FREDERICKTOWN — In 1948, the Japanese did not have a word for parachute. So when American paratroopers of the 11th Airborne Division began training on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the locals dubbed them rakasan, a term roughly meaning “umbrella men.” The name stuck, and to this day the 11th Airborne is possibly the only unit to have a Japanese pictograph included on its official insignia: The pictograph for rakasan.
Russ Lamb of Fredericktown dropped out of high school in 1948 in order to enlist in the Army. When the recruiting sergeant asked Lamb what he wanted to do, Lamb said he answered quickly.
“Like a dummy, I opened my mouth and said, ‘I don’t care, just get me as far away from Fredericktown as you can get me,’” Lamb said. Thus he and a friend who signed up at the same time were assigned to the 11th Airborne in Hokkaido, Japan. When he told all his friends at the local pool hall what he had signed up for, one was skeptical.
“Lamb, you’re too chicken to jump out of an airplane,” said his friend, Jim Fearn. Lamb said it was only then that the enormity of what he had committed himself to do really hit him.
Lamb said wanting to disprove Fearn was the only thing that made him keep up with it and follow through, despite his own fears, which he said were considerable. But he did keep up with it, and went through extensive training.
Many histories of the war in Korea dwell upon the lack of training and equipment that plagued some troops, but that did not apply to the 11th Airborne, which had extensive training in 1948 and 1949. Indeed, when it participated in a major maneuvers exercise at Camp Campbell (later Fort Campbell), Ky., the unit got the highest rating.
Because of this, when the fighting broke out in Korea that summer, members of the 11th Airborne were among the first sent. They were dropped in at Kemple Airstrip west of Seoul, where they relieved a unit of Marines holding the site. It was there the division experienced its first casualty.
Lamb said that of a soldier’s life is boredom and discomfort, but when battle erupts, it happens so fast, one doesn’t even have time to think about it. He said there was one thing which was more scary than he could find words to describe: Artillery. As Lamb pointed out, if a bullet got you, it happened so fast, it was a surprise. But large, heavy artillery shells made noise as they streaked through the air.
“You couldn’t tell exactly where it was going to land,” Lamb said, adding that soldiers just had to listen in dread and hope it landed far enough away to not wound or kill them.
In later jumps, Lamb saw plenty more action, north of Pyongyang and again around Seoul.
One time, on his way back from Seoul, he saw the destruction of a pontoon bridge over the Han River. He saw three American soldiers standing around a jeep on the other side of the river, and wondered how they would get back. He never heard any more about them, and wondered about it for 50 years. A couple of years ago, while he was talking with three of his old army buddies at the annual reunion at Fort Campbell, he started telling the story. He was surprised when his friends all started laughing. It turns out that they were the three stranded soldiers. They narrowly missed being caught in the destruction of the bridge, which was destroyed immediately after they had crossed it. The soldiers ended up driving downstream until they found a place shallow enough to ford the river.
Lamb notes that the proud history of his unit has continued in recent years. It was the first American unit in Afghanistan, and has been in Iraq three times. Capt. Jon Peifer, the nephew of Lamb’s daughter-in-law, has served with the division. Peifer’s wife, Allie, is also a paratrooper.
Lamb is matter-of-fact about the fighting he saw, pointing out that although it was heavy at times, and they did lose “quite a few guys,” it wasn’t as devastating as the fighting some areas saw.
“I don’t know how those guys up at Chosin ever survived that,” Lamb said.
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir happened when part of the American and United Nations forces were surrounded by Chinese Communist soldiers and had to fight their way out. History relates that one of the worst things about that battle was the weather was so bitterly cold, it actually killed more soldiers than the enemy gunfire did.
After being relieved from front-line duty, Lamb returned to Fort Campbell. During his first visit home, Lamb had two important things happen to him — one horrible, one wonderful. The horrible thing was that one of his close friends, Conrad Kinney, who had returned at about the same time from the war, was killed in a car accident. It was at the funeral where Lamb met Viola, who was to become his wife.
After marriage and the birth of a son, Lamb decided not to continue in the army. For a time, he worked in construction, then in home bread delivery and in retail sales, but he eventually took a job in the foundry at the Cooper-Bessemer plant in Mount Vernon. He stayed with that company for 19 years, becoming well-versed in metallurgy. He cites continual reading as being the key to how he was able to get an education for himself and make a success out of life despite never having finished high school.
“Reading,” said Lamb. “That’s the most important thing.”