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LESSONS FROM SURVIVING KOREA STAY WITH VETERAN --

"The attacks were always in waves that lasted no more

than 10 or 15 minutes, but seemed endless for those

of us who were involved. Time stood still..."

Bill Woltkamp

For more about the Korean War veterans, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
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Story here... http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/herald
news/news/630237,4_1_JO01_OVERTHERE_S1.article

Story below: 

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Lessons from surviving Korea stay with veteran

Bill Woltkamp, of Crest Hill, has been with the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery Memorial Squad since July 2006. A U.S. Army veteran, he served from 1947-52 during the Korean War.

Bill volunteered for the Army in 1947, just before his 18th birthday. When his enlistment was up in 1950, his tour of duty was extended another two years due to the war. While assigned to the 35th Infantry, 1st Battalion, Headquarters Company, P-A Platoon, he and his comrades were deployed just a few hundred yards from the front lines. Bill served as a combat engineer in the rifle infantry unit.

Bill served in five major battles: the Battle of Pusan Peninsula; Battle of Inchon; the battle of Seoul; at the 38th Parallel and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, "where the Marines were hurt big time and we tried to dig them out. This is when Gen. Douglas McArthur took us clear to the Yalu River, at the Chinese border. At that time, President Harry S. Truman gave the order to retreat and ordered us to turn around and go below the 38th Parallel (which divides North and South Korea). We held our positions there and we were still at battle.

"Morning and night attacks at dawn and dusk by Korean and Chinese soldiers were often a daily occurrence. Yells of 'banzai' would shrill through the icy cold air, which took your breath away, and your heart skipped a beat in anticipation of the inevitable ground assault by hundreds and sometimes thousands of screaming fanatics that seemed to care nothing about their lives.

"The attacks were always in waves that lasted no more than 10 or 15 minutes, but seemed endless for those of us who were involved. Time stood still for those brief moments as lives were won and lost in an instant of eternity. If your number came up, you were gone, forever! Those that were spared lived to fight another day."

The soldiers Bill fought were not equipped the way U.S. armed forces are.

"The first wave was always the easiest to deal with. They barely had any weapons because they were the 'sacrificial lambs' and became fodder for our weapons. They would charge our lines in careless abandon and seemed to freely give up their lives to lay across our barbed wire defensive perimeter. They would literally lay the way for the other waves. Supplying this first wave of warriors weapons was considered wasteful because most of them would be killed or wounded in the initial attack.

"The second wave would be better-equipped, but not fully, because their chances of survival were only a little better than the first wave. They were expected to bring back more weapons.

"The third wave was fully equipped regulars who had the best chance for survival.

"From our gun encampments, all we had to do was point and shoot. It was never too difficult to hit something. That was the one thing I could never get used to -- how cheap lives were to them.

"Attacks were always strange, surrealistic experiences. First they would attack in hopeless efforts. Then we would repel them. After each battle both sides would pick up the dead and wounded, and then we would wait for the entire process to start all over again, with no foreseeable end in sight. It all seemed so stupid and futile."

'Young lives lost'

"Since we were so close to the enemy front lines, supplies were of crucial importance to the battalion," Bill said.

One of his primary responsibilities, when he wasn't fighting, was picking up ammunition and supplies. The drive back and forth was always fraught with danger. If it wasn't land mines, it was sniper fire; if it wasn't sniper fire it was wire strung across the road to behead unsuspecting drivers.

The trucks that went to pick up supplies were never empty. Bill had the difficult task of taking trucks full of loaded body bags back for shipment home.

"The memory of all those young lives lost still haunts me," Bill said.

The cold temperatures were another difficult issue for Bill and his comrades.

"We could never touch civilian artifacts or use shelters to keep warm for fear of booby traps, so we slept in our sleeping bags on the ground in subzero temperatures most of the time. I have never felt such miserable cold in my life. We had to sleep with our weapons to keep them from freezing and jamming," Bill said. "People ask me how I can stand the cold weather at the cemetery, performing honors for veterans. It's nothing compared to what we endured in Korea."

Giving back

The fact that Bill survived Korea brings us to the reason he is a volunteer at Abraham Lincoln today.

"It's just my way of paying back, in some small measure, the fact that I was spared, and thanking God for sparing me," he said.

Bill also volunteers at Provena Saint Joseph Hospital as a counselor for heart patients and their families. He belongs to The Mended Heart, a support group that helps patients and families through heart surgery. Bill is perfectly suited for that duty since he has survived three heart surgeries. Like he said, "After surviving Korea, anything else is a piece of cake."

Bill said he has such a great attitude about life because of Margaret, his wife of 52 years, and his six children, Marie Terese, Mark, Mary Ann, Keith, Joann and Paul.

Of all the medals and ribbons that Bill received in Korea, he is most proud of his combat ribbon, which is awarded to soldiers who were in combat zones for 30 days or more. Bill fought on the Korean front lines for 13 months.

Other military news

New Lenox Public Library will hold its Salute to Veterans, a tribute to local veterans and their families, at 11 a.m. Nov. 10. The library is at 120 Veterans Parkway. Any veteran or family member interested in being recognized can stop in the library and complete a form at the reception desk.

Honoring veterans

In honor of Veterans Day on Nov. 11, The Herald News would like to salute our troops and veterans.

We are asking that you send pictures of men and women who are serving, have served or have fallen. Include their rank, name, branch of service, your name and hometown. We also ask that you limit each tribute to a paragraph. The deadline is 2 p.m. Nov. 2 to be included in our Veterans Day issue. Your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions, call Jean Edwards, staff writer, at (815) 729-6049 or e-mail jedwards@scn1.com

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Larry Scott  --

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