"You never were in one place very long." (Video Interview, 11:31)

Raymond Primm

Raymond Primm [1999] War: Korean War, 1950-1953; Cold War Branch: Army; Air Force Unit: G Company, 2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division; 4928th Test Squadron, 4925th Test Group (Atomic) Service Location: Camp Funston (basic training) and Fort Riley, Kansas; Chosin Reservoir, Korea; also: Keesler Air Force Base (AFB), Mississippi; Kirtland AFB and Holloman AFB, New Mexico; Enewetak Atoll (Marshall Islands) Rank: Corporal; Staff Sergeant Place of Birth: AR

Raymond Primm finished his Army basic training just prior to the outbreak of the Korean War. He was eager to fight, having enlisted at 16 with his head full of heroic imagery from World War II movies and newsreels. On the voyage to Korea in the fall of 1950, he was disappointed to hear predictions that the fighting would be over by Christmas. He became a rifleman whose unit seemed always to be on the move. During one operation, they would take a hill, retreat from it at night to allow artillery shells to fall harmlessly on it, and take it back the next day. He survived two instances of friendly fire from U.S. planes, and was wounded in an explosion that led to his being wrongly listed back home as killed in action. Primm's tour in Korea ended prematurely when it was discovered he had lied about his age to enlist.