We are going to have a long swim back to Japan through shark infested waters, so it would behoove all of us to hold these hills! "

HONORING KOREAN WAR VETERAN DONALD HOWARD AND HIS SON

This is a beautiful remembrance from Donald Howard, of his father who served in the Korean War. As you will read in the story, his father sacrificed a great deal and suffered greatly from injuries he received in the Korean War. I have also asked Donald to share his own service story so that we can honor both the father and son, who have faithfully and courageously served in the US military. Thank you so much Donald for sharing these photos and service stories. My heart goes out to all of our Korean War veterans who suffered tremendous physical and emotional wounds from the Korean War. With much respect and gratitude to both of these heroes, Susan Kee - Honoring Korean War Veterans

(The following was written by Donald Howard in honor of his late father)

"My father Donald L. Howard stationed at Ft. Lewis, Wa with the 3rd Ranger Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division would board a troop ship at the Naval docks in San Francisco in August 1950 just 2 months after the Korean War started. He turned 18 yrs old on the journey there, then arrived at Pusan Harbor in late August 1950. As he recalled to me, "When we disembarked from the ship in Pusan, we were taken to the hills around Pusan where we would be positioned, then we were told, "Gentlemen, what you see is all we have left, if we lose this, then we are going to have a long swim back to Japan through shark infested water so it would behoove all of us to hold these hills."

My dad was wounded on September 8, 1950 in Korea. Shrapnel from exploding grenades hit his face, chest and both arms. In one of the photos, my dad is at Letterman Army Hospital San Francisco where he would spend nearly a year undergoing plastic surgery to his face and undergo the first open heart surgery ever done on a human being to remove the piece of shrapnel from his heart from one of two near point blank grenade explosions. I left active duty in 1988 so I could spend time with my father, who only had a year to live. 83 other pieces were still inside of him when he passed away. He was just 56 years old.

He was a compassionate man, loved kids. There wasn't anything I couldn't talk to him about, he liked helping people (particularly other veterans who were plagued by demons, but he was very capable of taking someone out if necessary without losing sleep. When people met him for the first time, when I would give them some of his history, they couldn't believe that the kind and open gentle man and what I told them were the same person. As I have always told people, "A warrior exists on 2 different planes of existence, there is the loving husband, father, son or brother who is like everyone else. Then there is the same man who is capable of great violence very quickly when called upon. He is both angel and demon and is willing to look where most fear to consider and yet still sees beauty in spite of the ugliness he has seen.

Love you, miss you pop, I haven't forgotten.

Arlington Point, Lot 477, Grave 5. See red/yellow flowers on the right side, of this photo.

Korean War veteran, Mr. Donald Howard and his son

"Me with my dad, my best friend, my hero at Ft.Knox, Ky July 1985 when I graduated from scout school. "

(photo courtesy of Donald Howard)