This interview with ST. MARY’S TODAY took place this past summer. Duchesne died in 2005.
By Sean Rice
ST. MARY'S TODAY
MEDLEY’S NECK – Jack W. Duchesne joined the Marine Corps reserves in May 1949 at the age of 17 because he was too young to serve his country earlier in the decade while World War II was raging.
Watching men of all ages heading overseas, Duchesne, as a boy, was eager to serve his country but he had to wait until he turned 17 and a half, and when old enough, did so with his mother’s permission.
With the outbreak of the Korean War, he was activated with the Marine 5th Infantry Battalion, but higher-ups insisted Duchesne finish college and attend officer candidate school in Quantico, Va.
It turned out to be a fortunate move for Duchesne, as nearly 30 percent of the 5th infantry was killed in Korea during the Inchon assault and after, he said.
In the early part of the Korean conflict, U.S. and United Nations forces were battled back by the North Korean communist army to a small section of South Korea, on the southern tip of the peninsula.
The “Puson perimeter” was set up on this southern tip and the situation was looking bleak when Gen. Douglas MacArthur devised a risky but ingenious plan to conduct and amphibious assault at Inchon, back near the center of the peninsula and split the enemy forces in two.
The mission was successful and went down in history as one of the most remarkable invasions, but the success was thwarted eventually as the 15-nation United Nations force led by Americans was battled back south again. After about 50,000 American deaths and near 600,000 Koreans dead, the war (which was never declared an actual war) was ended with a treaty that restored the pre-war demilitarized zone at the 38th parallel.
Today the conflict between North and South Korean still exists, with an estimated million troops positioned on either side of the 38th parallel.
By the time Duchesne (pronounced do-shane) arrived in Korea in March 1954, major combat operations were over.
His assignment as a supply officer was changed to overseeing rebuilding operations of schools, churches and other infrastructure in Korea.
Duchesne was part of the command for a total of 37 rebuild projects, ordering suppliers and arranging armed guards for lumber and other equipment, while Korean laborers did the grunt work.
“We had to be careful of the chief of police, because he wanted 10 percent,” Duchesne said in an interview with ST. MARY’S TODAY.
Overall the situation was not that dangerous at the time for Duchesne, except for a few angry riflemen or bombing pilots, dubbed “bed check Charlie,” because their only purpose was to make sure they were awake.
Upon return to the States in April 1955, Duchesne was assigned with the “MAC 24” Marine Air Control squadron in Cherry Point, North Carolina, a unit he stayed with for 14 years. Two of those years he served as commanding officer of the squadron.
In the early 1960, he also began a career with the United States Postal Service, which pinnacled a decade later when he was working in New York City overseeing an $800 million budget.
After working in the civil affairs unit at Andrews Air Force Base, he was asked to join the new multi-uniformed selective service agency, which oversee the nation’s military draft program.
Duchesne said one of the major accomplishments in his lengthy reservist career was working with the small group of men who initiated the U.S. post office as the central location for all 18-year-old males in the county to go sign up for selective services.
The draft is “an insurance policy for the nation,” Duchesne said, adding that professionals such as doctors and pilots have been drafted recently into the so-called war on terror.
Duchesne finished up his working days as the head of the St. Mary’s County branch of the American Red Cross, until the office was combined into a Southern Maryland chapter in 1999.
“It was a pretty good career, you couldn’t do it that way today,” said Duchesne, now 73.
Duchesne has eight children with his wife of 51 years, Ann, and proudly displays the Meritorious Service Medal commendation for military service from 1975 to 1984.
One of Duchesne’s sons followed in his Marine footsteps and is now stationed in Okinawa in a Marine intelligence unit.