"I left for Houghton by bus the day after New Years and met the group for inductions. We went by bus to Escanaba, Michigan, where, on January 3, we were inducted into the army. From there we traveled by train to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for basic training. I started my six weeks of basic infantry training on January 10, 1951. I had expected that Missouri, being way south of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, would be a nice warm change for training, but it sure wasn't that way. I think I felt colder in Missouri than I had ever felt back home. Perhaps it was a damper cold or maybe it was because we spent a lot of time standing around outside. In the army you always "hurry up and wait", and it was the waiting in the cold that was the problem. And, only one friend and schoolmate from back home wound up in the same training company with me.

"After the completion of infantry training, I was transferred to a company to undergo eight weeks of basic combat engineer training. I found this training very interesting but also very strenuous. We learned how to build Bailey bridges and also how to blow up bridges and other demolitions.

"After completion of the engineer training, I received orders for what was called FECOM which meant Far East Military Command. I went home for a two-week leave prior to taking the train to Seattle for transport to the Far East. I was in Fort Lawton, Seattle, for about a week waiting for a boat to take me overseas. In the meantime, my friend, Johnny, had been drafted and was undergoing training.

"We shipped out on a troop transport named the Marine Adder. The trip was pretty rough with a lot of stormy weather because we took a northern route. It took about 14 days to cross the ocean to Japan. We were in Japan for about a week, confined to the camp, before getting our indoctrination and equipment and being shipped on a large general-class ship to Korea. We were to land at Inchon, Korea, and because the water in that area was too shallow for a general-class ship, we had to go ashore by landing craft. So at about 4:00 in the morning on July 8, 1951, we went over the side and into the landing craft and were transported to Inchon. At that time, the truce had not begun, and we were not sure what to expect. We marched through the streets of Inchon where the buildings were pretty well shot up. There was some graffiti written on a building which said "Yankee go home", and I would have gladly gone.

"From there we went by truck from Inchon to Seoul, which was also pretty well shot up and almost deserted. We were to be assigned to the 79th Engineer Construction Battalion as replacements. We were told that the battalion's work was fixing roads and building bridges, which looked like pretty strenuous work in that rugged country. There was a group of about 20 of us being interviewed for assignment and we were asked if anyone could type. The thought of "pick and shovel work" building roads didn't really appeal to me so I said that I could type. A friend, Richard, who trained with me, also said he could type. They asked us how fast we could type, and Richard said "twenty-five words per minute" so I said "thirty words per minute". We were both lying - between the two of us we might have been able to type twenty-five words per minute. As it turned out, we didn't need to be concerned about "pick and shovel work" as the Army hired indigenous personnel for that type of work. Depending on the location and job, the engineer units would have hundreds of Korean personnel working.

"Our quarters near Seoul were on the University of Seoul campus. There were quite a few buildings that had been nice at one time, but now there was not a door or window left, as they had been shot up and ruined. Here, Richard and I worked on getting a lot of reports for the medical section typed that had piled up because nobody had been there to do any typing at all.

"After finishing that job, I moved over to what is referred to as S1 which is the headquarters company of the battalion. I was a clerk typist there working for the battalion sergeant major. Sergeant major is a position, not a rank title. It is the highest position a non-commissioned enlisted man can attain in the army.

"Shortly after being assigned to the 79th, the truce was declared, and the seesawing back and forth of the front line subsided. There were still patrols and skirmishes at the front line, but there were no major changes. Soon after that, we moved our headquarters north to the Chunchon area, which was near the front line where we were building a concrete arch bridge. The bridge was within artillery range of the North Koreans, but, fortunately, they stopped shooting at it.