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Seattle’s First Korean War Parade

Published March 7, 2014 by Rob Ketcherside

On May 5, 1951, Seattle welcomed 1,500 soldiers back to the US from the war in Korea. It was a raucous celebration with a 105mm Howitzer 19-gun salute, fly-overs by B-29 Superfortresses and F-94 interceptors, fire boats spraying water, and a parade that led them to Fort Lawton. Along the way there was a block from Marion to Madison on Second Avenue where women showered the soldiers with flower blossoms.

First Soldiers from Korea, 1951 and 2014
Blended rephotograph of the parade as veterans returned from the Korean War

Describing the scene

The Seattle Times describes the scene here at Second Avenue and Virginia: “As the parade neared its end, opposite a reviewing stand… some of the more daring girls in the crowd ‘hitched’ rides on some of the troop-carrying trucks. Some of the girls stood on running boards; others climbed onto the trucks with the soldiers.” (Archive image courtesy Truman Library.)

Seattle had all of its beauty on display: “A glorious view greeted the returning veterans as they moved upsound and into Elliott Bay. The sun shown brightly in a blue sky, and the Cascade Mountains, with Mount Rainier rearing majestically to the south, were clearly visible. To the west, the Olympics were just as grand.”

The soldiers were prepped for the celebrations at Port Angeles. An Army tug delivered dozens of dress uniforms to men wearing only combat fatigues.

5/5/1951
As they reached Pier 39 on 5/5/1951 (Truman Library)

Inspiring words

In his speech, Mayor Devin reminded the crowd that there were many soldiers who would never experience that sight again. At least 40 Seattle men had already been killed in the war, and that many were still yet to die.

The next was Natherene C. Marett. He was originally from South Carolina but moved to Seattle in the waning days of World War 2 to attend the Naval Academy on Bainbridge Island. After enlisting in the Army in 1947 he served in Germany for three years before being transferred to Korea. He is buried at Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Evergreen Washelli.

List of war dead

In a previous article I mapped all of the residences of Seattle’s Korean War dead. When I wrote this one, I included an embedded box plot of data hosted in Tableau. They have since purged the data and broken the control that I used. Instead, here is a table list of war dead that I originally hosted there.

