Voices from the Korean War - Douglas Rice [118]
Ernest and four or five other guys had run out of ammunition and were backed up against a large rock. The rest of the squad, with what little ammo they had left, where behind them trying to keep the Chinese off them.
The Chinese were throwing their potato masher grenades at them. As the grenades sailed over Edge’s head, he was reaching up catching them and throwing them back. He was one good soldier and he wasn’t afraid of anything. By now Duke and the other squad members were out of ammo. The Chinese began throwing their grenades a little faster and Ernest was unable to catch them. He finally succumbed to one of their grenades.1
* * * * * *
Denzil, one of Ernest’s younger brothers, remembers the day the family was informed about Ernest’s death. Their Uncle Everett and Aunt Ruth Hughes, along with their son Tommy, were visiting and everyone was sitting outside. Suddenly their mother noticed a car coming down the gravel lane, and she dropped to her knees. Having lost her oldest son in Europe, she knew who it was and what they were delivering.2
Ernest’s sister, Mary Smith, said she remembers attending the burial service at the Zachary Taylor Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. She was twelve years old and attended the services with her father, Ernest Lee, and her older sister Imogene. They were driven to Louisville by the daughter of Dr. Denton—a local doctor from Fordsville. Their mother didn’t attend, because she was sick. However, it could have been her nerves, for Ernest was the second son she had lost in time of war.3
~~Thirty-Six~~
John Ebnet
7th Cavalry Regiment
1st Cavalry Division
U.S. Army
When the Korean War broke out in the summer of 1950, I, like many other guys across Minnesota, was drafted.
I was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas, for my basic training. During weapons training I struggled with the rifle and pistol; however, I did much better with the .30 caliber machine gun. This may have been a factor in my being placed in a heavy weapons company, instead of a rifle company, when I arrived in Korea.
I had been dating Helen Miller for four or five years. So, before I shipped out, we got married. I figured she had put up with me for such a long time, and if something happened to me I wanted her to have my life insurance.
* * * * * *
By April of 1951, I was at Uijongbu—north of Seoul—assigned to D Company, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division.
It was my second night there and I was sharing a foxhole with a guy who had been there awhile; he was on watch while I was getting some shut-eye. Suddenly, something woke me up and I found that both of us were asleep at the same time. From that point forward, I stayed awake during both watches.
For several months I climbed the hills of Korea with a recoilless rifle and machine guns. One day the mess sergeant was rotating home and I was asked if I would be interested in being a cook. What a decision to make! Continue climbing those hills while dodging bullets and shrapnel; or become a cook stationed behind the front lines—I took it!
We didn’t have gas stoves; we had pump-up stoves like a Coleman stove that one takes on a camping trip. They were easy to pack when we were on the move.
I soon began to help organize the kitchen, which helped me obtain my sergeant stripes. In a short time I was able to get some guys from Minnesota—Donald Bialka, Clarence Hentges, and Art Fetting—to help me. These were some of the guys I had met during basic training. It was our job to make sure the men ate well. For breakfast we fixed pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, and rolls. We also had a lot of hamburgers.
We would travel to Kimpo airfield, near Seoul, and pick up supplies in a truck that had been captured from the Chinese. The kitchen at the airfield had more than they needed, so we always took plenty.
Besides cooking, we were also in charge of securing purified water; the same water from rivers the war was being fought in. The water was used for everything from