The recent passing of the 50th anniversary of the Korean War and a post on Twitter sparked this blog post.
My husband's father was 17 when his mother signed for him to join the U.S. Army and head to Korea. He was her only son. Not long after enlisting, Charles Edward Elliott, earned his place in history as the youngest POW to be captured in Korea. However, back in the United States, his mother was incorrectly informed that he was on the MIA list. Knowing that she had signed the papers for him to enter and having lost her only son, she felt she could no longer live. She took her own life by jumping from a bridge into the James River in Richmond, VA. Her son's name would later be released on the POW list.
If you can imagine, this 17 year-old boy was held captive and tortured for two years in a Korean prison, a witness to death marches and other atrocities that mauled his youthful spirit. With scars in tow, he was returned to the USA. Although he was a hero, his mother was dead, and his father was unknown. Alone at age 20, with the emotional wounds of being imprisoned and no diagnosis available for PTSD, he drank heavily. He spent the rest of his short life in and out of the VA hospital and suffered from liver disease and jaundice before dying at age 38 from drinking shoe polish. My husband was eight.
I often wonder how the story might have been different if better services were available to him. Would he have ever been able to move past his horrible experience and the death of his only parent? I don't know. I like to think our Veterans get better care today, however, I am not sure that any amount of help could restore one's soul after experiencing such tragic events at such a tender age.
We recently had the opportunity to meet with my father-in-law's first wife who knew him both before and after he enlisted in the Army. She described him as charming (must have been--she married him twice) and very smart, but forever broken after his experience. She said she would hold him and often have to coax him out of committing suicide. Listening to her talk about him was very touching and it was clear that she loved him very much. I am saddened the fact that my husband did not have the opportunity to know him better. Too, I know that his father was only one of many to live with such suffering and that thousands of our soldiers return broken year after year.
In their honor, this post is written. After a friend's post on Twitter, I realize that the Korean War and its heroes are only forgotten if we allow them to be. So to honor the life of my father-in-law and all of our veterans living with the reality of war after the fact, you are not forgotten. Thank you for your service.
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