The Letter to the Editor of the Citizens Voice Newspaper in Wilkes Barre , Pa. was written by Joseph R. Barna , Joe's Dad, a Marine who served in the Korean War and a Purple Heart Recipient.
Below is the article that the newspaper wrote about Joe's Dad as he will visit the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C. today on the anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
Eric Conover / Times-Shamrock
Joseph Barna holds a photo of himself taken while he served with the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War.
Eric Conover / Times-Shamrock
Joseph Barna, 22 in this photo, served in Korea with the U.S. Marine Corps.
Barna: I am a survivor
Published: July 27, 2013
Editor:
July 27 is a day when there will be no parades, no picnics, no speeches, and no flags displayed. But to a very special group of people who served and fought for America, July 27, 1953, is the day that the Korean War ended. Those families who lost a loved one in that far-off country will not celebrate, but remember the prayers, pain and tears shed for their loved ones that were lost so long ago.
Many of you who are reading this may not have been born at the time of the Korean War. You will rightly think that 60 years is a long time ago. In Korea, I fought in a war in which I was wounded. As I was bleeding heavily from a bayonet wound, a Navy Corpsman looked into my eyes and told me that if he did not stop the flow of blood, I would bleed to death. He sewed my wound and bandaged it up. And I went back to my brothers in the battle. A few weeks ago, I was attending a funeral dinner when a teenaged boy, whom I did not know, came up to me and showed me a picture of that Navy Corpsman on his phone. My mind went back 60 years to that night when this 22-year-old man gave me six more decades of life. This particular Corpsman was Congressional Medal of Honor Winner John Kilmer, Seaman Second Class, U.S. Navy. This true hero gave his life three weeks after saving mine when he died while saving three Marines. I will never forget July 27, nor will I ever forgot Navy Corpsman John Kilmer.
I will never forget the Korean people. I lived among them for more than a year. I saw what war can do to a country. I saw the South Korean people trying to pay us back for coming to their defense as the North Koreans and the Chinese swept over their towns and villages. The cost to America in lives and money was great. No one ever said, "Was it worth it?" You would have to ask the people of South Korea who live there today. In almost every battle, where Americans were being killed or wounded, Korean civilians, mothers, fathers, children and even grandparents would go among our dead and wounded and carry them down off the hills. To see four young children try to carry a soldier or Marine, each holding an arm or leg, is a sight one never forgets.
I pray that we never see this in our country.
During the summer of 2011, I was able to visit the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C. During my visit to the memorial, two Korean families approached me. They saw my Marine Corps hat and shirt. I told them that I was in their country many years before. They spoke in broken English or translated by their tour guide, but I knew everything they tried to say. They couldn't thank me enough. One woman thanked me for giving her the family that she has now. We talked and then we cried openly and unashamed. No words can describe the hugs, the bows, and even a few kisses that I got that day. I guess, at least for me, the question, "Was it worth it?" can be answered. Yes, it was.
Please do not believe that I write trying to glamorize myself. I was only one of about one million Americans who found themselves in the Korean War. These included the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines. Approximately 1/3 were killed, wounded or missing in action. I do not want to portray myself as a hero, only a survivor.
I write to tell people of the lives and the sacrifices that are part of Veterans lives. I want our citizens today to recognize what war means to a veteran and what it means to all our current military men and women who are serving our country today. I am proud to have served with so many young and not-so-young Americans. For me, the war provided a small but important part of my life that I will never forget. No one can see death and destruction in such a short period of time and ever forget it. Life is full of memories, some good and some bad, and I feel that I have had my share of both.
Joseph Barna
Freeland
USMC, Korea 1952-1953
Below are pictures of Joe's Dad sharing his memories with my son's, his only Grandsons....
3 generations of Joe's and Joe's Mom.......
Joey, Pap Pap and Jim.....
Please remember all our Military , past and present!
Hugs,
Debbie
July 27 is a day when there will be no parades, no picnics, no speeches, and no flags displayed. But to a very special group of people who served and fought for America, July 27, 1953, is the day that the Korean War ended. Those families who lost a loved one in that far-off country will not celebrate, but remember the prayers, pain and tears shed for their loved ones that were lost so long ago.
Many of you who are reading this may not have been born at the time of the Korean War. You will rightly think that 60 years is a long time ago. In Korea, I fought in a war in which I was wounded. As I was bleeding heavily from a bayonet wound, a Navy Corpsman looked into my eyes and told me that if he did not stop the flow of blood, I would bleed to death. He sewed my wound and bandaged it up. And I went back to my brothers in the battle. A few weeks ago, I was attending a funeral dinner when a teenaged boy, whom I did not know, came up to me and showed me a picture of that Navy Corpsman on his phone. My mind went back 60 years to that night when this 22-year-old man gave me six more decades of life. This particular Corpsman was Congressional Medal of Honor Winner John Kilmer, Seaman Second Class, U.S. Navy. This true hero gave his life three weeks after saving mine when he died while saving three Marines. I will never forget July 27, nor will I ever forgot Navy Corpsman John Kilmer.
