thedrifter
08-16-08, 07:01 AM
REMEMBER WHEN: One the lasts to die in Korea
By TCPalm Staff
Saturday, August 16, 2008
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A Night to Remember...55 years ago, a cease-fire was declared in Korea. It began at precisely 10 p.m. July 27, 1953.
Pfc. Harold B. Smith didn't have to be in Korea. He served his required time in the Philippines. He could have gone home and spent the summer with his five brothers and one sister in East Oregon, Ill., but instead, Smith, like most Marines, volunteered to come to Korea — we had a war to fight.
Smith volunteered to take another man's place on a combat patrol that night. The Marines were returning from their assignments when at exactly 16 minutes before 10 that night, Harold Smith tripped the most deadly antipersonnel mine in Korea, a "Bouncing Betty." The "Bouncing Betty" fires a 60mm mortar shell straight up, usually disemboweling the tripper and killing those nearby.
Arthur E. Hock from Belleville, Ill., gave his account to VFW Magazine in August 2003.
"I was directly behind Harold, God was looking out for me! Smitty wasn't scheduled to patrol that night, he volunteered to replace another Marine who had been out two nights in a row. I was looking directly at him when I heard the pop and saw the flash. The explosion was followed by a terrible scream that was heard probably a mile away. That image has stayed with me for 50 years."
Harold was one of the last men to die in combat during the Korean Conflict — some of us called it a war.
I was his first sergeant.
Oma D. Day Jr.
Grant
Ellie
By TCPalm Staff
Saturday, August 16, 2008
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A Night to Remember...55 years ago, a cease-fire was declared in Korea. It began at precisely 10 p.m. July 27, 1953.
Pfc. Harold B. Smith didn't have to be in Korea. He served his required time in the Philippines. He could have gone home and spent the summer with his five brothers and one sister in East Oregon, Ill., but instead, Smith, like most Marines, volunteered to come to Korea — we had a war to fight.
Smith volunteered to take another man's place on a combat patrol that night. The Marines were returning from their assignments when at exactly 16 minutes before 10 that night, Harold Smith tripped the most deadly antipersonnel mine in Korea, a "Bouncing Betty." The "Bouncing Betty" fires a 60mm mortar shell straight up, usually disemboweling the tripper and killing those nearby.
Arthur E. Hock from Belleville, Ill., gave his account to VFW Magazine in August 2003.
"I was directly behind Harold, God was looking out for me! Smitty wasn't scheduled to patrol that night, he volunteered to replace another Marine who had been out two nights in a row. I was looking directly at him when I heard the pop and saw the flash. The explosion was followed by a terrible scream that was heard probably a mile away. That image has stayed with me for 50 years."
Harold was one of the last men to die in combat during the Korean Conflict — some of us called it a war.
I was his first sergeant.
Oma D. Day Jr.
Grant
Ellie