Page 6
THP BATTALION
Thursday, September 10, 1953
Hero of Seoul Death March
Still Lost - - "The Major’
Editor’s Note—Pulitzer Prize
winner Don Whitehead was a
war correspondent in Korea at
the time the story of the major
about whom he writes here first
came to light.
By DON WHITEHEAD
WASHINGTON—(A 5 )—Operation
Big Switch has ended in Korea
and still there is no word of what
happened to “The Major” — the
hero of a Communist-ordered death
march - from Seoul in the early
days of the war.
His wife is still waiting after
three years for someon^, some
where to end the terrible suspense
of not knowing.
She is like thousands of other
Americans who had a husband or
a son or a father among the almost
8,000 men missing in action. She
had hoped her man was still alive
and would be among those freed.
Still Hopes
Now she hopes there is someone
among the returning prisoners who
will be able to tell her the fate of
her husband. There are undoubted
ly hundreds of others with similar
hopes.
Here is the beginning of the
major’s story. Perhaps someone
among the returning prisoners
might yet be able to write an
end.
The major is William Thomas
McDaniel of Ahoskie, N. C. and
Albany, Ga. He was stationed at
Camp Haugen in northern Honshu
Japan, when the war began.
He was 35 years old, a graduate
.Rockets Used Early
Historians have concluded that
the Chinese used rockets as early
as 3,000 B.C. The rockets were of
a black powder propellant type and
used in fireworks displays.
In the eai'ly fifteenth centm-y,
a Chinese rocket-flight pioneer at
tached 47 large rockets to a chair,
tied a kite on each side of it,
Btrapped himself in, and had
coolies light the rockets. He dis
appeared in a cloud of fire and
smoke and was never seen again.
A&M has graduated 1,045 Doc
tors of Veterinary Medicine. About
90 per cent of the graduates go
into private practice. Others are
in research, teaching, and inspec
tion. Only one per cent of these
graduates have deserted the field.
Official Notice
The Physics Department invites appli
cations for student laboratory assistant-
ships for the coming semester. Men who
have completed sophomore physics courses
with superior records are wanted to assist
with instruction grading and the handling
of apparatus in the laboratories. The scale
of compensation is S.80 per hour for new
assistants and $.90 per hour, for experienced
assistants. The oppoftupity for experience,
as well as earnings,, should be considered.
Applicants are urged to call at the office
of the department and make tentative pro
grams for assising as soon as possible.
^ J. G. Potter,
Head. Physics Department
of the U. S. Military Academy,
olass of 1941. He lived at Camp
Haugen with his 27-year-old wife
Helen and his two sons—then 4
and 3.
The war had been under way
only a few days when McDaniel
was ordered into Korea with the
24th Infantry division. He told
his wife it would be best for her
to take the children home to North
Carolina until he could join them.
A few days after he left, Mrs.
McDaniel received a letter. The
major told her not to worry. Eve
rything was going to be all right.
Overrun by Reds
McDaniel reached the front
about July 15, 1950. Elements of
his division—commanded by Maj.
Gen. William Dean—were fighting
a desperate battle for time around
Taejon. The Reds had overrun
part of the artillery. Even Gen.
Dean was down with his troops
shooting at tanks.
McDaniel led a foray to recap
ture howitzers overrun by the
Reds. He did, leading his men
through a gantlet of enemy fire.
And the McDaniel was captured
only five days after he entered
the fight. He never knew he won
the Silver Star for his bravery and
a promotion to the rank of lieuten
ant colonel.
About three months later, we
heard the story of McDaniel from
survivors of a Red massacre at a
railroad tunnel near the little town
of Sunchon in North Korea.
The boys who escaped the mas
sacre knew McDaniel only as “The
Maj ox’.”
Wonderful Guy
“He was a wonderful guy,” one
of them said. “The major ifsked
his own neck to get better ti’eat-
ment for us. He always gave us
pai't of his food and shared his
cigarettes and he took cai’e of us
as best he could.”
McDaniel was foi’ced to march
fx'om Seoul to Pyongyang with a
prisoner gx-oup. Whenever a pxfs-
oner died on this death march-—
died of illness or a Red bullet in
the head—the major insisted on a
Christian burial.
He x-efused to go on until he
had said a prayer over the grave.
In each grave he left a bottle con
taining the name and serial num
ber of the dead man.
A survivor said: “We never
would have made it except for the
major.” And othex-s who escaped
agreed.
