W-16. WILLIAMSON, OTIS. Wounded in action on June 11, 1951. There has been no contact with Otis after Korea.
W-17. WILSON, HENRY. An original member who came from Company L. After his enlistment was over he married Ruth and then settled in Flint, MI.
W-18. WILSON, WILLIAM R. William was a member of Lieutenant Anthony’s Replacement Platoon. He came from the 80th AAA Battalion. After William’s second enlistment was up he maintained his close ties with the Army as a civilian working in the Transportation Section of CONARC (the Continental Army Training Command, which is where the Army’s military doctrine is developed; the current name is TRADOC, meaning U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command) at Fort Monroe, VA. William is married and has a son who did an enlistment as a medic. William has attended several RICA and 555th events on the east coast.
W-18. WOODARD, ISAIAH. Isaiah was an original member. He was on a three-year hitch. Isaiah went to the 187th ARCT when the unit was inactivated. Nothing has been heard from him since that time.
Appendix 2
2d Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne)
Unit Roster During the Korean War
Note: This appendix contains the names of soldiers who were part of 2d Ranger Company (not attachments). The roster appears in its original form, including misspellings of Ranger names. For some soldiers, such as Isaac Grasty who spent the entire war with his first name misspelled as Issac, the misspelling of a name was simply an unfortunate and annoying fact of military life.
Commendations, Awards, Citations
Killed in Action: 12
Isaac Baker
Richard Glover
J.T. Holley
Milton Johnson
Frank King
James Peteress
Herman L. Rembert
Charles D. Scott
Robert St. Thomas
Ralph W. Sutton
William Van Dunk
Lawrence Williams
Silver Stars: 9
Warren E. Allen
Norman Collins
Curtis Courts
James Freeman
John A. Jones
James Peteress
Edward Posey
James C. Queen
George Rankins
Bronze Stars: 11
Edward D. Adams
Anthony Andrade
Albert Cliette
James H. Fields
Culver Gibson
William Hargrove
McBert Higginbotham
Cleaven McBride
Stewart W. Strothers
William E. Thomas
Joseph Wells
Purple Hearts: 103
Louis Adams
Kirk P. Adkins
Legree Aikens(2)
James Allen
Warren E. Allen
Jesse Anderson
Teedie Andres
Eugene Arnold
Isaac Baker
Daniel Boatwright(3)
Thomas M. Burse
Homer Bush
George Bynum
Clinton Cleveland(2)
Albert Cliette(2)
Eugene Coleman
Willie L. Coleman
Norman Collins
Curtis Courts
Sherman Daniels
James R. Davis
Herculano Dias
Lawrence Estell
Donald Felder
James H. Fields
John E. Ford
James Freeman
Gerard Germain
Richard Glover
John W. Gould
Isaac Grasty
Walter Gray
James Hardy
James Harvey
William Harris
Willie Hawkins(2)
McBert Higginbotham
J.T. Holley
Herman Jackson
Winston Jackson
Glenn Jenkins
Eugene Jennings
Bruce Johnson
Emmett Johnson
Harold Johnson
Milton Johnson
Frank King
William Lanier
Ralph Leggs
David Lesure(2)
Charles Lewis(2)
Jack Murphy
James Murray
John Nunley
Joe Oliver
Craig Paulding(2)
Samuel L. Payne(2)
James Peteress(3)
Edward Posey(3)
Bernard B. Pryor
Herman Rembert
Smead H. Robertson
Charles D. Scott
Wheeler Small
Jude St. Martin(2)
Robert St. Thomas
Stewart W. Strothers
Ralph W. Sutton
Billie Tate
William E. Thomas(2)
William Tucker
Cleveland Valrey
William Van Dunk
Julius Victor(2)
James T. Walker
William F. Washington
Burke Webb
Donald West
Joseph Whitmore
Lawrence Williams
Otis Williamson
Henry Wilson(3)
William Wilson
Appendix 3
Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations
.30 cal: Size of a rifle or carbine bullet
.40mm: Size of an anti-aircraft shell
.45 cal: Size of a Colt automatic bullet
.50 cal: Size of a vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun bullet
75/105/155 mm: Size of artillery shells (from light to heavy)
368/369: Undesirable discharge given to soldier with discipline problems and/or poor performance
A/A: Anti-Aircraft
AAA: Anti-Aircraft Artillery
A/A Bn: Anti-Aircraft Battalion
ABN, A/B: Airborne
A/C: Aircraft
AFB: Air Force Base
AFFE: Armed Forces Far East
AFOD: Air Force Officer of the Day
Aggie: Native Korean child
AIR: Airborne Infantry Regiment
A&P: Ammunition and Pioneer
APO: Army Post Office
ARCT: Airborne Regimental Combat Team
Armd: Armored
Arr (d): Arrive (d)
Art/arty: Artillery
ASAP: As Soon As Possible
Asgmt/asgn (d): Assignment/assign (ed)
Assembly area: Prominent terrain feature where a unit assembles
ASTP: Army Specialized Training Program
ASU: Army Special Unit
Atch (d): Attach (ed)
Atck (d): Attack (ed)
