May - Korean War Veterans Association
May - Korean War Veterans Association
May - Korean War Veterans Association
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Bob Hart<br />
Robert L. (“Bob”) Hart, a member of CID 21, Robert<br />
Wurtsbaugh [IL], was featured in a story in the 18 April 2010<br />
issue of the Danville [IL] Commercial-News. The article, “No<br />
words can express POWs’ emotions,“ was written by Don<br />
Richter.<br />
Richter describes a unique museum, composed of 9,000+ military<br />
patches, that WWII veteran Charlie Dukes has collected.<br />
They are displayed in his hometown of Georgetown, IL. Dukes<br />
and Hart were both POWs, the former in WWII and the latter in<br />
Korea. Dukes was captured by the Germans on Thanksgiving<br />
Day, 1944. The Chinese captured Hart in April 1951.<br />
In one poignant paragraph, Richter wrote:<br />
More than half a century has passed since the two men returned<br />
home from their service, but the memories remain fresh of those<br />
long past years. Like other combat veterans I have interviewed,<br />
they stressed words really can’t describe what it was like to live<br />
under conditions where their lives could have ended violently at any<br />
moment.<br />
No doubt Richter captured the feelings of many veterans in<br />
that one paragraph.<br />
We thank Hershall E. Lee for bringing the article to our attention.<br />
NOTE: The article may be available through a search at the<br />
newspaper’s website, http://commercial-news.com/. It was not<br />
available when this summary was prepared.<br />
A Veteran’s Prayer<br />
You called and I answered.<br />
I gave my all.<br />
I left my books, my desk,<br />
My machine, My store—<br />
Yes, I even left my Mom and Dad,<br />
My wife and kids—<br />
My entire family.<br />
I put my life on hold<br />
Because you needed me—<br />
I did not hesitate to<br />
Answer your call.<br />
I went to foreign lands<br />
Without question on your command.<br />
There too, I left many things behind—<br />
My foot, my leg, my arm, my eyes, yes—<br />
Even my mind.<br />
I left my life, my family,<br />
My happiness.<br />
Now, I’m asking for help,<br />
For me and mine.<br />
Please Dear God,<br />
Don’t let America turn its back<br />
On me.<br />
Ralph Calabrese, 97 Clark St.<br />
Canandaigua, NY 14424, (716) 393-1607<br />
Randy Jurgensen receives<br />
Purple Heart 56 years later<br />
Randy Jurgensen, of Dobbs Ferry, NY,<br />
and a veteran of the New York Police<br />
Department, received formal recognition<br />
for the Purple Heart at a ceremony at<br />
West Point on 11 November 2009. The<br />
recognition came a little late: he was<br />
injured at Pork Chop Hill in March<br />
1953.<br />
Jurgensen, a demolition specialist<br />
with the 187th Airborne, sustained his<br />
injuries on the night of 23 March 1953.<br />
His daughter, Lindsay, revealed that he never spoke much<br />
about his activities in Korea. In fact, his account of the event<br />
was terse.<br />
As Jurgensen recalled, he was<br />
The hole the size of a clearing a path through a minefield<br />
when the Chinese overran<br />
quarter and the burn<br />
marks on the helmet his unit. Shrapnel knocked him<br />
where it caught fire out briefly. But, he regained consciousness<br />
and crawled down a<br />
offered evidence that<br />
900-foot hill. After that he was<br />
Jurgensen had truly<br />
operated on twice, and ultimately<br />
returned home to marry, raise<br />
earned his Purple Heart—<br />
and the formal recognition<br />
that went with it. the NYPD. The Purple Heart was<br />
a family, and start his career with<br />
pushed to the background as he<br />
pursued his post-war success.<br />
To be sure, he had received the Purple Heart, but in a rather<br />
circuitous manner. The Army mailed it to his mother, who<br />
passed it on to his wife. It was formal recognition that was<br />
missing. Lindsay started a push to make sure he received it.<br />
Lindsay Jurgensen thought it was a shame that formal<br />
recognition for the medal was too long in coming. She wrote to<br />
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to get some<br />
type of recognition, but she did not get any results. She did not<br />
give up. Lindsay turned to the staff at the U.S. Military<br />
Academy. Things took off from there.<br />
On <strong>Veterans</strong> Day, LtCol Charles Stafford, West Point’s<br />
operations officer, officially awarded the Purple Heart to<br />
Jurgensen during a ceremony at the West Point Museum. There<br />
was a significant backdrop at the event. The helmet Jurgensen<br />
had been wearing the night he was wounded lay in the glass<br />
display case behind him.<br />
The hole the size of a quarter and the burn marks on the helmet<br />
where it caught fire offered evidence that Jurgensen had<br />
truly earned his Purple Heart—and the formal recognition that<br />
went with it. Sure, it took 56 years and a determined daughter’s<br />
dedication to her dad and a cause to get official recognition.<br />
But, better late than never—especially when it comes to a<br />
daughter’s dedication and a dad’s duty.<br />
Reach Randy Jurgensen at P.O. Box 428, Dobbs Ferry,<br />
NY 10522-0428, (914) 693-9186, roc.ka.san@hotmail.com<br />
55<br />
The Graybeards<br />
<strong>May</strong> – June 2010
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