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Two Polk County Veterans of Conflict
Remember the War
By Bill Rufty
The
Ledger, July
27, 2003
 RICK
RUNION/THE LEDGER
Walt Benton holds a newspaper
clipping and photos of himself during the Korean War at his home in
Lakeland. Benton, with his father's help, joined the Army when he was only
15.
LAKELAND
The front
page of the Lakeland Ledger on July 27, 1953, told the story. "Guns
Stilled in Korea," "Ike, Dulles Hail Truce in Korea,"
"Armistice Signing Means Not Peace But A Nervous Truce," the
headlines proclaimed.
Fifty years ago today, the Korean War ended. More than 36,000 Americans,
including 28 from Polk County, died during three years of fighting.
Walt Benton, a young enlisted man in the Army, was on a tour in Germany
that day, but he had vivid memories of the year before in Korea. Another
Korean War participant, young Oliver Green, was beginning to think about
college, which would lead to law school and eventually more than 30 years
on the circuit and appellate court benches in Polk County.
Their comrades by the hundreds of thousands were planning to return to
civilian lives as well. Unlike World War II, which had ended eight years
earlier, most people don't think much about the Korean War. There were few
parades for returning soldiers. But there weren't massive anti-war
demonstrations like those during the Vietnam War.
Green is passing the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War on a
cruise with his wife. It is a far cry from the bloody and cold fight he
experienced at the Chosin Reservoir in November and December 1950 in what
is now North Korea.
In an earlier interview with The Ledger, he lamented the lack of attention
received by Korean War veterans.
"I don't personally need recognition, because I know I did my
duty," he said. "But people should give recognition to the
people who fight on their behalf."
Enlisting when he was 17, Green was wounded and received the Purple Heart.
He also received a Silver Star and Bronze Star for his actions.
The war began when North Korean soldiers invaded South Korea. Under the
auspices of the United Nations, troops from 19 nations came to South
Korea's defense. Backing North Korea were thousands of communist Chinese
troops, and the Soviet Union provided equipment. The fighting ended with a
truce, but a peace treaty has never been signed and 37,000 American troops
are still stationed in South Korea.
Benton and Green are members of an elite group known as the "Chosin
Few." They were both in the 3rd Infantry Division, which fought its
way to the reservoir where the 1st Marine Division and the 7th Infantry
Division were surrounded by Chinese soldiers. The 3rd Infantry came to
help both units and more than 100,000 Korean refugees escape. Like Green,
Benton was wounded later in the war.
Benton had joined the Army in 1947. His father signed, which was required
by the Army when a 17-year-old joined. The only problem was that Benton
was actually 15.
"Well, the doctor in my hometown of Irvine, Ky., had sloppy
handwriting. I just sort of closed up the "2" on the 1932 on my
birth certificate. It was the best move I ever made," said Benton,
who will be 71 next month.
He stayed in the Army until 1974, retiring in Lakeland at the rank of
first sergeant and then running a floor-covering business.
After the war, he spent two more tours of duty in Korea and later served
in the Vietnam War. But the brutal conflict on the Korean Peninsula
remains in his memory.
As the 3rd Infantry hurriedly loaded the refugees onto ships heading south
to safety after rescue from the Chosin Reservoir, one elderly Korean woman
refused his help and said she would run no more. She was tired.
As the ships pulled away, she was killed in the North Korean bombardment
of the port, he said.
But there are some good memories, as well.
"We had a Korean interpreter with our unit when we relieved at Chosin.
One of the refugees was a young woman, whom he later met at the University
of Seoul and married," Benton said.
"They live in the States now and have a family of doctors and
accountants and such. It is a true success story," he said.
As a senior noncommissioned officer returning from Vietnam in 1971 and
nearing retirement, Benton was given a choice of assignments. One was as
an Army adviser to a National Guard unit.
"I chose Lakeland over Sarasota. Lakeland reminded me of my
hometown," he said.
Benton is active in veterans' issues and in Korean War veterans'
organizations. He is working on a special recognition of Korean War
veterans for the weekend before Veterans Day, which is always Nov. 11.
"The parade will be on Nov. 8, a Saturday, and we will dedicate a
Korean War Memorial at Veterans Park on the west side of The Lakeland
Center. Then the parade will start from there," he said.
Benton said Korean War veterans seem to be getting more attention.
"In the last three years, it seems like people who fought in the
Korean War are getting the recognition that they deserve."
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