The Greatest Korean War Stories EVER E-Book

Phillip W. Meyer

• Herausgeber: PM Media LLC
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Follow Private Meyer's wartime memoirs as he travels you back in time to 1950 to 1952, as an infantry soldier on the frontlines of the Korean War, only just turning 17 years old. Be inspired by these true life stories with fully illustrated comics for each one. See him survive harsh winters in foxholes and deal with the life at war. Motivating, captivating, and sometimes even funny. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy these greatest ever stories by a U.S. Army veteran.

At 90 years old Phillip W. Meyer still enjoys writing stories and poems.

Each story in this book includes a fully illustrated comic.

Leseprobe

Short Stories Written by Phillip W. Meyer

Personal Photo Archive Provided by Phillip W. Meyer

Creative Direction & Storyboarding by Paul P. Meyer

Graphic Illustrations by Roswena Saladier Brennan

Editing Assistance by Gloria Grant

Published by PM Media LLC

Copyright © 2023 by PM Media LLC.

Book covers and comic illustrations © 2023 Roswena Saladier Brennan

For inquiries to get this book in your library, classroom, business, or U.S. Army recruiting office, contact: [email protected]

ISBN 979-8-9885773-1-7 (ebook)

When you see a U.S. military veteran take a moment to thank them for their service.

Table of Contents

Volume I

Introduction

Life Before the Army

Bootcamp

Going to the Korean War Frontlines

Coming Home from the Korean War

References & Resources

Introduction

Volume I follows Phillip Meyer’s younger years growing up,joining the U.S. Army, and serving on the frontlines in the Korean War as he just turns seventeen. He becomes a man quickly making the best out of the worst situations, living on the frontlines and surviving in freezing winters, as the Korean War continues. Volume II continues his years in the U.S. Army, doing a tour in Europe and then serving in the Vietnam War, all while starting a family. He finishes the military to return to civilian life. My dad always said his best years of his life were as a U.S. Army soldier and in volumes I & II you will find out why.

First, these short stories can be all read start to finish in chronological order or at random. They are interconnected, yet complete by themselves as vivid memories of my father during his time in the Army while serving multiple tours in the Korean War and Vietnam War. If you were ever fortunate enough to meet my father, it would not take him long to start talking about being in the Army. No matter the life circumstance, he always had an Army story from the past to match how he was thinking in the present moment. For decades my father typed up his stories on his computer. Finally one year I made an effort to collect them all, read them, edit them, and since they were all so dramatic and vividly colorful when he told them, to turn them into short, dense, comic-style illustrated stories.

For my dad, Phillip W. Meyer

Retired U.S. Army 8/SGT 1951 - 1972

5th RCT - Lee Korean War

344th LARC Co Vietnam War

Gainesville, Florida December 1950 Hitchhiking throughout Florida

I decided to join the U.S. Army in September of 1950 after talking to some Army veterans. I had been living at Cedar Keys Trailer Park with my last foster parents, near the gulf of Mexico; they would later move to Gainesville, Florida. I was only 17 and I had been living in multiple foster homes during the Depression. There wasn’t much for me and I wanted to make a life for myself. We only lived in a small trailer with little food, and I had no bed. My current foster mother told me my best bet was to run away, so that’s what I did.

I hitchhiked to St. Augustine, Florida. I was able to get a small room in a nice motel. I got a job washing dishes and for a few days all was going well. In the meantime a hurricane hit St. Augustine. The owner of the motel said he wanted more money for my room. I could not afford it. So one night I found myself homeless and sleeping on a park bench. A police officer came to me and I told him my situation. He got me a room, dirt cheap, for the night. It came with cockroaches going up and down the wall. I couldn’t sleep throughout the night from the little shadows moving on the walls. It was time for me to go back to Gainesville. I had given up early trying to run away at 17. I couldn’t survive all on my own.

On the way back as I hitchhiked, I was picked up by a truck driver delivering crates of oysters. He gave me some to chuck and they were delicious. When I came back to my foster parent’s new trailer in Gainesville, Florida, I got a job at a local grocery store but was soon fired for not smiling enough. I then got a job washing dishes in a restaurant but was then fired after dancing with one of the waitresses, having fun together. Last, I sold Cokes at football games in the stands. I had met some World War II veterans during an event and it started to get me thinking to help me gain some more experience and independence for myself. My foster mother agreed to sign my enlisting papers since I was only 17 years old. Early December, we went to the recruiting center and joining the military has been the best decision I’ve made but has also haunted me in my dreams every night. The decision to join the military was survival. I would have a bed, food, and some money which I had not had all my childhood.

Fort Jackson, South Carolina December 1950 Army Basic Training

My basic training was for learning infantry. My first memory is of when the bus stopped early in the morning at a mess hall in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. For a teenager that had never had a full plate of food, this place was paradise. I never ate so well and couldn’t have been happier with the choice I had made. I ate like a king.

I spent a few days doing paperwork, doing medical physicals, and learning how to march. The drill sergeant saw me marching in my beat-up old shoes. I was basically walking barefoot on the road and he wouldn’t have it. He directed me to get new boots from the Supply Room. It felt good to be cared for. I came back into the unit marching with my new shoes. I couldn’t have been prouder at that moment.

I spent Christmas in the barracks. It couldn’t have been a better Christmas with new shoes and a good meal to eat. However, the months ahead with the Korean War starting, I would soon learn what I had joined up for, and military life conditions would change.

In January I started basic training. I learned how to fire a Ml rifle. I learned how to throw a grenade and many other things. When I went to fire my rifle I was about to give up because I could not stand the noise, but a sergeant took me for a walk and encouraged me to fire. I was able to fire my weapon from that time on with his help. When I went to learn to throw grenades, I accidentally hit a soldier in the back of his helmet, with a fake grenade, of course. All the soldiers ran away as I went into a practicing bunker with my commanding officer and threw live grenades with him. The last part of basic training was a twenty-mile march and the hardest part was crawling through a field with real bullets being fired over our heads and explosions as we made it through. When that was over we had passed basic training. Then I saw hundreds of men leave for Korea. I went home for a couple or days to my foster parents in Gainesville, Florida. I caught a train to California in April 1951 with many other very young new servicemen. We would all be going to Korea to fight a bitter war.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction

Life Before the Army

Bootcamp

Going to the Korean War Frontlines

Coming Home from the Korean War

References & Resources

Landmarks

Cover

Table of Contents

Introduction

Dedication

Footnotes