One of the favorite tricks of the North Koreans was tied to their knowledge of the tides within their harbors and bays. They would carry mines in their small fishing boats and place them in the water so that the current would carry them to our ships. We had to place mine watches to spot them before they floated into us. When we spotted one, our sharpshooters would get rifle practice, shooting at the spikes; to explode the mine safely away from our ship. One day I managed to get some time in my bunk after watch, and was really sawing logs, when all of a sudden I found myself out of my bunk hanging by my wrists and ankles from the chains supporting my rack ( bunk ). I found out later that one of those mines had gotten inside of 100 yards distance from our ship before they managed to hit the spike. The explosion lifted the ship, considerably, enough so that I was knocked out of my bunk. A couple of days later, I was asleep again in my bunk. My bunk was right at the water line and I could hear the water outside the hull swishing by as I went to sleep. I apparently had a dream which was a composite of the mine incident and the swishing water. I woke up pounding the deck and I had just shouted "I don't want to die!". Immediately, I looked around our compartment to see if anyone had heard my 'disgraceful display'. I don't think anyone heard me, or if they did, they said Amen and kept quiet, because they had similar feelings. After awhile another companion squeezed between me and fear, his name was fatigue. In war eventually you get tired enough that your fear, though not diminishing, becomes less important to you. I suppose this is what is meant by 'being blooded or seasoned'. You just want to get it over with and get out of there, the enemy becomes dehumanized, and is seen as a culprit who is forcing your discomfort on you. Many years later, I was a Postmaster, and a Postal Inspector from Miami, Florida stopped in to see me. He told me that he had traced one of the ten most wanted men in the nation into our area. Our community was a bedroom community for two large metropolitan areas. This man apparently was wanted for scams related to gold and art works. The inspector said that our area was 183 ______________________________________________________________________________ prime for a visit from this person, and he, the inspector, wanted to alert people in the area. I sent him to the mayors office in her real estate firm across the alley from the post office. We all sat back and waited. Within the week, the mayor called me and said she had been visited by the man the inspector was looking for. She said she had stalled the man by telling him she didn't have time to talk to him then, but could after lunch, which gave us approximately two hours to get the inspector. I called him, and he came out. He came to my office first, and asked me to call the local law enforcement people for backup. He then went across the alley to meet the suspect in the guise of being one of the mayor's salesmen. The local law enforcement people didn't arrive as soon as they should have and the inspector was beginning to feel like he had been hung out to dry. Before the incident was over, I had contacted not only the locals, but the county sheriff's department as well as the local FBI, trying to get backup. Eventually, my phone rang and the inspector, in guarded conversation, asked me where his back up was. He was talking to me in front of the suspect. I gave him the status report, and he asked me to come over to him. Prior to his leaving my office he had told everyone to consider the suspect armed and dangerous. In going out the back door, I had to order my employees back to work, to get room to go through the door. They were all trying to watch through the small window in the door. My neck felt just as exposed as it had in Korea, but something was different. I didn't really have to force my actions as much. The inspector was out at the suspect's car and told me that he was going to start the arrest because he was afraid he couldn't detain him much longer. It was at this point that I called the FBI. After I hung up from calling the FBI, the local law enforcement people showed up, and I briefed them; took them to our back door and 'encouraged' them through the door to give the back up required. I saw in them the same thing I had felt. Fear. One moved hesitantly and cautiously the other was almost paralyzed with fear, but due to the goading of the one in the lead, he finally moved. ( It 184 _______________________________________________________________________________ |
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