In God We Trust
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Former chief judge of New York State and adjunct professor at Touro Law School. Born April 29, 1930, Wachtler is a graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Vermont. He served two years in the Army during the Korean War in the Provost Marshal Center in charge of its Courts and Boards section and as an instructor of military law. Je served in New York's Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1992.
Professor/author. Harrison Morton Wadsworth, Jr., 85 of Atlanta, died August 3, 2010. Mr. Wadsworth was born in Duluth, Minnesota, grew up in Miami Beach, Florida, and lived most of his life in Atlanta. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Irene Hawkins Wadsworth; son, Harrison Morton Wadsworth, III, and his wife Toni Wadsworth; daughter, Alice Eleanor Wadsworth; grandchildren, Renee Wadsworth, Harrison Morton Wadsworth, IV, William Wadsworth, Harrison Ritchie, Benjamin Lunsford, Matthew Lunsford, and Alison Lunsford. Dr. Wadsworth received his B.I.E. Degree and M.S. Degrees from Georgia Tech and his PhD from Case Western Reserve University. He was a professor of statistics in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Georgia Tech for 31 years and taught in China and Turkey. He operated his own quality auditing consulting business since retirement in 1991.
He served in the U.S. Army in World War II and the Korean War. He was a U.S. Delegate and subcommittee chair to the International Standards Organization and the American National Standards Institute. He authored or co-authored several textbooks and served as editor of the Journal of Quality Technology. He received numerous awards and medals, including the American Society for Quality's highest honor, its Distinguished Service Medal and he was a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Acclaimed pilot. Charles T. Walker is one of only 4,829 people to have ever received the Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration's Wright Brothers "Master Pilot" award. To receive this prestigious award a recipient has to have been an active pilot for at least 50 years with a clean flying record, no license revocations or other enforcement actions, and no at-fault accidents. Walker was a pilot with the Civil Air Patrol for 45 years, flying more than 50 CAP missions. A member of the Smith Mountain Lake Pilots Club, Walker served in Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division's 38th Infantry Regiment.
36th governor of Illinois (1973-77). Born August 6, 1922 in Washington, D.C., Walker (a Democrat) was convicted of fraud and perjury after receiving more than $1 million in fraudulent loans for his business (First American Savings and Loan Association in Oak Brook, Illinois) and repairs on his yacht, the "Governor's Lady." He served 18 months of a seven-year sentence in federal prison. After he was released he moved to California, where he died in Chula Vista on April 29, 2015 at the age of 92. Dan Walker joined the Naval Reserve while in high school. He then joined the Navy as a seaman before enrolling in the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He graduated from the academy in 1945. He served on a minesweeper during World War II and was then recalled to the Navy during the Korean War. He served one year as Communications Officer on the destroyer USS Kidd DD661. After that he served one year in the U.S. Court of Military Appeals.
Wallace served in the Air Force during the Korean War. In 1970, after 20 years in the military, he retired at the rank of Major. Moving to Los Angeles, he worked for the Veterans Administration and counseled veterans returning from the Vietnam War. During those years, the VA began the Veterans on Campus program, which Wallace believes was one of the most effective VA programs. In 1995, he retired to Georgia where he volunteers for AARP and through its Partners program, contributes his time and energy to the Veterans History Project.
Respected poet of the literary underground who wrote memorable poems about the Korean War. Born in East Peoria, Illinois on November 7, 1933, Wantling joined the U.S. Marine Corps at age 18 years, 2 months and 2 days on January 23, 1952, and began active duty March 4, 1952. After training he was deployed to Korea as an aircraft radio repairman on January 7, 1953, and was assigned to Marine Composite Squadron 1, which was engaged in electronic countermeasure warfare. The squadron was based at K-3 located at Pohang. He remained in Korea from January to November 1953, became a corporal in January 1954 and earned his sergeant stripes in October 1954. He was released from active duty in the Marine Corps in 1955 and settled in southern California. According to his own writing, Wantling was imprisoned in San Quentin in 1958 for "forgery and narcotics". It was in San Quentin that he began to write poetry. He was discharged from San Quentin in September 1963 and in 1966 enrolled at Illinois State University in Normal, where he graduated with a BA and MA. He was teaching a one-year term at ISU when he died May 2, 1974 of heart failure. According to numerous sources, Wantling was known to embellish the truth from time to time, so the validity of the following cannot be verified. Wantling wrote that he was riding in a jeep in Korea when it hit a landmine. A 50-gallon can of gasoline on the jeep ignited, burning him. He said he spent ten days in a coma, eight weeks in a hospital, and his leg remained permanently scarred from his injury in Korea. Wantling further stated that he was given morphine for his injury and that ultimately led to his abusive use of narcotics. His life after the Marine Corps was filled with marital/custody battles, trouble with the law, incarceration, and drug abuse. All of Wantling's Korean War poems are reprinted in War, Literature & the Arts 9.2.
