By JOHN GUNN USMCR-ret., Gulf Breeze, Fla.

   By Marine vet Dick Hill, Edina, Minn.

"BATTLE TALK!"/Ted Williams Episode -- "One of the high-profile Marine sports figures that I ran into during the Korean War was Ted Williams. The Boston Red Sox slugger was a pilot with the First Marine Air Wing, VMF-311 Squadron, the legendary Pohang-by-the-sea squadron, stationed in (North of) Pusan, South Korea.

"It was April 13, 1953. I was a Marine radio correspondent looking for interview with him. Williams was hospitalized on USS Haven, a U.N. hospital ship off eastern coast of South Korea.

"I took a dinghy out to the ship and was escorted to a small social hall where the service people could stretch their legs and relax. Williams was convalescing for a touch of pneumonia. He had problems resulting from cold weather. As I entered the room, he was reading Stars and Stripes. He was cordial when I was introduced to him, but stern in his refusal to do an interview. He said he was not talking to any of the media.

"I MENTIONED THE tape recording was for Marine Corps Show, broadcast from Hollywood. But he still declined. Sensing good story with my hero, searched for his "hot button."

PHOTO -- Capt. Ted Williams at the Marine Airbase in Korea, after he crash landed his thunder jet at an advance airbase Feb. 15, 1953 on his first combat mission over North Korea against enemy targets. Williams walked away safely. (AP Photo/Fred Waters)

"I needed some connection to get the baseball superstar to change his mind. After all, I didn't want to lug all my recording equipment bact to PIO headquarters without a story.

"Suddenly, a light came on in my mind. I remembered seeing him playing for the Minneapolis Millers when I was just a kid. And, wow! Could he slam those homers. I thought I'd give it a try. "Capt. Williams," I respectively said, "I used to watch you play for the minors in my hometown, Minneapolis."

"His mood changed. "You did? What year? What position? And what was the name of the ball park?" he challenged me. I could tell the ice was beginning to melt between us.

"WHEN I ANSWERED all of his questions correctly, he put his newspaper down and gave his famous ‘Ted Williams’ smile, and agreed to the interview. I had coaxed both his military crash survivor's story and baseball insights from him for millions of stateside radio listeners. I did not realize how big the story was until we received feedback from many of his fans.

"Plus, Capt Bem Price, CO of PIO in Korea, had a transcript of the tape and fed it as a spot-news story to AP and all the news wire services. The story ran in hundreds of newspapers all over the country. Ted Williams hit a "grand slammer" of an interview. And oh, how he missed playing baseball. He talked about it for an hour after the taping session.

"Luckily, his story, and other gripping episodes from the ‘forgotten war’, are preserved in "BATTLE TALK!," my memoirs from the Korean War. It includes a historic CD with the Ted Williams interview.

"The book also highlights other Marine athletes -- from Williams to Roberto Clemente.

The "Battle Talk!" book – "memoirs of a Marine radio correspondent" --includes 276 pages and 26 stories, including "Where’s Korea?," "Combat Correspondents," "The Red Tide," "God in Korea," "Relax, It’s Only a War" and "Esprit de Corps." The cover lists "Korea! A GRIPPING 'REPLAY’ OF AMERICA’S FORGOTTEN WAR."

TED WILLIAMS IN in the major leagues played 2,292 games, hit 525 doubles and 521 HRs, batted .344 average, an outfielder, a manager, an executive, a Hall of Fame member. He also played for North Carolina Pre-Flight in 1943, Bronson Field-Fla. in 1944-45, Jacksonville NAS 1945 and MCAS Ewa-Hawaii in 1945.