lush island paradise, including a pristine and undeveloped Waikiki Beach was his backyard and playground. His father died young and his mother, a Korean picture bride*, had to struggle to raise five children on her own during the Great Depression. Wishing for them a better life, she stressed the importance of higher education.
Newton dedicated himself to the rigors of the classroom. After graduating from Farrington High School he enrolled at the University of Hawaii where he hoped to lay the academic groundwork that would enable him to pursue a medical career. However, his plans were interrupted when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
In addition to his academic responsibilities at the University of Hawaii Newton was also a member of the schools venerable Hawaii Territorial Guard. This was the only senior ROTC unit in the country to see active duty during World War II. Cadet Newton Chun assisted the U.S. Armed Forces by lending his services as an ambulance driver. Being in such close contact with wounded soldiers and civilians was a profound experience for a young pre-med student. Not only did it strengthen his resolve to become a doctor, it made him consider the possibility of making surgery his specialty.
During the war years, the University of Hawaii temporarily closed its doors, forcing Newton to abandon his studies. Realizing that the dream of one day becoming a surgeon was in jeopardy, he immediately applied to medical schools on the mainland. In the interim, he worked at nearby Ford Island as an airplane mechanic while he waited for someone in college admissions office to rubber-stamp one of his applications. He was a reporter of university's newspaper, the Ka Leo o Hawaii until 1945. His excellent grades earned him a nod from Northwestern University. It was here where he received his B.S., M.S., and M.D. degrees.
After graduation from Northwestern medical school he fulfilled his surgical residency at nearby Presbyterian Hospital. Fascinated by the rapid advances being made in heart surgery, he decided to focus his attention on this burgeoning medical field. He completed his thoracic residency at Children's Memorial Hospital and the Chicago State Tuberculosis Sanitarium, and a fellowship in cardio-vascular surgery at the world-renowned Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Brown Mills, New Jersey.
After completing his medical training, he married Dubuquer Rosemarie Peschang on December 26, 1952 at Chicago's St. Jarlath's Catholic Church. The couple's marital bliss however was cut short when Newton was drafted into the Korean war after serving on a Pacific tour as Ships Medical Officer. Stationed in San Diego, where he served at the Balboa Naval Hospital. After the war he remained in the Naval Reserve, in Dubuque IA, for 16 years. Honorably discharged, he retired from the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, the most senior of the junior officer ranks.
Other Comments:
Dr. Newton Chun, MD, was a board certified thoracic surgeon in Dubuque, Iowa.
Certifications & Licensure:
American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Thoracic Surgery.
American Board of Surgery, Surgery.
Awards, Honors, & Recognition:
Fellow (FACS), American College of Surgeons.
Professional Memberships:
American College of Surgeons - ACS, Member.
*The term picture bride refers to the practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers (chiefly Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean) in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States and Canada selecting brides from their native countries via a matchmaker, who paired bride and groom using only photographs and family recommendations of the possible candidates. This is an abbreviated form of the traditional matchmaking process, and is similar in a number of ways to the concept of the mail-order bride.
Korean War/Korean Summer (1953)
From Month/Year
May / 1953
To Month/Year
July / 1953
Description Korea, Summer 1953, 1 May - 27 July 1953. There was little activity anywhere along the front as 1953 began. Then, as spring approached, the enemy renewed his attacks against the Eighth Army 's outpost line. By July these attacks had increased in frequency and intensity until they were nearly as heavy as those of May 1951.
In January 1953 Van Fleet had twelve South Korean and eight U.N. divisions to defend the army front. Total strength of combat, service, and security troops was nearly 768,000. Opposing the U.N. forces were seven Chinese armies and two North Korean corps, totaling about 270, 000 troops. Another 531,000 Chinese and North Korean troops remained in reserve. With service and security forces, total enemy strength in Korea was estimated at more than a million men.
Other than a few patrol clashes, little fighting occurred during January and February 1953. On 11 February Lt. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor took command of the Eighth Army as Van Fleet returned to the United States for retirement. The enemy increased his attacks during March, striking at outposts of the 2d and 7th Divisions and the 1st Marine Regiment. During the period 9-10 March the Chinese were successful in ambushing several U.N. patrols, inflicting heavy casualties in each instance. After these flare-ups the front quieted down until late May, when the enemy struck at the outposts of the U.S. 25th Division that were guarding the approaches to the Eighth Army's western positions. Although the enemy was successful in occupying three of the division outposts, he suffered nearly 3,200 casualties.
On the night of 10 June three Chinese divisions struck the ROK II Corps in the vicinity of Kumsong, attacking down both sides of the Pukhan River. Several attacks forced these units to withdraw about two miles. Both sides lost heavily; the Chinese suffered about 6,000 casualties and the ROK units about 7,400. By 18 June the attacks had subsided. By the end of the month, action along the entire front had returned to routine patrolling and light attacks.
Operation LITTLE SWITCH, an exchange of Allied and Communist sick and wounded prisoners, began on 20 April. When it was completed in the latter part of the month, 684 Allied prisoners had been exchanged for more than 6,000 Communists.
Armistice negotiations were resumed in April. The prisoner-of-war question was settled by providing each side an opportunity to persuade those captives who refused repatriation to their homeland to change their minds. By 18 June the terms of the armistice were all but complete; but on this date President Syngman Rhee ordered the release of 27,000 anti-Communist North Korean prisoners of war unilaterally, in protest against armistice terms which left Korea divided. U.N. officials disclaimed any responsibility for this action; but the enemy delegates denounced it as a serious breach of faith and delayed the final armistice agreement for another month. Enemy forces took advantage of this delay. On 13 July the Chinese launched a three-division attack against the left flank of the ROK II Corps and a one-division attack against the right flank of the U.S. IX Corps, forcing U.N. forces to withdraw about eight miles to positions below the Kumsong River. By 20 July, however, U.N. forces had counterattacked, retaken the high ground along the Kumsong River, and established a new main line of resistance. No attempt was made to restore the original line, as it was believed that the armistice would be signed at any time. Enemy casualties in July totaled about 72,000 men. Out of the five Chinese armies that had been identified in the attacks, the enemy had lost the equivalent of seven divisions.
By 19 July the negotiators at Panmunjom had reached an accord on all points. Details were worked out within a week and the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed at 1000 hours 27 July 1953.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
May / 1953
To Month/Year
July / 1953
Last Updated: Dec 24, 2023
Personal Memories
Memories After completing his medical training, he married Dubuquer Rosemarie Peschang on December 26, 1952 at Chicago's St. Jarlath's Catholic Church. The couple's marital bliss however was cut short when Newton was drafted into the Korean war after serving on a Pacific tour as Ships Medical Officer. Stationed in San Diego, where he served at the Balboa Naval Hospital. After the war he remained in the Naval Reserve, in Dubuque IA, for 16 years. Honorably discharged, he retired from the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, the most senior of the junior officer ranks.