15-239 Garand Picture of the Day - U.S. Army 5th Regimental Combat Team
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Soldiers of the U.S. Army 5th Regimental Combat Team engage North Korean troops along the Naktong River in 1950. (National Archives)
Actor James Garner (The Rockford Files) served in the 5th RCT during the Korean War, when he was awarded two Purple Hearts.
He enlisted in the National Guard, serving his first seven months in California. He then went to Korea for 14 months, as a rifleman in the 5th Regimental Combat Team during the Korean War. He was wounded twice, first in the face and hand by shrapnel fire from a mortar round, and the second time in the buttocks from friendly fire from U.S. fighter jets as he dove headfirst into a foxhole. Garner received the Purple Heart in Korea for the first injury. He qualified for a second Purple Heart (eligibility requirement: "As the result of friendly fire while actively engaging the enemy"), but he did not actually receive it until 1983, 32 years after it had happened. Garner was a self-described "scrounger" for his company in Korea, a role he later played in The Great Escape and The Americanization of Emily.
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