Locals: Can You Hear Me Now?
May 27, 2010Monday, May 31
May 31, 2010
Past wars still deeply impact two local residents, but each will spend Memorial Day differently. For one, it is about paying respect to fallen family members; for another, it is a day set aside to share with those still living.
Schriever resident Tim Blakeman, 78, a veteran private first class who fought with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Provisional Marine Brigade Weapons Company, intends to pass Sunday with family – including the latest addition, grandson Byron Peter.
“It’s just another day,” said Blakeman. “The people who were in the wars don’t like to talk about it – they don’t want to remember.”
Blakeman was only 18 when he took part in the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. As a member of the assault platoon, his assigned role was to pelt the enemy with 3.5 rockets.
For 17 days, in freezing weather, the battle raged between China’s People’s Volunteer Army, at 120,000 strong, and 15,000 Marines, Army and British Royal commandos. As temperatures dipped 30 degrees below, the United Nations troops – later nicknamed “The Chosin Few” – held their ground.
A decisive campaign in the Korean War, the UN forces were able to fight their way to the Sea of Japan and freedom. The battle, which began Nov. 27, 1950, was over Christmas Eve.
But the fight took a toll on the allies. More than 3,000 soldiers were killed and another 6,000 were injured. And thousands more, including Blakeman, would experience severe frostbite.
Blakeman rarely talks of the battle or his time spent as a Marine. Those conversations are reserved for casual exchanges between his surviving brother – all seven Blakeman boys served in the military spanning World War II and the Korean War. A plaque and citation from the Veterans of Foreign Wars are among the few reminders adorning his home. The closest most will get to learning of his past service is from the white T-shirt pronouncing in orange text that Blakeman is a “Marine Korean Veteran.”
However, memories from the battle are never far from his mind. Blakeman confessed he still suffers from nightmares of war.
While Memorial Day is reserved to honor the fallen, Blakeman wants to forget about the tragedies, looking instead toward the future he and his brothers fought so hard to preserve.
Across the Tri-parishes, Thibodaux attorney Denis Gaubert III, 53, embraces his family’s military lineage, which dates back to the Civil War. On Sunday, he will visit the grave of his father, who like Blakeman, served in the Korean conflict. He’ll also stop by the grave of a friend who died in Desert Storm.
“It’s a day to honor the citizen soldiers for the human endurance and courage it takes to go through what they did on our behalf,” said Gaubert.
The effects of war are still evident in Gaubert’s life. People from his father’s military days – spent as an Army first lieutenant with the 1st Battalion, 75th Field Artillery – still call with tales of his father’s bravery and strength of character.
One such caller spoke of Gaubert Jr.’s decision to volunteer two extra weeks fighting during the Battle of Kumhwa, a five-week standoff for Sniper Ridge, an area that provided important military roads, according to accounts in the July 16, 1953, edition of “The Gettysburg Times.” The caller, who was a 1st sergeant in the war, said the lieutenant’s electing to stay and continue fighting led him to stay as well.
Memorial Day will include remembrances of family members’ service. Gaubert also pays homage to earlier ancestors who died in battles on American soil. He regularly participates in Civil War reenactments and also celebrates Confederate Memorial Day, which was held April 26 this year, to honor those who died fighting for the South.
Although their Memorial Day plans differ, Blakeman and Gaubert agree the day is a time to appreciate the fallen for their sacrifice to our nation.
Schriever’s Tim Blakeman, who served in the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines during the Korean War, flips through a scrapbook of his days with the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade Weapons Company. * Photo by COLIN CAMPO
