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thedrifter
03-27-09, 08:24 AM
Marines who served together in Korea reunite in The Villages

By DAISY MOON, DAILY SUN

THE VILLAGES — More than half a century ago, 18-year-old Bill Moylan was one of many Americans serving in the U.S. armed forces during the Korean War.

The young Marine considered himself a typical “jock” among his fellow servicemen. But somehow, Moylan managed to make an impression on his pal and baseball buddy Charles Johnson that would last a lifetime.

The two Marines were stationed together in Portsmouth, Va., and sent to Korea in 1950.

Johnson said they “struck up a good relationship, or as good as military people can be.”

“He was from the same type of life that I was,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t much to talk about things that wasted breath, and neither was he.”

When the two returned from Korea, they were stationed together once again until Johnson was

sent back to Korea.

After that, the friends lost touch.

But Moylan was never absent from Johnson’s mind; he even kept Moylan’s name and the state he was from (Wisconsin) in his wallet for many years so that he wouldn’t forget.

“So all those years I went on, and I got married, and my children were born,” Johnson said. “And when they were old enough to understand, I used to tell them about this guy that I was in the Marines with.”

Eventually, Johnson began a serious search for his buddy, hoping the two could reconnect. However, in those days, before the Internet opened up the information superhighway, Johnson’s quest brought few results.

That is until a year ago.

Johnson received an e-mail with a link for “people look-up,” he said.

“So I clicked on ‘people look-up’ and it said to put the name and the state he was from,” Johnson said.

After finding a “William Moylan,” Johnson said he paid a small fee to receive additional information which confirmed that he had indeed found his long-lost Marine comrade.

But one unanticipated obstacle remained.

When Johnson made a call to Moylan, the Village of Del Mar resident could not quite place his friend.

“I didn’t have a clue,” Moylan said of that initial phone conversation.

To help jog his pal’s memory, Johnson sent Moylan a group shot of the baseball league the two had played in during their Marines days.

That’s all it took for Moylan’s memories to come flowing back.

On Wednesday, Johnson and Moylan were at last reunited in The Villages, when Johnson flew down for a visit from his home state of Maine.

Although they had not seen each other in several decades, by Thursday morning the two might as well have been back in Portsmouth, boxing with each other as they once did.

Johnson joked about one match in particular.

“One day, (Moylan) said, ‘You want to spar with me?’ And I said, ‘I’d love to,’” Johnson recalled. “I only threw one punch and he knocked me out.”

He added with a smile, “I figured to do that he must be a pretty good friend.”

As he reminisced about old times, Moylan still couldn’t figure out just why he meant so much to Johnson, especially after all these years.

“Why I made such an impact on him is a question you’ll have to ask him,” he said. “To this day, he thinks I’m God’s gift to this world for some reason.”

“It’s incredible,” Moylan said. “He told his wife, ‘Before I die, I’m going to see Bill Moylan.’ And he did.”

Daisy Moon is a reporter with the Daily Sun. She can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9067, or daisy.moon@thevillagesmedia.com.

Ellie