My Much Loved Scotch Indian Uncle
...Cont'd
I saw Uncle today. Picked Gt's organic cherry tomatoes 'till dark,
about 25 lbs. Took them and a good bag of his fresh picked okra,
over to Uncle's, and gave him half of each. He was really happy
to get them, and ate several nice tomatoes that I rinsed,
and dried off, and served to him, in a little bowl.
He said they tasted real good, "like real tomatoes", and that
he ate too many. I talked to him, and asked more questions
about the war. I managed to take some more notes, mostly
during commercials, while he watched one of his favorite
shows besides Westerns, professional wrestling...
So, they made it alive, through the severe storm, that hit them 6
days out to sea, and lasted for 7 days and nights. They landed in
Yokohama, Japan. There they loaded all of their equipment up
into flat bottom boats he called LST's, and rode over to Puson,
S. Korea. There, when unloading, it rained all night, and the
wind blew the rain inside their ponchos, so they would have
to change clothes about every other run. Continuing to un-
load and park the equipment wherever they could, all
along the beach, and one of the LST's, only had all
trucks, jeeps, and artillery in it...
To Be Cont'd...
With the leadership of General Mac Arthur, and excellent
air support, they pursued the enemy, all of the way to
Ping Yang. When they marched in, there was one lone chimney
still standing. They had 90MM and 120MM artillery outfits, called Triple "A"
for Anti-Aircraft-Artillery, units that also helped clear out areas ahead.
They also had an airport, with a long list of planes flying.
They pushed even farther, on to the border, and could have
pushed even further, "but then they fired General Mac Arthur,
and we sat on the river bank for 30 days, waiting for more ammo.
They ran us back across 2 rivers. It was 12:00, when I crossed
the 2nd river bridge, and it blew at 12:01.
We set many booby traps, and left bombs all in the road,
to help our retreat, and had to leave a lot of stuff behind
There were so many of them, they were coming in fast.
They would come in on us, in waves. We would mow the
wave down, and there would come another one. We were
stuck there in that valley through that record cold 50* below
zero winter of 1950, gravely short on ammo, waiting for supplies,
and someone to give us the support we needed to finish, or go home.
But I was there for 2 1/2 yrs., and I have seen piles of bodies in huge,
long holes, ravines dug with Cats, the dead in mass graves, as the
tens of thousands were taken out"...
"The General (Mac Arthur) kept his word though,
and several planes dropped hot meals, for Thanksgiving
just like he had promised. We had to watch close, as they
would sneak in to the airport, and any camp. You had to find
somewhere on the dirt floor to sleep, and would not dare to
sleep, unless you had an armed guard, right there watching."
The job he happened to get, with his driving
skills, was driving "the Old man", a Major, who
was back in the beginning, at one time, a warrant officer,
looking for a good driver, which he said wasn't too bad of duty.
The old man liked that he could drive very well, and get anything
fixed, or maintained. Except, for when they were scouting, and they
were hit hard several times with mortar fire, and were overturned in
the jeep with glass, and metal shrapnel getting in their faces, and
chests, that they would be picking out for years to come...
who'd a thought that I would make it to 91` --- 59 more to go / Gracias. sniff sniff
... 
... 
Howdy! Never stop sharing!!! It makes us who we are as not only people, but as a country. I know it's late, but where's the coffee
