Barry Loper: Syngman Rhee Reception, 1954
George,
I did not arrive in Korea until January 1 of 1954, and left in May of 1955. Obviously I was not at the Kickoff of the PC of Korea in 1953; however there was a second Korean-Princeton only party in the 1954-55 timeframe. I was up on the DMZ and was ordered to return to Seoul on 1 day's notice to attend a Princeton reception called by and hosted by Syngman Rhee. The reception linein addition to Pres. Rhee, included Generals Ridgeway, Taylor and Van Fleet. As a green second lieutenant, I got to sit at the end of one leg of a massive u-shaped table during dinner.
I believe George Dean ' 52 (deceased) was an aide on the staff of one of these Generals. I do not know if his widow, Jane, has any documentation in the event there is any interest in this second Tiger celebration. I copied Bill Murdoch '52 on your request. He has a better feel for those Princeton ROTC classmates who ended up in the Field Artillery units in Korea 6 months before I got there. I was OCS and got delayed.
Barry Loper '52
loperb@prodigy.net
[There may have only been one reception, in 1954. I may have gotten the year 1953 wrong from Sam's email. If so, it's my fault. I'll check the facts on that. --GC]
[Barry also reports, in a different email, "One of the other lieutenants at the party was Fred Lawrence '53. It has been 50 years so I may have only dreamed he was there." --GC]
I did not arrive in Korea until January 1 of 1954, and left in May of 1955. Obviously I was not at the Kickoff of the PC of Korea in 1953; however there was a second Korean-Princeton only party in the 1954-55 timeframe. I was up on the DMZ and was ordered to return to Seoul on 1 day's notice to attend a Princeton reception called by and hosted by Syngman Rhee. The reception linein addition to Pres. Rhee, included Generals Ridgeway, Taylor and Van Fleet. As a green second lieutenant, I got to sit at the end of one leg of a massive u-shaped table during dinner.
I believe George Dean ' 52 (deceased) was an aide on the staff of one of these Generals. I do not know if his widow, Jane, has any documentation in the event there is any interest in this second Tiger celebration. I copied Bill Murdoch '52 on your request. He has a better feel for those Princeton ROTC classmates who ended up in the Field Artillery units in Korea 6 months before I got there. I was OCS and got delayed.
Barry Loper '52
loperb@prodigy.net
[There may have only been one reception, in 1954. I may have gotten the year 1953 wrong from Sam's email. If so, it's my fault. I'll check the facts on that. --GC]
[Barry also reports, in a different email, "One of the other lieutenants at the party was Fred Lawrence '53. It has been 50 years so I may have only dreamed he was there." --GC]
posted by George Corser at 1:33 PM
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