Joseph L. Dickerson (Korean War): My company had just been in a large fight, and they came back to pick us up as replacements because we had just come to Korea. I joined a company that had lost a lot of men. They put us on the front lines.
The first attack I was in, there was a sniper on a hill. You heard a “whoosh, whoosh” — shots going over your head. The older guys who were left in company were saying “Get down! Get down!”
That’s when I knew I was in trouble. It was very scary. The snipers were firing on us, and we didn’t know where they were. So we had to attack the hills. It was very scary.
Ernest Torok (Vietnam War): Late in the day we had just set down and established our defensive perimeter for the night. We had a sniper in the trees who decided he wanted to do his thing, so he took a few shots at us.
Everybody hunkered down, and we called in some artillery and some aerial gun ships to saturate the area with fire. Then one of the other platoons did a search of the area to see if they could find anything, which of course they couldn’t. After that we kind of settled in for the night …
I was just sitting down to eat my C ration meal when the shooting started. I jumped up and did what you’re supposed to do. By the time everything settled down a couple hours later I decided, “Well, I’m hungry now. Where’s my C rations?”
I had to kind of feel around in the dark on the ground. I picked up my open can of whatever it was I was eating that night, and I’m not sure what may have crawled into the can when we were busy, but I ate that, too.
When it comes to most of your experiences in war, would you rather remember or forget?
Ernest Torok (Vietnam War): I’d rather remember what went on. I think it’s important not to forget, especially the sacrifices a lot of the young kids made. I think it’s important to remember for them.
Patrick Ratterman: (Desert Storm): Forget. War is the most awful thing you could possibly imagine. I don’t think you will find anybody more anti-war than soldiers.
With that in mind there have been times in history and there will be times in the future that there’s nothing more necessary than war. But I don’t think we are made by our creator to make any sense out of war.
How do you make any sense out of a baby that has been blown in half? Or seeing a 9-year-old boy get his face blown off by a cluster bomb? It’s obviously nothing you’d want to remember.
Maj. Jason “Tank” Sherman: (Iraq and Afghanistan): I’d rather remember. I remember a soldier dead in the back of a Black Hawk. He gave his life. At least I can remember that he was there.
But I also met some great people, some great soldiers, some friends I will never forget. You have to take the good with the bad is how I view it.
Joseph L. Dickerson (Korean War): I think I’d rather forget. … The night they flew me to Daegu after I was wounded I remember waking up, and a nurse was trying to set me up.
There was a guy in front of me and all of (the back of his head) was blown out. They were trying to wrap him up. That’s when I blacked out again. And I’ve seen a bunch of dead Chinese and North Koreans.
Sometimes I can still smell some of that stuff, the death and the burning flesh. And that’s a smell you’ll never forget.
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