Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:50 | The first thing William Moncus encountered at Parris Island was a screaming drill instructor who got his attention right away. He responded well to the discipline. At his first post, the movie operator went on leave, so the men were told there would be no movies. What? No movies?
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When North Korea invaded the South, a train pulled out of Brooklyn with William Moncus on board. It picked up more Marines as it traveled across the country, arriving finally in San Diego. After shipping across the Pacific, they landed at Pusan and went straight into battle. The tide was turned.
William Moncus was high up in the mountains at the Chinese border, where it was extremely cold. The Marines had just stopped to eat when they took fire from one direction, then another and another. By the next day, it was obvious they were surrounded and the great retreat from the Chosin Reservoir had begun.
It was eleven days retreating down that narrow dirt road from the Chosin Reservoir. William Moncus had two wounds and frozen feet and was airlifted to Japan after a runway was improvised. He began a long journey through several hospitals until he was able to walk again.
The enemy in Korea were not very good fighters, according to Marine William Moncus. The Chinese never could deal with squad tactics and, instead, relied on mass force. The weather was also an enemy, living in the open in the frigid cold.
He needed a new MOS because of his wounds, so Marine William Moncus became a communications specialist. He went to Vietnam with a secretive new unit called the Marine Support Battalion. That innocuous name shielded a secret intelligence gathering operation.
It was at Camp Lejeune that William Moncus, now a gunnery sergeant, finished his career, training young Marines. He taught them to love their weapon and care for it, among other things. There was an airlift unit at the base, and he recalls the fiery aftermath of a training accident.
After recovering from wounds received in Korea, William Moncus had a few stateside posts before it was time to re-up, or not. He fancied a tour in Japan and they gave it to him. He had a fondness for the Japanese kids and helped build an orphanage while he was there.
Photographs from William Moncus taken in Korea
