Common Sense Commentary: Foxhole buddies, brothers in arms have a love for each other few people ever have the privilege of experiencing. It is a human relationship which is born in the deep desperation, fear, valor and survival from within the true battle... not a single shot fired at you or even a single day of war, but a long series of days and nights, filled with hunger, thirst, dirt, blisters, blood, pain and death. Here is my Marine friend, Nick the BARman's memory, scared upon his soul, of a typical day in the Korean War, he and his foxhole buddy endured.... and was called up yesterday from his archive of similar days they shared so long ago. RB
A NOTE TO JAMES KEE TOM, MY FOXHOLE BUDDY AND FIRETEAM LEADER THROUGH 5 MAJOR CAMPAIGNS
I REMEMBER 11 APRIL 51 AS THE FIRST TIME YOU AND I FOUND OUT THAT WE COULD TRUST EACH OTHER WHEN THINGS GOT BAD.
THE DAY WHEN A HUGE WEATHER FRONT MOVED IN OVER THE WHOLE KOREA PENINSULA.
THE FIRST TIME WE WERE WORKING AS A COMBAT TEAM....UNDER ALMOST CONTINUOUS FIRE ALL DAY LONG AS WE MOVED ALONG A RIDGELINE HIGH UP IN THE MOUNTAINS. INCREDIBLY, WE WERE SEQUENTIALLY IN FOG, SUNSHINE, HEAVY RAIN, SLEET, AND SNOW.------NOT TO MENTION BURP GUNS.
ON A "CONTACT PATROL"-------A LONG DAY.
A GOOD DRESS REHERSEL AND A PRELUDE FOR 22 APRIL 51---ELEVEN DAYS LATER WHEN OUR PLATOON WAS OVERRUN BY A REGIMENT OF CHINESE.
I WILL GO TO MY GRAVE TELLING EVERYONE THAT WILL LISTEN, THAT YOUR LEADERSHIP, AND YOUR KILLING THE LEADING CHINAMAN SAVED GEORGE COMPANY THAT NIGHT SO LONG AGO.
I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN, MENEHUNE. I WISH THE REST OF THE WORLD KNEW.
SEMPER FIDELIS GOOD FRIEND, SEMPER FIDELIS.
NICK THE BARMAN (USMC)
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My Comment....
Doctor Nicholson, my friend, those memories, your endurance and God's grace have brought you to the zenith of a fulfilled life which others will be inspired by for years into the future. It can be said, with honest account, in the last verse words of Rudyard Kipling's "IF"....
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
My friend, you are a Man! Psm.115:1, Rayburn Blair
1 comment:
Great article.
Just visited, the National US Marine Museum outside Washington DC, with my grankids.
This brought it closer to home.
Thanks Dad. There is a special section there dedicated to the "Chosin Marines" in Korea, who fought their way to safety despite incredible odds and the coldest winter on record.
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