Personal Narrative Film, Video Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing Software, E-Resource Raymond L. Ayon Collection
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
- War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
- Branch of Service: Air Force
- Location of Service: Japan; Korea
- Highest Rank: Airman First Class
- Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/21141
Fascinated with his older brothers' letters home from World War II, 16-year-old Raymond Ayon dropped out of high school in 1945. He signed up for the Merchant Marines--but after a year they learned he was too young. Ayon went back to school, graduated, and enlisted in the Air Force in 1948. His first assignment was with a fighter bomber squadron in Japan, but the Air Force decided to make a medical corpsman out of him. Shortly after the United States went to war in Korea in 1950, Ayon was in the thick of things, loading casualties onto transport planes bound for Japan. He spent time with a MASH unit, claiming it was hardly like what was depicted in the famed TV show. Ayon is sensitive to those who would diminish his service just because he wasn't an infantry soldier.
Interview / Recording
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PlayFascinated with World War II stories, films, and letters home from his brothers serving; going into the Merchant Marines at 16, in 1945; he was a mess boy, cook's helper, and dishwasher for a year, sailing to Japan and from San Francisco through the Panama Canal to Baltimore; missed seeing the canal because he was below decks working; big storm in the Atlantic; in Baltimore Harbor, another ship breaking anchor and damaging his ship badly enough to require repairs in dry dock. 00:01:43.4 - 00:07:51.0
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PlayJoining the Air Force out of high school over the objections of his sweetheart; shipping out to Japan, assigned to the 36th Fighter Bomber Squadron; not qualifying for mechanics school; sent to medical laboratory school to become a corpsman; only Air Force man among all-Army class; partnering with a WAC to practice taking blood. 00:11:50.1 - 00:16:34.7
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PlayA couple of days after the war broke out in Korea, on a transport to Suwon, Korea; loading casualties, including pine boxes which were caskets; an emotional memory for him. 00:19:09.5 - 00:21:56.2
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PlayOriginally told Korea was a brief police action, watching it escalate into something bigger and longer; attached to a MASH unit; in country for four seasons; using napalm instead of firewood to fuel tent stove during the winter; almost killed by a casket in the back of a truck he was driving; his MASH unit staffed by an international crew; touring a leprosarium; caring for enemy POWs. 00:23:18.5 - 00:32:05.2
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PlayTV show MASH not like the real deal; irked when people ask only about combat situations; resenting veterans who wear decorations they didn't earn; refusing to join a veterans service organization; during a big push to get North Koreans out of South Korea, truck driver was intoxicated, and Ayon was almost killed when the truck went off the road and down a hill; vision in one of his eyes permanently damaged. 00:36:28.5 - 00:44:26.4
More Resources
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About this Item
Title
- Raymond L. Ayon Collection
Names
- Dreier, David
- U.S. House of Representatives/David Dreier
- Ayon, Raymond L.
- Schneider, Dorothy M.
Home State
- California
Headings
- - Ayon, Raymond L.
- - Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
- - United States. Air Force.
Repository
- Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Gender
- Male
Race
- Hispanic
Status
- veteran
Service History
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Korean War, 1950-1953
- Branch of Service: Air Force
- Location of Service: Japan; Korea
- Highest Rank: Airman First Class
- Dates of Service: 1948-1952
- Entrance into Service: Enlisted
- Military Status: veteran
Materials
- Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of photograph (collected 2004-10-28; 2004-10-27)
- Video: Hi-8/Digital 8 [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2004-10-28; 2004)
- Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1946)
- Manuscript: Memoir [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1952)
Collection Number
- AFC/2001/001/21141
Online Format
- image
- video