imjin138
US Veteran
Today is the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, I spent a year in the the 1980's in Korea and it was not that bad. However I cannot imagine trying to fight a war in that bitter cold winter.
I know and knew quite a few veterans of that war, 3 come to my mind easily, my father in law Ray joined the Navy in 1943 at the age of 17 and served throught the pacific driving landing craft to the beaches and then joined the Navy reserve after the war and in 1950 he was recalled and sent to Korea doing the same thing. His family never knew he had a Purple Heart until after he died.
Then there was my father's hunting partner Schmitty, he was 18 and joined the Marines and was sent to Korea in time for the landings at inchon and spent his tour there, he didn't talk about it much at all but I know that he had a steel plate as part of his skull. I was Given his sporterized 1903A3 rifle afterhe stopped hunting and it is one of my most prized rifles, it isn't fancy but it has character. Schmitty died of cancer in 2003 He was proud of being a Marine until the end.
Then there is Dick he ran the Mr. Steak in Racine and was my employer throughtout high school, he talked about the Marines all the time and was proud of his service but seldom did he speak of the war he told me that he never ate rice after the war because of how they fertilized the rice paddies, he also spoke of how cold it was.
All 3 of these men had an influence on how I grew up in one way or another, many other men and women served there some came home some did not.
They call Korea the forgotten war but I won't forget it or the men and women who served there.
I know and knew quite a few veterans of that war, 3 come to my mind easily, my father in law Ray joined the Navy in 1943 at the age of 17 and served throught the pacific driving landing craft to the beaches and then joined the Navy reserve after the war and in 1950 he was recalled and sent to Korea doing the same thing. His family never knew he had a Purple Heart until after he died.
Then there was my father's hunting partner Schmitty, he was 18 and joined the Marines and was sent to Korea in time for the landings at inchon and spent his tour there, he didn't talk about it much at all but I know that he had a steel plate as part of his skull. I was Given his sporterized 1903A3 rifle afterhe stopped hunting and it is one of my most prized rifles, it isn't fancy but it has character. Schmitty died of cancer in 2003 He was proud of being a Marine until the end.
Then there is Dick he ran the Mr. Steak in Racine and was my employer throughtout high school, he talked about the Marines all the time and was proud of his service but seldom did he speak of the war he told me that he never ate rice after the war because of how they fertilized the rice paddies, he also spoke of how cold it was.
All 3 of these men had an influence on how I grew up in one way or another, many other men and women served there some came home some did not.
They call Korea the forgotten war but I won't forget it or the men and women who served there.
