Posted by AXXXXXXXXXXXXXX on April 20, 2008:

John Elliott Watkins NO. 16723 CLASS OF 1948 KLLED IN A PLANE CRASH OCTOBER 16, 1950, NEAR HAEJU, KOREA, AGED 23 YEARS A LARGE "chunk" of the class of '48 went to the Far East in 1949. Air Force and Army classmates were scattered all over Japan — but not so far apart that they could not keep in contact. Promotions to first-lieutenant were coming through in 1949 and 1950, and the new rank and the strange country kept life moving at a fascinating pace. John Elliott Watkins was stationed at Camp Woods, Kumamoto, Kyushu, Japan, the home of the 21st ("Gimlet") Regiment. The other regiments of the 24th Division were at Fukuoka, Kokura, and Beppu and the Air Force was nearby at Itazuke. Johnny's father and mother were stationed at Eta Jima. All the gang were welcome to visit them there, and plans had been made for a big home Christmas. But all plans were thwarted on the 25th day of June 1950 when the North Korean Peoples' Army swept across the 38th Parallel and stabbed toward Seoul. In a matter of hours, the scattered regiments of the 24th were gathered together as General Dean made preparations to stop thousands with his meager few hundred. Flown and shipped to Korea, they were committed, platoon and company at a time. Johnny was an integral part of that magnificent display of courage. A platoon leader, he fought the desperate delaying action from Suwon through Pyongtaek, Chonan. Chochiwon, Taejon, Kumchon and Waegwan to the Pusan perimeter. Cut off at Taejon, John led the remnants of two companies through enemy lines and gave them the chance to fight on. Johnny, the Infantryman, tough and stubborn in war, who would be damned if he was going to move back any more, held and fought. These were the men who held the fingerhold on Korea, which contained two tiny airstrips and one port, the minimum requirement for staying in Korea. These were the men who held while the Communists stormed and the United Nations strove for a comeback. The Air-Ground Team worked as it had never worked before. "Fly Boys" were working on the ground with front line outfits, controlling fighter strikes in close support, while "Ground Boys" were riding as observers in Air Force T-6's spotting close support targets. Johnny was flying as observer in an L-17 during the bitter fighting around Haeju on 16 October 1950. The North Korean Peoples' Army was resisting the 24th Division with the superhuman efforts of desperate men seeking survival. John kept his plane in close to the target so that he could better direct the fighter aircraft strafing the enemy. In the wild melee of turning, diving airplanes, an F-51 turned into John's plane. He was killed in the mid-air collision. John was born an Infantryman on 20 March 1927 at Fort Clayton, Panama Canal Zone. While growing up on Army posts, he learned to ride horses as other youngsters learn to ride bicycles and drive cars. A crack horseman, he and his mother won many silver cups and blue ribbons riding in pairs and jumping classes. The Watkins family traveled the circuit of Army posts and returned to Fort Benning when John was a high-schooler. Graduating from Columbus High School in June 1943, he faced the problem all "Army Brats" face — trying to get an appointment to the Military Academy. "Sullys" was the next step in the competitive grind for a Presidential Appointment. It was on the 10th of July 1944 that a much excited Watkins family and a very calm John received word for John to report to USMA. Johnnie was the ideal Flanker—tall, lanky and good-natured. Like his daddy, he was in the "Company that followed the Corps". Academics were easy. Never any sweat, never any stars. The finest Easter Egg Hunt in the history of the "Lost Division" was organized and executed under the Watkins' eye. The stoops were ankle deep in water that Easter. And Johnny knew the meaning of "odd numbers post", too. The last of the "horsey set" was still holding out at the Academy then. Horseback camping trips were one of the privileges extended to cadets in the spring. After the sound of "odd numbers post" had dimmed from his mind, John arranged a camping trip. Peace and quiet awaited those who rode far back into the hills. The fish were jumping when Watkins and company set up camp by the lake. What more could a routine-weary man desire? The soft munching of horses feeding on grass lulled the troops to sleep that night. Sunday morning, cool and bright, brought the realization that the home-loving steeds had shaken their halters and returned home. Choice of branch at graduation was easy for John. He had been born an Infantryman. The "Queen of Battles" acquired a big new son as Johnny went out to do the job he had trained for and wanted to do. Branch School at Fort Benning was the stuff he wanted. This was the big league. Johnny sweated and would have worn stars if the Infantry School awarded them. He graduated near the top from the Infantry School. He was denied the opportunity to become a paratrooper because of an injured shoulder incurred in a jumping accident at the Academy. Tall and good-natured, John went straight to his first assignment, the 21st Infantry, Kumamoto, Japan. Robert Browning said it so well in his "Epilogue to Asalondo": "One who never turned his back but marched breast forward. Never doubted clouds would break, Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph, Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, Sleep to wake" —Captain George 8. Thomas, '48

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