I will never forget the Korean people. I lived among them for more than a year. I saw what war can do to a country. I saw the South Korean people trying to pay us back for coming to their defense as the North Koreans and the Chinese swept over their towns and villages. The cost to America in lives and money was great. No one ever said, "Was it worth it?" You would have to ask the people of South Korea who live there today. In almost every battle, where Americans were being killed or wounded, Korean civilians, mothers, fathers, children and even grandparents would go among our dead and wounded and carry them down off the hills. To see four young children try to carry a soldier or Marine, each holding an arm or leg, is a sight one never forgets.
I pray that we never see this in our country.
During the summer of 2011, I was able to visit the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C. During my visit to the memorial, two Korean families approached me. They saw my Marine Corps hat and shirt. I told them that I was in their country many years before. They spoke in broken English or translated by their tour guide, but I knew everything they tried to say. They couldn't thank me enough. One woman thanked me for giving her the family that she has now. We talked and then we cried openly and unashamed. No words can describe the hugs, the bows, and even a few kisses that I got that day. I guess, at least for me, the question, "Was it worth it?" can be answered. Yes, it was.
Please do not believe that I write trying to glamorize myself. I was only one of about one million Americans who found themselves in the Korean War. These included the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines. Approximately 1/3 were killed, wounded or missing in action. I do not want to portray myself as a hero, only a survivor.
I write to tell people of the lives and the sacrifices that are part of Veterans lives. I want our citizens today to recognize what war means to a veteran and what it means to all our current military men and women who are serving our country today. I am proud to have served with so many young and not-so-young Americans. For me, the war provided a small but important part of my life that I will never forget. No one can see death and destruction in such a short period of time and ever forget it. Life is full of memories, some good and some bad, and I feel that I have had my share of both.
Joseph Barna
Freeland
USMC, Korea 1952-1953
For Korean veteran, a solemn anniversary
Published: July 27, 2013
Joseph Barna puts a pen to paper before every veterans' holiday and significant war event.
A frequent contributor to the Hazleton Standard-Speaker's letters to the editor, the Freeland man writes about the men and women who served their country and the sacrifices they made.
"I write because I don't want people to ever forget about the wars," and those who fought in them, he said.
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice - and Barna is hoping readers take a moment to check out his words.
"There were a lot of stories back there, and if I don't write, people might not know about them," Barna said.
Barna was 21 when he found himself in Korea with the U.S. Marine Corps.
He was wounded three times in his 13 months of battle. One injury - a deep puncture from a bayonet - would have been fatal had it not been for a young Navy man who stitched him back together.
With the worst of his profuse bleeding stopped, Barna immediately rejoined his brothers in battle.
"I survived, I don't know how I survived but I did," he said.
Barna arrived in Korea in June 1952 with 6,000 other soldiers.
"To give you an idea of the magnitude of the war, within a month, they had to fly in a couple thousand more (soldiers) to replace them. We had a lot of casualties, many, many casualties," he said. "I lost a lot of buddies."
Barna was scared when he landed in Korea. It was like jumping into a hole when you can't see the bottom, he said.
With his Weapons Company, Anti-Tank Assault Platoon, the 5-foot-8 corporal carried a 70-pound flame thrower. A few weeks later, he was given a rocket launcher and then started using a machine gun.
It was non-stop combat.
"I lived in the mountains for 13 months, and that's where all the battles were," he said. "There was cold food - the rations, and there were days that we had no sleep for two days. I found out you could do it if you had to do it."
To make matters worse, American troops were greatly outnumbered, the 83-year-old said. Allied forces lent their support to U.S. soldiers, but China sent in 1 million of its own to assist the enemy.
"We were outnumbered seven to one," he said. Marines were ready for an attack every day or night, and Barna never knew if he'd live to see the next day.
In Barna's division alone, more than 5,800 men were killed in action. Thousands more were wounded.
"When I tell people this, they don't believe it," he said, "or they forgot about it."
The war began in June 1950, when more than 75,000 soldiers from the Soviet-backed North Korea crossed into the pro-Western Republic of Korea in the south. The United States began aiding the south the following month, and until the war's end, had sent more than 480,000 troops, according to the New World Encyclopedia. Each side fought to see the Korean peninsula united under its own political ideology.
