Pacific Stars and Stripes,
Nov. 19, 1952
SANTA ANA, Cal., Nov. 19 (AP)-
The United States Marine Corps is not exactly what you would call
a relief agency but elements of this branch of the service are doing
quite a job of welfare for war-orphaned Korean children.
Piled up at the Marine Corps Air Station near
Santa Ana today are 3,490 pounds of clothing, toys, and canned gods
which will go to Korean orphans when ship space is available.
MARINES ARE not only directing the Stateside collection
of needed articles, but they now have their own orphanage in the village
of Puchang.
The public information office of the air station
here tells how "Operation Orphan" started. They saw how families were
separated, parents killed, and the children became vagabonds and beggars.
Many of the children have been cared for, off and on, by the passing
Marines.
FINALLY, a program was started with chaplains
and Marine commissioned WO Phillip W. Slocum, Havre, Mont., taking
the lead. Slocum is chairman of the Square and Compass Club, Masonic
organization in the Marines.
Officers and enlisted men of the 1st Marine Air
Wing contributed more than $3,500 for 15 acres of land, the site of
the war memorial orphanage. There are now two buildings on the site,
accommodating 40 Korean boys and girls. Of the present shipment waiting
here, 1,190 pounds is earmarked for this orphanage.
CHURCHES and relief societies in the U.S., at
the request of the Marines, are aiding in collecting clothing, food,
and toys for shipment to the orphanage and other needy Koreans.
PSS-235
