Veterans remembered in many ways by community
Louise native recalls the fighting in Korea
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

At some point during his basic training, Herman Kucera's drill sergeant probably told him that his weapon would be his best friend.

As it turned out, in the frozen wastelands of the Yalu River Valley in Korea, it turned out to be a lifesaver.

As the country celebrates Veterans Day, the Louise native and now Wharton resident is still not absolutely sure of how he won his Purple Heart.

"I was crawling up a hill and a bullet apparently hit my rifle," he said. "The bullet fragmented and I caught pieces of it in my left arm, face and side. Maybe it was someone else's rifle, but when I went out the next day and found my weapon, it had been hit."

While informed at the time he would receive a Purple Heart for being wounded in action by enemy fire, it wasn't until a few years ago that he actually received the medal. The recognition was arranged by is wife, Carline.

"He never received it and I thought that was an injustice," she said. "I contacted the local VFW and they gave me a card to fill out and helped get the paper work started."

Kucera said at the time he understood why he wasn't presented with his medal.

"They only held ceremonies for the big medals," he said. "It was war time and they just didn't take time out for things like that."

Kucera was only 18 when he enlisted in the US Army in 1948. He requested to be placed in an infantry unit.

"A lot of people enlisted to learn to be truck drivers or other jobs," he said. "But I wanted to be in the front lines. Actually, I thought I might skip the whole war part of service. World War II had just ended and people were saying there would never be another war."

Veterans returning from WW II were part of the reason that Kucera entered the military in the first place.

"The veterans were getting all the jobs as they returned from overseas," he said. "There just were not that many job openings for young people. The best you could hope for was part-time work."

Having signed up for a three-year stint, Kucera was in on the fighting in Korea early. He said the military was not prepared for an extended engagement.

"The officers thought we'd be home by Christmas at the latest," he said.

"Then it got to be winter and all we had were summer weight uniforms. I don't think I've ever been so cold. I've never seen that kind of cold anywhere."

Following his being wounded, Kucera was pulled back for two weeks before being sent back to the front lines. He then had to stay there longer than expected when his tour of duty was extended by then President Harry Truman.

"The longer you stay, the more tense you would get," he said. "You wanted to go home. You'd think, 'I just need to make it another day, make it another week.'"

He also remembers the controversy between Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who wanted to advance into Red China and wipe out the communist regime and Truman, who wanted to limit the war, or police action as it was officially called at the time, at the Yalu River, the dividing point between Korea and China.

"I think the General might have been right," he said. "But Truman was the Commander-in-Chief and he didn't want to get the Russians involved because by then they had the Atomic Bomb."

After returning home from his military service, Kucera would marry Carline just a couple of years later. She said she knew of him but was more familiar with four of his five sisters. In total, Kucera grew up with 11 siblings including six brothers.

He said he tried farming for awhile but later turned to custom harvesting. "It was better money."

Still spry at 78, the day of his interview he'd been up in his attic working on the air-conditioning system.

"It's a little harder than it used to be but I can still get things accomplished."

And as for his memories of Korea, it's something he'll always remember.

"I'm proud to have served my country."