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Robert Kirby - Korean War

Robert Kirby was a Military Policeman who served in Korea from 1952 to 1953 with the 8137th Military Police Group. Most of his tour was spent on Koje-do island guarding North Koreans POWs who were committed communists, bent on causing as much trouble for their captors as possible. Kirby remained on Koje-do when the prisoner exchange occurred following the July 1953 armistice.

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Feature Excerpt

North Korean Defector

Abstract

Interview Session (Audio)

An MP guarding North Korean prisoners during the war

Transcript

Photos

Caption
Robert Kirby stands beside a shack he built outside of the compound at the Chogu-ri POW camp on Koje-do Island.

Where:
Chogu-ri POW camp on Koje-do Island

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Robert Kirby stands beside a shack he built outside of the compound at the Chogu-ri POW camp on Koje-do Island.

Where:
Chogu-ri POW camp on Koje-do Island

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Robert Kirby patrols the perimeter of the POW enclosure at Chogu-ri.

Where:
Chogu-ri POW camp

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Robert Kirby supervises POWs handling petroleum outside Camp #9 at Pusan.

Where:
Camp #9 at Pusan

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
View of the GI barracks from the POW compound at Chogu-ri.

Where:
Chogu-ri POW compound

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Kirby at Chogu-ri. This photo was taken in June, 1953, shortly after ‘friendly’ North Korean POWs had been released in the middle of the night by South Korean President Syngman Rhee.

Where:
Chogu-ri

When:
1953

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Robert Kirby’s 8th grade graduation photo circa 1945.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1945

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
North Korean cap insignia that Kirby confiscated from a North Korean prisoner. The prisoners fashioned such items themselves in a UN equipped metal-working shop within the camp. They were fiercely proud of their caps and insignia.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Unknown

Caption
This is the cover from a pamphlet that Kirby confiscated from a North Korean prisoner, and the first of a series of photos from that pamphlet. It included detailed instructions and intricate drawings of military hardware, tactical maneuvers, etc.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Images of the entire pamphlet are archived in the ALPL Audio-Visual Department.

Caption
Remnants of page 7 of the pamphlet that Robert Kirby confiscated from a North Korean prisoner.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Images of the entire pamphlet are archived in the ALPL Audio-Visual Department

Caption
Remnants of page 8 of the pamphlet that Robert Kirby confiscated from a North Korean prisoner.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Images of the entire pamphlet are archived in the ALPL Audio-Visual Department

Caption
Remnants of page 9 of the pamphlet that Robert Kirby confiscated from a North Korean prisoner.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Images of the entire pamphlet are archived in the ALPL Audio-Visual Department

Caption
Remnants of page 17 of the pamphlet that Robert Kirby confiscated from a North Korean prisoner.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Images of the entire pamphlet are archived in the ALPL Audio-Visual Department

Caption
Remnants of page 18 of the pamphlet that Robert Kirby confiscated from a North Korean prisoner.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Images of the entire pamphlet are archived in the ALPL Audio-Visual Department

Caption
Remnants of page 21 of the pamphlet that Robert Kirby confiscated from a North Korean prisoner.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
This image is considered to be in the public domain. Images of the entire pamphlet are archived in the ALPL Audio-Visual Department

Caption
Robert Kirby at the time of his high school graduation.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo

Caption
Robert Kirby and a fellow soldier (Jim) at Camp #9 in South Korea.

Where:
Camp #9 in South Korea

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo

Caption
Robert Kirby pulling gate guard duty at Chogu-ri. Kirby has taken his helmet off for the photo.

Where:
Chogu-ri, South Korea

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo

Caption
Robert Kirby patrols the perimeter of the enclosure at Chogu-ri during headcount, with orders to shoot into the compound if the G.I.s conducting the headcount are assaulted.

Where:
Chogu-ri, South Korea

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo

Caption
POWs sometimes performed menial tasks, such as these POWs working at a POL (petroleum, oils and lubricants) dump, under Kirby’s supervision.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Kirby’s last photo taken in Korea. Troops are lined up waiting to board a ship heading home.

Where:
Korea

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo

Caption
Troops boarding ship for home.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator’s Photo

Robert Kirby - Korean War

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