Chapter 3- Indestructible Bond
"A handshake wont do Henry"
I bet the best friendship you have is over a period of years and years. I mean all of us don't give the term "best" friend to just anyone. Around Korea, the term best was used often but never lightly. All of us have lost friends, but never the thought of them. When I left Korea, I left saluting a man I will never forget for as long as I live and into eternity. His name, Benjamin Franklin Pierce, "Hawkeye." But more about him later.
The bottom line is, I went through things with these people I will never go through with anyone ever again. For the mere fact that, war is war and you're away from home, you make nice with people a lot easier than usual. Stereotypes and first impressions mean nothing in war. You put your lives in each others hands, like soldiers did in some ways, but like people do in so many other ways. Our sanity depended on each other. We needed each other. We reminded each other of being home with our old high school buddies. Some even reminded us of our parents. From getting a toothbrush to a crying shoulder, we were there for each other, in every way we could be. I thank God daily for giving me these people to get me through the most confusing time of my life. That is what friends are for isn't it. I wish I had the words to stress to you the bond the members of the 4077th had and will always have. It still lives on in each of us, no matter where we are. There is a bond that nothing, not even death and destruction can brake. I have yet to find a friendship like it back home and I'm convinced I never will.
"A handshake wont do Henry"
I bet the best friendship you have is over a period of years and years. I mean all of us don't give the term "best" friend to just anyone. Around Korea, the term best was used often but never lightly. All of us have lost friends, but never the thought of them. When I left Korea, I left saluting a man I will never forget for as long as I live and into eternity. His name, Benjamin Franklin Pierce, "Hawkeye." But more about him later.
The bottom line is, I went through things with these people I will never go through with anyone ever again. For the mere fact that, war is war and you're away from home, you make nice with people a lot easier than usual. Stereotypes and first impressions mean nothing in war. You put your lives in each others hands, like soldiers did in some ways, but like people do in so many other ways. Our sanity depended on each other. We needed each other. We reminded each other of being home with our old high school buddies. Some even reminded us of our parents. From getting a toothbrush to a crying shoulder, we were there for each other, in every way we could be. I thank God daily for giving me these people to get me through the most confusing time of my life. That is what friends are for isn't it. I wish I had the words to stress to you the bond the members of the 4077th had and will always have. It still lives on in each of us, no matter where we are. There is a bond that nothing, not even death and destruction can brake. I have yet to find a friendship like it back home and I'm convinced I never will.