ATT: Army Training Test; used in unit evaluations
Auth (d): Authority/authorized
AWOL: Absent Without Official Leave
BAR: Browning Automatic Rifle
B-Bag: Duffle bag that stores extra clothing
Battery: Company-sized artillery unit
Bayonet: Code name for 7th Infantry Division in Korea
BG: Brigadier General
Big Eight: Military prison in Japan
Bn: Battalion
Bn CP: Battalion Command Post
Bootsie Mae: Black soldier’s foreign girlfriend
BS (V): Bronze Star Awarded for Valor
BTO: Big-Time Operator
Btry: Artillery Battery
Buffalo: Nickname for black soldiers (originally those fighting Indians in the American West)
Burp gun: Chinese sub-machine gun
BX: Base Exchange (store)
C-46: Early, two-propeller-driven paratrooper transport aircraft
C-47: Same as C-46, but with one door
C-54: Four-propeller-driven cargo or troop transport aircraft
C-119: Two-propeller-driven heavy cargo transport aircraft
C-123: Similar to C-119, but could land on an unimproved airstrip
Cal: Caliber (size of bullet fired from a weapon)
Capt: Captain
Car
bine: Short-barreled rifle
Cathouse: House of ill-repute
CAV: Cavalry
CBI: China-Burma-India theater of operations
CC: Canadian Club (whiskey)
CCC: Civilian Conservation Corps
CCF: Chinese Communist Forces
CG: Commanding General
CIA: Central Intelligence Agency
CIB: Combat Infantryman’s Badge
Class-6: Alcoholic Beverages
CMB: Combat Medical Badge
CO: Commanding Officer
Co: Company
Code-Talkers: Navajo Indian soldier radio operators
C of S: Chief of Staff
Col: Colonel
Colored or *: Morning Report designation for black personnel
Comdr: Commander
Commo: Communications
Conf: Confinement (jail)
CONUS: Continental United States on theater duty
COPL: Combat Outpost Line
CP: Command Post
Cpl: Corporal
C-rations: Individual food rations, good for one day
CSM: Command Sergeant Major
CSW: Crew-Served Wagons
DA: Department of the Army
DAC: Department of Army Civilians
DAR: Daughters of the American Revolution
DCNG: District of Columbia National Guard
DD: Dishonorable Discharge
Defilade: A defensive position against enfilading, or raking, fire
Deuce-and-a-half: 2-1/2 ton truck
Div: Division
DMZ: Demilitarized Zone
DOA: Dead on Arrival
DoD: Department of Defense
DOE: Date of Enlistment
DOR: Date of Rank
DOW: Died of Wounds
DR: Delinquency Report
DS: Detached Service
DSC: Distinguished Service Cross
Dtd: Dated
DUI: Driving under the Influence
Dy: Duty
DZ: Drop Zone
ED: Extra Duty
EDCMR: Effective Date of Change of Morning Report
E&E: Escape and Evasion
Eff: Effective
EIB: Expert Infantryman Badge
Eightball: Soldier who consistently fails to meet requirements
EM: Enlisted Man
EMB: Expert Medical Badge
EOD: Explosive Ordnance Demolition
ER: Enlisted Reservist
ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival
ETO: European Theater of Operations
ETS: Expiration of Term of Service (end of enlistment term)
EUSAK: Eighth United States Army Korea
F-51 or P-51: Propeller-driven aircraft that provides close air support to ground units
FA: Field Artillery
FAB: Field Artillery Battalion
FAC: Forward Air Controller
Fat Boys School: Training program for overweight paratroopers
FDC: Fire Direction Center (group that coordinates unit fire support)
FEPC: Fair Employment Practices Committee
First Sergeant: Head soldier in a company
FO: Forward Observer
Fr: From
G-1: Personnel section of division or higher staff
G-2: Intelligence section of division or higher staff
G-3: Operations and training section of division or higher staff
G-4: Supply section of division or higher staff
Geneva Convention: International body of rules governing warfare
GHQ: General Headquarters
GI: Government Issue: A term used to describe a member of the military
GI Jane: A member of the WACs
GI party: Barracks cleaning before morning inspection
GO: General Order Got hat: Left an area very rapidly
Gyroscoped: When a unit was transferred from overseas back to the States
HALO: High-Altitude, Low Opening; a type of parachute jumping
HC: Harmony Church (located at Fort Benning, GA)
Hei-hei: North Korean and Chinese term for black soldiers
H&I Fire: Harassment and Interdiction Fire
HMG: Heavy Machine Gun
Homesteaders: Those who arranged repeated tours stateside or in a safe area
Hosp: Hospital
HQ: Headquarters
ID: Identification/Infantry Division
IG: Inspector General
Ike Jacket: Olive drab jacket named for General Eisenhower
Inf: Infantry
Institutional memory: Equivalent of oral history or folklore
I&R: Intelligence and Reconnaissance
Jd: Joined
JLC: Japan (Joint) Logistical Command