The United States' dead numbered almost 37,000. Additionally, more than 92,000 Americans were wounded; 8,200 went missing in action and more than 7,200 were taken prisoner of war.
Fighting continued until a cease-fire agreement was reached July 27, 1953. Barna remembers it like it was yesterday.
"I was on a ship out of Korea on my way home. I can still see the land in the background from the shop," he said. "It was announced that they had just called a cease-fire. I saw guys crying (tears of joy) on the ship."
Barna went home to marry the girl whom had sent him a letter every day. He and the former Eleanor Wasielowski married a few months after his return.
Barna, who belongs to the Order of the Purple Heart and Disabled American Veterans, also wrote an article about the war for a recent edition of American Legion magazine. He's received responses from across the nation, and said he's glad people are reading.
Today he will be at the Korean War memorial in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the cease-fire 60 years ago. He said more than 6,000 people are expected. He'll be taking two of his great-grandchildren.
"It's going to be a memory for me," he said, "and they won't forget it."
jwhalen@standardspeaker.com, 570-455-3636
A frequent contributor to the Hazleton Standard-Speaker's letters to the editor, the Freeland man writes about the men and women who served their country and the sacrifices they made.
"I write because I don't want people to ever forget about the wars," and those who fought in them, he said.
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice - and Barna is hoping readers take a moment to check out his words.
"There were a lot of stories back there, and if I don't write, people might not know about them," Barna said.
Barna was 21 when he found himself in Korea with the U.S. Marine Corps.
He was wounded three times in his 13 months of battle. One injury - a deep puncture from a bayonet - would have been fatal had it not been for a young Navy man who stitched him back together.
With the worst of his profuse bleeding stopped, Barna immediately rejoined his brothers in battle.
"I survived, I don't know how I survived but I did," he said.
Barna arrived in Korea in June 1952 with 6,000 other soldiers.
"To give you an idea of the magnitude of the war, within a month, they had to fly in a couple thousand more (soldiers) to replace them. We had a lot of casualties, many, many casualties," he said. "I lost a lot of buddies."
Barna was scared when he landed in Korea. It was like jumping into a hole when you can't see the bottom, he said.
With his Weapons Company, Anti-Tank Assault Platoon, the 5-foot-8 corporal carried a 70-pound flame thrower. A few weeks later, he was given a rocket launcher and then started using a machine gun.
It was non-stop combat.
"I lived in the mountains for 13 months, and that's where all the battles were," he said. "There was cold food - the rations, and there were days that we had no sleep for two days. I found out you could do it if you had to do it."
To make matters worse, American troops were greatly outnumbered, the 83-year-old said. Allied forces lent their support to U.S. soldiers, but China sent in 1 million of its own to assist the enemy.
"We were outnumbered seven to one," he said. Marines were ready for an attack every day or night, and Barna never knew if he'd live to see the next day.
In Barna's division alone, more than 5,800 men were killed in action. Thousands more were wounded.
"When I tell people this, they don't believe it," he said, "or they forgot about it."
The war began in June 1950, when more than 75,000 soldiers from the Soviet-backed North Korea crossed into the pro-Western Republic of Korea in the south. The United States began aiding the south the following month, and until the war's end, had sent more than 480,000 troops, according to the New World Encyclopedia. Each side fought to see the Korean peninsula united under its own political ideology.
The United States' dead numbered almost 37,000. Additionally, more than 92,000 Americans were wounded; 8,200 went missing in action and more than 7,200 were taken prisoner of war.
Fighting continued until a cease-fire agreement was reached July 27, 1953. Barna remembers it like it was yesterday.
"I was on a ship out of Korea on my way home. I can still see the land in the background from the shop," he said. "It was announced that they had just called a cease-fire. I saw guys crying (tears of joy) on the ship."
Barna went home to marry the girl whom had sent him a letter every day. He and the former Eleanor Wasielowski married a few months after his return.
Barna, who belongs to the Order of the Purple Heart and Disabled American Veterans, also wrote an article about the war for a recent edition of American Legion magazine. He's received responses from across the nation, and said he's glad people are reading.
Today he will be at the Korean War memorial in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the cease-fire 60 years ago. He said more than 6,000 people are expected. He'll be taking two of his great-grandchildren.
"It's going to be a memory for me," he said, "and they won't forget it."
jwhalen@standardspeaker.com, 570-455-3636
Below are pictures of Joe's Dad sharing his memories with my son's, his only Grandsons....
3 generations of Joe's and Joe's Mom.......
Please remember all our Military , past and present!
Hugs,
Debbie