PORT TOWNSEND — For the men of the 369th Engineer Amphibious Support Regiment, the years they spent together during the Korean War created a bond that time and death cannot break.
Now, the ones who are left have created a permanent memorial of their unit at the Army post where they first met — Fort Worden.
“There were 650 in the regiment,” said John Singhose.
“We had 400 names on the list, but quite few have died. Now there are close to 300 names.”
Singhose, who grew up in Eden Valley west of Port Angeles, was drafted in November 1950 and sent to train at Fort Worden.
Like most of his regiment, he was ordered to Korea, where he was a combat construction foreman in the eastern sector.
Now living on the family homestead, Singhose will travel to Fort Worden State Park today, Veterans Day, to present a wooden sign, made by Tom Boone, a former sergeant in EASR’s F Company, in honor of the men he served with.
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Carved with the regiment’s letters, it will be displayed in the new dining hall, then moved to the Oral History Center to await a permanent home in a museum on the state park grounds.
“The goal is that Building 305 will eventually become the central Fort Worden museum,” said Steve Shively, park facilities manager.
“It will incorporate the Oral History Center, the Coast Artillery Museum and maybe even the Dinky locomotive.”
