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VOL. 2/ISSUE 39
THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014
A front-row seat in history’s theater: journalist-vet’s memories Mary Kemper staff writer
mkemper@veteranvoiceweekly.com
Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of a two-part story. Part 2 will be published in next week’s issue. Joe Crankshaw is one of a vanishing breed — a newspaperman who is also a combat-wounded Army veteran. The vast majority of today’s journalists have never served, much less experienced war firsthand. Not so for Joe. Never having been formally trained, he nonetheless rose to become a stellar reporter and associate editor for some of Florida’s, and the nation’s, indeed the world’s, top newspapers, after having served in brutal combat in the Korean War. As a result, he was in the front seat for a ride through an astonishing amount of American history. He wears his still-thick white hair neatly combed and parted to one side. He is self-effacing, with a dry sense of humor. Though moving a bit slower these days, he gets along just fine wherever he goes. Actually, he originally wanted to join the FBI, and almost did. His wife put the kibosh on that. The rest, as they say, is history. The Stuart resident, 84, graduated from high school in 1947 in Atlanta, and immediately enlisted in the Army thereafter. He was assigned to the 287th Air Service Group. At that time, the Army Air Corps was in the process of splitting from the Army, forming the nucleus of the Air Force. “We saw the uniforms they wanted us to wear for the Air Force,” Crankshaw said. “They looked like something Greyhound bus drivers would wear. The stripes were upside down, like the British, and I was definitely opposed to that. “I wanted a transfer.” At the time, Crankshaw was a corporal at the age of 18, something almost unheard of. “But I wore glasses. In the Air Force, you couldn’t
Staff photo by Mary Kemper Joe Crankshaw, Stuart, is an Army veteran of the Korean War and a longtime newspaperman with Scripps publications. He is seen here in his home holding a portrait of his wife, Jean, of 35 years, in front of a display containing a portrait of his great-grandfather and a saber passed down through generations of his family. fly — and I didn’t want any other job than that,” he said. “The (commanding officer) said I was going to be transferred to the (Army) infantry, which I didn’t mind. My grandfather was in the infantry, serving from the Indian wars to World War II. “But evidently, (being transferred to the infantry) was supposed to be some kind of threat. I didn’t know that.” Then came 1950, and hostilities in Korea. “I was sent to Non-Commissioned Officer School (today’s Primary Leadership Development Course), and the CO started talking about Korea,” Crankshaw said. “None of us (soldiers) paid any attention to the news. We hadn’t even heard of it. We thought it was going to be a lecture on (venereal disease),” he said, chuckling. “The CO said ‘combat will make you better leaders,’ and the 24th and 25th Divisions (Crankshaw was in the 24th) were
“None of us (soldiers) paid any attention to the news. We hadn’t even heard of it. We thought (our combat briefing) was going to be a lecture on (venereal disease).” Joe Crankshaw committed. Anyone who was infantry was needed.” After lengthy train rides from Louisville, Ky., to Chicago, to Seattle, and plane flights from San Francisco, to Hawaii, to Wake Island to Japan, Crankshaw found himself a member of F Troop, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. His F Troop was a part of the first amphibious invasion of Korean land, at Pohang. Many historians cite the Inchon invasion as the first, but Crankshaw said
See CRANKSHAW page 4