In the 1991 my husband, his uncle and I were in Johnson City, TN at the VA Hospital. As we walked down a long corridor a large poster on the wall stated “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.” They both agreed that was true. My husband’s uncle and four of my older brothers were drafted into the military during World War II along with thousands of others. They were stationed in different parts of the world. My youngest brother, my future husband and his brother served in Korea during the 1950’s. Also, I had three uncles in World War I. Over the years, when the call came to defend our homeland, the Great United States of America, young men and women answered the call bravely. They left these beautiful Appalachian Mountains to serve. For some, it was a great adventure, while others went out of duty and many were terribly homesick. My husband had appointments at the VA hospital that day. He suffered from hearing loss and also nervous problems that caused him to have terrible nightmares about his experiences in Korea. His injuries were small compared to many others, but for him they were a constant reminder of the war.
KOREA 1950 – My husband’s unit was constantly firing and receiving fire from heavy field artillery guns. Joe was a gunner. His company camped out in all kinds of weather, hot or cold.
Moving forward then falling back. At times they were short on rations. In letters he wrote home to his parents Joe ask his Mom to send tin cans of food, any food and he would eat it. The soldiers in his outfit had been told not to eat any fruit they found growing, but the large mulberries on the tree looked so good Joe ate one and then he ate MORE. He said later that night he left a blue streak from his tent to the latrine. After several days in the infirmary he recovered. A lesson learned the hard way.
One very cold winter night in Korea there was a deep snow on the ground. The heavy artillery company was out in the fields and they had no sleep for 36 hours. Joe was so worn out he just crawled into his bedroll and went to sleep. The next morning when he awoke there was an arm and hand sticking up out of the snow beside him. That woke him up pretty quick. A poor dead soldier was lying there covered with snow. Joe never talked about the worst of his experiences in Korea. His unit served at Heartbreak Ridge. The area reminded him of his mountain home in Fig, Ashe County, NC. He said, “It was very sad. We were just killing and being killed. Every day we hoped they would sign a peace treaty.”
My husband’s uncle was a pastor and a chaplain. That afternoon, before leaving the VA hospital, we walked through the wards where the patients were allowed visitors. Talking with those who wanted to talk, listening to their stories and having prayer with all those who wanted it. One of the veterans asked my husband’s uncle where God came from. After a moment he said, “Nobody knows. He just is. He always has been and He always will be our great and almighty GOD.”
One old veteran told us that during WWII when he and his buddies were on leave they often came into Johnson City, usually on Mondays. That was wash day for most folks. He said they walked around the neighborhoods on the outskirts of town and they could tell where the young women lived by the laundry hanging on the clothesline to dry. Then they attended socials in the areas – dances, box suppers, music and cake walks hoping to meet the young ladies. Then the women took to wearing them blamed shadders (shadows) and a man couldn’t tell by the laundry on the line if they were age 19 or 90. It took us a while to figure out he was talking about panty hose. He seems amused by his own story and laughed with us.
Then I noticed an old soldier on a bed in the corner. He reminded me of one of my uncles who spent the last years of his life in this very hospital due to head trauma from being in World War I. Every hour of every night and day he relived frightening scenes from battles in which he had fought. He became very agitated at times and then he was quiet, staring into space with hollow deep set eyes. How terrible that was for him.
My sincere thanks to every soldier who has ever served in our military and to those who have cared for the wounded when they returned home.
“FREEDOM IS NOT FREE”