BATTLE TALK! Memoirs of a Marine Radio Correspondent.

Author Dick Hill, a Marine radio correspondent in the Korean War, has written a delightful multipurpose book about those “good old days a long time ago.” Hill not only has written the memoirs of his combat tour, lugging heavy tape-recording gear around the battle zone in 1952-53, but also has provided a glimpse into wartime boot camp and fresh details of “The Forgotten War.”

Dick Hill was an announcer on a low-watt radio station in Eau Claire, Wis., when the North Korean tanks rolled south to invade their neighbor in June 1950. Until then, hardly anyone had ever heard of Korea. By the time Hill arrived in Korea, the war had all but run its course. He had missed the initial escape to Pusan, the daring Inchon landing and the race through Seoul to the Chosin Reservoir and the back-and-forth stalemate of the later days.

Hill’s “Battle Talk!” became possible when he found a seabag full of tapes lost in storage for more than 50 years. The result is a very readable walk through the Korean War, from its start in 1950. His adventures begin in “The Boot Factory” at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and continue through the Camp Matthews rifle range and his year as a Marine combat correspondent in the battle zone.

Radio, not TV, was the key medium of the day. Hill’s task was doing interviews with the troops for Stateside stations. One of those troops turned out to be Captain Ted Williams, a Marine reservist who was not happy that he was called up in the prime of his baseball career. He granted no interviews … well, maybe one. Dick Hill includes an audio CD of the only interview the reclusive baseball player allowed during his tour as a Marine fighter pilot.

Perhaps as interesting is how Hill finally got the interview with Capt Williams after paddling a dinghy out to the hospital ship USS Haven, where the future Hall of Fame batting champ was resting. The interview did not come easy. Capt Williams agreed to talk with Hill only after a grueling quiz about baseball.

At first, the 34-year-old slugger responded with a firm “No.” Trying to warm him up, Hill mentioned he had seen Williams playing for the Minneapolis Millers in 1938. It worked, kinda.

“What position did I play?” Williams began.
“What was the name of the ballpark?”
“What was my number?”
“How many homers did I hit in 1938?”

Hill, who grew up in the shadows of Minneapolis’ Nicollet Park, knew all the answers. He got the interview but had no idea of just how big his scoop was until he got back to the Division Public Information Operations (PIO) tent. His boss, Capt Bem Price, a recalled reservist on loan from the Associated Press, heard the tape and decided it had to go on the wire. Worldwide.

Price had heard the commanding general order his officers to tell the press nothing and keep them away from the regiments. Price told the general bluntly that he might as well pack his gear and go home. The general thought about it for a moment, then said, “Belay those last instructions.” The First Marine Division PIO shop became known everywhere for its successes, and Capt Price was awarded the Legion of Merit before returning to a long career at the AP.

An important task for the combat correspondents, then as well as now, was handling what Hill calls the “Media Circus,” swarms of civilians visiting the “hot ticket” of the war, the 1stMarDiv. At times, Hill was one of the many chaperones escorting the reporters, arranging housing—a sleeping bag in a leaky tent—and keeping them out of trouble while getting them to the trouble spots.

Hill also recounts his role in a top-secret project dubbed Operation Echo in late 1952. Then-Corporal Hill was ordered to bring his equipment to the Division Intelligence Section, G-2. Without knowing why, he was taken out to an area where several M46 tanks of the 1st Tank Battalion were noisily grinding about on the icy fields along the main line of resistance. After Hill recorded the sounds for a while, G-2 took his tape and thanked him.

Two nights later, Hill’s looped tape was played over two huge loudspeakers strategically placed on a snow-covered ravine. In no time, the Chinese took the bait, revealing their positions. Believing the Marines were moving tanks to an attack position, artillery and mortar fire began dropping in the direction of the loudspeakers.

In “Battle Talk!” Cpl Dick Hill tells the story of the Korean War with a new, very interesting viewpoint. It’s a good read, and the accompanying CD is terrific.

BATTLE TALK! Memoirs of a Marine Radio Correspondent.

By Dick Hill. Published by Beaver’s Pond Press.

288 pages. Softcover with audio CD. Stock #1592981550.

$17.95 MCA Member. $19.95 Regular Price.