Dad is a Veteran of the Korean War, 1950-1953. He and his buddy joined the military together, thinking they would be stationed in the same branch but it didn’t work out that way. Dad wanted to get in on the G.I. Bill so he could continue his education after his duty ended. He always wanted to be a pilot but they wouldn’t let him in the Air Force because of some reason or another. It may have been the fact that he is missing a couple of toes on his right foot that could affect his balance. His buddy was declared too short to be a pilot. I can vouch for that fact, as I knew him as I was growing up. He was just a little over 5′ feet tall. Anyway, Dad ended up in the Army and his buddy some other branch.
This was Dad’s High School Graduation photo, right before he joined the US Army and was shipped off to Korea.
Dad shared with me a few memories of his days in Korea. I’ll try to write them here as best I can. His memories are a little blurred in some cases.
Dad never saw combat. I’m thankful for that. He may have a completely different personality and/or outlook today if he had experienced combat. They put him in the engineering department. One of the duties he might see was building or repairing a bridge. The sergeant in charge learned very quickly to NOT let my Dad do any of the sawing! To this day he can’t saw a straight line, even with a guide of some kind! Dad laughs at this memory every time! He said the sergeant was heard yelling, “Don’t give Davenport a saw!”
The weather in Korea was extreme, from freezing cold snowy winters and miserably hot and humid summers. Many veterans suffered extremity injuries due to the extreme cold.
When Dad wasn’t in the field, he sometimes worked in the kitchen peeling potatoes, washing dishes, wiping tables, cooking, etc. He said he’d rather pull KP than other duties because even though it was hard work, it was nothing compared to being out building bridges in the heat or being on guard duty during the night when it was below freezing. There were also a few perks that came with KP like extra food if there were leftovers.
His mother, my grandmother, once sent him a cake (from California to Korea) and by the time he got it, it was hard as a rock. What was she thinking?
Dad bought his mom a set of China as a gift and it actually shipped all the way from Korea to California without being broken. Dad acquired the set when his mother passed away years ago. A few pieces are missing but it’s still a beautiful set.
Dad’s unit bunked in a Quonset hut. The men took turns standing guard and Dad remembers being so tired that he would fall asleep standing up. In the winter, he couldn’t even feel his feet. The men had to make sure they kept their feet dry.
In the camp, they used what they called honey buckets for human waste. He said camp smelled just awful. When it came time to empty the “honey buckets” some guys would have to go down in the hole (knee-high) and scoop the waste out with buckets and then the buckets would be hauled up to be dumped elsewhere. Dad said the Koreans used it to fertilize their crops.
Dad said he and a few of his buddies from his unit used to pay a nice Korean man to take their laundry. The man’s wife would do the laundry including ironing and the man would return with the laundry. I always think about that poor Korean woman who got stuck doing all that laundry for a few measly bucks and if her husband actually shared it with her.
Dad smoked back then, as did so many. The men used to trade cigarettes for chocolate and vice-versa. If they needed something and they had cigarettes or chocolate, they could easily trade.
The Korean War was the first to enlist whites and blacks together. No segregation! Dad said that didn’t stop the racism, which was evident everywhere. When Dad went on leave to Sol, he went with some buddies, a few of whom were black. They all wore their uniforms because bars and other establishments were happy to let our soldiers in. But if you were black, forget it. Even with a military uniform, blacks were not allowed into white establishments. Dad said many times he and his buddies told owners, “If all of us can’t come in then NONE of us are coming in.” Those establishments lost a lot of business. Dad and his buddies went to black bars instead. They were all welcomed there.
Some Korean War Veterans have memories of death and killing. Thankfully, my Veteran Dad does not.
