Libe spent Christmas in Korea

Bob Libe knows what it?s like to be miss his family over Christmas. Libe was in the service during Christmas 1953. He was stationed in South Korea just after the end of the Korean War.

Libe grew up in Washington and then moved to a farm six miles south of town when he was in eighth grade. He was drafted into the Army in 1952, when the Korean War was still going on. He was the first member of his family to enlist in the military.

Libe went to basic training in California. He was a member of the infantry and was trained in the use of heavy weapons.

?I was a squad leader on a 105, which is a recoilless rifle,? he said.

Libe said that when he enlisted in the military he assumed he would be called up to the front lines in the Korea War. However, by the time Libe arrived the war had just gotten over. Libe said some members of his unit were relieved not to have to fight, but he was disappointed.

?I wanted to fight,? he said.

Upon hearing that, his wife Jeanette said, ?That?s surprising, because he?s the most peaceful man I know.?

He said he does not recall exactly where he was stationed other than that it was on a hill.

?I remember that the weather was very much like Washington?s,? he said. ?It was cold in the winter and hot in the summer.?

Libe said there was no Christmas celebration that year in 1953. He said that as far as he knew the soldiers there didn?t celebrate because they were still on high alert. He said they had plenty of other things to worry about.

?Christmas was just like any other day,? he said.

Libe said that he was in the service two years and in South Korea for a little over a year. He said he missed his family back home, although he was able to send them letters.

?We wrote back and forth all the time,? he said. ?It would take about a week for my parents to receive the letters. When they wrote to us, they said they missed me, too.?

In addition to writing to his friends, Libe said he also wrote to his girlfriends.

?I had a few,? he said.