I served in the Army during the height of the Korean Conflict. It was a traumatic time of fighting the oncoming communism that was coming from China and the Soviet Union just after World War II. Our nation entered this war with the intent of keeping South Korea out of danger of communist invasion. The most intense time I experienced was when I was MIA for two weeks.

 was part of the 555th Field Artillery Battalion that was completely overrun by the Chinese on July 14, 1953. It was one of the worst massacres of Americans in the Korean War. The Chinese Army charged three sides of the U.S. unit smashing the perimeter, batteries and command post.

The battalion came out with only five of its 105 Howitzers and sustained heavy losses in personnel. This occurred at the 38th parallel near Seoul, South Korea. For the next two weeks, we were surrounded and swarmed by the enemy and found ourselves in a desperate attempt to escape the attacking Chinese Army. We were out of contact with our base. Eventually we were rescued by the 29th Infantry Division. I ended up spending one year in Korea and returned home in August 1953.