We had you know, films and training exercises
had given us an insight into what we could
expect but nothing of the magnitude
that occurred there. And we got off at,
onto a landing craft in Pusan and boarded
a train that took us up to,
I can't remember the jump-off spot.
But, prior to that train taking off,
we were told, prior to boarding that
train we were told that there would
be civilians lining the tracks and that we
were not to throw food to them or,
you know, chocolate bars or
rations like that, and we didn't have
a great amount of that stuff but we did
have candy bars or chocolate bars.
We got on board that little train and,
remember this was winter now,
early or mid-December I believe,
and all along the tracks were
civilians alright, but children.
They were kids and they ranged from
three or four years old to however,
you know, early teens.
Hard to tell with children, but they were
in varying stages of starvation and
freezing to death and dying.
I remember throwing a candy bar to
this one child and he was looking directly
at me and you could see hope in
that kid's eye, that maybe, you know,
these guys will, can help me.
So I threw him a chocolate bar, and he
grabbed that chocolate bar but before he
could do anything with it, stronger members
of his people around him, other youngsters,
took the bar from him and this kid,
he didn't struggle, he just laid down and died.
He had enough strength left in him to take
that chocolate bar, but I could see that,
I can still see him, he....
I guess the thing that gets me about all
of this is that the last vestige of hope
this child had was, these guys on this
damn train and their bloody chocolate bars
that we were told not to throw to them,
and when he lost that chocolate bar,
hope was totally gone.