| 'Forgotten War' vet from Luckey thanked |
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| Written by PETER KUEBECK, Sentinel Staff Writer | ||
| Monday, 09 July 2012 09:32 | ||
Lucas, 78, of Luckey, was one of the first Korean War veterans in the region to be taken to Washington, D.C., via Honor Flight. He made the trip to the nation's capital on June 20. Lucas, who is suffering from terminal cancer, was granted special permission to go on this flight due to his illness. Lucas was newly married and living in Lemoyne when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Three months later, he was sent to Fort Knox for training, and after one visit home "I went straight to Korea." Lucas landed at Incheon Harbor and was stationed at Camp Kaiser, and went on field maneuvers with the troops there. "We would train every morning and every afternoon, we were work detail, you name it. And after I was there for about six weeks." Lucas volunteered for work in the supply room of the camp, where he remained posted for the duration of his 18 months in-country. "I had it made. Obviously the war was over, we were six miles form the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone)," but could still hear shooting. "We'd go on training missions out in the mountains, I tell you. The memorial in the capital" depicting a platoon of soldiers in helmets and ponchos, hiking across a stretch of ground, was accurate to his own experiences. "Big tall grass, and of course the grass out there scattered out like that. That's real." While much of the part of Korea that he saw was poorly developed - "everything was mud shacks, mud roads," Lucas remembered - he did have fond memories of Seoul, the capital of South Korea. "But Seoul, Seoul was at that time kind of nice." Every Wednesday he would travel to the city to exchange the fort's sheets for new sets. He noted that they always traveled rock roads on the way, and never crossed bridges, driving only through the rivers and streams. However, Lucas noted that he didn't see any actual fighting during his tour. "As far as any fighting, no. When we first went in, we stood guard duty." Lucas noted that he was very impressed with how Honor Flight was run. "We got to the airport, everything was really professional, I tell you that." More than 150 people wished the veterans well as they departed for the capital, on a sweltering day. After landing "I'm not kidding, we got off that plane, we walked through Dulles International Airport," and there were between 300 and 400 people gathered to greet them. "I shook so many hands so many times, you know. They really put on a nice program." They saw a number of sites, including the Korean War Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, and others. "I thought it was wonderful, I was real satisfied. I would have probably never went there on my own," he said. |
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