Leaving OKC behind, 20th Marine Infantry Reserve Battalion was called to duty for Korean War

The 20th Marine Infantry Reserve Battalion left Union Station from Oklahoma City, headed to the West Coast on a journey they thought would ultimately lead to Korea. But, although they were bonded as a group ― in name and having spent time together — once they arrived at Camp Pendleton near Oceanside, California, the unexpected happened.

The 20th Infantry Battalion ceased to exist.

A story written by Bill Van Dyke in The Daily Oklahoman on Oct. 10, 1950, told of how some men were shipped off to San Diego for training, some were selected to replace the first Marines who had gone to Korea and others were scattered to battalion assignments of infantry training, support arms training and Marine barracks detail.

Van Dyke wrote: "As was the case when the 20th shipped from home, to the accompaniment of a band, ringing speeches and the muted sobbing of wives and children left behind, men of the 20th took the separation from their brothers hard."

What was the message the men gave the reporter to share with the families back home in Oklahoma? "Tell them not to worry, and to write often."

The Korean War had begun a little more than a month earlier, so when the battalion left Oklahoma City, it was because the men had been called up for active duty.

Some of the Marines were just teenagers.

Pvt. Ed T. Turner, 19, of Oklahoma City, asked Van Dyke, "If you are with the city paper, will you tell my folks hello for me?"

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Less than a week earlier on Aug. 2, about 300 men of the 20th battalion had boarded a train for the trip west.

Madelaine Wilson reported in the next day's edition of The Daily Oklahoman, "There was lots of sobbing."

One Oklahoma City mother said about her son, Charles Callum Jr.: "He's not even 17 yet."

Wilson wrote: "Their departure brought the Korea war right to Oklahoma City's doorstep."

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Leaving OKC behind, 20th Marine Infantry Reserve Battalion was called to duty for Korean War