101st Veteran from the Korean war

[mikeSF]

101st Veteran. I met him today at Rural King. He served in the Korean war. He went to jump school in 1946. He was telling me about the C-119 flying box car the school used back then. he wore master wings on his hat. What a pleasure to talk to him for a few minutes. I have one jump out of that aircraft when my Ranger class jumped into the Florida phase in May 73. He made quite of few jumps from the C-47 tail dragger. One was when one of the engines caught fire. I've made a few jumps from the plane, in Turkey and some HALO jumps in El Salvador. I was pretty cool swapping jump stories with this great American. Stand up hook up shuffle to the door....

[Gamblerman65]

[B-47]

My neighbor is a 89 year old Korean Veteran. We have fished and hunted together for many years. I take him fishing once a week to get him out of the house and on the water. This week he was happy to catch more than 30 bass and said he was ready for next week. He will on occasions talk about the war and the coldest weather in his life time.

[bassnman81]

The Korean war was brutal. When I was in Nam most of the senior NCO's were Korean and some WWII vets. Don't remember any of the talkin g about them. I too jumped out of C-119's quite an experience.

[Skip]

Any time you can set down and talk to another vet is a great time. They appreciate those who care and vet's do care about one another.

[1stindoor]

My first wife's grandfather was a glider pilot in WWII. Flew two different missions. Amazing storyteller. Funny thing is until I married his granddaughter the rest of his family hadn't heard many of the stories. Any time spent sharing war stories with different generations is a good thing in my opinion.

[mikeSF]

Totally agree. A good friend of mine is a WWII vet, 96 years old. HIs memory is better than mine. He served on Iwo Jima and one other island. He was a PFC with a air defense unit. I try to get over there at least once a week or so. He spent 42 days on a LST, a flat bottom Navy vessel. I rode in one down to Honduras back in the day. What rough riding ship. The trip was about 10 days. Couldn't imagine being in one for 42 days.

[1stindoor]

Hahaha...I rode in one on a (pre-cursor) deployment to Haiti in 94 time frame. We turned around in the Port Au Prince harbor and came back to Guantanamo to refit before sailing back to VA. A few months later we invaded the island. I had just PCS'd to Fort Polk to be an O/C.

[Cgs1967!]

Very cool story. As mentioned always good to talk to a Veteran like that. I spent 14 months at Csmp Essayon's in Korea. The summer's are hot and humid and the winter is freezing with snow. Not to mention the mountain terrain. I would not want to have fought in the Korean war. Much respect to those that did.

[1stindoor]

And to think they lived and fought in that environment in wool clothing. No Gore-Tex, no Poly-Pro, no moisture wicking materials, etc. Good thing about wool though...it maintains its thermal quality even when wet.

[rgbtr196le]

[jigman51]

[CigarBasser]

Made a few jumps (SL/HALO) from the old taildragger.. fun times!

[sk2000]

26 jumps, C-130's and C-141's. Great respect for all our veterans and troops currently serving our GREAT Country...