Vincent R. Kramer (May 31, 1918 – September 17, 2001) was a highly decorated

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. He was a

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

expert and was awarded the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Early life and World War II

Vincent R. Kramer was born on May 31, 1918, in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Bordentown Military Institute The Bordentown Military Institute was a private high school in Bordentown, New Jersey, United States, from 1881 to 1973. History The institute was created in 1881, when Reverend William Bowen (minister), William Bowen purchased the Spring Villa Fem ...

, he attended

Rutgers College Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

under a football scholarship. While at Rutgers, he became a member of the Nu Beta Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta and in later years served as the Chapter’s Purple Legionaire. In 1941, Kramer graduated with a bachelor's degree from Rutgers. Despite receiving letters of interest from several

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

teams, he went to Officer Candidates School and was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the Marine Corps. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Kramer was wounded in the

battle of Guadalcanal The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

in late 1942. Kramer was later assigned to the U.S. Naval Group in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, where he trained Chinese

guerillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...

under General

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

until the end of the war. After the war, he volunteered for an assignment with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Korean War

When the

started, the CIA was tasked with establishing an escape and evasion route through

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

for downed UN aviators to use.

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Kramer was made the

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

operations chief and organized a plan for aviators to use for escape and evasion. Kramer's plan met the expectations of the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and he was sent to Korea to implement it. In Korea, Major Kramer recruited six men who had served with special operations and paramilitary groups during World War II. Kramer and his six new CIA agents then helped train North Korean guerillas at Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan. Kramer and the North Koreans soon moved to

Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

to conduct additional training, and the force of guerillas grew to several hundred men. As the training progressed in March 1951, Major Kramer began arranging for his guerillas to be inserted into North Korea. Kramer also had the guerillas practice

amphibious landings Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...

. In late June, Kramer himself was inserted into North Korea and arrived at several rendezvous points. On July 7, he led 100 of his Korean guerillas in an intelligence gathering and

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

mission. Kramer was awarded the

for his actions. However, by February 1952, the escape and evasion corridor was regarded as a failure as the enemy had discovered many of the guerilla camps and killed the guerillas. With his guerilla force out of commission, Major Kramer began to focus on cutting enemy

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

which were supplying

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

s to the harbors of

Wonsan Wŏnsan (), previously known as Wŏnsanjin (), Port Lazarev, and Genzan (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...

and

Hungnam Hŭngnam is a district of Hamhung, the second largest city in North Korea. It is a port city on the eastern coast on the Sea of Japan. It is only from the slightly inland city of Hamhung. In 2005 it became a ward of Hamhung. History The port ...

. These missions were carried out by UDT personnel who were inserted on the coastline and moved through enemy territory to plant explosives on bridges and tunnels.

Later career and life

After his service in the Korean War, Kramer was a guerilla warfare advisor to the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

during the

French Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

in 1952. Afterwards, he was assigned as a CIA officer in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 1963, Kramer returned to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, where he was a staff member for General

William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from ...

until 1964. Upon completing this assignment, he retired with the rank of colonel. Upon his military retirement, Kramer moved to the

Basking Ridge Basking Ridge is an Local government in New Jersey#Unincorporated communities, unincorporated community located within Bernards Township, New Jersey, Bernards Township in the Somerset Hills region of Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset Count ...

section of

Bernards Township, New Jersey Bernards Township () is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the much larger New York metropolitan area, located within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 Uni ...

, and became the Executive Secretary & Director of the Rutgers Alumni Association, a position he held until 1987. Vincent R. Kramer died on September 17, 2001, in

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

. He was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Vincent R. 1918 births 2001 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War Bordentown Military Institute alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Military personnel from New Jersey People from Bernards Township, New Jersey People from Paterson, New Jersey Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players United States Marine Corps colonels

Early life and World War II

Korean War

Later career and life

See also

References