Just before dawn 58 years ago this morning North Korean troops crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded South Korea. Often referred to as “the forgotten war” and called a police action at the time, it was certainly a real war for the 33,686 American service men and women who died there. That includes the 887 service people killed from Indiana and the 11 men who died from Decatur County.

Charles Eugene Emsweller, Clarksburg, didn't have to go into the service or to Korea. He had received a deferment to work on a farm because the products farms provided were vital to the Armed Forces as well as those at home. Emsweller arose each morning in time to milk 15 or more cows and have the milk ready for pickup by 5 a.m. because that farm was the first stop of the route. He began to think that life in the service might be easier than farm work. He enlisted Feb. 1, 1952 when he was 21 years old. He chose the Army because he had watched war movies and thought it would give him opportunities to see other parts of the world. He was in Korea when the war ended in July 1953 and was in the Army until October 31, 1953.

He was introduced to the Army in Indianapolis then left for Fort Custer, Mich. Where he was volunteered for K.P. duty that evening. He and two others peeled 300 pounds of potatoes. They finished at 3 a.m. but were back by 6 a.m. to serve breakfast. He says now, “I figured I’d jumped out of the skillet into the frying pan. I felt like the devil.”

He left there by troop train for Fort Smith, Ark. “I tried to sleep in the berths but we had a new engineer and when he started he jerked the whole train. Stopping was the same thing but we got to Camp Chaffee and started basic training.” Three weeks into training the men got shots and the small pox shot gave him a reaction and he spent five days in the hospital. He had to start basic all over although he did get some breaks.

His next stop was Seattle, WA. and then to Tokyo where he boarded a ship for Pusan, Korea, took a train to Inchon and from there the men were loaded onto a truck for Seoul. They continued north and crossed the 38th parallel to their outfit 8th Army, 987th Field Artillery, Company C. He says he wasn't prepared for the mountains of Korea. “I expected some flat land but all I saw that was flat was around Seoul. The were called 'hills' but I can tell you that they were mountains.”

His first experience at getting shelled was just after they crossed a small creek. Their truck stopped at the supply tent to check in. “As we were unloading we started getting shelled. I looked to see what was happening and see where the shells were landing. I realized I was the only one still on the truck. The other guys were under the truck howling at me to find cover. I learned then that you don't stand around to see where the explosives were going to land.”

Emsweller was assigned to a 105th Howitzer guns for a couple of months before they removed those and gave them 8-inch Howitzer guns. “These guns would shoot a shell that weighed around 212 pounds about 15 miles away. We were about a mile from the front lines. A month later we moved closer to the front. We took turns rotating our guns to forward positions to shoot just over the hills and then drop them on the other side.”

He saw plenty of combat while in Korea. One of the guns blew up when they were in a forward position. “I was putting fuses in the shells when the tube recoiled and fell over. It hit a a man named Estes, standing next to me and killed him. He had just asked me what time it was and I told him. He said, 'I got to go get you more shells!' Those were his last words. He was one of the truck drivers that hauled ammunition for us. He was the only causality in our unit but two others were injured.” Emsweller had a camera although he thinks it was illegal.

Five of the men in his company got a week of R & R and headed for Japan to “sight see and have fun. We didn't have to listen to the incoming fire.”

Conclusion next week; Emsweller earns a Bronze Star with the V and is in Korea when truce is declared.