Korean War Photographs--Willie Isaac

My neighbor for the past 27 years has been Willie Isaac who lives about a mile and a quarter from my house where he has lived nearly all his 91 years.  Willie and I have known each other ever since I moved to this community 27 years ago although we did not become close friends until the past several months after his wife, Flora Cook Isaac, died in October of 2018 after 66 years of marriage.  Willie and I had frequently encountered each other in our home town of West Liberty, Kentucky, at local stores and other public places.  We had always been friendly but not close until a couple of weeks before Flora died and I saw Willie's truck parked in the local ARH Hospital parking lot and inquired if he or his wife were in the hospital.  I visited them there as he stayed by her side during her final hospitalization and transfer to nursing home where she actually died a few days later.  But I had known for about three or four years that her health was failing and Willie was taking care of her diligently, cleaning the house, mowing the yard, and driving her to her appointments.  

Willie Isaac, about 1951--Photo by Willie Isaac & Roger Hicks

They had no children other than a son whom Flora had before they married and adopted to a couple from the area who lived in Ohio and raised him.  After Flora died, Willie continued to live in the little three room brick house he built many years ago and where they had operated a used shoe and clothing business for more than thirty or forty years.  As a trained and retired mental health professional, I was worried that Willie would suffer from the grief, loss of socialization, and loneliness and began to visit him.  It turns out he actually has a fairly large support system for a man his age with no children.  He has two nephews who live in the area and they visit him regularly and one of them does his weed eating although Willie still does his lawn mowing with a riding mower.  He also attends a local church each week and the minister also visits with him frequently.  He has a few friends and a sister who also call him nearly every day to check on him.  We have developed a system quite informally where I either visit him or call him every two or three days. Since I know that he is having regular contact with several others I don't visit or call every day but we stay in touch.  

Willie Isaac, Korea, photo by Willie Isaac & Roger Hicks

Not long ago he brought out a collection of photographs which he and others took during his time in the Korean War in 1950-1952.  A few days ago he agreed to allow me to post them on this blog although he has never used the internet and doesn't have a clear idea of exactly how a blog works.  But his mind is still sharp.  His memory is well above average for a man his age and he loves to talk about his life, extended family, and his years spent "in the shoe business".  I actually have met dozens of people in this community who talk about having gotten nearly all their shoes from Willie and Flora as they were growing up.  But this blog post is primarily about these photos and the stories Willie has told me about his time in the Army  during the Korean War.  First and foremost, Willie makes a point of saying that he was attached to an engineering unit which built bridges and roads during the war and "nobody ever fired a shot at me and I never fired a shot at anybody".  He also talks sometimes about one R & R episode he spent in Japan during his Korean duty but he apparently has no photographs from that trip.  Willie does have a few photographs of other soldiers some of whom he remembers their names and some he does not.  I am adding the names he either remembered or wrote on the photos. Some will have to be nameless.  But maybe some of their relatives might recognize them and I will add their names if you do.  Willie has also never mentioned a unit name and number for this engineering unit but a retired Army person I know says that it might have been the 103rd Engineer Regiment.  If you have a definite answer other than this please tell me what it was and I will add that to this post also until we can come up with a definite answer.   

Walter H. Handley, Alabama--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

One of the photographs is of a local man who also was assigned to the same unit and Willie now says that man is dead.  Here is his photograph as identified by Willie. 

Bill Ison, Crockett, KY--Photo by Willie Isaac & Roger Hicks

Willie also tells a story of being classified as a truck driver during his time in Korea.  He says "They told us they were giving us driver education and we were in a classroom for about a half a day.  Then we went out in a parking lot and had to drive a truck around the parking lot one time and they let us go."  Later he says, "One day my sergeant came to me and told me to report to the motor pool.  I asked why do I have to go to the motor pool and the sergeant said 'They need a truck driver and you are a truck driver."   Willie says he said, "I'm not a truck driver.  I never drove a truck in my life."  He says the sergeant said, "It says right here you are a truck driver.  It's in your record.  You're a truck driver."  Willie says he reported to the motor pool and they put him in a big truck and told him to drive twenty or thirty miles down a river to pick up supplies.  He says, "I tried to tear the transmission out of the truck on the way there but I couldn't."  He also says that on the way back to his unit he met two men in a jeep whom the motor pool had sent out looking for him afraid that he had driven the truck into the river.  But when the entire thing was over, Willie was a truck driver and was proud enough of it that he sent the photograph below to his parents with the caption, "This is my truck."  It seems most likely that the truck Willie drove was a 2 1/2 ton truck commonly known as a Deuce And A Half. 

The Truck Willie Drove--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

Being able to survive driving the truck apparently got Willie a promotion since he also sent home a photograph of another soldier driving a jeep and added the caption, "This is the jeep I used to drive."  

"Hauser from Alabama" driving the Jeep Willie used to drive--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

Willie also sent home a few photographs of himself with other soldiers whom he could not name or simply did not write their names on the shots including this one below.  It might be "Hauser from Alabama" since they are standing behind a large flat bed truck.  

Willie Isaac & Baker from Central or Western KY--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

Willie was assigned to a bridge building unit and also took a few photographs of a bridge they were building over an unnamed Korean river including the next two, one with an unnamed soldier in it.  Willie tells a story that his unit was getting their water from the river a mile or so below this bridge and "one day after they pumped a truck load of water they found five dead Korean bodies in the water upstream above where they were pumping the water."  He says that he tried to not drink anymore water for several days after that.  

Bridge Over An Unamed Korean River With An Unnamed Soldier--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger D. Hicks

The photo below, although unlabeled, is of Willie Isaac in front of what appears to be a mess tent.   Since it is a tent, I have to assume it is also from Korea.  

Willie Isaac In Front Of A Mess Tent--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

When Willie returned from Korea, he spent some time at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and eventually left the Army in 1952. He was discharged from Fort Knox at the end of his hitch. He still has his discharge in a frame hanging in one bedroom of his home.  He also has one photograph of himself in what appears to be a barracks building at Fort Knox with a friend but does not remember that man's name.  

Willie Isaac and a fellow soldier at Fort Knox 1952--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger D. Hicks

Willie also sent home one photograph from Korea of what he described as "an 8" gun".  Maybe somebody with military experience can tell me exactly what this weapon was called.  

"8 inch gun"--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

Despite my fears about Willie after the death of his wife, he is doing remarkably well for a 91 year old widower living alone in Eastern Kentucky.  He does his own laundry, recently steam cleaned his carpets, mows his own grass on a riding mower, talks to family and friends every day,  take care of a stray dog who showed up at his house and eats food but won't let him touch it, and he drives to church every Sunday and does his regular trips to town for groceries, medical visits, and bill paying in his brand new car he bought a few weeks after his wife Flora was buried.  Here is one recent photograph of this old Appalachian soldier beside his new car.  

Willie Isaac and his new car--Photo by Cakes For You and Roger D. Hicks