A Veteran’s Veteran Who Honored His Oath To Serve

By Jan Howard

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the United States honors veterans of all its wars. Initially designated as Armistice Day in recognition of the end of hostilities in World War I, the day was re-designated as Veterans Day in 1954.

From World War II to Vietnam, from platoon commander to service at the Pentagon, and from enlistment as a private to retirement as a US Army colonel, John “Jack” C. Kulp, Jr, had a multi-faceted military career.

 He commanded a platoon that trained scout dogs; served as a senior logistician in Vietnam; and served as an aide to the commander of the Quartermaster Center. He also was designated quite by accident as “economic advisor” to General William Westmoreland when his commanding officer forgot to assign an economist to advise General Westmoreland regarding a GI black-market problem.

 “He said to me, ‘You’re to be the general’s economic advisor,’” Col Kulp said. “I took basic economics classes in college, so I told him I didn’t know anything. He said I was going anyway, because the general had been told someone was coming.

“After that, I was always introduced as an economic advisor,” he said, laughing.

Col Kulp was one of eight quartermaster officers who received the Combat Infantry Badge that was given to infantry officers below the rank of colonel who commanded a unit in battle.

Col Kulp, who was born in Alton, Ill., has been a resident of Lockwood Lodge at Ashlar of Newtown for a year. He came to Connecticut from Pennsylvania six years ago.

Col Kulp attended a one-room schoolhouse in his early years. He received a liberal arts degree from Penn State and his master’s from George Washington University. During his military career, he attended officers candidate school, an advanced quartermaster officers’ class, the Army War College, Armed Forces Staff College, and Command and General Staff School.

He met his late wife, Anne, in college. They had been married for 47 years at the time of her death in 1980. He has two daughters, Jacqueline and Bonnie, and a son, John, and seven grandchildren.

Following his graduation from college, Col Kulp accepted a position with the Goodrich Company in 1939. World War II erupted in Europe, and on December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Col Kulp first heard the news of the attack while listening to the Coca-Cola Hour on the radio.

 “I heard something about the bombing at Pearl Harbor. Like most Americans, I had never heard of Pearl Harbor. I thought it was something like the War of the Worlds. But the more I listened, I knew this was not like that. I said to my wife, ‘Anne, I think we’re at war.’

“It took most of us Americans 24 hours to believe it was true,” he said. “To a person I think we were outraged they would do that.”

Col Kulp enlisted in the US Army as a private in 1942 at the age of 28. “That’s old to be beginning a military career,” he said.

His Army career began at Fort Lee, Va., and through the years he served in various places in the United States, including Fort Robinson, Neb., Fort Meade, Md., and the Pentagon from 1960 to 1964, where he was the senior logistician with the deputy chief of staff for logistics. As a lieutenant colonel, he was assigned to the faculty of the Quartermaster School in Fort Lee and later was commander of the Fourth Armored Division at Fort Hood, Tex., for two years.

During World War II, as a member of the Quartermaster Corp, he headed up a platoon that trained scout dogs to lead night patrols. Dogs were also trained to deliver messages between groups of men during combat.

Initially named the Quartermaster War Dog Platoon, the platoon was re-designated as Infantry Scout Dog Platoon after being assigned to Italy, he said.

“Rank was determined by the size of the platoon you commanded,” Col Kulp said. “I spent the entire war as a lieutenant.”

The dog handler and the dog worked as a team, he said. “The handler could read his dog by feeling his shoulder.” The dogs, which were trained to remain silent, would tense up, indicating they had detected something. “They would find the enemy first,” he said.

The patrol might only have eight or ten people, Col Kulp said. “They’re out looking for information, to find out what the enemy is doing. There are mines out there, and the dogs help with finding them.”

During one patrol, a dog straddled a wire, he said. “If the dog hit the wire, the mine could go off. They’re not trained to jump backward. Things like that can get very trying. It makes a little time seem like a long time.”

While Col Kulp sometimes accompanied the infantrymen on patrol, he said, “After three patrols, you’re living on borrowed time.”

Col Kulp was in Venice, Italy, when he heard that the war in Europe was over. He had spent the last few months of the war with the Sixth South African Army.

At the time the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, Col Kulp was on the Isle of Capri awaiting transport home for a month’s leave before most likely being assigned to the Pacific. “I felt lucky I wasn’t going direct to the Pacific,” he said. He noted he felt “absolute delight” about the bombings because “I knew how I felt when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.”

The end of the war seemed like a lot of confusion at the time, Col Kulp noted. However, he added, “The various forces did a wonderful job getting everyone home and separated from the service.”

He said ships arriving in Europe with supplies brought military personnel home. From 100 divisions in Europe during the war, the number dropped to three after the war, he added.

Following World War II, Col Kulp left the service and returned to the Goodrich Company for 18 months. However, his wife thought he was working too hard there and encouraged him to return to the military. Once again he became a first lieutenant.

During his military career, “We lived in 27 houses,” Col Kulp said. Their daughter, Jacqueline, was born in Germany, and son John at Fort Leavenworth, Kans. “My daughter Bonnie was born the day I went through the Straits of Gibraltar on the way to Italy.”

 His post-World War II overseas duty took him to Germany for three years; Taiwan for two years, where he acted as an advisor to the Chinese; and Vietnam for a year from 1965 to 1966. In Vietnam he helped draw up a logistical support base for the half million soldiers and supplies that were to be assigned there. “It was like building a city with a war going on around you,” he said.

“There were 30,000 soldiers there when I arrived,” he said. “When I left, there were 400,000.

“We had absolutely no reason to be there,” he said of Vietnam. “When I was selected to go to Vietnam, I could have retired since I was against the war. I felt the oath I took to serve my country meant doing what I was told, not to have an opinion. However, quite a few officers retired.”

Following his retirement in July 1969, Col Kulp taught for ten years at Lower Marion High School in Pennsylvania. He taught history, international relations, and United States history, though, he said, laughing, he did teach one semester of economics.

“I enjoyed teaching,” he said.

Col Kulp, who will be 87 in a couple of months, has also tried his hand as a freelance writer in the past, writing for military and other magazines. He enjoys watching birds and recently donated a purple martin house for the enjoyment of Ashlar and Lockwood Lodge residents. He enjoys reading and still listens to and understands Morse Code. He is thinking about getting involved with a former interest, amateur radio, because, he said, “I’m getting tired of being bored.”