I once remarked to a reporter who visited the camp that being part of a war is sort of like being in New York City during a rainstorm. People crowd in the nearest doorway for cover, and they become chummy, despite the fact that they don't know each other and don't have much in common. BJ Hunnicut, Trapper John McIntyre, Charles Winchester, RADAR O'Reilly, Max Klinger, Margaret Houlihan, Father Francis Mulcahy, Frank Burns, Henry Blake, and Sherman Potter were just some of the people I served with at the 4077 back 50 years ago. I had little in common with most of them, yet they became like family to me during my time in that little slice of hell.
You all know what happened to Henry Blake. He was killed before he ever got home to his family in Illinois. A few years after making it home, I was lucky enough to meet his wife and kids. It's a shame that they had to endure the pain of losing Henry.
RADAR O'Reilly made it home before the end of the war. He met a girl on his way home from Korea. She was also in the army, and lived near Ottumwa. They got back in touch when they were both stateside again, and they ended up getting married. He tended his family farm, but he wasn't very successful at it. He sold the farm, and ended up becoming the office manager of a farm equipment company in Des Moines. His time as the 4077 company clerk served him well there. It was hard on him when his mother passed away in 1962, but by then he had a family of his own. RADAR'S 70 years old now, and has been retired for a few years. He lives in Des Moines with his wife, and spends lots of time with his children and grandchildren. I'll always thing of him as a kid, though.
Max Klinger ended up returning to Toledo with his Korean bride. I always thought he was bound to be the ugliest runway model in the fashion industry, but he went into a completely different line of work. He got into the steel business, and he's still there. Even at the ripe old age of 77. He and his family are living happily ever after.
Frank Burns came home really screwed up due to his time in Korea. What's more, his wife left him when she learned of his affair with Major Houlihan. He ended up a poor broken man for a while. Thankfully, he was able to get his head right...or as right as old Ferret Face could ever get his square head. He remarried, had a couple more kids, and ended up being elected to Congress in1972. Of course, he was a big Nixon supporter! He served in Congress until his death in 1986. He was 68 years old.
Trapper John McIntyre made it home before I had the chance to tell him goodbye. He was always an alley cat when it came to the ladies, and it ruined his marriage. He and his wife divorced in 1955. He got married a couple more times, but those marriages also ended in divorce. Since he was such a lousy husband (or so he was told by all three of his exwives), he focused on being a great dad. I've never seen a divorced man who was a close to his children as Trap. He went into private practice in Boston, and stayed there until he died of a stroke in 1994. I miss him.
I hate that I have to update you on Charles Winchester. He and I grated on each other more often than not. However, I left Korea thinking of him as a true friend. Seeing that orchestra he put together killed near the end of the war always stayed with him. When he got back home, he started drinking. It led to him being put on "administrative leave" from his coveted position as chief of thoracic surgery at Boston Mercy Hospital. That led to him drinking more. Charles hung himself in 1957. When his body was found, Motzart's Quintet for Clarinet and Strings was playing on the record player. Apparently, he had replaced the copy he had smashed in Korea.
Colonel Sherman Potter Returned to Hannibal, Missouri and his beloved Mildred. He had suffered through two world wars, and Korea. When Vietnam rolled around, he was one of it's most vocal critics in Hannibal. He just didn't see the sense in the government sending more boys to fight for another piece of land in Asia. The war happened, despite his feelings. It really saddened the old man. However, his children and grand children were always there to help lift his spirits. He actually lived to see his grand children grow up and have children of their own. He died in has backyard in 1981. Mildred Potter, heartbroken from losing her friend and partner of 56 years died less than two weeks later.
Father Mulcahy returned to the states nearly deaf. He wasn't all that useful as a deaf priest, and it left him bitter. He ended up meeting a woman, and falling in love. He took the whole episode as a sign from God that it was time to leave the priesthood. He's a grandfather now. He may not be celibate anymore, but he's still an active Catholic, and very active in charities that help orphaned, and underprivileged children. He lives In Pittsburgh.
BJ Hunnicut returned to Mill Valley. He and his wife raised their daughter, and three more kids that came along after. He ended up becoming a very well known surgeon in the Bay Area. BJ, and Peg had some tough times in their marriage. They were always able to work whatever problem came up, though. They still live in Mill Valley. They're proud grandparents. Every couple of years, I can get them to come out to Crabapple Cove to pay me a visit. Every coupe of years, they're able to drag me out to Mill Valley. After 50 years, BJ and I are still the best of friends.
Now, there are two people that I haven't talked about yet. Margaret returned to the states to work in an a VA hospital. She came up to visit me about 6 months after we got back from Korea. We never got married or anything. Margaret's first marriage hadn't gone over so well, and she didn't want to make the same mistake twice. We did see each other from time to time. She'd come up here, or I'd go down to Washington, D.C. where she was working. When her stint in the army was up, she decided not to reenlist. It came as a shock to all of us. Probably even to her! She moved up to Maine, and well...we've been up here together ever since. She and dad loved each other. So much so, that when Margaret and I argued (which happened frequently enough then and still does now), dad would take her side more often than not. Dad died in 1990. He was 86.
Margaret and I had two kids: Henry Blake Pierce (who carries on the name of the late Henry Blake, and proudly carries on the nickname Hawkeye) and Emily Houlihan Pierce (named Emily after my late mother). They're both married, and have children of their own.
It'll probably shock you to find out that Margaret and I returned to the military in the late 1960's. We watched the horror unfold in Vietnam, and wanted to go and do our part. I think Margaret longed for a last hurrah in the Army. I still hated Army life, and wasn't thrilled about returning to the hell of meatball surgery in a war zone. Yet, I thought about those boys I help in Korea. Men who were able to return home to their families because of dedicated men and women like me, Margaret, BJ, Trap, and all the rest.
So, I went to Vietnam. Margaret and I ended up in two different parts of South Vietnam. We were both slower and greyer than the other doctors and nurses, but we managed. After a year, we returned home to our children. We never left them again.
Ever since then, Margaret and I have been content working to get two generations of locals in Crabapple Cove to open up and say "AHHHHH," and watching our children and grandchildren grow.
Some would say that we've led a good life. I like to sum it all up in two words: Finest kind.