THE KOREAN WAR

Forgotten No More

My father served with the 5th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division in Korea from September 1950 until he got his "million-dollar" wounds in February 1951 and was sent home. He was hit by a grenade fragment in the chest and shrapnel from a mortar blast which left his left leg broken, right knee shattered, spine scratched, and a fragment in his neck which is there to this day.

All heroes don't wear a chest full of medals and come home to parades. Some heroes go and do the job their country asks and then come home and keep on going, earning a living and raising a family.

SGT TED HOFSISS
Military Order of the Purple Heart, Korean Service Medal with 5 Campaign Stars, United Nations Service Medal - Korea, Combat Infantryman's Badge, Army Occupation Medal, National Defense Service Medal & the Army Good Conduct Medal

DREAMS

- Ted Hofsiss

May 19, 1996 0556

I woke a few minutes ago, from a dream that will not let me return to a peaceful slumber. Part of it is fact from a past almost 45 years distant from this morning, with my wife sleeping beside me and the wind chimes on the porch singing an unsuccessful lullaby.

I dreamed that I was at the the bus station in San Antonio, just as I had been in mid-July, 1951. I was about to board the bus for Granbury, Texas. Going home!

I stood as tall as I could on my crutches. My khakis were clean and starched. The crease in my trousers, sharp and perfect. I wore my overseas cap at a jaunty angle. My ribbons and Combat Infantryman's Badge were a splash of color over my left shirt pocket.

Despite my crisply pressed uniform with its decorations I didn't feel very jaunty. Though I had gained back most of the weight I'd lost I was already tired, and my journey back to life had only just begun. My ruined knee hurt, even as it hurts all these years later. At nineteen I felt like an old man, as old inside as I am now.

The bus driver stepped down from his seat and prepared to receive tickets from the passengers. They pushed and crowded forward. Each one vying for what they thought would be the best seat. I cautiously hobbled backward along the side of the bus. I was still unsure of my balance on my crutches and was afraid of falling.

As the passengers pushed forward, the bus driver glanced up. All he could see was my head and the infantry blue piping on my cap. He hadn't yet taken any tickets or allowed anyone to board the bus. He was neither rough nor gentle as he raised his hands to push his way through the crowd until he stood in front of me. I remember him as a big man, but perhaps that's because I needed a big man at that moment.

He smiled only slightly as he said, "Come on soldier, you're first." I was both embarrassed and relieved. I was sure I wouldn't fall on the bus steps with the driver behind me. A little girl came and took the seat beside me. I don't know her age; nine, maybe ten. She looked up at me with eyes of pure, child-like innocence.

"What did you get those for?" she asked, pointing to the ribbons on my chest.

I was embarrassed again, but proud that she had noticed them. I began a slow, whispered litany. "This is the Korean Service Medal. The stars are for each battle we fought. This one is from the President of South Korea, to thank us for coming to his country to help them fight the war. That's the Combat Infantryman Badge. It is given only to an infantryman who fights in the war. And this is the ribbon for the Purple Heart. I was given a medal for being wounded in a fight with the North Koreans."

She looked at my legs, "Is that why you're on crutches?"

"Yes."

My dream ended there, on a hot, stuffy bus traveling north. Back to the arms of the woman I loved, who suffered as much as I did and suffers with me still.

The bus, the uncaring passengers, and that wonderful man, the bus driver, were all real. The curious little girl, was a product of my dream. A dream that might not have awakened me this warm, windy morning if my country had bothered to say what that bus driver and the little girl in my dream said.

"Come on soldier, you're first."

"What did you get those for?"

If you'd like to read the rest of my father's experiences in the
Korean War click here --> Diary from the War Zone

Visit Hal & Ted Barker's Korean War Project
which hosts my father's work. --> Korean War Project

This Korean War Web Ring site is owned by James Hofsiss. Click here to join The Korean War Web Ring
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