The Korean Officer and His Soldier

At the 24th Evac, we saw many GI's from Countries who had soldiers serving in Vietnam from Australia, Korea, Thailand, etc.

One night two Korean Soldiers came into the A&D. One came over to me and, with extremely poor English, tried to speak to me. It was a rather odd moment for me. I had heard that the Koreans were fierce fighting men and perhaps that was a big carryover from the Korean War and that had been a conversation between me and other GI's from time to time at the 24th. Now here we had an Officer trying his best to seek help for his soldier. After a period of time I began to understand what he was trying to say and was then able to talk to the ER staff and then they spoke with the Officer and was able to treat his man.

One thing that really touched me that night was the Officers treatment of his soldier. He showed such concern, compassion, etc. for him and displayed that openly and by the look of his man, that was extremely important and needed. To this Officer it did not not seem to matter that the medical issue was small, what mattered was his soldier and a human being.

For a short time that night I didnt' think about all the tradegy around me but of the Officer's support and caring he displayed. I was touched by what I had witnessed and that in all this madness, there was a simple act of kindness and concern that not only touched his soldier but me as well.