Nestled on the shores of Staten Island, John Gorman spent his formative years surrounded by the hum of machines and the crackle of radios. An apprenticeship at P. Pizzo Manufacturing Company was suiting for his passion for tinkering. His daily work in the machine shop exposed him to the lathe, drill press, band saws and grinders to make universal joints. It was the sort of work that for most boys joining the Navy would put them down the path of a machinists mate or electronics for his interest in radios. For Gorman, however, the service decided differently after he enlisted on January 6th, 1949 and during the year he trained as a hospital corpsman. He had just qualified for and been recommended for advancement to Hospital Corpsman Third Class when the war in Korea broke out. He waited anxiously through the year until August when he received orders to join the 1st Marine Regiment.

On August 4th, he reported to Headquarters and Service Company, 3d Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment and nearly two weeks later they embarked aboard the U.S.S. Buckner. From San Diego to Kobe was a thirteen-day trip at sea and they would have to wait a few days longer before departing for Korea. Rigorous training consisting of hiking, scouting, patrolling and night operations filled the short days. Prior to staging out from Kobe, the battalion was briefed with what little intelligence data was available on their impending invasion at Inchon.  Their ten days in Japan did little to allot for the typical ninety-day training and rehearsals for an amphibious invasion.
Beach Blue 2 was assigned to 3d Battalion. They would face a fifteen-foot seawall fronting the beach which they would have to scale or approach the beach from an entrant to their left - a stream flowing out at the north end of the seawall. Thirty-one-foot tides could bring the assault forces right up to the seawall or leave them grounded on the mud flats exposed at low tide. Accurate timing for H-hour would be crucial to make it over and it was set at 1700 hours on D-day. The LVTs were fitting out with ladders for scaling the wall, landing nets to rig to said wall, and wood planks to lay down on the mud flats if it came down to it.

On the day of their departure from Kobe, the battalion commander and staff finally received accurate and valuable intelligence about the beach area and as far as Gorman was concerned among the lowest pay grades, H-hour was set at 1730 hours for the south end of the seawall and the battalion was off to the objective area.  Over wallowing seas on the tail of a typhoon, the 1st Marines steamed to the west coast in a mix of LSTs that seemed as though half of them may break down before getting halfway to Korea.

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Under gray skies, the battalion watched across the mud flats through the drizzle from their LSTs as naval gunfire and Corsairs pummeled the beachhead with shells, rockets and napalm wherever targets seemed likely.  Before long the beach was swathed in thick dull yellow smoke.

The battalion landed in six waves over Beach Blue 2 with considerable haste and confusion only compounded by the heavy smoke blowing seaward with approaching darkness. Units became entangled at the foreboding fifteen-foot seawall with everyone shouting and yelling at each other to move over or go forward.  Attached to G Company in the first wave going ashore, the event unfolded rapidly as Gorman scrambled out of his LVT and over the dreaded seawall to face the shambles of the small town.  Once ashore, the small units reorganized accordingly under only light small arms and mortar fire.  By 2015 they claimed their flanks secure and after passing through a small factory district, took their objectives fifteen minutes later. The night was quiet and without artillery, for there was little remaining enemy resistance in the immediate area. 

The next morning, they moved out with LVTs encountering only a few shots from snipers. It appeared the 17th would be much of the same until their column stopped in what evolved into a violent fight in a defile west of Sosa. The first three miles sped by until they reached Mahang-ri on the upper slopes overlooking rail yards and factory buildings.  When the first few tanks entered the village, they were hit with sniper and machinegun fire that scattered the Marines riding on the steel hulls.  Once the emplacements were taken care of, it was time to clamber up the tanks again.  This continued throughout the day with help from South Korean civilians.  Through animated sign language, they indicated where the North Korean forces were with great enthusiasm as it was likely they would be murdered if they were seen to be helping the Americans rout the communists.

After the North Koreans disabled three tanks, it was clear they could go no further until the next day with support from the remainder of the battalion. The company was stuck in Sosa the next day after the lead tank crushed the only bridge leading out of the village.  In the middle of the blazing village, G Company waited for most of the afternoon as crackling flames consumed the buildings surrounding their column.  After making it out, they finally rested the next day and headed toward Yongdung-po.  These early days ashore continued in repetition, but for John it ended on September 21st. 

That morning, the company emerged from their sleeping bag shells and ponchos before dawn and moved out at first light.  A thick fog obscured a large rice paddy that, even behind the veil of fog, could be seen to extend far out to the left and right.  They crossed through toward Yongdung-po until, as seemed to be the usual, they came under sniper fire at the edge of the city.

After advancing another 1200 yards through narrow streets and alleys between concrete buildings, the company received orders to return to the west bank of Kaichon.  A platoon was tasked with securing an outpost on the canal where it met a tributary flanked by dikes on either side.  It was known there were well-prepared enemy positions there.  The selected 3d Platoon approached the steel water gate at the base of the dike.  The steep incline of the dike wall forced them to crawl much of the way up.  The first Marine to peek over the top was met with a burst of fire and he tumbled back immediately.  Both 1st and 2d Platoons faced similar odds during the hour as well, but managed to expel the Koreans from their emplacements.  

Among the bullets clipping around their feet was one that punctured clean through John’s right heel and ankle. If the bone-shattering pain was not enough indication of the severity of his wound, he knew soon enough that he would not be walking on that foot for weeks.  His Korean service was over after only a few days and was evacuated to the 1st Provisional Casualty Company before being transferred to medical facilities in Yokosuka, Japan and eventually Tripler General Hospital in Hawaii. After a stint in Corpus Christi, Texas, Gorman spent a grueling year recovering at the U.S. Naval Hospital in St. Albans, New York until September 1951. 

He ultimately returned to his pre-war passion for electronics which flourished into a fruitful career. He studied the emerging field and spent 28 years as a civilian working in the Electronic Warfare Division for the United States Department of Defense until retiring in 1989. He remained enthralled by technological advancements, even building his own computer at the advent of the age of personal computers.