How Lost my Brother in Korea #2

by Mary Fahey

 

When I got old enough to understand, Andy took me to the Museum of Natural History and explained the exhibits. Then we went to the Hayden Planetarium and he told me about the planets and the stars, pointing out the constellations.  He knew so much and I hung on his every word.

            He taught me to swim holding me afloat while I dog paddled around, gradually letting go ‘til I could swim on my own.
            He took me on my first roller coaster ride,and reassured me that he had hold of me and I would be safe. He said “If you feel like screaming, then scream. I won’t let you go.” When the car made that slow crawl to the top, the even slower curve at the crest and then the stomach lurching drop on the first hill, I screamed and screamed, not from fright but from excited exhilaration. When the ride came to an end, I said “Let’s do it again,” and we did. 

  At 10 years of age, I got hit in the face with a bat when I foolishly walked behind the batter, as he took a swing, in a street ball game.  The stick landed right across my nose. It bled profusely and swelled to three times its normal size. I didn’t want to go to school or leave the house. I felt so self-conscious about my protuberance.
            Trying to cheer me up, Andy said. “It doesn’t look so bad. If I didn’t know you got hit by a stickball bat, I would never have noticed.” My cries subsided.
            “Really? You mean that?” I said.
            “Sure,” Andy answered and then he said “Besides, I like girls with big noses,” which started a flood of tears again.
            He loved to take things apart to see how they worked. Anything electrical or mechanical became fair game for his inquisitive prying. I’d sit beside him as he explained how an egg beater functioned, or the workings of a radio, showing me the tubes that needed changing.

            Andy graduated from high school with a full scholarship to Holy Cross College. He attended for one year and then quit saying “I’ve had enough of school. I want to travel.” A restless wanderlust struck his heart. He talked about going to Australia, Africa, and Japan.
            He left home to wend his way across the country. He worked at various jobs until he got enough money together to take off again, sometimes he paid for a train ticket, sometimes he rode the rails. Tired and broke, he made his way to California. He enlisted in the army as a means to get overseas to the exotic countries he dreamed about. After boot camp, he shipped out to Japan, where he met and fell in love with a Japanese girl. Her family forbid her to see him or any American soldier, so he had his heart broken. In June 1950, when the North Koreans invaded South Korea and the conflict that’s called the ‘Forgotten War’ began, Andy found himself among the first wave of soldiers sent to Korea.

            In bitter cold November, the Chinese hoards from Mongolia flooded across the border into American held territory. The retreat of American soldiers became swift and furtive. What they couldn’t quickly carry in the evacuation, they set afire to prevent the enemy getting it. Supplies of food, clothing, boots and ammunition went ablaze as the war-weary troops, unable to stop, rapidly retreated to the southern tip of the peninsula.
            During this retreat, the Chinese/North Koreans ambushed Andy’s platoon. He fell to the earth uninjured and lay there as if dead. He barely breathed as the enemy soldiers walked among the fallen, and thrust their bayonets into the bodies to make sure they were dead. Andy thought his time had come, but the enemy passed over him. He lay immobile until dark. When sure the enemy had gone, he stirred. Like him, five other American soldiers survived by playing dead. They called to each other in whispers and gathered together to create a plan. They were now caught behind enemy lines.
            The “Missing in Action” telegram arrived at our home.
            For safety, they decided to break up into smaller groups. By twos they set out to try to make it back to friendly ground. They traveled by night and hid out in the mountains during the day...their only food, an occasional turnip, stolen from some farmer’s field. It took over two weeks but they all made it back to the American side of the battle. Andy received a medal as a Prisoner of War, although he had not been captured. Because of those two and a half weeks, behind enemy lines, he’d been considered a prisoner. The Army sent Andy to Japan for R & R, rest and recuperation. He stayed in Japan for two weeks and then shipped back to Korea where he remained for the entire duration of that conflict.
....to be continued

Korean War Memorial

Washington D.C.