Yesterday, my dad told me why he did not go to Korea in 1950. I knew he was drafted into the US Army during the war. I always thought a 22 year old draftee (he said they were called “recruits”) without political connections would have been one of the first soldiers to go overseas. His service started in November, 1950. Only a month later, President Truman declared a national state of emergency, because of how poorly the war effort was going on the Korean peninsula.
The number of Selective Service recruits had risen from under 10000 in 1949 to over 215000 in 1950 and double that number in 1951. The way my Dad tells it, the Army was not prepared to handle this large influx of new soldiers. He reported to a Selective Service office in Chicago on November 1, 1950. When he boarded the bus for the trip to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, he was wearing only a t-shirt. The temperature in Chicago that day has never been higher, the thermometer hit 81 degrees. A couple of days after the Chicago recruits arrived in Missouri, the temperature was back in the 30s and 40s. The post had been in moth balls from Spring, 1946 until Aug 1, 1950 so the heat was not working well in the barracks and many other buildings.
Al Lembke, 1951 or 1952
The War Department re-opened Fort Leonard Wood for basic and engineering training. But according to my Dad, the fort was still in the process of being re-commissioned in November, 1950. When he arrived, there was only one mess hall open. My Dad remembers queueing up near the front door for dinner, along with 2500 other recruits. They collected their trays of food near the front of the hall, then, without breaking stride, they ate and walked and ate and walked until they reached the back of the immense mess hall, where they deposited their now empty food trays. Talk about eating on the run!
Fort Leonard Wood was being used as an engineering training facility and my Dad had been selected for training in a leadership program which included learning bridge building, field works construction and demolition. These skills would be valuable as the Army made its way up the Korean peninsula. After many months of training, he was given a 3 day leave. Back in Chicago, while he was in the shower, he noticed some spots on his arm. He tried to wash them off, but they did not come off. He had the measles. He contacted his commanding officer and was told to report to the hospital on the Great Lakes Naval Base, in Lake County, Illinois, where he was kept in quarantine for 3 weeks. His measles were of the 3 day variety, but the Army was taking no chances.
Near the end of his 3 week stay, he contracted mumps and was laid up for another 6 weeks. During that time, he had his tonsils removed. He recalls standing in line with dozens of other men waiting to have their tonsils taken out. It was a tonsil removal assembly line.
When he finally arrived back at Fort Leonard Wood, he discovered the engineering company he had been training with were on their way to Korea. He spent the remainder of his 24 month engagement in Fort Leonard Wood and Camp Atterbury in Indiana. Who would have thought that childhood diseases would be so good for one’s health and safety? He is proud of his service and part of him may have wanted to go with his fellow recruits and trainees to Korea, but, I think his mother was probably happy he contracted the measles.