Senator. In 1944, at the age of 17, he left high school to volunteer for the United States Navy. He was released from active duty as a 3rd-class electronics technician in July 1946, and enrolled at Washington and Lee University. He was awarded a B.S. degree in basic engineering in 1949. He then entered the University of Virginia Law School. In September 1950, he volunteered for another tour of active duty, this time in the United States Marine Corps. He served in Korea as a first lieutenant and communications officer with the First Marine Air Wing. He was released from active duty in May 1952. He returned to law school and was awarded a law degree by the University of Virginia in 1953.
Actor who played Pee Wee in the Spencer Tracy film, Boys Town. He also appeared in The Twilight Zone, Beverly Hillbillies, Lou Grant, Green Acres, and The Fugitive. In addition to being an actor, Bobs Watson was a Methodist minister. Robert Ball "Bobs" Watson was born November 11, 1930 and died June 27, 1999. He served as a Private in the Army at Ft. Ord in 1953 alongside actor David Janssen.
Software designer who founded the company SoftWare International. He was also developer of the Heavy Duty Hydroblasting Company. The son of Bernard and Mary Catherine Donovan Watson, William served in the United States Army during the Korean War. He died July 09, 2004.
Civil engineer extraordinaire. Jay Benoir Weidler, Jr., 86, of Brenham, Texas on November 17, 2019. He was born May 27, 1933 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Emma Dorothy (Stalker) Weidler and Jay Benoir Weidler, Sr. (b. 3-8-1901; d. 6-22-1969 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Jay grew up in Philadelphia, attended Central High School (196th graduating class), and left for Rice Institute in Houston, Texas in 1951. He joined the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (N.R.O.T.C.) and tragically was one of the only survivors of a plane crash occurring shortly after midnight on July 17, 1953 in Pensacola, Florida as part of midshipman amphibious training. After recovering from his injuries at home in Philadelphia, he returned to college for his junior year. He graduated from Rice Institute in 1956 with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering. He then served in the Marine Corps, as an Engineering Officer ending with a rank of First Lieutenant. He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 1959 and from the reserves in 1964. He returned to Rice in 1959 for graduate school, earning a Masters in Science in 1961 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1965 in civil engineering, followed by postdoctoral work at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island from 1965 to 1968. He left academia and returned to Houston in 1969 to join Brown & Root, Inc. and rose to Senior Vice President, Chief Marine Engineer and Director of Technology, semi-retiring in 2000, and fully retiring in 2004 after consulting part-time.
