How my Dad Got Discharged from the Army
Feb. 28th, 2006 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morrigirlHere's the story of how my Dad got discharged from the army. I've only heard it told once in my whole life when I was 8 or 10, maybe even as old as 12 but certainly not any older than that. I was young so I don't remember many details. I don't remember my father's rank or the name of the hill, but here's what I do remember...
My father fought in the Korean War. I don't remember for how long or during what year. He couldn't have been more than 18 or 19 at the time. For the longest time my father's group? squad? infantry? I don't know the right word, was stationed at a particularly important hill on the Korean countryside. The Americans were on one side, the Koreans on the other, and the two would fight continuous battles for control of the hill. On good days it was in American hands, on bad ones, Korean hands. They went back and forth like that for weeks and lost a lot of men in the process. After a particularly bad week during which the Koreans regained control of the hill and the number of Americans had been greatly reduced, the commanding officer was removed. The army sent in a new officer who wasn't familiar with the men, the geography, or the situation. All he had been instructed to do was take back the hill.
He sat the unit down and told them they were gonna take back the hill that very day. All the men were upset and angry. The Koreans were coming on real strong that week and they all thought it best to lie low for a few days, regroup and strategize. But the wet behind the ears commanding officer insisted they get their asses in gear and go head first into battle immediately. Unable to control himself, my father stood up and said "If we go in now they'll kill all of us!" The commanding officer basically told him to shut up and move, that's an order. My father replied by drawing his gun, putting it right up against his commanding officer's forehead and calmly saying "I will not lead these men out there to die." I don't know how the situation was diffused but suffice to say no Americans fought on the hill that day. Soon after my Dad was honorably discharged. They said he was shell shocked.
That's the fullest story I have of my father's time in the military. I know he was a paratrooper too. He and his friend Carmine volunteered to jump out of planes and everyone thought they were nuts. I also remember the story of how Carmine nearly killed my father. Dad's unit was marching through Korea and they knew Carmine's unit was supposed to be somewhere in the same area but they didn't know where. Suddenly, they saw a group of men far away on the horizon and next thing they knew they were getting shelled. Naturally, they assumed it was the Koreans and began shelling back. The fire was relentless so Dad got on the horn and radioed Carmine's unit hoping they were close enough to come bail them out. Turns out Carmine's unit were the guys shelling them. When they'd seen my dad's unit approaching they just assumed they were a Korean unit and started shelling. "Knock that fucking shit off!" my Dad yelled into the radio. "You're gonna kill us!"
My father fought in the Korean War. I don't remember for how long or during what year. He couldn't have been more than 18 or 19 at the time. For the longest time my father's group? squad? infantry? I don't know the right word, was stationed at a particularly important hill on the Korean countryside. The Americans were on one side, the Koreans on the other, and the two would fight continuous battles for control of the hill. On good days it was in American hands, on bad ones, Korean hands. They went back and forth like that for weeks and lost a lot of men in the process. After a particularly bad week during which the Koreans regained control of the hill and the number of Americans had been greatly reduced, the commanding officer was removed. The army sent in a new officer who wasn't familiar with the men, the geography, or the situation. All he had been instructed to do was take back the hill.
He sat the unit down and told them they were gonna take back the hill that very day. All the men were upset and angry. The Koreans were coming on real strong that week and they all thought it best to lie low for a few days, regroup and strategize. But the wet behind the ears commanding officer insisted they get their asses in gear and go head first into battle immediately. Unable to control himself, my father stood up and said "If we go in now they'll kill all of us!" The commanding officer basically told him to shut up and move, that's an order. My father replied by drawing his gun, putting it right up against his commanding officer's forehead and calmly saying "I will not lead these men out there to die." I don't know how the situation was diffused but suffice to say no Americans fought on the hill that day. Soon after my Dad was honorably discharged. They said he was shell shocked.
That's the fullest story I have of my father's time in the military. I know he was a paratrooper too. He and his friend Carmine volunteered to jump out of planes and everyone thought they were nuts. I also remember the story of how Carmine nearly killed my father. Dad's unit was marching through Korea and they knew Carmine's unit was supposed to be somewhere in the same area but they didn't know where. Suddenly, they saw a group of men far away on the horizon and next thing they knew they were getting shelled. Naturally, they assumed it was the Koreans and began shelling back. The fire was relentless so Dad got on the horn and radioed Carmine's unit hoping they were close enough to come bail them out. Turns out Carmine's unit were the guys shelling them. When they'd seen my dad's unit approaching they just assumed they were a Korean unit and started shelling. "Knock that fucking shit off!" my Dad yelled into the radio. "You're gonna kill us!"
