Korean War squad shares pride at 50-year reunion

Fifty years after the war, "Big Ed" Swanson is still commanding his troops.

For the 50th-anniversary reunion of Naval Air Reserve Patrol Squadron VP-892 this week, Swanson, the squadron's erstwhile commanding officer, ordered his men to retreat from old war stories.

"Sure, we like to swap war stories. But the wives are tired of hearing them," he said, chuckling. "As the captain, I decided there wouldn't be any old war stories."

So, instead, 38 former Patrol Squadron reservists and their guests who attended the reunion dinner Thursday evening at the Lake City Elks Lodge listened to local storyteller Debbie Dimitre orate on American writer Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of early-day aviator Charles Lindbergh.

That was the evening's entertainment as old friends got together.

Patrol Squadron 892, which proudly boasts being the first Navy Reserve squadron called up by Presidential Order to serve in the Korean War, has held about a dozen reunions since returning home in the spring of 1951 after eight months of duty in Korea.

"But this year is special. It's our 50th anniversary, and maybe even the last reunion," said 83-year-old Swanson, a retired Seattle insurance broker who served eight years of active duty and 12 years in the Navy reserves.

Most of his reserve squad addressed him as "Commander." But they also called him "Big Ed" because, at 6 feet 4 inches, he towered over most of them.

Patrol Squadron 892, made up mostly of World War II veterans who signed on for reserve duty, was stationed at Sand Point Naval Air Station Seattle when President Truman issued the order July 20, 1950, calling the 300-member squad to active duty.

Two weeks later, Swanson and his men were on their way to San Diego for accelerated aviation training. Then it was off to Iwakuni, Japan.

As a patrol unit, the squadron flew weather and enemy submarine-surveillance missions and took an active part in the retaking of Inchon on the coast of South Korea.

Lincoln Kaiser, the squad's self-styled historian, says no one really likes to talk about how many men were lost in Korea. But six in the squadron didn't return home.

Fleet commanders cited the squadron for doing an outstanding job as part of the regular Navy during their tour in Korea.

"But the hardest part was having the regular Navy accept us as equals," Swanson recalled.

Kaiser, who retired in 1983 as Kirkland postmaster, recalled Seattle's tumultuous reception for the returning reservists and all the homecoming hoopla, climaxing with a confetti parade through downtown Seattle's "Welcome Lane" on June 25, 1951.

Kaiser has recently finished a book, "A Call to Active Duty," chronicling the squadron's war service. At the reunion, copies of the book were given to squadron members or their widows.