Military Service BranchName of CasualtyService NumberDate Died or Declared DeadcountyHome of Record-City/Town/CountySeattle AddressHome of Record-StateBirth Date YearRaceNote
U S AIR FORCEADLER JUNIOR MERLEA020809601/31/1954KingSEATTLE11048 2nd Ave NEWashington25CaucasianMIA May 7, 1951; wife and two sons; Wife in Spokane at that time
U S AIR FORCEBENNETT CHAUNCEY AUBRE JRA0206696212/31/1953KingWashington22CaucasianKorea Vet Honors Roll says Gainesville, FL – on monument
U S AIR FORCEHAYS MELVIN BLAINE391921092/28/1954KingSEATTLEWashington20Caucasian
U S AIR FORCEMATHESON DOUGLAS NA018477824/15/1951KingSEATTLE7503 Sunnyside Ave NWashington25Caucasian
U S AIR FORCEOBZINA FRANKA3917489112/6/1950KingShorelineWashington18CaucasianShoreline; 15577 9th Ave NE
U S AIR FORCESHEEHAN ROBERT EMMETTA05479563/31/1954KingSEATTLE14026 Courtland Place NWashington20Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSASTLEY CHARLES ARTHUR JR5894388/18/1950KingSEATTLE4139 51st Ave SWWashington28Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSBERG MARVIN LELAND3091812/3/1953Minnesota23Caucasian Borup, MN http://www.koreanwar.org/html/korean_war_project_remembrance.html
U S MARINE CORPSBERG RICHARD W10313606/8/1951KingSEATTLE7529 29th Ave NWWashington30Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSBEVENS PERRY MCPHAIL10731969/24/1950KingSEATTLE8529 Stone WayWashington31Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSBOSWELL GEORGE LEO10732978/19/1950Kingn/aWashington29Caucasian902 SW 102nd
U S MARINE CORPSCONSTANTINO PASQUELINO John116784311/5/1952KingSEATTLEWashington32Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSDARCHUCK EDWARD DALE6571798/18/1950Kingn/aWashington31Caucasian10734 18th ave SW
U S MARINE CORPSHASKELL GORDON EDWARD2096410/20/1952KingSEATTLE550 NE 82ndWashington20Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSHAWLEY RICHARD EVERETT6571208/12/1950KingSEATTLE905 18th AveWashington29Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSHILL WAYNE R11935808/15/1953KingSEATTLEWashington33Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSHOOLAHAN PATRICK WILLIAMS57808210/27/1950KingSEATTLE3206 61st Ave SWWashington28Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSHOY THOMAS SAMUEL11385199/21/1951KingSEATTLE10524 Ashworth AveWashington30Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSKORTE JOIE64174911/27/1950KingSEATTLE2935 First AveWashington28Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSLAUNDRY WILLIAM ROLAND13148022/1/1953KingSEATTLE3020 22nd Ave SWashington33Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSLOCKHART JACK NETTA19823612/1/1951BremertonWashington4CaucasianWife California; he at Bremerton base
U S MARINE CORPSMILLER FLOYD GAY11580698/30/1951KingSEATTLE4203 Woodlawn Ave NWashington29Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSMORK EDGAR BENEDICT4042831/29/1950KingSEATTLE4672 Escallonia CtWashington22Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSNICKLOS RONALD CLYDE6242913/1/1951KingSEATTLE5512 Woodlan Ave NWashington27Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSNOTSUND HAROLD NELS6241753/1/1951KingSEATTLE911 Belmont Ave NWashington28Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSOLSEN EUGENE PAGE105851312/7/1950KingShorelineWashington29Caucasian1578 NE 175th
U S MARINE CORPSPEHLING WALTER G13147513/26/1954KingSEATTLE7745 31st Ave NWashington31Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSRIDENOUR HUGH ALEXANDER11934195/13/1952KingSEATTLE4124 E 79thWashington32Unknown or Not Reported
U S MARINE CORPSSAGDAHL ROLPH JOHN10572394/10/1951KingSEATTLE9043 11th Ave NWWashington30Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSSULLIVAN LLOYD SPENCER115798710/4/1951KingSEATTLEWashington32CaucasianWife living ID at time fo death; buried San Diego; from AK; enlisted in Seattle
U S MARINE CORPSTALL DONALD WALFRED5995006/13/1951KingSEATTLE622 22nd Ave NWashington29Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSTITUS DONALD GEORGE10731826/1/1951KingSEATTLE406 W 45thWashington29Caucasian
U S MARINE CORPSWEST STANLEY R11580777/17/1953YakimaWashington24CaucasianOr Spokane
U S MARINE CORPSWOOLERY CLYDE LEE JR10278689/28/1950KingSEATTLE2624 First Ave NWashington29Caucasian
U S NAVYCRESSMAN BARRY HALL38803539/24/1950KingSEATTLE3200 W 68th StWashington30Caucasian
U S NAVYCROSSMAN JOHN THEADOR388196510/21/1952KingSEATTLEWashington29Caucasian
U S NAVYMIDDLETON REX B765134410/7/1951KingSEATTLE10050 68th Ave SWashington25Caucasian
U S NAVYPAINTER FRANCIS EDWARD5534125/6/1953KingDes MoinesWashington29Caucasian20255 Marive View Drive SW
U S NAVYSCOGGAN RANDOLPH TAYLOR5517397/2/1954Oregon31CaucasianAncestry casualty list

Further Reading:

Jack Gordon planned out welcome parades for returning Korean War troop ships, greeting hundreds of thousands of veterans in style. His son is piecing together a website about Jack.

 

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