GUARDIANS OF FREEDOM
Saluting Those Who Served in the U.S. Army
Ed Messing in Korea, Part 5
by Janis Stein

Join in the continuation as Ed Messing rejoices when the truce is signed but learns he’ll spend another five months in Korea before returning home.

After about five months in Korea, Ed and a few of his comrades learned they’d been granted a five-day pass to Tokyo, Japan, for a little rest and relaxation. The soldiers boarded a C-124 Globemaster at Kimpo Airfield, the double-decker able to hold 200 fully equipped soldiers. Ed marveled at the sights he saw from the window of the plane, the plane flying ever so near Japan’s famous volcano, Mt. Fuji.

While in Japan, these soldiers toured a bit of Tokyo and saw a few shows. They also took the time to shop for the gifts they’d ship to their loved ones back home, with Ed buying jackets for his brothers, one set of dishes for his mother and another for his waiting fiancé, Marjorie. The soldiers dearly appreciated the brief reprieve from the war but all too soon it was time to go back.

Ed’s unit was in the Panmunjom area when the Air Force came to offer the infantry some relief. From Ed’s vantage point, he could see the air strikes on the line. When the Air Force bombed the enemy with napalm, a plume of black smoke erupted. The enemy unleashed their anti-aircraft arsenal, and while Ed worked, he prayed for the men on the line, all the while thanking God he wasn’t any closer to the action than what he was.

Ed’s unit occupied an area in Panmunjom when they learned on July 27, 1953, a truce had finally been signed. The fighting stopped. The soldiers rejoiced. Many soldiers found the PX tent, and bought enough 3.2 beer to celebrate the day away. The de-militarized zone (DMZ) – no man’s land – remains today where it was the day the truce was signed. Three days later, Ed’s unit moved to Uijongbu, but by August they were on the go again, this time moving to various locations around the Chorwon area.

With the truce signed, soldiers dealt with minimal inspections, though officers needed to provide some work to keep their soldiers occupied. A soldier needed 28 points to rotate home. At the time of the truce, Ed had earned 21. He would spend another five months in Korea before he would be able to return to the states. For Ed, that seemed an eternity, but there was relief in knowing that the worst was over. Unless, of course, the fighting resumed. There were no guarantees as far as Ed could see.

And, while Ed rejoiced the war’s end, he also scratched his head at the oddities of some of his fellow soldiers. One soldier sitting atop the hill operated a half-track mounted with quad .50 caliber machine guns, the artillery used for air support. This soldier desired a promotion and verbally hoped the war would resume so he could fight.

In the fall of 1953, the radio chief left and Ed learned he had been awarded the job. As chief of the Radio Section, Ed needed to sign a contract making him responsible for all the radios in the battalion. Each colonel had a radio in his jeep, as did the major and all of the outposts. Within about a week of Ed assuming his new role as radio chief, one of the outposts came down, looking for the radio they had previously sent to the rear for repair.

Now Ed was in a bit of a predicament. He had signed for the radio, but he had no idea where it was. And if he didn’t find it, the Army would deduct the $300 missing radio from his check. As an E-4, Ed’s paycheck each month totaled a mere $122.30, plus an additional $13 for overseas pay.

Ed had heard stories from other soldiers who had faced similar plights. One such soldier was a jeep driver attempting to cross a pontoon bridge. Somehow the driver didn’t hit the bridge the way he should have and the resulting error broke the jeep’s transmission case. Ed heard the driver ended up paying for some of the damage. Ed hadn’t liked the sound of that, not with one of his radios missing.

Each radio had a serial number attached to it, so Ed spent the next few days tracking down each radio and its corresponding serial number. Ed checked with the Service Battery because that’s where the radio should have been. No soldier there, though, had seen it. After all his efforts, Ed still hadn’t a clue as to the whereabouts of the missing radio.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Ed, his superior officer was also curious just where this radio was. One day, the officer called Ed aside and told him he thought he knew where the radio was – someone in the Service Battery had a radio that wasn’t authorized to have one. Ed backtracked his steps and sure enough, the lost had been found. A promotion of Sergeant soon followed and now along with all those radios, Ed was in charge of 10 soldiers.

Around Christmastime, 1953, Ed learned he’d be on the next ship home. But almost another whole month passed before those plans came to fruition. He also learned the trip home would not be a direct route to America. Rather, it would be a United Nations drop, with the troop ship transporting soldiers of several different nationalities off along the way.

Be sure to look for the conclusion in next month’s issue as Ed Messing makes his way home aboard the Blatchford.

©2009 Stein Expressions, LLC