JrROTC: Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (for high school students)
Jump School: Paratrooper training school, located at Fort Benning, GA
K-2, K-4: Temporary designation for United States airfields in Korea
K9: Dog corps, sentry patrol
KANSAS Line: Line of advance of UN forces in April 1951, just north of the 38th parallel
KASLC: Korean Army Service and Labor Corps (civilian personnel)
KIA: Killed in Action
KMAG: Korean Military Advisory Group
KP: Kitchen Police: duty helping the cooks
KPA: Korean People’s Army
L-4: Small, observational airplane
LCI: Landing Craft Infantry
LCP: Landing Craft Personnel
Ldr: Leader
Legs: Airborne term referring to non-airborne soldiers
LMG: Light Machine Gun
LOD: Line of Duty
LOGCOM: Logistical Command
LSM: Landing Ship Medium
LST: Landing Ship Tank
Lt: Lieutenant
LTC: Lieutenant Colonel
LTG: Lieutenant General
Ltr: Letter
LWA: Lightly Wounded in Action
LZ: Landing Zone
M-1: Rifle used by most soldiers in Korea
MASH: Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
MAT: Military Air Transport
MC: Master of Ceremonies
MD: Medical Doctor
MG: Major General
MIA: Missing in Action
MLR: Main Line of Resistance
MOH: Medal of Honor
Mohawk: Hairstyle with uncut center strip flanked by bald sides
MOS: Military Occupational Specialty
MP: Military Police
M/R: Morning Report
MSC: Medical Service Corps
MSG: Master Sergeant
MSR: Main Supply Route
NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer; all enlisted men other than privates
NCOIC: Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge
NG: National Guard
NKPA: North Korean People’s Army
OC: Officer in Charge
OCS: Officer Candidate School
OD: Officer of the Day/Olive Drab
OG: Officer of the Guard
OP: Observation Post/Outpost
P&A: Pioneer and Ammunition platoon; also called A&P: dealt with mines, barbed wire and the like; also carried ammo and was responsible for headquarters security
Para/par: Paragraph
Paratroopers: Airborne Infantry soldiers; deployed via parachute jump
PCS: Permanent Change of Station
PFC: Private First Class
PH: Purple Heart
PIB: Parachute Infantry Battalion
PIO: Public Information Office
PIR: Parachute Infantry Regiment
Plat: Platoon
POE: Port of Embarkation
Police Action: War waged without Congressional declaration
POM: Preparation for Overseas Movement
POW: Prisoner of War
PRO: Public Relations Officer
PT: Ph
ysical Training
Pvt: Private
PX: Post Exchange (store)
QM: Quartermaster
Quit Slip: Formal application to leave ranger/parachute training program
RA: Regular Army
RADAR: Radio Detection and Ranging
RCT: Regimental Combat Team
Rct: Recruit
Red Legs: Artillerymen
Red Tails: Black fighter pilots of the 99th Pursuit Squadron
Regt: Regiment
Rel/reld: Relieved
Repl: Replacement
Repo Depo: Replacement Depot organization
Ret: Retired
RICA: Ranger Infantry Company Airborne
RIF: Reduction in Force
Rigger: Person who packs or rigs parachutes
ROK: Republic of Korea (South Korea)
R&R: Rest and Recreation/Relaxation/Recuperation
RTC: Recruit Training Center
RTD: Returned to Duty
Rtn (d): Return (ed)
RTO: Railroad Train Office
/s/: Signature
S-1: Personnel section of regimental or lower staff
S-2: Intelligence section of regimental or lower staff
S-3: Operations and training section of regimental or lower staff
S-4: Supply section of regimental or lower staff
SAM: Surface-to-Air Missiles
SCR-300: Signal Corps radio that infantry companies used to contact battalion
SEAL: Sea-Air-Land: U.S. Navy Special Forces branch member
Serial: Group of aircraft operating together
SFC: Sergeant First Class
Sgt: Sergeant
Shavetail: Nickname for a new Second Lieutenant
Shpmt: Shipment
Sk: Sick
Slim Jim: Nickname of Major General James Gavin, 82d Airborne Division
SO: Special Orders
SOL: Shit Out of Luck
SOP: Standard Operating Procedure
SOS: Services of Supply (also slang for creamed chipped beef)
Sqd: Squad
SS: Silver Star
S/Sgt: Staff Sergeant
Str: Company’s strength (number of personnel) at a particular time
SWA: Seriously Wounded in Action
/t/: Typed
T-34: North Korean Army tank
T/A: Table of Allowance
TACP: Tactical Air Control Point
T/D: Table of Distribution
TD: Tank Destroyer
TDY: Temporary Duty
TF: Task Force
Tk: Tank
TO: Table of Organization
TO&E: Table of Organization and Equipment (list of personnel and equipment belonging to a unit)
TOT: Time on Target (a type of artillery barrage)
Triple Nickels: Nickname of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion
Tvl: Travel
TWX: Telegram
UCMJ: Uniform Code of Military Justice