Jan/Feb 2008 - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

honcho!”
He asked if “honcho” wanted his
mess gear and boots polished. I accepted
the offer. Later in the day, when I
returned to my hut, I found my mess gear
shining on my bunk and my boots
gleaming under the bunk.
“How much do you want?” I asked
Han, when I saw him again.
“No, no, GI, presento, presento!”
“Presento” [accent on the second syllable]
meant free of charge. I gave the
kid candy, but I suspected that the he was
sweetening me up for greater favors.
Han began to ask if I would get him cigarettes
and other critical items from the
PX. Aware of a thriving black market in
Korea, I put my foot down: “NO!”
But the shrewd little dealer had not
played all his tricks. For one carton of
cigarettes the boy would bring me a footlocker,
an item not issued in Korea. He
had me where it hurt. It was an offer I
could not turn down. The large, handmade
wooden storage chest at the foot of
my bunk ended the madness of living out
of a duffel bag.
Hut 4, the “aloof hut,” was the residence
of administrative wheels, the supply
men, the radio and teletype technicians,
and our mail man, Seamon. Hut 4
got its mail before the rest of the company,
usually delivered personally. There
was mail on Sunday, too—how nice.
That letter from a friend or loved one
was the bright spot of the day.
Since we were in a combat zone, our
letters went postage-free and we were
exempt from paying income tax. Another
GI perk was Red Cross donuts and coffee
served by pretty women.
Among the guys in the motor pool
were farm boys who were cracker-jack
mechanics. SFC Gatzke made a washing
machine for the company, using an
empty diesel oil drum rotated by a motor.
It brought the women who worked in the
laundry into the 20th Century. They
washed their own clothes at a brook by
beating them with a stick against a rock.
It took more than Gatzke’s genius, however,
to keep the pump running for showers.
Some of the guys lived in Guzzler’s
Inn, Hut 3, and some in Peace-and-Quiet
Hut 2. (These are 1954 hut personality
profiles.)
The radio repair shop, where I was
assigned, had 15-inch-disk transcriptions
of stateside radio programs. These
records were once played over Radio
Station “Dust,“ which emanated from
the roof of our administrative building.
“Dust” was Radio Company’s pride and
joy and a source of keen pleasure to its
disk-jockeys. According to George
Herschell, who had done his share of
enlivening the air waves over the rice
“Beer-Can Chapel” - Inchon (9/7/54)
William J. Claypool, Charles E. Monroe (12/54)
Warning sign at railroad track near Radio Co.
Welcome gate for ex-Communist North Korean and Chinese POWs - Seoul (2/54)
49
The Graybeards January-February 2008