Dr. Weidler had over 45 years of engineering experience in the military, academic, and industrial fields. He authored or co-authored 26 technical papers and held five patents. Weidler's accomplishments included the design, fabrication and installation of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which received the ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award in 1982. In 1995, Jay was the Offshore Technology Conference recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award for Individuals for significant leadership in the application of structural engineering concepts and approaches that allowed the safe and economic development in challenging offshore areas worldwide, including the Gulf of Mexico, North Slope and Cook Inlet, Alaska, and the North Sea. Also in 1995, he was awarded the American Society of Civil Engineers John G. Moffatt-Frank E. Nichol Harbor and Coastal Engineering Award. He was inducted in 1998 to the Offshore Pioneers Hall Fame as a charter member at the Offshore Energy Center in Galveston, Texas. Dr. Weidler was a two-term member of the Rice University Alumni Board, an initial Chairman of Industry Advisory Board for the University of Texas/ Texas A&M University for the establishment of the Offshore Technology Research Center, 1988-1990. Jay was also on the Board of Trustees of the Southwest Research Institute, served as Brown & Root representative to the American Petroleum Institute Committee Two, Committee for Standardization of Offshore Structures and was active on numerous subcommittees, work groups as a member and/ or chairman for over twenty-five years. Jay married Mary Hughston "Mary Hugh" Patrick in 1961 in Houston, Texas. Jay is survived by: his wife, Mary, his daughters, Teresa Weidler and Julia Hall Weidler; his son and daughter-in-law, John Benoir Weidler and Christine Elizabeth Edwards; his grandchildren, Jodie Olivia Tokumoto; Sean Mareo Tokumoto; Joseph Thomas Weidler; and Elise Catherine Weidler; Jay's younger sister, Phyllis Jane (Weidler) Gilbert; and his three nephews and their wives: Samuel Vanderpoel Gilbert IV (wife Kristine), Jay Benoir Gilbert (wife Marti), and Geoffrey Calderwood Gilbert (wife Jennifer), and their children . Jay was preceded in death by: his parents, his grandchild, Corinne Elizabeth Weidler; his brother-in-law, Samuel Vanderpoel Gilbert III; his aunts, Phyllis Edith Stalker; Jessie Apoline (Weidler) Oberholtzer; Jane Groff (Weidler) Blizzard; his uncles, Robert Dobson Stalker; William John Stalker, Jr.; Edward Dale Stalker; Joseph Grier Weidler; John Alford Weidler; James Theodore Weidler; Grier Lud Orth Weidler, Jr.; and his grandparents, Grier Lud Orth Weidler, Sr.; Jessie Apoline (Bennor) Weidler; William John Stalker, Sr.; Emma Dorothy (Hall) Stalker; his father-in-law, William Lester Patrick; and mother-in-law, Julia Emma (Taylor) Patrick. A funeral service was held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Brenham, Texas. Memorial Oaks Chapel – Brenham had charge of arrangements. [Source: Findagrave]
Social worker, professor, leader in the field of gerontology in Kentucky. Kennard W. Wellons was born in Laurel, Mississippi on December 15, 1933, to John Clifton Wellons, Sr. and Patsy Watson Wellons. He is predeceased by his brother John Clifton Wellons, Jr. and sister, Joy Wellons Wiltshire. The family relocated to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was an academic and sports star in football and baseball at Central High School. After graduation in 1952, Kennard enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served in the Korean War. He then returned to Jackson in 1954, graduating from Millsaps College in 1958. He then earned an MSW from Tulane University in 1961. After graduation, he married a fellow Tulane MSW student, Pat Blankenship and they moved to California where Kennard worked for Sonoma State Hospital. In 1967, they moved to Arizona where Kennard was a professor of Social Work at Arizona State University. Their only child, Bradley Wellons was born there on 11/2/68. Kennard returned to California in 1969 to do a Ph.D. in Social Work at University of California - Berkeley and graduated 1973, specializing in Gerontology. The family then moved to Lexington Kentucky, where Kennard took a position of professor at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work. He was instrumental in helping Dr. William Markesbury and Dr. David Wekstein to establish the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. Dr. Wellons also taught courses in human development, human behavior and personality theory in addition to research methods and Aging. He was passionate about teaching advising and mentoring thousands of students over the years. He was promoted to full professor in 1988 and retired to emeritus in 2000 after 27 years at the University. Dr. Wellons was also a co-founder and later President of the Kentucky Association of Gerontology and served on the board of the Bluegrass Area Agency on Aging and numerous State Boards for the Kentucky Department of Aging & Independent Living. The Wellons family lived at 424 West Third Street a historic 1700's Federalist style house that they renovated. This house became one of the homes of their beloved "Third Street gang" and the historic Northside neighborhood. Kennard was known in the neighborhood as a wonderful, gregarious, outgoing person with a wry sense of self deprecating humor. He had what friends and family have called "Kennardisms" funny sayings that made everyone laugh. Kennard loved sports, particularly University of Kentucky Basketball and Football. He loved his dogs, hunting, fishing, and photography. Kennard passed away on April 13, 2020, after a long battle with Alzheimer's and short but fatal battle with COVID-19. He is survived by his son, Bradley, daughter-in-law Rachel, and his grandson Jackson and multiple nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Pat B. & Dr. Kennard W. Wellons Scholarship Fund at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work. This fund will benefit social work students who are the first in their family to go to college.
