The War Years (Korean)

I was again drafted in August 1950.  I elected to defer as I only needed one more semester to finish up at the University of Illinois.  I didn’t hear anything back from the Army, so I headed home to spend a few last days with Betty.  While there, we received a letter in the mail that said, “DEFERRED!”  I was able to finish up my degree before heading back into the service.

 

In January 1951, I was again shipped off to Fort Sheridan in Chicago.  I was able to receive a three-day pass, though, where I was able to come home for my college graduation in February 1951.  From there, I was shipped out to Camp Carson, Colorado, where I learned that I was to be shipped overseas again…this time for the Korean War.

 

When it came time for my platoon to go over, I was told that my profile records had been lost.  As such, I could not be sent overseas, and another guy had to be shipped in my place.  I would later learn that this platoon was wiped out entirely.  The Koreans trapped these soldiers in between three hills and moved in from above and wiped out my whole outfit.  I was so lucky to not have had to go.

Once they learned that I had a degree at Camp Carson, they asked me to teach.  I taught how to shoot the M-1, how to disperse as a unit and not stay together and be killed at once, and other military subjects.

In August 1951, Betty traveled out to Colorado with two other Army moms.  Betty brought six-week-old Bobby with her from Illinois.  The two other moms would return back home, but Betty would stay on and live with me at Camp Carson.

 

Around October or November, I was discharged yet again, and I went back and asked what it would take to become an Ag Teacher.  I was told that I needed just four more courses, so I used the GI Bill a second time in order to be able to teach.  I thus received my Master’s Degree with the second GI Bill.

 

My final rank in the army was Corporal (Private, Private First Class, Corporal).