The Graybeards - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

We lost twenty-one men during or after
surgery, a 2% mortality rate. The time spent
on several of those might have been better
spent on others, but sometimes that’s not
obvious at first. And, to come up with the
understatement of the year, it’s awfully
hard for a triage doctor to say, “Take him to
D Ward. No surgery contemplated.”
When the smoke cleared and my brain
started functioning again, I was so proud of
all those doctors and corpsmen and
Marines that I wanted to recommend every
one of them for a Bronze Star with a
Combat V.
The crew from Japan stayed with us for
three days. They didn’t have much to do,
were disappointed, and said so. I heard
them talking in the mess hall, a small room
on the second floor of the Korean house I
used as my command post. Daryl Sims,* a
tall, good-looking young surgeon just a few
years older than I, was saying, “Yeah,
y’know, I hate this just sitting around. I
came over here to work and there’s nothing
much to do.”
I looked down the long table at him and
asked quietly, “What kind of work you
looking for, Dr. Sims?” “Why, trauma, of
course.” “Where’s that trauma supposed to
come from?” I kept my voice low but it carried.
The mess hall went suddenly still as
the others stopped to listen. They could all
hear the stridency in my voice. Sims looked
hard at me, quizzical at first, then grasped
my meaning — but not my thoughts.
“Why, from the front lines, of course,” he
said.
I could feel the tension in the room and
wondered why Sims couldn’t. Bill Ogle in
particular was mesmerized. He froze with
his fork halfway to his mouth, then rested
his elbow on the table, the fork still hanging
in mid-air. I’m sure he was wondering if I
was going to be as gentle with Sims as I had
been with him a week earlier. I wasn’t
I said, “Perhaps you’d like to cut off
Major Paul Braaten’s leg? He’s the S-5 up
in Three-Five, my old battalion. Or how
about digging a slug out of John Koon’s
belly? He’s one of my corpsmen in
Forward Aid up there. Or how about
Lieutenant Colonel McLaughlin or
Chaplain Bob Fenning or maybe some of
the grunts up in the trenches like Buckshot
Newman or Ted Kaminski or Ira Jensen or
maybe Lieutenant Dopp who got a Bronze
Star for action against the gooks one dark
winter night. Oh, I could give you the
names of a lot of my friends up there that
you could get a crack at if only they’d
cooperate and get wounded in action.
Maybe you’d like to amputate my leg when
I step on a land mine for your conveniences?”
I stood up, looked down at Sims once
more, and left. They got the picture real
quick and stayed out of my way after that.
But I could see them eyeing me across the
ward or across the compound. It was a look
of mixed wariness and respect.
The corpsmen heard about my little
speech and picked up the ball. From then
on until the packaged surgical team left,
they snapped to attention whenever I came
on the ward. They barked out, “Aye, aye,
sir!” at my slightest command. Without a
fuss they wore their fatigue caps square,
their fatigue jackets tucked into their pants,
their pants folded neatly into their boots.
I wished Bill Ayres or Lieutenant
General Seldon with his red ascot or even
“Iron Mike” O’Daniel would just drop in
for a visit.
The surgeons went back to Japan with
their anesthetists and corpsmen and lab
techs. They were really a good bunch of
guys, pulled out of comfortable billets at
Yokosuka or Sasebo or somewhere. They’d
enjoyed their brief tour of what they called
the front lines, but they were glad to leave.
Well, that’s the story of the Battle of
Bunker Hill, from a slightly different viewpoint
than most people have heard.
The Seventh Marines will never forget
it. Neither will we, the doctors and corpsmen
and Marines who were there on the
other end of that pipeline from the bloody
Hill called Bunker.
*Not his real name
END
Wednesday, May 9th, 2001 — Sunday, May 13th, 2001
Accomodations
Holiday Inn, 3621 West Silver Springs Boulevard, Ocala,
Florida 34475 Phone: 352-629-0381
Rooms are $50.00 plus tax. Guests need to make their own
reservations and mention they are with the KWVA. If special
accomodations are needed, please mention this at the time of
making the reservation. Reservations need to be made by
Friday, April 6th, 2001
Banquet
Saturday. May 12th, 2001
Entrees All prices include a garden salad, vegetable, starch rolls,
butter, beverage and dessert
Prime Rib of Beef (Slow cooked to retain its natural Juices.
Served with horseradish sauce) ......................................$27.00
KWVA Department of Florida State Convention
Chicken Cordon Bleu (A boneless breast of chicken filled
with swiss cheese & ham. Robed with a light cheese sauce.)
........................................................................................$24.00
Fresh Stuffed Grouper (A herbed calmest stuffing inside
fresh filets. Served with lemon garlic butter.) ................$24.00
No of Persons____ @ $________ / person = $________
No of Persons____ @ $________ / person = $________
Registration fee of $25 per member
$________
Total
$________
Name: __________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________
City ______________________State ____Zip __________
Please send check or money order payable to: DOF KWVA
Reunion 2001 Fund, C/O Bill Kane, 5023 Andrea Boulevard,
Orlando, Florida 32807 407-275-7450. Payments must be
received no later than Friday, April 6th, 2001.
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The Graybeards