James Edward West was born on February 10, 1931, in Prince Edward County, Virginia. After graduating from high school, he attended Hampton University before being drafted to serve in the Korean War, where he earned a Purple Heart. After his return to the U.S. after the war, he transferred to Temple University, where he studied physics. While in school, West worked during the summers as an intern for the Acoustics Research Department at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. Upon graduation he was hired by Bell Labs to work full-time as an acoustical scientist specializing in electroacoustics, physical and architectural acoustics. In 1960, West teamed with Gerhard M. Sessler, a German-born physicist, to develop an inexpensive, highly sensitive and compact microphone. At the time, condenser microphones were used in most telephones, but were expensive to manufacture and necessitated a large battery source. Microphones convert sound waves into electrical voltages, thus allowing the sound to be transmitted through a cord to a receiver. Their electric microphone solved every problem they were seeking to address. By 1968, the microphone was in wide scale production and was quickly adopted as the industry standard. Approximately 90% of microphones in use today are based on this invention and almost all telephones utilize it, as well as tape recorders, camcorders, baby monitors and hearing aids.
Sculptor and Printmaker who produced artworks from the late 1950s up until his death. He had a successful career, producing work which was associated in its style & forms with the Surrealist and Expressionist movements of modern art. Westermann's work was also highly political in nature, commenting on topics such as militarism and materialism. There have been several major retrospectives of his work since his death, the most recent at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art in 2001. Westermann enlisted in the US Marines in the Second World War, serving as an anti-aircraft gunner on board the aircraft-carrier USS Enterprise 1943-1945. When the Korean War began, Westermann re-enlisted as an infantryman in the Marine Corps, partly out of patriotism but also partly because his fledgling artistic career was not yet going as well as he hoped. He was assigned to G Company of the 3/5 Battalion of the 1st Marine Division in the spring of 1951. In his notes on the war, he commented on the landscape in Korea, "It's either straight up or straight down. Nothing's on the level." Westermann's unit saw action near the Hwachon Reservoir along the 38th Parallel. Westermann was close friends with Corporal Jack A Davenport who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for deliberately falling onto a live grenade to save the life of another soldier sharing the same foxhole. Another friend was Corporal Paul 'Stick' Flowers who was also killed in 1951 and to whom Westermann later dedicated one of his sculptures The Human Condition (1964). After nine months in Korea, Westermann was rotated back to San Diego in January 1952. He remained serving in the Marine Reserves until 1958. After leaving the army, Westermann became a firm pacifist and his artworks made strong comments against militarism and war. He disapproved of his son Gregory's decision to enlist in the US Marines and serve in Vietnam. A book about his wartime experiences in both WW2 & Korea- H C Westermann at War: Art & Manhood in Cold War America by David McCarthy was published in 2004. [Submitted to the KWE by Peter Hill of Australia
Created the concept of the G.I. Joe action figure. Weston joined the US Army at the end of the Korean War. He invented the "outfitted action figures" (male military dolls), selling his concept to a Rhode Island Company that later became Hasbro for $100,000. The Hasbro executive who participated in the sale was Donald Levine, also a Korean War veteran. Weston watched his concept become a billion dollar success story. Weston received a masters degree from New York University and then entered the licensing and merchandising industry. He formed the Leisure Concepts company, representing "Charlie's Angels" star Farrah Fawcett, the World Wrestling Federation, Nintendo, and others. Weston was born April 1, 1933. He died at the age of 84 in Los Angeles, California.
Founding member of Motown's Funk Brothers. Born November 19, 1936 in Billmeyer, Pennsylvania, he was an African-American soul musician and rhythm guitarist. He is well-known for his work with the singing group, The Temptations. During the Korean War he worked radio communications on the F-86F. He died October 27, 1994 in Los Angeles, California.
Tuskegee Airman and three-time Olympic gold medalist. Born October 1924 in Bay City, Texas, "Marvelous Mal" Whitfield was a middle distance runner. During World War II he was a staff sergeant in the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group. He was recalled to service during the Korean War and served as a tail-gunner on 27 bombing missions. He was honorably discharged in 1952. He was elected to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1988.
