moore2me
Lions don't need to spank
The following letter was found in my Aunt's effects when she died last year. The letter was written to her by her younger brother who was a Marine in Korea. The year was 1950. I typed the letter just as he wrote it - word for word.
I also included some postscript information on the Korean war for those of you who would like to learn more about why over 50,000 Americans were killed in three years of fighting in brutal weather and horrible conditions (does this sound familiar?) This material will be presented in my following post.
I am sharing the letter with you guys now to bring light on the sacrifice of our Korean vets and the conditions these solders faced. Our family said my Uncle was never the same when he came back. His time in that horrible place shadowed the rest of his life and he was never able to completely shake the mental and physical trauma this war caused.
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Hello Sally,
Just a few lines to say hello and let you know I am O.K. and doing fine. How is everyone at home. Just fine I hope. I had a letter from you this week sure was glad to hear from you. Sally, I want to tell you something but please dont tell Mom or Lois. First, did you see the movie Custers Last Stand? That is what we are in. We are about 100 miles north of the 38th . We are in a valley with a range of mountains like a horse shoe. Our supply route by land is cut off but not by air. We are getting plenty of chow and warm clothing and it is cold as hell here. We get attacked from 1:00 oclock to 6 in the morning and the fog is so damn thick by then you cant see anything. We have reports from the states that we are the lost outfit. Well we are in one way and another way we are not. There are about 30,000 to 100,000 Reds around us. I am telling you this because you asked for it but what ever you do dont tell anyone else this.
Those damn news reports you are hearing are a lot of crap. One incident that happened a couple of days I knew damn well you or nobody heard about it. We had a patrol of 26 men go out and convoy at the same time. All together was about 60 men. Out of the 60 about 25 came back. We could not get the wounded back to the aid station so we built a small air strip for planes. It was about 6 planes came in to take the wounded out and damn near every one has cracked up.
Now for the good news. I cant write it, but take a good guess, a good one. I hope you have been good & cold. That is as far as I know now and anything can happen between now and then.
Well Sally I had better close for now and get a little sleep for tonite. Tell the kids hello for me and be good. I hope to be seeing you soon. Sally I havent got the packages yet but hope to get them soon. Tell Mom and all hello. I will write when I get a chance.
Bud
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(M2Ms note Sally was Buds older sister. Lois was Buds wife. Bud and Sally were my Aunt and Uncle. This letter was found in Sallys desk when she died.)
I also included some postscript information on the Korean war for those of you who would like to learn more about why over 50,000 Americans were killed in three years of fighting in brutal weather and horrible conditions (does this sound familiar?) This material will be presented in my following post.
I am sharing the letter with you guys now to bring light on the sacrifice of our Korean vets and the conditions these solders faced. Our family said my Uncle was never the same when he came back. His time in that horrible place shadowed the rest of his life and he was never able to completely shake the mental and physical trauma this war caused.
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United States Marine Corps
November 8th, 1950
Hello Sally,
Just a few lines to say hello and let you know I am O.K. and doing fine. How is everyone at home. Just fine I hope. I had a letter from you this week sure was glad to hear from you. Sally, I want to tell you something but please dont tell Mom or Lois. First, did you see the movie Custers Last Stand? That is what we are in. We are about 100 miles north of the 38th . We are in a valley with a range of mountains like a horse shoe. Our supply route by land is cut off but not by air. We are getting plenty of chow and warm clothing and it is cold as hell here. We get attacked from 1:00 oclock to 6 in the morning and the fog is so damn thick by then you cant see anything. We have reports from the states that we are the lost outfit. Well we are in one way and another way we are not. There are about 30,000 to 100,000 Reds around us. I am telling you this because you asked for it but what ever you do dont tell anyone else this.
Those damn news reports you are hearing are a lot of crap. One incident that happened a couple of days I knew damn well you or nobody heard about it. We had a patrol of 26 men go out and convoy at the same time. All together was about 60 men. Out of the 60 about 25 came back. We could not get the wounded back to the aid station so we built a small air strip for planes. It was about 6 planes came in to take the wounded out and damn near every one has cracked up.
Now for the good news. I cant write it, but take a good guess, a good one. I hope you have been good & cold. That is as far as I know now and anything can happen between now and then.
Well Sally I had better close for now and get a little sleep for tonite. Tell the kids hello for me and be good. I hope to be seeing you soon. Sally I havent got the packages yet but hope to get them soon. Tell Mom and all hello. I will write when I get a chance.
Bud
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(M2Ms note Sally was Buds older sister. Lois was Buds wife. Bud and Sally were my Aunt and Uncle. This letter was found in Sallys desk when she died.)