It was in October 1950 that the
Reds put McDaniel and other pris
oners on a train which was to
carry them from Pyongyang to
Manchuria. U. S. bombers attack
ed the train and it stopped in a
tunnel to wait for the shield of
daxkness.
And there the Communist guai'ds
decided to kill their prisoners.
At dusk the gxxai-ds told McDan
iel to come with them—that they
were going to get food for the
niJY, SKI.n, RENT on TRADE. Rates
. . . . 3c a wor'k per insertion with a
25c minimum. Space rate in classified
section .... 60c pe rcolumn-inclt. Send
all classified to STUDENT ACTIVITIES
OFFICE. All ads must be received in
Student Activities Office by 10 a.m. on the
day before publication.
• FOR SALE ®
ONE (1) 1949 CHEVROLET Four Door
Sedan, one (1) 1950 Chevrolet Two-Door
Sedan, one (1> 1950 Chevrolet Four-Door
Sedan and two (2) 1951 Chevrolet Four-
Door Sedans. Sealed bids will be re
ceived in the office of the Comptroller
until 10 a.m. Tusday. September 15, 1953.
The right is reserved to reject any and
all bids and to waive any and all tech
nicalities. Address: Comptroller, Texas
A&M College System, College Station,
Texas for further information.
TWO BEDROOM HOME—Hardwood floors.
Venetian blinds, attic fan, breeze-way and
garage. Lot 75 by 175. G. I. notes
lower than rent. 608 Montclair, Phone
4-4298.
STUDIO COUCH, Stuffed Chair and Youth
bed. Phone 4-8278.
EXCELLENT Firestone washing machine.
See at 305 Park Place or call 4-9032.
First reasonable offer takes it.
LATE ’51 PLYMOUTH Sedan, excellent
condition, low mileage, priced to sell.
Phone 4-8439.
TWO BEDROOM home in
with or without furniture.
Phone 4-5202.
College Hills
Real bargain.
1948 CHEVROLET 4-door sedan, clean, ex
cellent mechanical condition. Priced rea
sonable Phone 4-4594 or 4-7554.
SOOD USED BTCYCT.ES—cheap. See after
5 p.m., 214-216 N. Munnerlyn Drive,
turn left at Humdinger.
ZARAPE
Air Conditioned ...
Restaurant
Open every day—5 to 12
Closed Sunday
• FOR RENT •
SEWING machines. Pruitt’s Fabric Shop.
• NOTICES •
WOULD like to keep child, age 1% to
2% in my home for working mother.
Am located close to Campus. Phone
6-5513.
WANTED
WOULD LIKE to keep child while mother
works. Close to Southside. Phone 4^4163.
Directory of
Business Services
(NSURANCB of all kinds. Homer Adame.
North Gate. Call 4-1217.
SPECIAL NOTICE •
ILL ROSS LODGE NO. 1300 A.F. * A.M.
Stated meeting 7 p
Thursday, Sept. 10th.
Ed Madeley, W. M.
N. M. McGinnis, Sec’y.
K&B DRIVING
RANGE
NOW OPEN
On Fin Feather Road
Bryan, Texas
Prompt Radio Service
— C A L L —
Sosolik’s Radio Service
712 S. Main St.
PH. 2-1941 BRYAN
prisoners. The major left the train
with his captors.
Opened Fire
Then the guards took the other
Americans from the train in three
groups. As the boys sat in the
fields with their rice bowls in
their hands, waiting to be fed, the
guaxds opened fire. We found 68
bodies. Somehow 22 youths sur
vived that night of horror. And
they told the story of the major.
“We never saw the major after
he left the train,” one youth said.
“We don’t know what happened to
him.”
For three years Mrs. McDaniel
has been hoping someone will be
able to tell her whether the major
Still lives—or what happened at
the tunnel after he left the train.
She is living now in Williams
burg, Va. Both McDaniel boys,
Tom and John, are old enough to
go to^chool this year. And Mrs.
McDaniel has decided to get a job.
“For a long time I couldn’t bear
to talk about what happened,” she
says. “But finally I knew I had
to face reality. I still hope there
will be someone coming back who
can tell me something. Anything
is better than this.”
Leaders’ Qualities
(Continued from Page 1)
former student was very impressed
with the sincerity of the friendly
upperclassmen, and how much it
meant to be a stranger.
5. The fifth characteristic is in
tegrity. The leader must be fair in
his dealings with his men. He also
must be consistent and reliable in
his decisions.
6. Technical mastery is an im-
pox-tant point. The leader must
know a little more about his role
than the men under him if he ex
pects to teach them anything.
Must Be Decisive
7. At times it will become nec-
essai’y for the leader to be decisive.
