By Theresachristine Etim
For U.S. Marine Corps veteran John Corzan, his everyday routine is nothing unusual, but his memories of war in Korea remains vivid..
His daily routine – with the help of his wife or nurse – is fairly simple. A knee brace,eye drops.
He occasionally get a break from the monotony with a visit from Taffy, his dog. His wife brings the dog with her as she visits Corzan as the Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center in Kyle.
But Corzan, who was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps, still remembers vividly the experiences he had while fighting during the Korean War – a place he said his life changed forever.
Corzan was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1948 and he was assigned to the 1st Division, 3rd Battalion, How Company.
He was soon sent off to fight when the U.S. entered into the Korean War conflict.
And his destination ended up being the Chosin Reservoir, where Corzan was sent with hundreds of other marines.
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir was one of the decisive battles in the Korean War. The 17-day brutal battle in sub-freezing temperatures occurred between Nov. 26 and Dec. 11, 1950. The Chinese troop, with approximately reportedly 67,000 to 200,000 men, managed to encircle the United Nation troops, which were under the command of Major General Oiver Smith. The UN forces, with approximately 20,000 men, managed to break through the encirclement, battled their way to the port of Hungnam. At that point, on Dec. 9, a bridge was constructed over a 1,500-foot gorge, allowing the “Frozen Chosin” to reach Hungnam.
Corzan remembers well the hardships he and other Marines experienced in Chosin. The most trying was battling frostbite due to the frigid temperatures.
The temperatures dropped far below freezing the night he was sent to the Reservoir.
“We went up to the Chosin on Nov. 26 at about 4 o clock at night,” Corzan said. “It was dark, and it wasn’t that cold. But when we left the Reservoir, the temperature started to drop to about 20 below zero. The later it got, it became 40 to 60 below zero.”
Corzan recalled medical practitioners having to store syringes in their mouths to keep the liquid warm in order to treat wounded solders.
He also vividly remembers the harrowing moments when Chinese soldiers fighting for the North Korean army encircled his group.
“I remember when the Chinese circled us, and we called air support,” Corzan said. “They told me they’d wake me up at 10:30, and that’s when the Chinese jumped us. They told us ‘get out of there; the Chinese are trying to encircle you.’ We made a u-turn and went back to the perimeter, but it was dark.”
Corzan said watching his fellows Marines dies was probably the hardest thing for him.
But his memories also include a child.
“We saw this kid walking around with a firearm in his hand,” Corzan said. “I remember we were thinking ‘you can’t walk around like that, you could get killed.’ So we took him along with us and he hung out with us. We even taught him how to shoot. Sooner or later, it was time for us to leave, and he started to cry, but we told it’ll be ok.”
Corzan continues his rehab in Kyle and relives his days in the Marines, with memories both good and bad.
