On a hot Friday night in August of 1960, we got a special treat when Uncle Wayne took us to a drive-in movie in The Dalles. The movie was “Pork Chop Hill,”[1] a thriller about the Korean War. Gregory Peck played Lt. Joe Clemons, whose war experiences were the basis for the film. It is about the “hell” of war—a fire-fight that puts lives on a fragile line. And, this time, the inferno deals men into the deadly game of “over-the-top.” In this particular battle, the stakes turned out to be a worthless dot on a map.

An actual friend of Joe Clemons, George Shibata,[2] plays the role of Lt. Tsugio “Suki” Ohashi. Clemons and Ohashi are officers in the trenches. The decision falls to them. How do you lead battle-stressed soldiers against long odds? They are pinned down. They’re low on ammo, nearly out of food and water—and radio contact with headquarters is tragically sporadic. All they hear from their commanders are the orders, “Hold that hill!” Ironically, the command below misunderstood Joe’s broken radio signal to mean that they had won the hill—not that they were badly shot up and barely holding on. Commanders sent up the press to publicize how well the fight was going. But it wasn’t. It was a disaster. They were being torn to pieces. And along came reporters with photographers to chronicle their victory. Over, under and all around this worst-case reality, the burden of knowledge was clear to Joe and Suki—there was absolutely no tactical advantage for holding that hill. The special treat of this drive-in experience was dire tension, and buttered popcorn did no good to soothe it.

Place yourself in the trench with Joe and Suki. They know that the hill is worthless. They know they cannot hold it. They know they have to try. Here are a few lines from the film:

“We’re getting no place. Every one of these trenches is a separate dog fight. As long as the Reds hold the crest, they’re in charge. We have to take that high ground. And we have to do it in one jump.”

“The old ‘over the top’ stuff? With who?”

“The 3rd Platoon—the others are too exhausted.”

“Bayonets—right out of the stone-age. Where’s all this ‘push-button warfare’ we’ve been hearing about?”

“We’re the push-buttons.”

“Well—Lt. Waldorf’s a little too green to lead a bayonet charge. And anyway, it is my old platoon. Y’know, my ancestors were pretty good at this ‘Bonzai’ business.”

“Whaddaya know. A real live volunteer.”

“I never volunteer. Let’s just say, I accept your kind offer.”

They pick up their gear and head out of the bunker. Suki glances back wistfully, looking for something that cannot be found in a trench in the mountains of Korea.

Going to a drive-in movie with Uncle Wayne turned out to be more profound than I expected. The war story stuck with me. It dealt with a quagmire. It dealt with costs paid in young lives. And merely 7-years before my drive-in experience, my young father was perilously close to that very “dot on a map.” He was in the thick of it, delivering troops from his LST onto a beach in Korea. And just 7-years after I saw “Pork Chop Hill,” I was in the Navy during Viet Nam. Even before I enlisted, two of my wrestling teammates had paid the mortal price in Viet Nam. So many soldiers lost their lives during this—our next and bigger quagmire. As it turned out, the only take-away from that epic sadness was the recognition of their unquestionable valor, and even that was tainted. The country they were sent to fight in held no more tactical advantage than did that “dot on a map” that commanders once called “Pork Chop Hill.”

Here’s another exchange between soldiers in the bunker called the “Korean Hilton”:

“I just flat don’t get it. Back at the rear, they think this fight’s won. Is this hill worth it?”

“I wondered when you’d ask me that. Worth what? Hasn’t much military value. Doubt if any American would give you a dollar for it. Probably no Chinese would give you two-bits. Values change somehow—sometime. Maybe when the first man died. How do we know ‘why?’ I don’t know how to say it.”

Well, here’s an idea. Let’s prevent the first man or woman from dying. The best way to honor the fallen is to ensure that not one more soldier joins the ranks of the Honored Dead.

It is Memorial Day.

Remember the fallen. Remember the refugees. Remember survivors, the wounded, the sick, the jobless and the homeless. Remember them and their sacrifices and get busy to ease their pain.


Images: In “Pork Chop Hill” Gregory Peck is Lt. Joe Clemons and George Shibata plays the role of Lt. Tsugio “Suki” Ohashi.

[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053183/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Shibata - “the first Asian American graduate of the US Military Academy”