Country western artist and half of the Wilburn Brothers duo. Teddy Wilburn was born November 30, 1931 and died November 24, 2003. He was inducted in the Army in January of 1952 and was sent to Korea. He met up with his brother Doyle in Seoul as Doyle was being sent back to the States following his tour of duty in Korea. Between 1955 and 1972, he and his brother Doyle scored 30 hits on the music chart. In the late 1950s the Wilburn Brothers joined with Don Helms to found the Wil-Helm Talent Agency and Sure-Fire Music publishing company. They also starred in the Wilburn Brothers Variety Show from 1963 to 1974.
Country western artist and half of the Wilburn Brothers duo. Doyle was born July 7, 1930 in Hardy, Arkansas and died October 16, 1982. He was drafted in the Army in 1951, serving 14 months with the 8th Army Special Services. Both Doyle and Teddy Wilburn were discharged from the Army at different times in 1953 and resumed their music careers in the country western field of entertainment.
Minor League baseball player. He was serving in the US Army when he was killed in action in Korea on September 18, 1952.
1st black governor in U.S. history. Born in Richmond, Virginia on January 17, 1931, Wilder was the grandson of slaves. He graduated from Virginia Union University in 1951 with a chemistry degree. He was drafted into the U.S. Army, and served in the 17th Infantry Regiment of the 17th Infantry Division. He attained the rank of sergeant. He received a Bronze Star for valor in the Battle of Pork Chop Hill on April 12, 1953. After his discharge he received a law degree in 1959 from Howard University and ran for public office. He held a seat as a Virginia state senator for 10 years. In 1985 he was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia and then was elected as the 66th governor of Virginia in 1990. He was later elected mayor of Richmond, Virginia from 2004 to 2009.
Olympic gold medalist. He set a world record at the NCAA championships with a 46.1 second run and then became a gold medalist at the Berlin Olympics. After earning a pilot's license, he became one of just 14 Black-Americans to be commissioned during World War II in the aviation meteorological cadet program. He went on to serve as a flight instructor and meteorology teacher at Tuskegee. He retired from the Air Force in 1964 as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Pioneered the use of television in the military. She was a motion picture-TV writer, director, and producer for Lockheed Sales Promotion Department for 20 years. Born in 1919, Lt. Col. Williams (USAF Ret.) was one of two women and 98 men selected worldwide to pioneer the use of television for the military. She produced the first (black and white) aviation television show in the United States in 1947. She was a Women Air Force Service Pilot (WASP) during World War II. She was recalled to active duty during the Korean War as a television writer-producer and public affairs officer with the 1354th Video Production Squadron. Retiring in 1979, Lt. Colonel Williams was the winner of twelve national film awards. She died December 8, 2008, and is buried in Arlington Cemetery.
Film, theater and television actor. Best remembered for his acting role in The Incredible Shrinking Man and as Greg MacKenzie on Hawaiian Eye from 1960 to 1963. He enlisted in the US Air Force in September 1948 and served until September 1952. He was discharged as a staff sergeant. Born John Joseph Williams on August 18, 1931, he died July 28, 1985.
Red Sox ball player and Hall of Famer. (No steroids for this splendid splinter. He was a natural!) Born August 30, 1918, in San Diego, California, Williams learned how to play baseball from his uncle, who had played semi-pro ball. While still in high school he was signed to the San Diego Padres and in 1937 he was signed to the Boston Red Sox. Williams was optioned to the minor league Minneapolis Millers until he was called up to the Boston Red Sox as an every day player in 1939. He played 21 seasons for the Red Sox. In 1941 he finished the season with a record .406 batting average. He did not play for the Sox 1943-45. Instead, he joined the Navy and trained as a military pilot and gunner but did not see active duty overseas. After serving in World War II, he returned to baseball. When the Korean War broke out, he was called back to active duty and flew with the 3rd Marine Air Wing, 223rd Squadron. He was future astronaut John Glenn's wingman. On February 16, 1953, he was part of a 36-plane strike package against a tank and infantry training program just south of Pyongyang, North Korea. Before being pulled from flight status in June 1953 after hospitalization from pneumonia, he flew 39 combat missions in Korea. He was discharged from the Marine Corps in July 1953. Williams ended his baseball career as one of the greatest ball players in history. He won two AL Triple Crowns and two MVP awards—in four different years—and was named to the All Star game 19 times. When he retired, he was third all-time in home runs and seventh in RBI and batting average. His career batting average still is the highest in the post-1920 era. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966 and was manager of the Washington Senators for four seasons. In 1984 his No. 9 was retired by Boston Red Sox. In 1991 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George H.W. Bush. Four years later he suffered a major stroke. An avid fisherman, he was named to the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2000. Ted Williams ("Teddy Ballgame") died of a heart attack on July 5, 2002.