He must weigh all the facts and
make a fair and just decision.
8. Intelligence. He must be
brighter than his men, and have a
certain amount of “just plain com
mon sense” in dealing with them.
9. The leader must teach skill.
He can, if he is a good leader, pass
on to others the work which can
be handled by them, thus reliev
ing himself of the actual perform
ance. This leaves him more time
to devote to the act of leadership.
10. A leader must have faith in
people—confidence in them.
“As a leadex - , you will have to
make decisions that will not be
pleasing to certain elements in
your followers,” Dr. Morgan said.
“If you give in and render a de
cision pleasing to them, life at the
moment will be easier, but the fu
ture will be rough. You have lost
command.
“Keep in mind when you are
dealing with your outfit that cer
tain x’esponses are meaningless un
less they come from the individual
and not as a command from you.”
Sophomores
(Continued from Page 4)
Sanford, agile enough to letter
on the Wog basketball team last
winter, has taken to the new job
nicely. He’s especially effective
on blocking and defense. Engram,
a 185-pounder who is 6-2, flashed
promise in spring ti'aining and so
far this fall looks like a real hand.
Right now, it looks as though
Thompson and Sanford can man
the left side with Crouch and En
gram working on the right. Mar
tin is about convinced they can get
the job done. Curtis is still work
ing at the spot but may return to
halfback where his great speed
could be used.
Several other newcomers have
also drawn attention. One is
Gerald Redus, a 185-pound full
back from Paris. The hard-driving
sophomore has been very impres
sive and is given a chance to beat
out seniors Sammy Morrow and
Danny Hallmark.
Underwater Television .
Will Snoop on Fish
By FRANK CAREY
AP Science Reporter
MADISON, Wis.—(A 5 )—Universi
ty of Wisconsin scientists will use
a submersible television camera to
snoop on the private lives of fish—
and possibly gain information of
aid to commercial and sport fish
ing.
They’ll head out today on beau
tiful Lake Mendota, bordering the
university campus, for the first
American research trails of an un
derwater televiison system devel
oped by the National Research
council of Canada.
The Canadian equipment was
brought here for exhibition at the
annual convention of the American
Institute of Biological Sciences,
which ends today.
The “pickup” camera itself is
housed in a waterproof steel cyl
inder three feet long and 18 inches
in diameter which is equipped with
lights for illuminating the area in
front of the camera.
The camera, lowered into the
water by a small crane, is connect
ed by a flexible conducting cable
to a television screen on ship
board. An operator seated in front
of the screen can maneuver the
camera cylinder under the water
by manipulating controls on a
panel near the screen.
Canadian demonstrators of the
equipment said the apparatus has
many possible applications, includ
ing commercial and naval salvage
operations. They said biological'
explorations have been carried on
with “excellent results” to a depth
of 100 feet.
The Wisconsin scientists will use
the equipment for several days.
“Conceivably,” said Di\ A. D.
Hasler, one of the researchers, “we
might gain information that might
not only aid fish px-oduction and
management in this and other lakes
where fishing is for sport but
might also establish principles of
value in connection with commer
cial fishing in the ocean.”
He said the Wisconsin tests nec
essarily would be limited in scope
because of the brief availability of
the equipment, but he added:
“I believe that this new research
tool would be of great aid in ob
serving the spawning conditions in
the springtime — something about
which we know virtually nothing.
“Also, we won’t know anything
about the behavior of fish under
the ice in wintertime. Some types
are never caught in the winter.
Where do they go ? Maybe tele
vision will help us find out.”
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89c Golden Corn
25 Lb. Sack
303 Size—Delco
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Pears ....
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46 Oz.—Green Spot 16 Oz.—Rainbow
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46 Oz.—Stokely’s 17 Oz.—Gladiola
Pineapple Juice 29c Yellow Cake Mix 33c
1 Lb. Carton—Carnation 125 Ft. Roll
COTTAGE CHEESE . . . . 23c W A X T E X 25c
8 Oz. — (Complete) 2 Lb.—Chef Pride
EVENFLO PYREX SET . 25c BABY LIMAS 32c
★ DRUGS ★
$1.00 Value—Wearever
Fountain Pen 89c
Giant 89c Size
Halo Shampoo 69c
79c Value
2 Lb. Carton
IVALON SPONGE OFFER, 59c ADOLPHUS RICE ...... 31c
Quart Size
No. 1—All Meat—Horse Meat
C L O R O X 17c DOG FOOD
2 cans 31c
★FROZEN F00DSA
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