Olympic gold medalist in the 800m race at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Woodruff entered the Army in 1941 as a 2nd Lieutenant and was discharged as a Captain in 1945. He rejoined the military during the Korean War and was the battalion commander of the 369th artillery, later the 569 Transportation Battalion, New York National Guard. He ended his army career in 1957 as a Lieutenant Colonel. He died October 30, 2007, at the age of 92.
This actor holds the record for the most guest appearances on the television series Gunsmoke beginning in 1957. He appeared in over 250 television programs and motion picture films. In addition to his Gunsmoke appearances he acted on Wagon Train, Logan's Run, Days of Our Lives, Dallas (eight years) and Cool Hand Luke. Woodward was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and served as a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II and in the Air Force (military air transport command) during the Korean War. He died in 2010.
American science fiction and fantasy writer. Born May 7, 1931 in New York City, Wolfe joined the ROTC during high school and college and then the Texas National Guard (G Company, 143rd Infantry) while attending Texas A&M University. He graduated from high school in 1949 and entered Texas A& M that fall. He dropped out of university during his junior year (early 1952), lost his student deferment, and was drafted into the Army in August 1952 to serve in Korea toward the end of the war. He was sent to Ft. Sam Houston in August 1952, where he took a classification test that covered such subjects as reading retention, auto repair, mathematics, machine shop knowledge, etc. He was then sent to Ft. Leonard Wood in late August 1952, where he served in Company D, 86th Reconnaissance Battalion, Combat Command Reserve, 6th Armored Division, for eight weeks training. In October 1952, he was still with the 6th Armored Division at Ft. Leonard Wood, but with Company C, 50th AIB Combat Command, taking engineer basic for eight weeks. He attended Leadership School in December 1952 at Ft. Leonard Wood, graduating in February 1953. After a leave home he was sent to Camp Stoneman, California, and shipped to Japan on the USNS Patrick in March 1953. On March 25 he was at Camp Drake in Japan, where he was assigned to the 7th Infantry Division and sent to Korea onboard the USNS Sturgis by way of Okinawa. He arrived in Korea on April 4, 1953. Wolfe was assigned to 7th ID, 17th Infantry Regiment, HQ Company, Pioneer and Ammunition Platoon. His company was on OP Arsenal, Pork Chop Hill, Erie, etc. He received a Combat Infantryman's Badge in June 1953. In July 1953 he became an Operations Specialist making maps for S-3 and became NCO of TI & E after the cease fire. He left his company on May 14, 1954 to return to the States, sailing home on the Marine Phoenix on May 18, 1954. He processed out of the Army at Ft. Bliss, Texas. Some of his experiences in Korea (1952-54) are included in his rare non-fiction book, Letters Home, published in 1991 by United Mythologies Press, Ontario, Canada. Only 260 copies of the first printing exist. Because his mother preserved his letters, Gene Wolfe's book has one of the most complete accounts of any American notable who was a Korean War veteran. After the war Wolfe lived with his parents while using the GI Bill to study mechanical engineering at the University of Houston. With his industrial engineering degree he contributed to the machine that is used to make Pringles potato chips. He has authored numerous sci-fi novels, with the best known being a multi-volume novel, The Book of the New Sun. Other novels include The Book of the Long Sun and The Book of the Short Sun. Wolfe won the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1996.
Guitarist Link Wray, a half Shawnee Indian, was born May 2, 1929, in Dunn, North Carolina and died November 05, 2005, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Pioneer of the "power chord" and "father of heavy metal rock", his birth name was Fred Lincoln Wray Jr. He joined the U.S. Army after high school, serving as a medic in Korea during the war. Although he didn't know it at the time, he contracted tuberculosis during his tour of duty there. After returning from Korea he entertained troops in Germany in the Armed Forces Network. After his military service he lost a lung to the TB in 1956. Rather than sing, he concentrated on playing the guitar. His style influced heavy metal rock, punk rock, etc.